Health Risks Associated with Asbestos

The reputation of asbestos is indeed well-deserved.  Inhalation of asbestos fibers can cause a wide range of potentially fatal conditions.  It is unlikely that normal home use of a product that contains asbestos will expose one to asbestos fibers.  However, people who work with asbestos, whether mining the raw materials or processing the asbestos into finished products, are at much higher risk of lung cancer and mesothelioma than the general population.

In other words, as long as no one ground up your grandmother's asbestos mat and blew it out into the room, there is no reason to be afraid of it.  However, the people who mined the asbestos and the people who formed it into a mat at the factory may have gotten very sick later in life.

Thermodynamic Properties of Asbestos

Specific Heat Capacity

The reason why asbestos was a good choice for your grandmother's baking rig, other than the fact it wouldn't catch fire, is that it has a high specific heat.  Specific heat is essentially a measure of how much energy it takes to raise the temperature of a given material.

Other consequences of a high specific heat are that the material will both heat evenly and loose temperature slowly.  Water, for example, has a very high heat capacity.  So, water takes a relatively long time to heat up, heats evenly, and cools down slowly.  Of course, you can't make a baking mat out of water....

Looking at a table of specific heat capacities of various materials, we can see that the specific heat capacity of asbestos is only about one quarter that of water, but is more that twice the heat capacity of iron.  If you made a mat out of iron, it would have to mass more than twice as much as the asbestos mat to have an equal heat capacity.

However, heat capacity is not the whole story.

Thermal Conduction

Thermal conduction is the transfer of heat between two objects that are in contact with each other.  For example, cast iron transfers its heat to what it touches about 400 times faster than asbestos mill board.  So, an iron mat would not work well at all, because it would, as you'd expect, burn the bottom of the cake.

Your grandmother needed a material with a high specific heat capacity, but low thermal conductivity.

Ovens

Baking cakes in a normal oven works similarly to how your grandmother baked cakes, and for the same reasons.  The air in an oven also has a high specific heat capacity (about the same as asbestos), but very low thermal conductivity (about 1/6th that of asbestos).

An oven is much more expensive than an asbestos mat and an electric fry pan, and will take up a lot more space.  It's just a trade-off.


It's to prevent rust. Rust requires oxygen and water to form. The longer you leave your knives wet or damp the more likely you are to develop rust.


Can Wild Yam (dioscorea villosa) replace Yamaimo (d. japonica) in japanese cuisine?

I would recommend against using Dioscorea villosa as a substitute for either yamaimo or nagaimo. I would also recommend against using any commercial product coming from Ghana, Mexico, or Indonesia which claims to be Dioscorea villosa.

The reason for my recommendation comes not from direct experience, but from my general knowledge of biology and taxonomy. Many members of the yam family are toxic to humans; or, if not harmful outright, may have medicinal properties (remember the rule that even good medicine is poison at the wrong dosage). There are also, of course, many edible yams; but each species is very different, and Dioscorea villosa has a reputation as a medicinal yam based both on tradition and on its diosgenin content, for which it was at times throughout history exploited for the biochemical production of steroid hormones (diosgenin can be chemically converted into steroid hormones). You should be VERY cautious before consuming culinary-quantities of a potentially-medicinal product.

Moreover, I am very skeptical of the idea that commercial products from Ghana, Indonesia, or Mexico truly are derived from the species Dioscorea villosa. They mention the diosgenin content quite prominently; many wild yams all around the world have been harvested (and over-harvested) for their diosgenin content. These wild yam powders are probably meant as medicine, possibly with extraction or filtration to increase diosgenin content.

Dioscorea villosa is native to the temperate regions of eastern North America. As a species I do not affirmatively know that it can even withstand the tropical climates of any of those countries. Wild yams native to the countries you name have indeed been used medicinally for thousands of years, but the particular Latin name "Dioscorea villosa" does not apply to all wild yams. It applies only to the particular North American species whose common name is "wild yam", other species whose common name is "wild yam" have other Latin names.

Thus, even if you were to buy one of these Dioscorea villosa powders, you would be wise to try to track down where the plants were harvested, so that you are more likely to know what species it actually comes from. If they weren't harvested in the Eastern US, or at barest minimum in a similar temperate climate, they probably weren't really Dioscorea villosa (there was probably a mistake in species-naming). It is typically unwise to put unknown substances into the body, and that's all the more true given the large differences between Dioscorea species.


Do I need a special oven to cook a pizza as evenly as the chain stores?

I too have a fan-assisted 230 degree-max oven, and I cook nice crispy-based pizza all the time, thanks to one thing - a pizza stone. Traditional pizza ovens have a stone base that absorbs the moisture from the crust, crisping it properly. A metal pan or sheet doesn't do this, so you get a soggy crust.

