What is the rule of thumb for mixing doughs?

Once you start thinking in terms of techniques, it shouldn't be that hard.  The book Ratio has an excellent overview of different methods for cakes.  The blog pastrychefonline.com does as well.  You can see an overview of the:

Creaming method in which softened but not melted butter and sugar are whipped together first to create a network of air bubbles for structure, then eggs, if called for, and other liquid ingredients added, then (or alternated with) solid ingredients.  Overmixing after a certain point destroys the air bubble network, but you need to build it up well first.  An alternative is the Two-Stage Mixing Method in which eggs and flavoring go in with some of the liquid, then softened fat and solids all get added in, then the rest of the liquid in parts with little mixing.
Foaming method, or sponge cake in which egg yolks and whites and sugar are whipped together to form the air bubbles, then dry ingredients are added, then melted butter is added at the end if called for.  I believe in Ratio butter is added before dry ingredients, but I don't remember if that is the case.  Again, you don't want to start popping your air bubbles.
Biscuit Method or pastry method for pie crusts and biscuits, in which it is important to keep your fat very cold and leave some larger pieces of it for flakiness and usually over mixing after liquid has been added causes a dense biscuit or crust because it activates the gluten.
Muffin Method or quick cake/bread method in which all the dry ingredients are added to all the wet ingredients and the fat is melted or liquid as opposed to softened or cold.  In this case leavening comes from commercial leaveners instead of mixing so at no point do you want to overmix and activate the gluten.

There is an exception for batters like crepe batter where there is simply so much liquid that the gluten will never be activated.  You can mix a high liquid content batter all day if you want.

And not covered on that blog are:

Yet another technique uses whipped egg whites only for structure, much like making a meringue.  I have a waffle recipe that uses whipped egg whites at the end for additional structure after using the muffin method for the rest of the batter.
For bread I personally love the explanations in Peter Reinhart's books, both that on regular bread and also whole grain bread.  You WANT to activate the gluten, so that's why you knead it after mixing (or in the case of the no-knead bread movement let the yeast activate it over a very long time), which is basically more mixing.  The structure of bread is a combination of the bubbles from the yeast and the gluten that is partially activated by kneading.  After rising you want to handle even bread gently, though, so as not to degas the yeast bubbles.

There may be more and different recipes use different variations, but these are the ones that spring to mind.  The key is to figure out:

How is leavening happening - from chemical leaveners, a mixing method, steam during baking, yeast, or a combination of these?
How much do I want to activate the gluten?

The answers to these two questions largely determine the temperature of your fats and eggs and how much you mix.


The current most common term in English appears to be "century egg", but it's also been known as a thousand-year egg or hundred-year egg.

It's typically produced by aging in a solution of table salt, calcium hydroxide, and sodium carbonate, but traditional methods involved less refined versions of those chemicals wrapped in clay (and some quantity of rice bran).

More details in this Wikipedia entry.

Image: Wikipedia/Wiki commons


Instead of fresh eggs, use powdered egg yolks.
Make sure any oils you use are high in saturated fats, such as palm or soybean oil — and use their hydrogenated forms wherever possible.
Replace some of the flour with polysorbate thickening agents and gums of xanthan, guar, and cellulose.
Add moisturizing agents such as glycerin.
Finally, be sure to include one or more chemical preservatives — potassium sorbate, for example.

Reference: Entenmann's Donuts List of Ingredients


What should the consistency of pudding be?

It sounds to me like you are making your pudding almost as thick as it should be.

It should be able to stand up a little. In other words, if you spoon some into a desert cup or small bowl, it should make a pile. It shouldn't be solid like ice cream, it should be smooth, but still stay in a pile shape.

Do you have custard where you live? It should be similar to that in thickness. Though custard is very different from
Chocolate pudding.


Keeping cream pies set while browning meringue topping

There could be a few things going on here:

If it is the meringue that is not holding - you probably need to beat it longer (stiff peaks will hold in bowl if turned upside down for a short time) and add the sugar slowly to ensure that it dissolves before spreading. To test if the sugar is dissolved, pinch a small amount between finger and thumb and rub; if it feels gritty/sandy then the sugar has not dissolved.
For the filling - most recipes (in my experience) say to spread the meringue over a hot filling, so you don't need to let it cool before adding the meringue. This may vary according to the type of filling you are using though. I'm most familiar with lemon-meringue and chocolate-meringue.
Also for the filling - this depends on the filling. If you are setting the filling using gelatin rather than using the natural coagulating properties of an egg based custard, the gelatin can re-dissolve upon re-heating, but should re-set when cooled. Cornstarch will also re-dissolve when reboiled (though browning your pie should only do this locally at best) and will no longer thicken when cooled.
To brown the meringue use the broil/grill function on the oven and a very high heat setting, not a regular bake. Keeping the door open a bit during the browning should keep the base of the pie cool, so long as you are not putting the pie back into an oven that has recently been used for baking something (i.e. is not radiating lots of heat anyway).
You can also  brown meringue by using a chef's blowtorch (who doesn't like flames!), these heat locally so you have to wave it around and take care not to scorch the meringue or blast holes in it. There is little chance of heating the rest of the pie with one of these.


How to cook fall-off-the-bone beef spare ribs in oven or on stove top?

I've done Alton Brown's method for both spare ribs and baby back ribs, with good results.

Basically, you bake 'em in a low (250°F) oven in an aluminum foil packet with liquid for a few hours (2.5hrs for baby back, a little longer for spare ribs) completely untouched , then put 'em under the broiler at the end.


How can I preserve mushrooms for a long time?

You cannot preserve them without a change in taste and color. Freezing is the best you will get, and the changes you desecribe are normal. You can also dehydrate or pressure can them, but they will be even more different than fresh mushrooms then.


How long can I keep eggs in the refrigerator?

Back in the 70's, the folks at Mother Earth News performed an egg storage experiment.  They stored them in a variety of ways, both refrigerated and unrefrigerated, to see how long they could keep.  They concluded that unwashed eggs (aka, "hen fruit" or "cackleberries") stored in a sealed container, and kept at 35° to 40°F, were still perfectly edible after seven months:

(1) Unwashed, fertile homestead eggs seem
to store much better than washed,
unfertile agribiz eggs. Why? Probably
for the simple reason that they're
unwashed ... and not because they're
fertile. Hen fruit, as it comes from
the chicken, is coated with a light
layer of a natural sealing agent
called "bloom". And, while a good wash
may make a batch of eggs look more
attractive, it also removes this
natural protective coating ... leaving
the eggs more subject to aging and
attack by the air and bacteria in the
air.
(2) The very best way we've found to stash
eggs away for long-term storage is in
a sealed container at a temperature of
35° to 40°F. Their whites may become
somewhat runny looking over a period
of time, but even after seven
months—the cackleberries stored in
this manner smell good, taste good,
have a good texture, and—in short—seem
"almost fresh".

Update 2011-02-19: This discussion inspired me to do some experimentation of my own.  We keep chickens, so I plucked two eggs on October 2, 2010 and put them in the refrigerator.  I just pulled them out today.  Here's a picture of one of them next to a fresh egg.

One of these eggs was laid yesterday and the other was laid 140 days (4 months 17 days) ago.  Can you guess which is which?
Update 2011-06-05: I completed my eggsperiment today by cracking open two more eggs that I have had in the refrigerator since October 21, 2010.  Here they are:

There was no trace of odor, but the whites were definitely lacking in firmness.  I scrambled them.  They didn't make for very fluffy scramblers due to the watery whites, but they tasted fine.  So, I can confirm the findings of the Mother Earth News experiment.  Fresh, unwashed eggs stored in the refrigerator were perfectly edible after 7 months 15 days (227 days)!


Evidently, despite your not doing so intentionally, the evidently the brine was in fact hot enough to heat the air in the head space enough that when it cooled, a partial vacuum was created.  The jars are truly sealed as you noted from your description.

While they are sealed, since you did not process the pickles, they are not certain to be safe for long term storage, even in the refrigerator, and should still be treated as regular refrigerator pickles--eat them within a few weeks.  That probably is not a problem :-)


Frozen pizza - Understanding time and temperature equivalency

You can try to bake both at the lower temperature, and it might turn out OK, but there are a lot of variables that could cause it not to.

I went into some of the effects of time and temperature in this answer.  In a nutshell, you have two major processes happening when you bake dough; the first is the Maillard reaction (browning) and the second is water evaporation (drying/hardening).  Just to make things even more fun, the second has a strong effect on the first; the more water evaporates, the quicker the browning will occur.

There's also the gluten development (chewiness) of the crust, but that is less of an issue with pizza because you're usually aiming for a crispy crust.

What this means to you is that if the two different pizzas have crusts with different amounts of water, then the one with lower water content may end up rock-hard and even burnt by the time the second one is properly cooked.

350° F is only a little bit higher than Maillard temperature, so the browning will happen pretty slowly; the fact that the box suggests this temperature likely means a relatively high water content, so that the crust can firm up before starting to brown.  On the other hand, 425° F and 20-minute cooking time probably indicates a higher water content; you want to brown the crust more quickly before the crust gets too hard and/or starts to burn.

So there's a non-trivial likelihood that after 33 minutes at 350° F, the second pizza (which gives a higher temperature) will be undercooked and doughy.  Undercooked is easy to fix in theory, but the problem is that you've thrown off the water ratio, which was specifically formulated for a higher temperature, so it's going to be hard for you to get it exactly right, even if you raise the temperature to finish it off.  It'll still be edible, of course; it's really just a matter of how picky you are (the answer to which is probably "not very" if you're eating frozen pizza...).

On the other hand, there's also a not-too-distant possibility that the two pizza crusts are practically the same, and the different brands just have different ideas of how crisp/brown the crust ought to be when cooked.  It's really hard to know until you try.

One other thing to mention is that if you plan to bake both pizzas at the same time then you will probably need to raise the temperature/time slightly to compensate.  Also, I really wouldn't recommend putting one on a lower rack, because it blocks the heat from the element and tends to mess up what little circulation there is in a conventional oven, and you'll end up with a very flat and probably undercooked pizza.