Pizza stones replicate the stone base of the traditional pizza oven. They are sized to fit in most conventional ovens, and you can get them from most cook shops, or Amazon, for about £10. Simply place the stone in the oven when you turn it on to preheat, let it get good and hot, then take it out and assemble your pizza right on the stone. Put it back in for 4-5 minutes et voila - a great crispy pizza every time.

You can get wood-fired, stone-based ovens (Jamie Oliver markets them these days) that you have built in your garden, but I'm pretty sure they cost a lot more than £100!


Does natural {peanut, cashew, almond} butter require refrigeration?

I don't think I've ever seen peanut butter grow mold, natural or commercial, refrigerated or not. What will happen with natural peanut butter is that the fat (of which there's plenty) will go rancid over time.

The oxidation process that leads to rancidity requires heat, light, and usually oxygen; keeping it in the refrigerator will therefore slow the process down significantly.

Manufacturers are probably not required to put the "keep refrigerated" warning on nut butters because eating rancid food technically won't kill you or make you seriously ill. When a product says to keep refrigerated, sometimes that's for safety, sometimes it's just for quality - in the case of peanut butter it's typically the latter.

Commercial peanut butter has a ton of sugar and other preservatives, which is why refrigeration is not necessary, even for quality purposes.


I left fully cooked lasagna out all night

Throw this out. The general rule of thumb is that food that isn't otherwise preserved (through  large quantities of acid or sugar for example) must not be in the danger zone from 40-140 degrees Fahrenheit for more than 2 hours. In practice this is an oversimplification - see the incredible and incredibly detailed food safety section in Modernist Cuisine for the whole story. Overnight is way too long. It is quite possible for bacteria to have multiplied and secreted toxins which are heat stable. E. Coli and Staph. Aureus both do this, for example. Reheating will not make this safe. It isn't worth making yourself or your family horribly ill. Order pizza.


How do banana peels reflect its ripening state? Can we influence that in our kitchen?

Alright, I'll go ahead and post this as an answer.

The fact of the matter is the Cavendish/dessert bananas should not be refrigerated. They will develop a sickly green/grey tinge to their skin. This does not really affect flavor, texture, or to the best of my knowledge, nutritional value, but it makes them look like ass.

Now, to the crux of your issue: you say this is a commercial kitchen. And herein lies your problem: your produce almost certainly gets delivered in a refrigerated truck. What the delivery drivers should be doing, but almost certainly aren't, is wrapping the bananas (and tomatoes, but I digress) in a nice heavy blanket. But let's be realistic, no truck driver is going to waste time doing that. So your bananas (and tomatoes!) are showing up, pre-refrigerated by your produce purveyor. And there's not a damn thing you can do about it.

Or is there?

There is something you can do. But it won't be easy, or particularly fun, unless you're a sadistic bastard who likes yelling at people. Get yourself a laser thermometer and meet the delivery truck when it rolls up. When the door opens, temp the bananas. (Actually, you should do this with every time/temperature sensitive product you receive.) If the bananas are less than ~50° F, send 'em back. Demand a fresh case. Refuse to pay. Keep doing it until you get the bananas you want. After a few rounds, your driver will make damn sure the bananas are perfect.


Without altering the recipe, that's what it'll look like (which I don't think is a bad thing, I like menemen a lot). However, if looks are more important, you could do a French alternative, piperade, instead. Its basically eggs cracked into salsa, rather than salsa added to eggs.


What you're describing isn't all that different from how they make various products like Liquid Smoke (make smoke along with steam, then condense that steam).  You will need to make sure that some actual condensation occurs (for example, by having a lid for the smokey vapor to condense onto).

However, it may be simpler to add a liquid smoke-type product directly; at least the main brands are actually smoke distillates (and not artificial flavorings or similar) and thus should be effectively identical to this process, but quicker.


Non stick pan browning milk vs stainless steel

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

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


The cut is important for both techniques. For sauteing, you need a lean cut - fillet, sirloin, or good rump steak. These should be cooked quickly over a high heat. As Cerberus has suggested, if you are cooking something else in the same pan, take the beef out and re-add it later; don't boil it in a sauce.

Stewing beef needs some fat and cartilage which breaks down during slow cooking and tenderises the meat. Packs of such beef are usually sold as such in the supermarket; look for a pack with plenty of fat marbled through the meat; 'Lean stewing steak' is as useful as a waterproof teabag! My personal favourite stewing beef is brisket, as it breaks down into nice tender fibres after 2-3 hours cooking.

Contrary to popular belief, browning meat does nothing to 'seal in the juices'. It simply provides a bit of extra colour and flavour by 'caramelising' the outside a little. So if you have a strong flavoured stew (like a chilli, for example), just throw the chunks of meat straight into the sauce.