Bakeries and pizzerias will usually have pizza stones and special ovens with fans and possibly turntables to mitigate this issue; home ovens don't.  So I'd recommend either baking them on the same rack (if you have room) or baking them separately.


What kind of Creme or Mousse is the most robust? How can I strengthen a mousse?

There are several major types of mousse, made from different bases, and with different flavor elements.

Depending on which one you are using, they may have varying requirements.  As MandoMando mentions in the comments, assuming you are using a mousse based on whipped cream or whipped egg whites or a freezer-stable thickener (neither gelatin, agar agar, nor carageenan are freeze-stable), you can simply freeze the cake for transport.  This tends to work very well, although you may have issues with condensation when thawing it, so you want it very well wrapped (usually after freezing, so as not to muss the icing).

Chocolate mousses are often fairly stable due to the cocoa butter, which is solid at room temperature; some can also be gelatin stablized.  See the linked recipe in

Chocolate mousse - methods to have firm foamy mousse using white egg and cream

for inspiration, where the confection is built with two layers of mousse, one which is stablized with gelatin.

Many fruit mousses tend to be made with gelatin, so increasing the quantity of gelatin will give you a stronger mousse.

See also:
Hydro-colloid primer for perhaps more information on hydro-colloids than you ever wished to know.


Can I substitute bread flour for AP flour in banana bread recipe?

With some precautions in your mixing method, you could substitute Bread Flour for AP Flour in Banana Bread. Mind you, it may make a stronger, more dense, more chewy banana bread than people expect--but it would still be pallatable, some may even prefer it.

As discussion here points out: the main concern in the substitution is the higher gluten of bread flour.

I checked the King Arthur website, found that this bread flour is 12.7% protein (gluten). According to this chart from Cooking for Geeks (I am not affiliated with the book) indicates, this is low-to-average for gluten in bread flours:

Not over-mixing is critical in this situation, since mixing forms gluten. I can't describe better than @Sam Ley did here. Sam makes a great point: you should be comfortable leaving some dry clumps in the batter.

Also, if tempted to sift the flour, I would hesitate. sifting the flour will increase powder surface area, which would facilitate more gluten formation.


Why is Ginger essence hard to get hold of?

I can see it on Amazon, Lakeland, and Ocado, but the major supermarkets don't list it on their websites (you have to be a little careful searching as it's also sold as a supplement/herbal medicine).

It's rarely necessary to use it in cooking over other forms of ginger, and I never have, which may explain why it's only available from specialist sources.  One time it is used is ginger icing; that's somewhere I've used the syrup from stem ginger in syrup.  This works in many sweet recipes using ginger in liquid form but also replaces some of the sugar and water.  It's therefore best for recipes that rely on feel or taste rather than accurately measured small quantities.

You can make your own from fresh root ginger.  The link gives two methods with different results, for the purpose of flavouring beer, but there's no reason why you couldn't use them in other cooking.  The strength may be different to commercial extracts.


What is the purpose of this footed glassware with a large round bowl and a decorative handle?

I think it's an artistically stylized ale glass.


What can I use to replace the tomato juice in gazpacho?

According Niki Segnit's The Flavour Thesaurus, strawberries and tomatoes share many of the same flavour compounds so that might an avenue to explore; obviously you might want to increase the vinegar/lemon juice if the stawberries are particularly sweet.


You don't realize it, but you've asked a hot-button question.  Expect to get lots of comments about botulism, etc.  This is a result of a report a few years back about folks getting botulism from homemade garlic oil.  I'll keep my answer practical.

First, depending on where you live, your state, city, county, or other regional government may already have health codes for infused oils.  You need to research these and follow them; regardless of the actual safety of your oils, if you don't follow the rules you could be facing a hefty fine and a court order to never sell food products again.

Second, contamination of infused oils by anaerobic bacteria (of which botulism is only one) is a real danger, so you need to treat your oils to prevent it.  These methods include dehydrating the seasonings before adding them to the oil, acidifying them, or even pressing out the oils from the seasonings and using those instead of the whole seasoning.

You can also make the oil safe through pastuerization.  Heating the oil (ideally dehydrated first) up to at least 121C/250F for 4 minutes or more should kill even botulism spores (the hardiest of the anaerobic bacteria).  You need to make sure the water is gone from the solids before you heat the oil, which means either using dehydrated seasonings, or straining out the solids and then pasteurizing the oil.  Also, depending on the type of oil you use, this pastuerization may harm its flavor; certainly unfiltered extra virgin olive oil will change flavor if heated this way.

Hope that helps, and good luck with your new business!


Not in the same sense as in bread, no.

First, in bread, there is one main ratio: liquid to flour. You can conveniently express any "additions" such as fat etc. as a percentage of the flour too, but they are additions, as in principle, you can make bread with water+flour only. The effects of these ingredients exhibit much less interaction than cookie ingredients, so you can look at each percentage separately and immediately gain some information about the bread.

In cookies, there are several problems. First, "cookie" is a much broader category. A shortbread cookie, a snickerdoodle, a lace cookie and a macaroon have basically nothing in common, structurewise. They need totally different ingredients to achieve totally different textures, and any ratio of ingredients makes sense within this type of cookie, but not across all cookies. In bread, you have a few exceptions (think knäckebröd), but mostly it is all variation of the same stuff.

Second, in cookies, ingredients interaction is more important. They are not made up of flour and water with a few ingredients to tweak the texture, they are made up of eggs, flour, sugar, fat, nuts, and a mixture of whipped egg whites, sugar and nut flour, glued with e.g. whipped ganache (for macarons) behaves in a totally different way from a mixture of stirred eggs, sugar and flour, baked and sprinkled with nut pieces over a chocolate glaze (spritzgebäck). You cannot turn one into the other by slightly tweaking the amount of an ingredient. You cannot say that there is an interval of "between x and y percent of ingredient i" in which a cookie turns out well.

If you concentrate on one specific cookie, it becomes much more manageable. There are ratio intervals there, and within that interval the cookie will work and outside of it probably not. But they are not all ratios of one ingredient to flour, because of the interactions. You need to express the ratio of all ingredients at once. It is still doable, and useful, if you can find a good resource describing it. But here comes the next problem: I don't know of a resource which does this. Macarons may be the exception, as they have so tight tolerances, so you can probably look at 2-3 recipes and will already know the limit of the acceptable ratios. But in cookies with more leeway, I suspect it is only literature aimed at industrial food technologists or even private knowledge in industrial manufacturers who have studied and written down that kind of information.


How will less flour affect molten lava cakes?

If you're not getting the exact results you want, I suggest you experiment with a few things and expect a few learning experiences along the way. Look at three or four other recipes and look for ideas of things to try.

As noted in the comments you might want to adjust cooking time and/or temperature. If you're oven is too cool you might have cooked the inside more to get the same external look than if it had been at full temperature. So try more heat or less time. If you think it was too soft inside do the reverse.

That said, it sounds like you don't really like the intended results from the recipe, so you'll probably want to make other variations.

Depending on how things are combined in the preparation process you can try experiment with flour and fat levels. Remember that if you liked the outer layers adjusting the flour will effect those too. Some recipes include unmelted chocolate pieces put into the cake as you pour it into the dish. That will give you more of the texture you see in the first picture (the heavier chocolate will depress into the weak structures below it). You might also want to try adjusting the overall chocolate amount and how much butter you melt into it.


How to mimic Giordano's Pizza CRUST at home ? (part 1)

Unlike Neopolitan pizza crust, Chicago pizza crust is made with a heavy, relatively low-moisture dough with a LOT of oil (or, in some cases, butter) in it.  These crusts are not blind-baked in any way; instead, they depend on the long cooking time (45min) and the high oil content to become crunchy despite being buried in toppings.   If the frozen one doesn't take that long, it's probably because they're par-baking it before they ship it.

Having had Giordiano's pizza at the restaurant, the crust seemed to me to be typical for a chicago pizza crust, so try a general recipe and then tinker with it if it doesn't seem quite right.

Cooksillustrated did their typical workup of a butter-based Chicago Pizza crust in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue; I know people who have made that one and liked it (you can get it from Cooksillustred.com with a fee; there's also a video).  Other internet resources:

Discussion of the recipe for crust and sauce for Gino's East
Food.com Chicago Crust recipe


If Nutrition Facts states 0% Cholesterol does that imply the food is vegan?

Your question implies that cholesterol only comes from animal products. This is not correct. Cholesterol is present in many plants.

Other answers and comments claim that only amounts "less than 0.5" (units omitted) of cholesterol is permitted to be listed as 0, and that "no cholesterol" is an added claim that a product is truly cholesterol free. This too is incorrect. The FDA permits amounts less than 2mg/serving to be listed as both 0 and "cholesterol free". There are additional caveats which can be read at the link.

The bottom line is, not only does 0 mg of cholesterol not indicate anything regarding the presence of animal products, but neither does the presence of cholesterol.


Making Raclette without special equipment or specific type of cheese

I would recommend inviting your friends and family over for a cheese fondue party. Fondue requires a large amount of Emmental, so this should take care of your space issue. Also, Emmental is the perfect fondue cheese with its distinctly nutty flavor that complements the addition of dry white wine and Kirsch liqueur.

http://RacletteChalet.com


What's the US equivalent of double and single cream?

In the UK, single cream is a milk product with at least 18% butterfat.  Double cream has 48% butterfat.  Neither are common in the US.

If you can find clotted cream, which is 55% fat, then there is a chance of making double cream at home by diluting it.  As some clotted creams have a cooked taste, there may be other solutions.


What is the right moment to add sugar to make my own coffee liqueur?

I'll try to answer this.

Concerning the first recipe you linked, it doesn't matter at all whether you add it first or not, since there is no extraction going on. Theres no fresh coffee, no fresh vanilla. Just extract, which of course is already extracted, so no extended wait time is needed! There might still be room for improvement, letting flavors 'marry' and so, but I'd say a day should be enough.

The second recipe is different. It steeps fresh coffee in alcohol, and here it's going to need time. One month is however an extreme amount of time. Usually, hot water and coffee is steeped for seconds, and cold water and coffee is often steeped for 12 hours. Consider that alcohol is a stronger solvent than water.
But if going for a true alcoholic extraction, pure is better / faster, so you should steep before adding water, and the sugar probably doesn't make much difference.

This said, I'm not sure you should actually let it steep in alcohol at all, and I'm not sure you should dilute it either.

If I was doing this, I would go for water cold extraction. I'd be concerned that alcohol would extract too much, the same as too long hot water steeping leads to bitter, sour, pungent coffee. I'm not sure why you would want to dilute it with alot of water either. Water adds nothing to the party. Dilute it when using it instead, this leaves you free to choose each time. Perhaps you'd like to mix it with milk instead, sometime?

Do you have a french press? Let 1 part coursely ground coffee steep in 3 parts cold water over night. Use the filter / top to filter it, and pour it into your vodka. I'm not completely sure, but I think 1 part  extract to 4 parts vodka would be fine. Use the same ratio of sugar as in the recipes you linked, or after taste.

UPDATE:

I didn't completely read the second recipe before I answered. It says to boil the vodka-mixture. Sure, the alcohol doesn't vanish in an hour, but I'd still say it's an unacceptable waste (spirits are expensive where I'm from!). Also, the effect is the inverse of destillation, so you are left with a weaker, but sweeter, drink. I'm not sure why it says to boil it. It says that it's to 'thicken the liqueur', but they could just use less water instead.

Good luck!


Can you use WD-40 to loosen the blades in a Mixer Grinder?

WD-40 contains naphtha, hydrodesulfurized heavy; 1,2,4-trimethyl benzene; 1,3,5-trimethyl benzene; mixed xylene isomers; and surfactant, which are not for food use. WD-40 can harm/dissolve certain plastics and rubbers (perhaps used in your blender).

I think the toxicity of WD-40 is relatively minor, but essentially, WD-40 isn't food grade. Now, I know that this is not a food facility, but I would definitely opt for food grade mineral oil to prevent rancidity and rusting issues. FDA Code of Federal Regulations 178.3570 allows food grade mineral to be used for lubricating food processing equipment, and USP grade mineral oil happens to be the primary lubricant in the industry (I'd guess at least 90% of the lubrication is done with mineral oil).

CFR 178.3570 also allows use of naturally-sourced fatty acids (like capric acid, caprylic acid and caproic acid, which are more for antibacterial applications, and can/will cause corrosion issues), polybutene (maybe for electronic parts), isopropyl oleate (pricey), and castor oil (which is gummy, can become rancid, and induces cramping). The petrolatum that is mentioned is USP grade (CAS Number: 8009-03-8) which is basically vaseline; and it is only for use in "as a protective coating of the surfaces of metal or wood tanks used in fermentation process". The rest of the lubricants that are mentioned in CFR 178.3570 are not actually lubricants (more like, antibiotic soaps and chealating agents) or are simply exotic materials (even for industrial manufacturers).

So, what I'm saying (to be 100% clear) is that USP mineral oil is the only realistic lubricant allowed by FDA. Isopropyl oleate would be my second choice, but the price is going to be about 10 fold higher than mineral oil, and castor oil would be my third choice for reasons mentioned above. The rest of the "lubricants" are basically industrial-use lubricant additives (used in very minor amounts for more specific applications).


What's the best way to stick sprinkles to cookies without icing?

If corn syrup works, it seems to me that simple syrup (i.e. a saturated solution of sugar and water) ought to work, too.


Is it safe to use staples or paper clips to seal parchment paper when cooking fish en papillote?

As long as they are not plastic coated, it is unlikely for anything relevantly toxic to get into the food via vapors just from heating a small household metal object in the same space with the food, below temperatures that will cause anything to melt. That would require some constituent having so high a vapor pressure at 450°F that a lot of it would go into the air...

Unknown metal objects in contact with the food, especially if they get immersed into an acidic sauce, could be more of a concern since there could be reactions with the metal and metal salts entering the food - though it is not that likely for toxic elements to be present in the steels or other metal alloys used for objects like paperclips or staples. Lead (from some brass alloys, or from some kinds of bright tin finish), aluminium (usually not added to steels), cadmium or zinc plating (don't use anything decades old and looking yellowish. This can be a type of zinc coating, but it could also be cadmium plating. zinc (which also is found as a non-yellow plating) is not per se toxic in small amounts, but FDA rules seem to discourage reactive foods contacting zinc-galvanized steel), copper, pure chromium or nickel (these are used in food-safe steels too, I would not be so sure they are food safe when used pure as a plating) are probably the alloy elements to worry most about...


You could try replacing part of the sugar with a liquid alternative: molasses, maple syrup, honey, et cetera. You don't need to modify it much to start with, try replacing 10 grams of the sugar with 10 grams of an alternative.

Volume conversions can be found in section 1.2 of

http://realfoodliving.com/faqs/sweeteners-faqs

but I can't find any weight conversions.


I'm pretty sure those are Arc Clams. See this link, they look the same.


There are green teas in China that have a 'toasty' flavour and that is usually achieved through pan frying. I would suggest to try that in a pan at home yourself (without oil). Make sure the leaves are continuously stirred, or they will burn.

Check for instance this video (at 25 sec) for a demonstration:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmKkVLadXKQ


How to chill and reheat three layer pork properly

It's hard to say from the picture, but pork fat when cooled in a refrigerator does not have the texture of rubber. It is firm but stays deformed when you squish it. What does have the texture of rubber and could have come from the pork is gelatin. When you cool certain cuts of beef, pork, or other meats you break down the connective tissue and dissolve the gelatin in the cooking liquid or meat juices. If you cooked it, cut it, and then chilled the cut pieces they likely let out some of their juices and those juices then set (gelled) in the refrigerator due to the gelatin.

I would just heat it up, and the gelatinized juices will become liquid again.


Boiled beef bones and ended up with green marrow...is this normal?

Yes. From my experience, if the bones were good, i.e. they had no odor before boiling them the soup is fine, just taste and if you like it all is good.

Maybe one of the ingredients turned the marrow green.


Where can I find food-grade beeswax to make Canelé?

@Adisak I was able to find one  source , although there may be many more.

I also found food grade paraffin wax, but it seems that it has a much lower melting point.

After a little reading it seems that making canelés can be a quite tricky and meticulous process, so you probably want to stick with the beeswax. They do sound delicious!


Why don't we all eat injera? Or some other form(s) of teff?

Perhaps because there is a shortage of teff. You might want to look at this article from January, 2021, but it does not provide all the answers.
I personally love injera, but I have not been buying teff for a few years after hearing of this problem. Similar problems may be going in with quinoa, but I have not yet researched that.
I generally stick to things such as wild rice. Of I know where and how it is grown, but that's quite expensive. I try to put my money and my mouth where it makes a difference.
What Are the Domestic and Regional Impacts From Ethiopia's Policy on the Export Ban of Teff?


The most efficient and safe way would be buying seeds from the newer cultivars of sweet lupins (e.g. "Australian Sweet Lupin") which contain so little alkaloids that they don't taste bitter any more - hence the name.

These cultivars are used as alternative protein source, especially in the vegetarian and vegan cuisine.


What kinds of frostings have a lighter texture?

Have you ever tried Italian Buttercream?  I learned about it in culinary school and it is now my favorite!  LIght, airy, not too sweet.  It has a wonderful texture!

Here is the recipe we used - It's a keeper!
http://www.grouprecipes.com/92114/italian-buttercream-from-the-culinary-institute-of-america.html

Italian buttercream is made by blending butter into Italian meringue.


For what it's worth, my wife will sometimes add pureed carrots to achieve what (I think) you're going for. This principal of course isn't limited to carrots but you at least have the idea...
Again... FWIW


When cooled, my browies are very sticky and hard towards the edges. What are the possible reasons that this is happening?

I think you are trying to make a more chewy brownie, and your got a quite like hard and cookie like at the bottoms.

Dark brown sugar contains more molasses than in light brown sugar then in white sugar. Molasses is hygroscopic which means it holds on to moisture and so using brown sugar will result in baked goods that are softer and moister. But if your brownie bottom is hard, it is not the problem of lacking for moisture in your brownie mix (not brown sugar problem making the brownie hard). And if the centre of the brownie is the type of cake you need, then the reciepe is ok.

I would suggest:

Use a suitable baking pan size(diameter) that could make your brownie batter is of certain thickness (else your brownie maybe overbaked and becomes hard, if the brownie mix are too thin in the pan)
Butter (or spray with a nonstick cooking spray) an your baking pan, and line the bottom of the pan with parchment or wax paper.


Pre-Cooking Steak in a bag, Any suggestions?

You've basically re-invented sous-vide cookery for steak.  Steak is about the easiest food to cook sous-vide.  You can find a lot of resources describing it on the web, but here's a few notes

1) 170F for 2 hours undoubtedly left your steak very well-done.  Not a problem if that's how you like it, but also not necessary.  You can get medium rare by cooking in the 130-135F range for two hours.  Cooking sous-vide below 130F (necessary to get steak rare) is not recommended for safety reasons, as temperatures that low can encourage the growth of dangerous bacteria.

2) With sous-vide, there's no need to rest a steak after searing it.  Resting grilled steaks is necessary to give heat time to move from the outside of the steak to the center, and actually get it cooked to the desired temperature.  With sous-vide, you already did that in the water.

3) With an impromptu sous-vide setup like yours, you probably don't want to cook for more than a few hours.  You risk your temperature getting too low overnight, and then you're down in the bacteriologically dangerous ranges.   You can get some great effects cooking longer (I had 24 hour marinated skirt steak last night that was amazing), but you should probably do so with powered equipment.  There are home sous-vide machines available (a bit pricy) or you can build your own.  There are dozens of different rigs described on the web.  I built mine for about $100.

4)Longer cooking times are better for tougher cuts anyway.  If you're just looking to do ribeyes and strips, then two or three hours is fine.