What is a "fruit protector" as a recipe ingredient?

To the best of my knowledge there is only one major brand of fruit/vegetable preserver, Fruit-Fresh. In the U.S. it is often found in the canning section of grocery stores. It is available on Amazon UK (Fruit-Fresh) so you may also be able to find it in local markets.


Fresh - as opposed to dried.
Specifically in the UK, 'noodles' can only be Chinese/South-East Asian. Pasta is pasta, it is never called noodles over here, so we don't have the confusion the US has with the term.*
Fresh noodles you can find in the supermarket, usually refrigerated slightly, in with the 'delicate veg' section - near mangetout, pak choi, beansprouts, chillies etc.
There are usually a minimum of three types, The one you want will be just labelled 'Chinese noodles'[1] [pretty much the same as fresh spaghetti, made of durum wheat but has been through a fermentation phase giving a darker yellow/brown colour & stronger flavour, then tossed in oil to prevent sticking] alternatively, rice noodles [usually very skinny, vermicelli, very white, less oil] & then the bright yellow, pre-flavoured, Singapore noodles [again rice vermicelli but with 'flavourings' (avoid;)]
If you can't find them in the fridge in your store, then second best is 'vac-packed' which will be near the 'insta-food' sauces - [pad thai in a bag, just add chicken] type of things. These are similar to fresh, often with monikers like "straight to wok" etc. They're nowhere near as nice as fresh & always look to me more Japanese than Chinese, as they're quite white by comparison, so possibly not fermented].
If you can't get either of those, then it's back to dried. Soak in hot water 5 minutes, stir-fry.
Sometimes, I actually prefer dried. It depends on what I'm making.
The difference is very similar [unsurprisingly] to fresh vs dried Italian pasta. Some dishes are OK using dried, some have got to be fresh. Fresh doesn't have the bite, or al-dente that dried has. Just the same with noodles, except the 'bite' can often be slightly more rubbery [not in a bad way] compared to pasta.
One additional tip - you can pretty much pick the strength of flavour in dried noodles just by the colour. The browner they are the stronger the flavour [assuming no-one cheated & put colourings in them.]
If you're really really stuck, ramen noodles are very close to 'Chinese noodles' but only if they're good ones. Most ramen in cheap foil packs you can't see what's in it until you open it. Avoid unless desperate ;)
*Just to keep a balance, we have many other things we can get linguistically confused over… coriander, chili, to name but two ;)
[1] After comments, it's quite likely that these would be called 'chow mein' noodles in the US.


There are four main reasons that a sauce splits; the fat was added too quickly, the sauce got too hot, the sauce was refrigerated and seperated, or the sauce was left standing warm too long.  The fat should be added one teaspoon at a time and blended well, or the emulsifying agent gets overwhelmed.


Is it bad to leave the crock pot on "warm" (not low) all day?

I suspect "warm" is meant to maintain temperature, rather than raise it. My crock pots are too ancient to have anything other than "high" and "low", so I can't assert any real authority. However, if you reach 145F within the first hour at the highest setting, then keep it at "warm", and test the temperature after about 30 minutes with an instant-read thermometer and it stays around 140-160F, you'll probably be fine. Personally, I'd test the temperature first by cooking water.

If the temperature stays above 140F at low, the worst risk you'll have is overcooking. Beans  and vegetables like carrots and celery can overcook fairly easily in a crock pot, but higher collagen meats meant for stews tend to be fine when cooked for extended periods. Most crock pot recipes for stews and soups usually hold fine when at low for a full workday, although that's presuming a somewhat 70s-era soup aesthetic, which is probable for a crockpot recipe.

However, I would be inclined to attempt the recipe using the low setting rather than reducing it to warm, if you're not going to test the temperature first. If it turns out to be overcooked, you can always puree the ingredients with a blender...

I also doubt that switching to "warm" would be dramatically less likely to overcook the food than "low", unless it holds at a pretty stable 140F, and low ends up somewhere around 160F.


How should I keep date palm fruit at my home?

The dates you have are probably brahi, whereas the ones you remember eating before are medjhoul. These are different types of dates, and have slightly different flavour profiles.

As for storage, they should be fine for a few days at room temperature. For anything longer than that, they should be kept in the fridge, particularly if you live somewhere hot/humid.
I also vaguely remember an old Israeli habit of eating yellow dates frozen, or after a few minutes out of the freezer.


How to make the best of tough meat while camping?

Cheap, tough meat is a puzzle cooks have dealt with through the ages. The common solutions are as follows:

1) Low and Slow - cook at the edge of the fire, or atop a bed of coals, for a looooooooong time. Braising and stewing is also part of this method - adding a flavorful liquid to keep the meat moist while time and heat tenderize it. A cast-iron dutch oven is your friend. Steak chili!