5)You can marinade, but obviously not in supermarket bags (unless the supermarket marinades, e.g. pork tenderloin).  To do so, you either need to purchase a vacuum sealer (not too expensive), or be clever with drawing air out of ziploc bag and sealing it very tightly.


How can I incorporate powdered peanut butter into a boxed banana bread?

He's right. It likely would come out with a different consistency. That 1/3 cup of oil and maybe some egg would be partly absorbed by the peanut butter. That will affect the texture.

For a first try: In a separate bowl I would reconstitute the 2 T of peanut butter with water (4 T in this case). For easier measuring 4 T = 1/4 cup.

Add the reconstituted peanut butter to the batter, two options to mix in:

thorougly mix in the peanut butter until it's fully incorporated into the batter
or, swirl it in, kind of like a chocolate marble cake


What differences will happen if you use a rectangular baker to bake cookies instead of a tray?

They should be fine.

It's possible that they'll be a bit gooey, or just a touch underdone.  The high sides of the pan may shield the cookies from the heat, just a little bit.  The glass pans will absorb a little more heat, and so take just a tad longer to heat up - partially balanced by the fact they take a tad longer to cool down, and so might carry over a bit of residual cooking.  Both effects should be pretty minimal, but cookies do bake for a very short amount of time, so the difference may be noticeable in a way that longer-cooking dishes would never notice.

If you look at your cookies, instead of just pulling them out when the time is up, you should notice if they need a touch more baking (I would guess maybe a minute of extra time, if any)... of course, you should probably be doing this anyway, especially if you want to cook them to your desired style (if you prefer a bit softer or a bit crisper, for example).  Light browning on edges or ridges should be a very good cue for done-ness.


The answer it seems is - no, you can't just use any variety of corn. It seems that you need in particular a hard shell around the kernel that is not present in sweetcorn varieties.

I also suspect that it is harder to make than one might imagine, you need a specific percentage of water in the kernel to get it to pop - this is why you can't store unpopped popcorn in the open and once opened needs to be used within a few months, as the water will evaporate and eventually the percentage will become too low to effectively pop.


The flavour of thyme can't be imitated by substitution. You can either omit it or devise a different sauce. Various herbs (basil for example) are combined with strawberries in various dishes, but the proportions are up to you. You may want to search for recipes using both strawberries and each of the available herbs to help with both selection and quantity.


Have I over- or under-cleaned my cast iron dutch oven?

The black areas look like seasoning, which is essentially burnt-on oil/fat. You want that (though probably you don't want proteins or sugars so much, but I'd guess you've removed them now). Seasoning is somewhere between a dull matte black and semi-gloss black, depending. Wet with the tiniest bit of oil (e.g., wiped on with a paper towel), it should turn semi-gloss to fully shiny.

The metallic gray is bare iron; you need to season that promptly, before it rusts (apply oil, heat, repeat a few times); we have questions on how to season a pan already.

Personally... I'd just attempt to season the whole thing at this point. If the seasoning fails to adhere to some of those black areas, then I guess they need more sanding. But I doubt it.

PS: A good pair of gloves should protect your hands from steel wool.


I normally make cookies using 1 cup almond butter, 1 egg, 1 c. sugar, perhaps you can substitute some of the sugar for protein powder and see how it goes? Now I'm somewhat interested in trying that myself!

According to nutrional data it looks like protein powder and egg whites have the most amount of protein in them, the list Foods highest in Protein may help.

Update: I ended up making a new batch of cookies, and they turned out great. Used 1c. almond butter, 1 egg, 3/4 c. double chocolate whey protein powder, 1/4 c. sugar 1 tsp baking soda. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes. They are a bit soft, but hold together well and aren't too crumbly until eaten, they seem to hold better after they are a day old.


Cookware and methods for large quantities of rice

I would definitely not do the risotto, very hard to get and hold the right texture in those kinds of quantities. The basmati rice will work fine in a large pot. Cook it by the absorption method (bring to a boil with 1 3/4 cups of water per cup of rice, reduce to a simmer, cook covered, without stirring, until all of the water is absorbed).


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

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

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


Are smoothies and milk shakes the same things with different names?

For smoothies, the main body of the drink is fruit that has been blended with some limited quantity of liquid or ice. Typically, one of the fruits is banana, and other fruits (berries, strawberries, kiwi, etc.) are added for flavor. They often include a sweetener of some sort, such as honey or turbinado sugar.

Milk Shakes are typically composed primarily of milk or ice cream, and may include limited amounts of fruit for flavor. They also usually include some sort of sweetener, such as sugar syrup or malt syrup, or a flavored syrup such as strawberry or chocolate.

The general principle is that smoothies are mostly fruit, milk shakes are mostly milk. For your drink, I think it being a smoothie or a milk shake depends on the proportions of the ingredients added (i.e. more banana means smoothie, more milk means milk shake).

Based on the general principles from above, you could call your drink either a milk shake or a smoothie and be correct. That said, the original Banana Smoothie, as recorded from 1941 on this smoothie fact page, included two big ripe bananas and two and one-half cups of milk. Since that seems to be exactly what you're making, I'd say that your drink is a smoothie based on the original definition of the term.


Why does feta taste so terribly salty when grilled?

Just speculation: Since feta is a brined cheese (and can have up to 56% moisture content), and is already inherent salty, when melted and in direct heat, a lot of the water content evaporates, essentially concentrating the taste.


What factors to consider for a long lasting salad?

-Make slaws of hardier vegetables - bell peppers, carrots, unripe papaya, hard cabbages. Both kinds - the ones that are slightly cooked with a boiling vinaigrette, or the ones prepared raw (som tam for example) , can last a few days in the fridge.

-Pickles tend to be a hardy ingredient.

-Keep a cold but not freezing fridge (I recently started a discussion here ... Why do fridge temperature standards between US and other countries differ?  read what EVERYONE wrote )

-If there are leafy greens involved, either store dressings separately, or only put the acid and/or oil on the salad before storing but nothing that brings in salt or sugar. The acid could help, esp when there are fruit in the salad, but could also cause problems...

-Look at plant based proteins - TVP, tofu (optionally smoked), burmese tofu, tempeh, seitan... fried and maybe spice rubbed and/or marinated and/or breaded... cooked beans and lentils... less risk of meat-related dangers... keep fried items in separate container so they do not get waterlogged

-Potato and pasta salads could work for you...


I am pretty certain you simply overbaked your brioche. "Bland and dry" is a very common symptom of that. Also, if we look at the recipe, you had a quite small loaf, which you baked for 40 minutes.

The first solution I'd try in your place is to bake to internal temperature of 96C, then remove immediately from the oven and swaddle in a kitchen towel, possibly spraying with water before covering.

The other things you can do are finer tweaks, but they shouldn't have that much of an effect on the dryness as such. You have way too much yeast, especially for an overnight raise. I've read books that suggest using more yeast for a brioche, but that's because they also have a shortened raise and/or baking from cold (to keep the very buttery dough firm when forming). I personally don't care much for long rests, so I would maybe reduce the yeast only partially (maybe using 2.5 to 3 g) and do two raises at room temperature, as with normal white bread. If you want to keep the retardation, then use less yeast, about 1.25 g. But since your dough is neither under- nor overproofed, the amount of yeast shouldn't have much impact on texture, mostly on aroma only.


How can 100% peanut butter have more protein than 100% peanuts

There's definitely some rounding going on because the peanut butter has 100.1g of nutrients per 100g of product.  This isn't enough to explain the discrepancy.  Adding up the nutrients on the roasted peanuts gives 95.4g.  I think we can assume the other 4.6% is water.  So perhaps more water has been driven off the peanut butter.

What I think is more likely (though could be additional) is that there's significantly less fat in the peanut butter (48.1% vs 51.7%).  While this could be down to different varieties of peanut, I suspect some fat is removed in the processing, perhaps to avoid an oil slick on the surface.

Most likely of all is just different source data. Different peanuts may have been used in the calculations -- whether that is consistent with the actual ingredients used is another matter.  In fact if you look at nutrition information for raw peanuts online, you'll get a range of values.  There's nothing special about peanuts, the same is true for bananas.  I'm sure if you look at the scientific literature on any foodstuff, you'll find a range of values published, reflecting natural variation as well as measurement variabilility -- this will then propagate to the values published to the consumer.


An electronic tool for mixing while the pot is on the fire

For thick sauces and puddings, I would think an immersion blender is the way to go. Some even have removable shafts, so you can change the length of stick attachment to fit your pot, or switch it out for different accessories, like a whisk attachment. And at risk of sounding like an infomercial, they even sell bowl clamps for hands free operation!

Me personally, I like a drill and mixer attachment.


I know many people say the same thing over and over for questions like this, but: Probe thermometer.  They aren't expensive.  You can set them for a temperature so that you pull your roast at exactly the doneness you want.  (Well, generally pull it a few degrees below that, and let it coast upward while it rests.)

Heat transfer to roasts does not mathematically work out very well for "time per pound" formulas -- generally these only seem to "work" for a certain range of weights, but they don't work in general.  Adding in an uncontrolled "leave oven shut" (presumably turned off?) makes the method even more prone to imprecision.

Bottom line: Use a probe thermometer.  It makes no sense to risk screwing up a $100+ cut of beef rather than buy a $20 thermometer which you can reuse every time and always be certain of results.


Does the order in which I turn off the gas stove matter?

I had this type of stovetop for many years. The way I usually did was:

Turn off the stovetop
turn off the canister

The next time you turn the canister on, gas won't leak through the burner you left on (because you didn't!). And the amount of gas left in the connecting hose is negligible and should be safe to leave it there until the next use.


How to adjust refrigerator temperature/power?

There is no standard, and you cannot know what the numbers mean, at least without the user manual. If it is important for you to keep a certain temperature, get a fridge thermometer and use that. Be certain to measure in multiple places, or in the place you are most interested in because the temperature varies throughout the refrigerator body.

A second way would be to try to jump through hoops with customer support (maybe send them a photo of the refrigerator? or turn it around and see if you have a model label and/or serial number somewhere around the compressor) and have them locate a user manual for you, or maybe even the temperature itself. But this will only give you the temperature the designers intended, which is not exactly the same as the actual temperature in the fridge.


I'm in the US and when we buy fresh chicken at the market it has a 'sell by' date. It's safe to assume that it will be good for one to two days after that date, as long as the chicken is stored properly. If this is the case for you, try and get your chicken with a sell by date of at least Saturday. Then you can be assured it will be okay on Sunday or Monday when you make your filling. Just be sure to get it home and in the refrigerator right away.

If this is not an option for you, there are a couple of things you can do:

Assuming you buy your chicken on Thursday, take it home and put it in the freezer right away. On the day before you wish to make your filling, place it in the refrigerator to thaw overnight. Then proceed as usual. A very short time frozen should not affect the quality or taste of your meat.
You can make your filling in advance and refrigerate it. After cooking, chicken should be okay in the refrigerator for three to four days. So, you can make your filling on Friday or Saturday and refrigerate it until you bake your pastilla on Monday. I wouldn't think this would hurt the flavor in any way. Many times the overall flavor can actually improve as the flavors have time to meld together.


Ammonia odor means over-ripe cheese. For both Camembert and Brie.

Next time don't buy it ...


Make bread with flour different from the starter

Your starter should have no problem working with other flours, you don't need to acclimatize it or anything. Just use it as you ordinarily would.

I would suggest bread flour rather than AP, the higher gluten content will give better structure.


Can Lasagna be frozen before cooking, if using uncooked lasagna noodles, not the no boil type

If you only use non-no-boil noodles, I expect that your recipe calls for boiling the lasagna noodles before baking. If this is the case, and if you insist on non-no-boil noodles, I would recommend cooking the noodles al dente before preparing and freezing the lasagna, or actually undercooking them and simply adding more sauce. You could also try not cooking them at all and increase the amount of sauce even more.

I would recommend more though to just use no-boil noodles. All the recipes for freezer lasagna I've seen have called for them and in my experience it doesn't work very well to freeze boiled noodles. You can substitute them 1-1 in your recipe, simply skip the boiling step and ensure the top layer is covered in sauce.

You can use disposable or non-disposable pans to freeze them. Lasagna can be kept frozen indefinitely, but many sources recommend anywhere between 1-6 months before there is a significant degradation in taste. In any case, the food is still edible but the quality will degrade over time. When I freeze my lasagna I cover it with a layer of plastic wrap, and cover that with a layer of aluminum foil to help prevent freezer burn. A good layer of shredded cheese on top will also help in that regard.


Toasted almond flour.
I hear what you are saying about the almond milk.  It lacks depth in a way that is hard to describe or maybe has a flat taste that like many off tastes are easier to perceive when hot.
I propose with no evidence at all that you could add a little toasted fine ground almond or almond flour.  This is not some exotic stranger like xanthan gum, just more almondy goodness.  Thickening stuff with flour of any sort is totally legit.  Toasted almond flour is very nice for breading or things of that sort.
You would need to keep stirring it up I think.


Why do my egg shells have discoloration?

You didn't post pictures, so I'm going out on a limb here:

Looking at some eggs out of my fridge, I see grayish spots on some white eggs. They are hard to photograph, but I tried. Look especially at the blunt end:

If you hold the egg in front of a light source, the mystery is revealed - thin shell areas light up:

Your eggs simply have a thin shell. This may be caused by various reasons (older hens and lack of minerals amongst them), but is completely harmless as far as food safety and use in the kitchen is concerned.


Is it possible to freeze chocolate covered ants?

You probably don't even need to freeze them. Chocolate has a very long shelf life in your pantry, from 1-2 years depending on fat/milk content.

You can freeze it, but it may affect the texture or appearance.


No it is not safe it has exceeding USDA time and temperature guidelines.

See the following for guidelines

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/safe-food-handling/danger-zone-40-f-140-f/ct_index


Can I use sous vide instead of pressure cooking

If this is a recipe that will be served immediately, you may be able to use an alternate cooking method. If the reason is to store in your pantry, NO, do not use any method other than pressure cooking.
From Pressure cooking Wiki

The standard cooking pressure of 15 psi was determined by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1917. At this pressure, water boils at 121 °C (250 °F).

You need this higher temperature to safely process certain items for storage.

From Fresh Preserving.com

  When preserving vegetables, meats, poultry and seafood, safety is key. To keep what your canning safe to eat, and fresh tasting, you’ll use the Pressure Canning method which heats the contents to 240º F eliminating the risk of foodborne bacteria. You should also know that if even you’re mixing high acid foods with low-acid foods you must use the pressure canning method


Is golden syrup with black around the edges bad?

Golden Syrup improves with age according to Heston Blumenthal's "In Search of Perfection". Here he analyses a 70 year old glass jar of Tate and Lyle Gold in the lab finding that the "older treacle contained the same flavour compounds as the normal stuff, but each was intensified".

In his recipe he fakes the ageing process by baking the tin at 70ºC (158ºF) for 24 hours noting that the flavour will continue to improve up to 100 hours.


What is the fastest way to cook a Meat Salad?

Since I cannot speak to the benefits of the convection or grill modes of your microwave, I would use the main setting.

In the context of a salad setting, although you want moist meat, sausage would produce a bit much grease. If the grill setting can actually cauterize the meat without creating too much grease, or if you can capture the runoff (i.e. with a bacon microwaving plate), it would be more beneficial. In many cases, though, the microwave will soften the sausage, then cause it to dry out (again, you will want to capture the grease for the sake of the salad). Nonetheless, it seems like the microwave is a poor alternative, and (if it is smoked/pre-cooked sausage) you might better to just eat it cold.

That said, if the problem is that you are just looking for an alternative to steaming and then frying, have you consider braising, searing, grilling (if possible)? You could also do a marinade to moisten the meat and then do a quick, very high-temp fry (in a skillet) to just crust the marinade and heat the meat. These all seem faster or simpler than steaming and frying.


Another alternative is:

Dig a hole the size of a dutch oven
Fold a liner for the hole out of several layers of foil
Remove the foil liner
Put hot coals in the bottom of the hole
Put the foil liner over the coals
Add the food
Cover the food with foil
Add more coals on top if you need them

The earth around the foil liner holds heat much like the dutch oven pot would. Re-fill the hole when you are done, taking care to put the sod back intact, and the environmental impact is minimal.


Are you heating the brine first to dissolve the sugar and salt?
I've always heated the sugar and salt in water, poured that over the cabbage while still hot, then add the vinegar (I use white vinegar at room temperature) and mix well.
This heating and quick "cooling" should lock in the color.


When considering your options, you'll need to remember that the cheese mix must have a certain cooking time independently of the heat source:
The flour needs some time to gelatinize. Basically, the flour, butter and milk in your mix form a roux. If you heat it too short, you'll get a floury sludge instead of the cheesy creaminess you are looking for.

So while it is possible to cook the cheese sauce in the microwave, it does save neither time nor effort. You need to heat the mix slowly and stir often. If you have only a microwave at hand or are very prone to letting the cheese mix burn a bit on the stove (and detest the pot-scrubbing), it certainly is an option worth trying out. You'll need to decide for yourself, whether it fits your cooking style.

Side note re. other recipes as mentioned in other answers:
I chose to tailor my answer to your favourite recipe because even as there are lots of variations in Welsh Rarebit recipes, I assumed you like yours (with flour, sans beer or mustard) or you wouldn't call it your "staple lunch".


Chemistry of different brands of baking powder

Can anyone say what the chemical difference between the two is?

I can't say definitively. Here are the ingredients of Clabber Girl:

Here are the ingredients of Rumford:

The ingredients are similar, but different ordering. That is significant. Also note that Clabber Girl brand has aluminum as an ingredient, Rumsford does not.

(I learned from these images that Clabber owns Rumsford brand, I didn't know that)

  Is there a practical difference between different brands of baking powder, or are they all formulated so that they function the same?

In my home baking experience, the brands have been pretty similar. I opine that this is due to competitive and mature markets--you would want your product to be interchangeable with other brands. Few people want to retool recipes to accommodate a rogue baking powder.

Maybe one of the professional bakers here has insights regarding characteristics of different brands.

  Is one of the purposes of filler to make sure that the amount of carbon dioxide per unit of baking powder is the same between different brands of baking powder?

I believe that to be true. The fillers also prevent clumping or caking of the product.

When I first read your Q, I went to look up regulations on Baking Powder content. I didn't find any in the US, which is unusual. Then it occurred to me: Baking Powder invention was well before vigorous food industry regulation. So each brand could do what they want, and still call it Baking Powder.

I also searched patents, and came across this odd formulation:

  ...my invention consists, broadly, in the combination, with the ordinary ingredients of a good baking-powder viz., cream of tartar and an alkaline bicarbonate, mixed in the usual proportions of a small quantity of crystallized saccharine material in a finely-pulverized state. As illustrations of those substances in which this crystallized or crystallizable saccharine material is to be had, I name, first, sugar of milk obtained wholly from milk; second, cane-sugar obtained chiefly in a direct form from the sugar-cane plant, the beet-root, and the sugar-maple, and indirectly from. various other substances by conversion, and, third, grape sugar obtained chiefly from grapes and honey. This latter sugar is, however, not practically available by reason of the difficulty with which it is made to assume the crystalline form. Of these substances the sugar of milk and the cane-sugar are both easily crystallized...

Sugars in Baking Powder?


Sounds to me like you are making an American interpretation of a Pot au Feu chicken. When making a Pot au Feu neither browning the chicken nor fully covering the chicken with water is necessary as long as the lid is very tight to hold the steam.


How to get sour cream & onion potato chips flavor?

First things first: If you're trying to precisely replicate the flavor, you'll probably fail. Food scientists put an incredible amount of time, money and effort into developing those flavors and have ingredients and equipment that we don't have access to. Often, the flavors themselves are byproducts of industrial processing, and they've been combined in a way to make them pleasant. So if you're looking to get that exact flavor in your dip, you're going to be disappointed. If you're really just looking for a ballpark approximation which might be a little closer than what you've got now though, you've got a good shot at it.