2) Mechanical Tenderization - Whack the heck out of it with something heavy (back end of a hatchet or the underside of a piece of cast-iron cookware), poke dozens of little holes in it, and/or slice it thin. Beef roulade would work well roasted over an open fire, or shaved steak/italian beef/philly cheesesteak whacked and sliced on site and pan-fried in a skillet.

3) Chemical Tenderization - Acid, salt, sugar and time can make the strongest steak yield. A cheap bottle of italian dressing, a zip-lock bag, and a some quality time in the ice chest, and you have marinated steak kabob ready to be cubed, skewered and roasted over an open fire like meat marshmallows.

4) All of the above. Swiss steak! Actually, all of the above dish suggestions only work in concert with another. But seriously, Swiss. Steak.

You can do all of this in the field with a sharp knife, cheap plastic cutting board and a dutch oven or covered skillet (cast iron preferred, make your buddies pack it for you).


Basil lookalike that tastes like aniseed.

You bought thai basil. It's used a lot in south east Asia, and an anise-like taste is one of its qualities.

I don't use it often, but I always have some in stock in the freezer, for some thai or Vietnamese curries or soups.


How to clean utensils used to cook raw ground beef that have been left in the sink overnight?

Wash everything in very hot water, with dish soap, and rinse thoroughly.  Unless there are at risk people in your home, this should be sufficient.

If you are very concerned, you can make a sanitizing agent by diluting bleach.  The ratio would be about 1 tablespoon of bleach to one gallon of water, per this Oklahoma State University shared from UC Davis:

  [...] about one tablespoon (1/2 fluid ounce, 15  ml) of
  typical chlorine bleach per gallon of water is the maximum  that
  should be used for sanitizing food contact surfaces, according  to
  federal regulation. If higher concentrations are used, the surface
  must be rinsed with potable water after sanitizing. Contact times of
  one to five minutes are usually sufficient to achieve a thorough kill,
  depending on chlorine concentration and organic load.


Why are poblanos sometimes called pasillas?

I have not been able to find any kind of detailed history of the pepper crop in California online.

However, I will observe that I've only seen chilaca peppers available in Northern California in the last 5 years.  Previously, one never saw them, even at Latin markets.  On the other hand, California grows enormous quantities of poblano peppers, which are larger, hardier, and have a longer shelf life than chilacas when fresh.  Based on that, I suspect that some enterprising, dishonest produce supplier started supplying ancho peppers as pasillas to Mexicans in California decades ago, and after several decades of misnaming, the new names stuck.

I'll also observe that the dried poblanos sold as "anchos" in NorCal are a bit hotter than the ones sold as "pasilla", so it's also likely that there's two different varietals, bred here.  So it's also possible that whoever bred the milder poblanos named them "pasillas" to differentiate them from the hotter ones, confusing everyone.


In brewing coffee, do I need to use filtered water and what kind of filter should I use?

There is variable here. It depends on what water your filtering and what filter you're using. Depending on your location the mineral density of water will vary. Hard water being rich in mineral and soft water being poor. The harder the water the weaker your extraction will be. Extremely soft water like distilled or reverse osmosis water will leave you with a over extracted cup of coffee.

In general it is good practice to use a carbon filter system which removes impurities but retains minerals. However if you believe your water is too hard and you're under-extracting, try using a home filtering system that removes (some) minerals.


Why is my Buckwheat soba noodle dough crumbling?

The crumbly texture is, apparently, quite common when working with an all buckwheat dough since it doesn't develop gluten - one of the reasons why many home-made soba noodle recipes use a percentage of wheat flour to make the dough easier to work with.

If you have your heart set on a buckwheat-only soba noodle, be aware this is a common problem.  You might try boiling water and rolling and cutting a little thicker so they don't end up so fragile, mentioned below.  I also saw that the brand of buckwheat flour may be important (using a Japanese style, rather than American style buckwheat flour, apparently makes a big difference).  Check that the flour type is correct, that may help.

Another recipe I saw "pre-soaked" the flour (making a dough with water and a bit of lemon juice, and letting sit under a wet cloth overnight) to give the dough time to hydrate the flour.  I'm not sure whether the lemon juice or the extra long resting time was the relevant factor, but she doesn't seem to have problems with the dough.

And the last suggestion I found involved "beating the buckwheat", that is, mechanically working the dough long enough for the water-soluble parts of the flour to dissolve into the dough and let it become elastic that way (this extra working may be related to the extra-hydrating time of the last hint, or perhaps actual, mechanical thumping might be helpful in working the dough - it is used in some kinds of recipes to make dough behave).

From an article I found, here:

  Not only does a dough of 100% buckwheat flour tend to crumble and break while you work it, but it also dries out incredibly quickly and the resulting noodles are very fragile. Glenn Roberts of Anson Mills recommends using boiling water when making soba with 100% buckwheat to gelatinize the buckwheat starches and help the dough hold together. Roll the dough a bit thicker than recommended in the recipe below, and once made, cook and eat the noodles immediately before they dry out.


Can I soak and rejuice the pulp that comes out of a juicer?

The water soluble parts of the orange are all already solved in its juice. So in mixing the pulp with water, you aren't leeching any new orange components. The result won't be orange juice by any stretch, just water which has washed the last drops of juice your juicer didn't get.

If you drink your juice diluted (I prefer it that way: less sweet, less fructose, better value), doing it might provide it with a better diluting liquid than pure water. But it won't be anywhere near real orange juice for drinking on its own.

If you want to get some more orange taste out of the pulp, you can try boiling the pulp, or using a different solvent like alcohol or a fat. All will produce something very different from true orange juice (a syrup for the first if you add sugar, liqueur with alcohol or an essential oil with fat), and the amount will be rather small. So probably not worth the work.


Should an enameled cast iron pan be seasoned?

Short answer: No, you cannot season enameled cast iron cookware.

Enamel does not take seasoning in the same sense as cast iron or carbon steel.

I don't know if seasoning would *hurt" the pan, but I've never heard of anyone seasoning their enamel cookware. So if you do try it though, let us know how it goes.

If you’re gonna season, just buy cast iron and save a lot of money.


Food canned in steel cans (commonly called "tin cans" though none are made from tin), is generally considered safe - obviously we buy a lot of it at the store, and dedicated home canners can actually use steel cans themselves, with the cost of a special lid sealer device. Home canning with lined steel cans is considered safe by the FDA and USDA, at temperatures between 212F and 250F (pressure canning).

Modern cans are lined with an epoxy or other polymer lining that protects the can from corrosion, thus limiting the chance of contamination or spoilage. This liner usually contains small amounts of BPA (the chemical blamed for some potential long-term health problems), but amounts in different cans varies wildly, and the amount of BPA that is considered hazardous is also up for debate. If it matters greatly to you, you can get "BPA-free" canned food from some retailers (though some tests have found BPA even in "BPA-free" cans). Caveat emptor.

I would say that using cans to serve food would be safe, given a few caveats, mostly related to the liner:

Make sure the cans liner hasn't been damaged with scratches by sharp tools. Tin plating is a bit toxic and food contaminated by tin shouldn't be consumed, but it usually takes a long time for even very acidic food to break down the tin through a scratch in the coating. Even if there was a scratch I think it would be impossible for enough tin to get into the food to exceed the very high safety limits of 200mg/kg. Easy to avoid the problem entirely by scooping the food out of the old can with something plastic or silicon.
Don't heat the can above the temperature of boiling water. The liners are good up to around 240F at least, because that is roughly the temperature things are pressure sterilized at. If you are just serving out of the can rather than cooking in the can you should be fine.
Sharp edges - The opened can has sharp edges, make sure that you press the sharp edges down so they aren't likely to catch someone's finger or tongue (if the food is good enough that they are licking the cans clean!).
I won't get into the whole BPA thing deeply here - society in general seems comfortable with the small amount of BPA in most can liners, and I don't think you'd be "negligent" to use regular cans. If you feel strongly about it, use BPA-free cans from some brands sold at Sunflower Market, Whole Foods, Trader Joes or other "natural living" retailers.

The idea sounds cool, and I bet people will enjoy it! I'd recommend removing the cat-food labels, though. ;)


How to add flavor to potato soup (using minimally processed ingredients)?

First, cook your potatoes in stock, not water.  I prefer chicken stock but you can use vegetable stock if you prefer.  Make sure you use only enough stock to barely cover the potatoes, and cook them with the lid off.  When the potatoes are done, add milk or cream until you achieve a nice, creamy consistency.  If necessary, you can thicken it by mashing some of the potatoes against the side of the pan.  You can also add some grated cheese.  I would use a hard cheese like Parmigiano or Romano.  Now just season to taste.  With a simple soup like potato, I would stick to salt and pepper only.  If you do use other spices, be careful because they will easily overwhelm the delicate flavor.


Which types of tomatoes are good for which dishes?

The general consensus is that for occidental-style, cooked tomato sauces - all of the sauces you mention are - you want to use the more plum-shaped, thicker-skinned types like Roma or San Marzano, NOT globe tomatoes, especially not the greenhouse grown, large, watery varieties. The more ripe, the better.