If I were you, I would first try using dehydrated or freeze-dried green onions or chives which can often be found in glass jars in your grocery store. Mix them with your dip or make them into a powder to toss with your chips. Perhaps pureeing a product like chive cottage cheese which is made with dehydrated/freeze-dried chives might get you there. For the more industrial products, you'll have to look on the internet. Commercial chips almost certainly use sour cream powder (among other flavorants you probably can't find on Amazon) in their sour cream and onion chips. You could even try some sour cream and chives powder to see if that gets you closer, with less work.

Good luck and happy dipping!


How can I tell the difference between a rabbit and a cat?

In Germany we have an old (joking) saying that roughly translates to "head off, tail off - bunny", so your question is legitimate. But first thing's first: There is no health risk1 involved if you ate the latest shipment of "meowling rabbit". (To cat lovers everywhere: This is no endorsement, I have a much loved and pampered cat, too!)

The most obvious differences are

head (look at the teeth!),
tail (short vs. long), and
feet (cat claws are quite distinctive).

But I suspect these would be removed prior to sale, so we'd have to dig a bit deeper into anatomy:

Shoulder blades:
Cats' shoulder blades are rounded on top, especially in the front, making the shoulder blade almost semicircular with the ridge making for two differently shaped parts, rabbits' shoulder blades are triangular with the ridge somewhat parallel to the front side.
Femur (thigh bone):
A cat's femora are straight, whereas a rabbit's is more or less bent, especially pronounced in older animals. Same applies to a lesser extent to radius and ulna (forearm), but they might have been removed.
Ribs:
Cats' ribs are "rounder" than rabbits' ribs according to this source. I can't say by how much, but @aitchnyu's comment below suggests the difference is obvious enough to play a significant role in the novel/movie Papillon.
Pelvis:
The same source as above states that the foramen obturatum (= the loop-like opening near/below the hip joint) is oval in rabbits and round in cats. I couldn't find a good picture to show this, though.

Here's a rabbit:

Source: www.onlineveterinaryanatomy.net

And a cat:

1 other than the general risk every meat from questionable sources brings


I use sous vide as a tool in the kitchen on a regular basis. Over the years I've developed some preferences and recognize that as a tool, there are some jobs it does well, and other jobs where traditional cooking methods simply produce a better result.  For me, I prefer fish cooked using traditional methods, and I would use the stove, oven, or grill before I chose sous vide.  Having said that, striped bass works better sous vide that many other varieties.  It is firm and fairly forgiving.  So, your plan is reasonable.  A brief brine could help maintain the texture, if that is something you are interested in. There are numerous recipes on the internets.


How to make coconut oil without any food processor?

This is not something I have done, so I don't have all the answers you're looking for. This is, however, something my mother in law (Sri Lankan) does with old coconuts. It's something that's been done in Sri Lanka and other tropical countries for hundreds if not thousands of years.

She'll split the coconuts open and pry out the flesh, then leave the flesh out in the sun until it dries out. Then she takes it to a mill to grind, but at this point, you could grind it yourself. You could use a mortar & pestle or anything like that to grind it as finely as you can. Then squeeze the flesh until you get oil out of it.

I don't know how much oil will be produced, though.


How (much) can I minimise the cooking time of red split lentils?

I can’t give you numbers as I haven’t experimented with it yet (but am very inspired to do so by your post), but assuming that you will be heating water for a morning coffee or so, have you considered putting the lentils into a smallish thermos container, topping them up with boiling water and letting them soak / slow cook during the day? Adding your dehydrated veggies and spices wouldn’t require any serious cooking at all, just a quick reheating or bringing it back to a boil.

The idea is roughly based on the principle of a haybox, where food is cooked by placing the hot out into an insulating environment. And combined with the “quick soak” method for beans, where the beans are not soaked in cold, but boiling water, but for just thirty minutes instead of overnight.

Admittedly, this would probably get the lentils in the danger zone for longer than the canonical two hours, but on the other hand, we are not dealing with proteins like meat, raw eggs or dairy. But you could always adjust the time when you start the lentils to fit stricter food safety guidelines or your personal risk tolerance, e.g. boiling the water at your lunch break.


Mushrooms, beef, long cooking and bitterness

Ooooh!
I would not recommend using cast iron for slow cooking or long cooking of any kind. Especially if any sort of acidity is introduced. That bitter taste? That straight up might be the taste of the pan corroding. Cast iron is great for fast frying meats, sauteing vegetables, but it is not recommended that you make anything that has much liquid, and definitely avoid acidic foods. This is why it is always important to wash and dry your cast iron as soon as you are finished cooking in it - to avoid rusting and peeling.
Additionally.... I would try sauteeing your fresh mushrooms first in a bit of butter, over high heat. you want to sear them. Then add them to your soup :) the full umami (salty) flavor should come out nicely!


Beans soaking times, flavor vs flatulence

For the actual numbers you asked for, I found rather a large variety, even from a small number of papers. All I really feel like I can say is that something like 12 hours probably gets you a substantial reduction (25-50%), and it depends on the bean.

Based on this paper which soaked for 3 and 12 hours, it looks like for many beans, including lentils and chickpeas, 3 hours did about as much as 12 hours, but for soybeans, it took the 12 hour soak to remove most (56%) of the oligosaccharides. (See figure 3, on page 430, and some actual numbers under "total oligosaccharide content" on the same page. The point of that study was to look at other industrial techniques, so it looks like the complete tables are only for those.)

But then this paper reports 25-42% reduction in various oligosaccharides from soaking the common bean for 16 hours, this paper reports 20-35% reduction in soybeans and groundbeans from soaking for 12-14 hours (or 17-24% for cowpeas), and from 1% for red beans to 28% for common white beans in this paper (don't have access beyond the abstract to get soaking times). A clear outlier, this paper reports insignificant reduction from soaking below 50C.

Note that the actual numbers were never far above 50%, which suggests that if soaking sufficiently long does indeed work for you, you're probably okay with a decent amount remaining after soaking. Presumably that's because the cooking will get rid of more, and some low level is tolerable.

On that note, I'm not sure this is a tradeoff you actually have to make. Many people actually think soaking specifically in salt water results in better beans with a softer, creamier texture (see for example this answer). If that works for you, there's no reason not to soak thoroughly, perhaps 8-24 hours.

If you disagree, and are okay with the texture when unsoaked, then good news: long, slow cooking also reduces flatulence, so soak as little as you like, then cook long and slow, and you should be okay. Note that "slow" really just means a simmer, as opposed to a vigorous boil that'll tend to tear the beans up a bit. As mentioned in the comments, some beans (including kidney beans, notably) do need an initial boil, but you don't need a full boil for the whole cooking time.

If somehow you're in the middle - you want some soaking for texture, but don't like the flavor after long soaks, and you don't want long, slow cooking - then yeah, I guess you would have that tradeoff. Based on the above numbers, you'd probably need 12 hours to get a solid reduction in larger beans.

Of course, basing things on those numbers is a little fuzzy anyway. What reduction do you actually need to be okay? And when it's borderline, what's your personal tradeoff between flavor and gas? And it depends on the type of beans too. So, it's your personal preferences that'll set the balance, and you'll have to take a stab at it to find out.

If you were really interested a more substantial table and want a qualitative idea how to fill in the gaps...

As a very rough approximation, you can assume that the rate of diffusion out of the beans will be roughly proportional to the concentration remaining in the beans. This is probably a really bad approximation for short times, because things in dry, contracted beans will not diffuse as easily as in wet, expanded beans - in reality, the first hour or maybe two might not be removing much, then this approximation would be better afterwards. There may also be some amount that's bound up in the beans and can't really be extracted like this, so when we say 50% has diffused out, we mean 50% of what was available.

So then you'd have (where x is concentration, t is time, k is a constant), x'(t) = -k * x(t), for which the solution is x(t) = x_0 * e^(-k*t).

(It's actually proportional to the difference in concentrations between beans and water, but since that concentration is just the removed concentration scaled by the ratio of volumes, all that ends up doing is adding a constant; you still get the same e^-kt behavior, trending toward equilibrium. And you always soak in plenty of water, so to first order, you can just ignore that.)

That is, each additional unit of time gives the same proportional reduction in concentration: if hypothetically two hours gets you down to 0.8 of the initial concentration, then four hours will get you down to 0.8 * 0.8 = 0.64 of the initial concentration, and so on. At that rate, it'd take 10 hours to get to 0.1 of the initial concentration. But the actual rate, the value of that constant, depends on the bean, and as you can see from the numbers, it probably varies wildly.

This rough relation would also apply to anything diffusing out - undesirable or not. So in the end it might not do much for you, beyond suggesting that if for example things are awful with a 2 hour soak and nearly okay with a 4 hour soak, then you should definitely be okay with another couple hours.


What type of knife befits peeling/skinning melons and squashes?

You're going to be dealing with large, slippery things, with tough skins.

It's really easy to cut yourself with these.

For softer ones - melons - a serrated knife works well in my experience.  A regular bread knife will often be too thin, but a heavier knife with serrations works fine.

For harder items - the fall/winter squashes - I use a shorter-bladed chef's knife or utility knife so that I have more control.


I am cooking beef stew in the crockpot and accidentally put a little flour in the beginning not end

You should be fine, as long as you mix it in thoroughly.

Flouring the beef and browning is a very common first step, so there is maybe some in there already? Any extra flour to thicken needs some time to cook or it will make the gravy feel grainy.

Stir, stir, stir, and if you see any lumps, take them out. Be careful that this does not over-thicken the broth, as that might stick and burn during the simmering time that makes stew so stewy.


How do I cut bones in preparing a fast brown stock ("fond brun rapide")?

Yes, making a demiglace will take a long time. There isn't much of a way around that, as liquid will only evaporate so fast. For a proper demi, you will need to include lots of connective tissue in order to convert collagen to gelatine.

To make a stock, don't boil, it's not necessary. A simmer should be fine. And whatever size pot you're using, you'll want to have approximately 1:1::bones:aromatics, the solids should fill the pot completely, add just enough water to cover.