Also, good quality canned product (whole peeled, or peeled strips) is usually considered superior to fresh, due to them being canned at optimal ripeness which would make transporting them fresh impractical. I found that the cheapest brands often are sloppily peeled and/or not ripe enough and/or too sour, it is usually worth going for the 90 cent can vs the 30 cent can.

Also, do experiment with what part of the tomato you use. You could:

-Use it whole except the stem, and puree or strain the sauce later (does not apply to canned peeled obviously :) )

-Use everything except the peel (will need looooong stewing to deal with the seeds)

-Use the flesh, and also the juice strained from the seeds

-Use only the flesh (lot of tomato needed, and you might lose some of the umami from the juices)

Also, mashing vs pureeing vs straining can make a lot of textural difference.


How to make and keep long grain organic brown rice tender

When reheating any kind of rice, you will need to add water to it (with white rice, just covering the container with a damp paper towel works). However, brown rice does not reheat well at all; and from personal experience it is exactly how you describe it. So what we do when we cook rice for our meals, is we throw it in the rice cooker as we shower and get ready for the day to limit moisture loss as over the course of a day or night in a fridge.

However, when it comes to cooking it the first time, the easiest way is to use an actual rice cooker. The one I have has a separate setting for White, Brown (short and long grain) and steam (like for veggies). It was not expensive (like 40CAD). If you have a preference for the convenience of an Instapot, that would be my recommendation. You can add spices, herbs and other flavouring agents into it as well (just do it after you add the water and rice so it staying on top to remove when it's cooked, no one likes eating star anise by accident lol).


How do I eliminate Corn Meal "grittiness"?

If you don't want gritty bread, use finely milled polenta. Roughly milled polenta is like semolina, and results in a gritty batter. Finely milled polenta is like flour, and results in a smooth batter.

I don't know the proper names for the different milling grades in English. I don't mean cornflour, which is pure maize starch from the inside of the maize kernel. I mean whole maize kernels milled so the particles are the same size as wheat flour. It is yellow and tastes the same way as the rough one, only the texture is different.

The two types of polenta differ in their water absorption and soaking times, so you may want to use a recipe developed for the fine milled type, or tweak your own recipe.

To give you a better example, here is what you need:

You don't want to use the rough form, which looks like this:


What is the benefit of Pressure Cooking (other than faster cooking)?

I do not know that there are any benefits aside from what you have already mentioned. Pressure cooking is a technique, like using the slow cooker. It is similar to a debate on broiling vs. pan-searing. They both do something similar in slightly different ways.

The only other (and totally subjective) advantage I have seen, since I primarily use the pressure cooker for stocks, is better gelatin extraction from the bones and tendons with the pressure cooker. My stocks are thicker than the old-school "simmer it all day" approach, but it may just be I'm getting better at making stock since I gave up using anything but a pressure cooker for stock years ago. Therefore my case series is a retrospective review and subject to inherent biases from the study methodology.


How to make shelf-stable chocolate milk?

The major protein in cow's milk, casein precipitates at pH 4.6. It matters very little which acid you use to get to 4.6, casein will still precipitate. pH 4.6 is about the same acidity as canned beets, a food not known for its tartness, so you won't achieve a very sour flavor before things start curding up on you.
Adding emulsifiers could help some with the isoelectric precipitation, but emulsifiers have flavors too, and you'll have to add them at a not insignificant fraction of the protein (casein) concentration.

For shelf stable chocolate milk, I'd go with a mix of powdered milk and cocoa powder; just add water. All the storebought room temp chocolate milk products I've seen are ultrapasturized or similar.


What is this cast iron skillet with diagonal ribs intended for?

That is a "grill pan" and it is intended to allow food to cook above the grease that it might release, and create grill marks on the food in which it is cooked.  It simulates grilling without the benefit of the juices falling into the fire (which creates the grilled flavors that many of us enjoy).


Gluten free bread in breadmaker looks weird and doesn't rise

There shouldn't be much different between dough rising on your counter vs. in your bread machine, unless your bread machine heats the dough slightly during rise (in which case the bread machine will be quicker).

There are two things likely to cause what you're seeing:

The dough hasn't achieved enough elasticity to rise. Normally this elasticity is provided by gluten, so it can be hard to obtain in gluten-free recipes. Easy enough to test: take your dough out of the bread machine after it finishes kneading, and let it rise on the counter (without any additional kneading). If it rises on the counter, then the dough had enough elasticity (and the yeast was alive, etc.). If it doesn't, you'll need to adjust the recipe and/or the amount of time the machine kneads for (if possible). Or possibly something like pre-mixing the xanthan with the water before pouring it into the machine. If it does rise on the counter, that leaves...
The bread machine didn't wait long enough. Time how long it takes to rise on the counter. Hopefully your bread machine allows you to adjust the rise time and use that as a basis; it may be shorter if it elevates the temperature. You could also attempt to speed up the rise with a bit more yeast, switching to quicker yeast (rapid rise vs. instant), or adding a little sugar.