There isn't that much accuracy required in chopping up the bones, as long as they're relatively around the same size. I wouldn't pan-fry them, I would roast. And yes, you will need a cleaver (or a saw) to cut through the bones; you will destroy your other knives.


What is this? Fresh Kale looks to have small sprouting seeds, although looks similar to insect eggs

Thanks for the nice picture! They don't look like insect eggs to me. The one at the bottom of the photo, with the little groove/stripe down the middle & the sprout, looks like a seed, not of kale, but maybe some kind of grain. The one nearer the top, by your thumb, not sure. Maybe just strays from the field or the back of the truck. Wash your kale; I'm sure it's fine.


Disclaimer - I'm not familiar with the recipe, and I also couldn't find much on it when I looked, so I just had some thoughts to possibly offer in the absence of anything more offical.

If the salting is done before cooking, it wouldn't depend on the presence of salt "not being washed away" while cooking, but on the changes in the fish that happened while in the salt - it might be used for a short time to quickly draw water out of the fish, so it is drier and firmer when cooking, or it might be left in the salt longer, actually stored in salt for a while, to cure (like salt beef or pork).  The difference might be identified by how dry (and salty) the finished product is, since something cured in salt will tend to be very dry, maybe tough, and jerky-like in consistency, since salt is very efficient in extracting water, and may need to be washed and rehydrated before subsequent cooking, while something softer in consistency was likely salted for a short period of time and will depend on the cooking to stay unspoiled.  Salt-cured meat usually needs to be prepared further before eating (it is an ingredient, not a ready-made food).

If the salting was done after cooking, you would get different tastes and textures - probably mellower, less raw, and not needing further preparation (though it can be, it is a food moreso than an ingredient), something like that.  It isn't unheard of to preserve meats after cooking - you might look at confits or potted meats, to get ideas for how it would work.  Confits are also often briefly cured in salt and aromatics before cooking and storage, so this might be a related technique (or at least give some ideas).  Of course, confits and potted meats are also cooked or stored in fats (specifically for the air- and water-tight qualities, which keep bacteria from finding the food), which may be quite different from your Pla Tuu - and possibly the reason it needs periodic reheating to keep it safe while it is being, transformed?, during the storage or curing process or whatever.


If you're asking if the crumble is the source of your problem - it isn't.

Without a recipe and some indication of how you mix and bake your muffins, it is difficult to determine the cause of your cave-ins.  This is a common problem with muffins and cupcakes, though.  The most likely culprits are:  (1) too much liquid in your batter, (2) oven not hot enough, (3) chemical leavener is spent or you used too little, (3) you use too much leavener, (4) you didn't bake them long enough, (5) you used too much batter for each muffin (filling the cups too full), & (6) overmixing.

If you are following a respected recipe carefully and you know your leavener is fresh, then please make sure you are cooking in an oven that has been pre-heated fully to the temperature in your recipe - that temperature probably shouldn't be below 375°F (and, of course, altitude could be an issue here - how high-up are you?).  Most importantly, mix your ingredients only long enough for them to just barely come together (remember that it's OK if little traces of unincorporated flour are still visible) - mix by hand if you have used an electric mixer in the past.  Finally, avoid filling the cups in your muffin tin more than 2/3 full - using more better doesn't always make larger muffins - at some point, the muffin loses its ability to support the doming of the center.


How long will schmaltz last in the freezer?

It definitely depends on the kind of schmaltz you are having, but to be honest I never have seen schmaltz gone bad, even after several years. I have had schmaltz in the fridge for over a year and it was still perfectly fine.

I'd suggest the following: follow your gut. Just look at it and check for the usual signs. In order: Does it look normal (no mold, no discoloration, normal consistency)? Does it smell normal? Does it taste normal? Then it's probably still good and you can use it for whatever you like. If you're still unsure: use it for cooking only.


Baking soda is soluble in water at up to 90 grams per liter. If you add more than that to water, you'll end up with a saturated solution at 90 g/L plus some crystalline baking soda on the bottom of the container.

A teaspoon of baking soda has a mass of about 4.8 grams, so it'll take 53 ml of your saturated soda solution to deliver 1 teaspoon baking soda. In Fully metric terms, that's 11.1 ml of solution per gram baking soda.


What is a substitute for Poblano Peppers?

You can stuff any pepper which is large enough.

Poblano are moderately spicy.  You can use bell peppers, but they will not be spicy.  You might want to make up for that by including some spicier small peppers in your stuffing, perhaps a serrano or a jalapeno or seventeen, depending on your personal taste.


Is it better to use soft or hard ladyfingers when making tiramisu?

I always use the hard ones and they contribute to a good end result.

I guess with the soft ones it can end up soggy. The hard ones will absorb the liquids and will get a little softer, so the end result won't break down immediately.


We eat raw starch, in small to moderate amounts, almost every day without any obvious side effects.

It's difficult to find good figures, but bananas contain at least 1% starch (if ripe) and, I estimate, as much as 5% assuming only completely yellow bananas are eaten raw.

Fresh garden peas contain around 2% starch given that 40% of the sugars are converted to starch (estimated using the sugar content of snow peas).

Eating raw starch (in moderate amounts) is good for you

As the Wikipedia starch article states,

  Digestive enzymes have problems digesting crystalline structures. Raw
  starch will digest poorly in the duodenum and small intestine, while
  bacterial degradation will take place mainly in the colon.

This is not necessarily a bad thing since undigested starch, or resistant starch as it is known, is a source of insoluble dietary fiber. Upwards of 80% of any raw starch consumed will remain undigested. This overview notes that there is 'also limited evidence for a prebiotic effect of some starches that resist digestion'.

Counter-indications

The same article referred to above states that '[m]ost resistant starches [...] are thought to be fermentable'. And foods fermenting in the gut will produce gas so you might want to avoid eating excessive amounts of raw starch to avoid uncomfortable digestion problems.

This article from a raw food site warns against possible toxicity problems,

  Neither salivary amylase (ptyalin) nor pancreatic amylase can commence
  digestion of the starch until it is released from its globule. These
  starch-containing globules are, therefore, not digested at all and
  must be eliminated from the body as so much debris. Undigested
  materials such as these are toxic in the body and pose an eliminative
  burden without providing energy or other value.

I haven't yet found any scholarly literature to corroborate this, and the fact that this article fails to mention the, well established, role of resistent starch as dietary fiber makes me suspect its accuracy.

TFD's answer above states,

  The energy loss from easting raw starch is huge, there is little
  point. Eat it cooked.

Although I haven't attempted to verify this, I can't see how energy loss counts against eating raw starch if you are getting enough calories from the rest of your diet. It doesn't seem to count against eating celery. The raw food article has another explanation for why we choose not to eat very starchy foods raw,

  Most starches just don't taste that good in their raw state.

  Carrots, sweet potatoes and yams are notable exceptions, however,
  because these tubers, in addition to containing starches, also contain
  enough sugars to give them a sweet flavor.

It seems clear from this article that at least some people enjoy potatoes raw. It also suggests that it is, for the most part, safe to eat them although the resistent starches, as I also indicate, might cause you some gastro-intestinal discomfort.

Another answer here seems to suggest that raw potatoes contain more toxins than cooked. This is incorrect unless the potatoes were cooked at temperatures over 170°C (340°F). The toxins in potatoes are low to begin with unless they are allowed to develop green patches, in which case cooking at normal temperatures won't help.

It is worth noting that, while eating raw starch is probably not going to give you any big problems, you should check that there are no other problems related to eating raw foods that you are not accustomed to.


Substituting skim milk for whole milk in a caramel recipe

You can but the result will be much thicker than that with the whole milk, and they won't taste as good due to the reduction of fat.  You could add some oil or other fat to make up the diffrence, although that will most likely change the taste as well.


How to ensure that the Pancakes get cooked evenly?

You might try reducing the cooking heat a little, say on medium heat.  That way, the middle will finish cooking without the outside being overcooked.  And usually when you flip a pancake it should be almost entirely cooked through anyway.  You want to flip when the bubbles are pretty set on the top.


It could be as simple as a bare pantry shelf and an adventurous cook who combined them when there wasn't enough bread flour for her recipe. King Arthur Flour went above and beyond! Testing loaf after loaf to compare crust, crumb, and texture with a variety of flours. Are there differences? Certainly, but perhaps not as dramatic as we might think.

How to Substitute Bread Flour for All-Purpose Flour


Well, this is a common confusion between "sour" and "bitter".

The better your olive oil is, the lower its acid value - extra virgin olive oil has the lowest acid value, it is pressed in ways that reduce contact with atmospheric oxygen. Contact with oxygen increases the acid value of olive oil.

Whizzing olive oil in a blender aerates it, and the resultant oxidation increases the acid value, ie it gets more acidic and tastes "sourer".

Lots of people can discern the change, but they don't use the right word to express it ...


Is it okay to measure flour by weight by converting from volume?

Short answer: YES.  Measuring by weight is actually the better way to measure flour.

In fact, measuring flour by weight is the preferred method of measuring it in most places.  This is because while measuring by volume is more convenient*, measuring by weight is more accurate.  If you weigh your flour, however, you will always know you are using the same amount, whereas two individually measured cups of flour (done by volume) can have wildly different weights.  This makes recipes where you measure by volume much harder to repeat reliably and perfect with small tweaks.

For a more detailed reference on converting cups of flour to grams, see this answer. As noted in the answers to that question and in the comments below, the average weight of a cup of flour can vary greatly, between 4 and 5 ounces (about 110 to 140 grams), though a heavily packed cup could weigh much more. I personally use 1 cup = 4.5 ounces (125 grams) when I need to convert from volume to weight, but your results may vary depending on the recipe you're using

*There seems to be some contention here.  I'm from the US, where most people don't have kitchen scales (I'm the only one I know who does, despite being friends with lots of foodies).  For us, measuring by volume is practically mandatory, and if I want to measure something by weight, I have to convert the measures myself since they're usually given as volume only.  In other parts of the world, the situation is exactly the opposite -- everyone has scales, cups are nowhere to be found.  Convenience is obviously relative.