The not really cooked denseness you're getting is a side-effect of the lack of rise. Get it to rise properly, and that should go away.


I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say...underbaked.

Either you didn't leave it in long enough or your oven wasn 't hot enough.  Realize many, many ovens can be significantly off their 'set' temperature.  An oven thermometer is a great investment.

(I don't believe applesauce had anything to do with this unless you put like 10x the amount of applesauce in.)


Can oil be replaced with yoghurt in a cake recipe?

Short answer - not really. Fat is an essential component in any cake, and milk just isn't very fatty - about 5% for whole milk. You can make cakes with milk, but they require totally different recipes: you can't simply substitute milk for oil.

Bear in mind that you're distributing the cup of oil throughout a whole cake, so that any one slice will only have a fraction of the oil. I assume you'll also be sharing the cake with others, so you'll be 'spreading the calories' somewhat.

You should be using a neutral oil like canola (rapeseed) oil anyway, as it has a relatively mild flavour. A popular alternative these days is to substitute all but a couple of tablespoons of the oil with apple sauce (really), but this can be hit and miss and doesn't work with all recipes - it usually works best with things like quick breads (scones etc).

Of course, there's also the point that cakes are supposed to be a treat, and they'd be less of a treat without the fat, in which case why bother? If you want to be healthy, make a salad. If you want a treat, make a cake and don't worry about the contents too much.


How can I use these new findings on tomatoes to my advantage?

Picking a tomato which is individually ugly isn't going to help you.  It's still the same variety and grown, stored and shipped under the same conditions as the other tomatoes in the pile.

Try looking for a store (farmers' and ethnic markets are good for this) which has a whole bin of ugly tomatoes; those are a different variety and/or handled differently.  Heck, here in California, there's even a hybrid brand which is marketed under the name "Uglyripe", which is quite tasty.

Also, just "ugly" isn't a sufficient description.  What you're looking for is irregularities in color, shape and size.  Bruising, blemishes, wormholes and brown streaks don't indicate a better-tasting tomato, just one which has been abused.


How do they make Mexican vanilla extract?

You can find many instructions on the web for how to make your own vanilla extract, such as this one from Beanilla.  As Derobert mentions, it is essentially just soaking the beans ins spirits long enough for the flavors to infuse.  The beans you buy will determine the flavor profile.  To make Mexican vanilla extract, you would buy pods imported from Mexico.

Regarding commercial products:

If you are speaking of pure, genuine vanilla extract of the type legal for import in the US, then Mexican vanilla extract is the same as any other.

Such vanilla is subject, in the US at least, to the FDA standard for identity for vanilla extract, and so cannot vary from this model.  It is made, usually, by soaking vanilla beans in an alcohol/water solution, although there are alternate methods permitted.   Several minor ingredients such as sugars or glycerine are permitted, but if used, must specified on the label.

On the other hand, there are products available in Mexico that are not true vanilla.  These are made from extracts of the tonka plant, and contain a substance, coumarin, that is not permitted in foods in the US, as it is a blood thinner and can cause bleeding.   The FDA says:

  Be wary about buying products labeled "Vainilla" or "Extracto de Vainilla" in Mexico and other Latin American countries. Look for "vanilla bean" in the ingredient list on the label. If it has "tonka bean" or if there is no ingredient list or a vague one, do not purchase this product.


I usually freeze mango slices in a ziplock (note that it's best to place it in a single layer in the freezer)

then I let them thaw for a few minutes (3-4 minutes) before I blend them and that's my go-to mango smoothie/puree recipe.

The issue with your method might be that you let it thaw completely for a long time which is not really needed. Another issue could be the freezer bag you used which probably is not airtight, that also could affect the taste.


How to add flavour coating to gelatine or starch capsules?

use a spritzer bottle to spray a (VERY LIGHT) mist of flavored water on them. make sure not to get the pills too wet or they will be ruined.


What should be the tooth of banana pudding pie?

It is difficult to give an authoritative answer because who knows what a "typical" pie might be like. It might be different for every person you talk to. I will therefore answer just for myself.

All of the made-from-scratch pudding pies that I have made have been very similar- a lot of sugar and fat and some starch to make the gel. Usually recipes also call for egg yolks which also help with binding but make the pudding a little more custardy instead of just a gel.

The texture should be sliceable so that the sliced edges sag but don't flow. I have had pies that have to be scooped out which, while perfectly delicious, isn't as nice a presentation. On the other side of the spectrum is what you have- rubber- which is a great presentation when cutting but not much fun to eat.