Correct measurement for chicken broth powder to water

The amount is totally subjective. In general, I prefer lighter amounts in soups and heavier amounts in any flavorings (I.e collard greens or broth powder used as spice.) Cooking is really more art than science, so precision is not usually my top priority. For whatever you are cooking, and if it is safe to do so, add a small amount, stir and taste. Chicken broth powder usually has a high sodium content, so treat it as flavored salt. If more "saltiness" is desired, add a teaspoon, stir, taste, and repeat.


Which wines have a strong, bitter flavor?

I haven't cooked chocolate with regular wine per se, but my instinct is that to get the right marriage of flavour you really might need to consider alternative approaches with both a higher sugar and alcohol content: dark chocolate is a very powerful flavour that will obliterate most wine.

So I would try using something else wine-related but with a considerable higher sugar and alcohol content: Port and chocolate certainly can complement each other well - I would recommend a tawny port (I have used this combination as a sauce for a savoury dish). You might try sherry too, but this is slightly riskier territory in my opinion.

A further alternative depending on the dish you are cooking would be to pursue your current course add a third component that will help with the overall flavour structure, typically something bittersweet and with fruit, such as redcurrant jelly.


How is it that zinfandel can taste spicy?

This has to do with esters, which are flavor compounds created during fermentation.

  Each grape variety has a unique physiological make up with aromatic compounds found in trace amounts within the grape skin cells. The concentration of each of these aromatic sensations is dependent on the grape type and is mostly undetectable until the juice is fermented. Fermentation magnifies and makes these aromas more easily perceived by the nose, so think of wine as a caricature of the grape.

From winegeeks.com.

another good reference

about the pepper flavor specifically, although in Shiraz I imagine it's the same or similar to that in Zinfandel:

  Australian chemists have identified the compound responsible for the peppery aroma of the country's iconic Shiraz wines - and discovered the same molecule is by far the strongest aroma in peppercorns themselves.


I tried seasoning an aluminium kawali and was pretty successful doing this.
I cleaned it very well and then layered it with a bit of oil (use peanut or canola) and then baked it outside on the bbq (or oven) for 30mins each time and then reapplying oil when it’s cooled down to touch. Important and ensure your kawali is upside down when baking and remove any handles.
I repeated these steps 5 times ( see pics attached for result).
Before using the wok properly, I sacrificed onions and ginger and burnt it for seasoning and then did the same thing with chicken pieces.
To clean I used warm water, wipe it paper towel and dry it on stove top to fully dry the kawali. I then, apply some oil on it before storing on paper bag until next use.


How to make, store, and reheat angel hair pasta for 250 in a tiny church kitchen

There are a few questions about this topic already, but angel hair is very tricky as it's very easy to overcook ... but it also cooks quickly, so it might work.

One of the big questions is going to be what other items you're going to be reheating, and so if all of the equipment that you mentioned are actually going to be available.  You're going to be holding/warming chicken, brocolli, and two sauces.  That's likely going to tie up the oven and possibly two of the burners on the stove.

Capellinini/Angel Hair typically cooks in 4-5 minutes.  At 3 to 4oz / person, you're looking at 47 to 63 lbs of pasta.  Even if you can cook 5 lbs of pasta at a time, if we assume 1 minute to pull the pasta & refill, it's still an hour.

So, a few important things to consider -- don't pour out hot water as you're cooking.  Find a way to quickly remove the pasta so that you then have hot water to cook the next batch.  There are companies that make pots with 'pasta inserts' that they claim are for this, but they're really for steaming, (they don't touch the bottom, and have excessively large holes) so there's a good chance that you'll lose a lot of pasta in the process.

There are 'pasta cooking baskets' like for restaurants, but they're typically smaller and intended for single servings.  If I were doing this, I'd either find a stainless steel fine holed or mesh colander than just barely fit into my largest pot, remove any side handles and rig up a way to remove it, so I could safely cook 4 or 5 lbs at a time.  If I couldn't find that, I'd buy stainless steel insect screen, and make my own basket.  But I have the tools (seamer and safety wire if that's not secure enough) and experience to do that sort of thing.  You would also want to keep a kettle of hot water available, as you'll need to replace the water that was absorbed by the pasta.

Your next option is to parcook the pasta, as is mentioned in other questions, removing it about 2 minutes before it's done (although I'd run some tests to verify timing).  The problem is that you have to toss it in oil to prevent it from sticking (which would be a lot for angel hair due to surface area) and cool it down quickly so it's not continuing to cook (shock in cold water, then wire racks over a sheet pan (in the fridge?) to let it drain).  I'd make nests of pasta, just to it's easier to repackage and/or portion for reheating.  So you'd need a lot of refrigerated storage on top of everything else.

You then have to reheat it.  You could either toss it back into boiling water for a minute (don't forget to subtract for carry over cooking) to finish cooking.  You could also steam it to reheat.  In that case, you'd want to pull it when it's super al-dente; steaming takes longer, but it gives a longer window to avoid overcooked pasta.  It's also possible to reheat pasta in hot (not boiling) water so you have a better window, but I'd be reluctant to do it with angel hair.  Or reheat it in hot sauce (thinned some to consider how much will be absorbed by the pasta).  (although for angel hair, I'd want to do it just before serving, and having a chef manning a 'pasta bar' for 250 people might be a problem unless he has 3-4 burners to work with).

If you don't have a steam table or similar to reheat, you can use a chafing dish and use an appropriately sized foil pan (leaving an inch or two of space underneath for boiling water, and fills the dish so there isn't lots of steam going out the sides) that you've poked lots of holes in.

So, the options are:

Find a way to cook large batches with limited reset time before the next batch.
Par cook, cool and then finish boiling (again with a way to quickly reset)
Cook to super-al dente, then finish by steaming, hot (not boiling) water, or in hot sauce.

Personally, I'd switch to a thicker pasta, as (1) I hate dealing with angel hair (too easy to ruin), and (2) I find that it's best for oil based sauces, I don't think it holds up well to thicker sauces like tomato or cream sauces.  I'd probably use a linguini fini.  The larger surface area vs. a fully round pasta will hold sauce better, and the larger size is more forgiving ... without significantly changing the dish if you went for fettuccine or a shaped pasta.  (note that penne rigatte seems to be the norm when I see 'pasta bars' at buffets)


How many calories does a home-made marinade add?

Oil which ends up being eaten, no matter if it comes from deep frying, marinating or just adding it, clocks in at 7-9 calories per gram of oil. If you add any sugar or thick syrup, calculate around 4 calories per gram. Tabasco sauce, being mostly vegetables and vinegar, is truly trivial in calories.

If you weigh the oil (and sugar if using) going into your marinade, and also weigh all your finished marinade, you can roughly calculate the calories per g of finished marinade: (("grams oil"*8)+("grams sugar"*4))/"total weight".

Now divide the total weight of marinade (minus the weight of marinade wasted -weigh it!) by the number of portions, and multiply with the calories per gram factor you calculated above.

Chances are that oil will penetrate less than other marinade ingredients, which could end up with there being a bit less calories in the finished food than calculated.


How to extract flavour from fruit without heating it or using alcohol?

Simply, you don't. Your post describes a method which starts with whole fruit, doesn't use heat or alcohol, is achievable in a home kitchen, and has a high yield. Such a method simply doesn't exist.

Your assumption that "if the food industry does it, I should be able to do it too" is wrong. The food industry doesn't do it. It uses engineered flavors, which create the most salient smell molecules of a given fruit without using the fruit. If these are created using pure chemistry (such as isoamyl acetate for banana flavor), they are called artificial flavors, if they are created biologically (e.g. isolated from mold, as for strawberry flavor), they are called natural or naturally identical flavors. Methods for extracting them from the real fruit exist, but they are too expensive and inconvenient.

All methods which start with the whole fruit have roughly two steps, first extraction with a solvent and then concentration. The only two solvents usable in your kitchen are alcohol and water (the industry may use others such as CO2, but the technology is not available at home) and you excluded alcohol. As for water, you could in principle do something like a compote or a fruit tea, but as you are looking for high concentration, you are lucky that all the flavor compounds in fruits are already dissolved in water - so your starting point will always be fruit juice.

By the way, you can probably improve your yield here somewhat with a suitable juicer - a masticating juicer will give you more juice per unit of fruit than a centrifugal juicer. But it will be an incremental improvement, don't expect to get three times as much juice out of the same mango.

The second step would be the concentration. You are right that heating changes the taste, but that's the only method available in a normal kitchen. The other methods would be freeze drying and vacuum distillation. I haven't heard of even the hardiest food geeks getting freeze drying systems in their laboratories (I wouldn't call their cooking spaces "a kitchen"!), and rotovaps for vaccum distillation are used by maybe a handful of cooks around the world. There, you can assume costs of about 10 000 Euro for the whole setup (including pump etc.) and you need a learning curve.

And third, if the unchanged taste is so important to you that you decide to pay the 10 000, your yield will still be tiny. It is not just that you get a small amount of fruit juice out of the large amount of whole fruit, you have to still reduce it further to get an actual concentrated extract. There is no way around that, it's simple physics - there is just a small amount of real "flavoring" in each berry or mango, and you can't get our more than there was in the first place!

If you want to flavor things at home, the most accesible way would be to purchase flavorings used by the food industry. They are rarely available in their pure form, but you can buy flavored concentrates intended for drinkds, such as Tang. Instead of adding water, you can use them to flavor other things like cake glaze or lollies (be mindful of the other ingredients such as sweetener and acid when you do it).

Another, more expensive option is to purchase freeze dried fruit powder. It does pack a punch of flavor and color, and gives a better flavor than the drink powders. And because it is completely dry, you can use it in places like buttercream where a water- or alcohol-based extract would mess up the texture. They are of course expensive, because of the abovementioned low yield, the industry needs to use kilograms of fruit to produce a few grams of the powder. If you do this, decide if you always need the pure stuff - for the most expensive ones, there are also options of powders which use maltose as the base, giving you more bulk.