Gradually adding your corn starch slurry is always a good idea. Often the starch is mixed with the sugar to make sure it is evenly dispersed and then added to the liquid. As long as you didn't have clumps your technique here was fine.

I don't think your expectations of a banana pudding pie or your technique are wrong. What I think is slightly wrong is your expectations for this recipe. It's "wrong" to call something a "take on a southern classic" that uses soy milk and organic margarine. The milk fat and egg yolks in typical recipes do a lot to make a smooth, custardy pudding. Doing this with different fats and soy milk could be good but I would expect it to be different.

The bananas don't have to be precooked- that would be horrible, I haven't used earth balance but if it behaves like normal margarine then your crust sounds like it is pretty normal. The number of bananas also sounds reasonable. You want a good layer but not so much that the pudding can't work in to bind it together.

Reducing the amount of corn starch a little should make the filling softer and more to your liking. You could try adding a little more fat which will also soften the pie. In the end though, I wouldn't expect a typical texture of a pie that is made completely of non-typical ingredients.


Buttercream frosting with 2T buttermilk - refrigerate overnight or no?

Considering the extremely high concentration of sugar in this style of frosting, it should be fine stored at room temperature as you usually do.

The concentration of sugar will actually help dehydrate and kill those live cultures present in both the buttermilk and lemon juice through osmosis.


There are a few different methods to achieve this. The end goal is to get layers of different colored frosting in rings in your piping bag. The method I ended up preferring uses a piece of cling film/plastic wrap along with your piping bag and tip. This method also makes it easy to have colors change as you progress.

Start by cutting off a square piece of cling film (about 12"x12" or 12"x15"). In the center of it, either pipe or spread a 1/2 inch thick layer of the color you want to appear on the outside in a rectangle about 4 inches wide and 9-10 inches long (be sure to leave an inch or two on either end of the rectangle. On top of that, make a narrower rectangle with your second color but going the full length of the first. Finally, put a very narrow rectangle or strip of the center color on top of that.

It should end up looking something like this:

At this point, carefully roll the three layers into a cylinder, making sure the ends of the largest rectangle meet completely. Twist the cylinder ends to close them and prepare your piping bag with the tip you want to use. Trim one end of the cling wrap and feed that end into the piping bag. Twist the end of the piping bag to close and you should be ready to start piping!

Part of why I like this method is that it's pretty simple to let your colors drift to change what the primary (outermost) color is by adjusting how you lay out the colors. So, if you want four colors and you want the outermost color to change from darkest to second darkest and the innermost color to also lighten from the third to fourth color, you could lay it out like this, instead:

In this case, the darkest blue stops where the second one is the full width of the frosting rectangle. I used the same shades of color in this example but you could use any collection of colors you want. As you pipe, it will muddy a bit but, all in all, it's pretty effective.

Different thicknesses of frosting layers and widths of bands will change which color predominates. A thin outermost layer with a thicker, wider middle layer will tend towards tips of the outer color with a predominance of the middle layer.


why does oil temperature rise when I put food in the pan

It depends on the type of the thermometer and the position of the sensor inside of it.  In all likely hood, you're not measuring the oil temperature but the air/steam above the surface.

When you put the food in, it produces more flow due to the water evaporating from the food and leaving the oil and registering on the sensor.

This is sometimes tricky, because some sensors are right at the tip and if you let it sink to the bottom you have yet another problem of reading the burner contact point and not the fluid.

Your best bet is to try and keep your sensor probe somewhat horizontal and almost fully submerged..


What natural ingredient besides honey and fats can I use to bind a mixture of powders together?

You could use nut butter, caramelized sugar, marshmellows or gelatin to bind things together, but it really depends on what is in the powder you are trying to solidify.


Is kimchi a suitable addition to a noodle soup?

Kimchi are not preferred to be added directly to soup. Usually you would fry the Kimchi (ideally in Sesame oil) to slightly transparent or having minor brown on the edges, before adding into the soup, and boil for . That is not only applicable to KimChi JiGae- but also other varieties of KimChi broth (e.g. hotpot, Kimchi ramen/noodles (BuDae JiGae) etc.)

Adding Kimchi directly to soup/broth and boil is more a Northern Chinese way of cooking (where Kimchi is not called kimchi but literally called "Spicy Pickled Cabbage").

Frying beforehand and adding directly to soup/water can taste very, very different.


slow cooking chicken thigh in a spice mix

There is almost no such thing as overcooking chicken thighs. Chicken thighs are simply the most forgiving piece of meat known to man. The only thing that concerns me about your plan is that you plan to dice the chicken. There is nothing wrong with that, but diced chicken thighs are very slightly less forgiving than whole chicken thighs. If you do dice them, you should be aware of them, don't leave them for hours on end.

You will be able to tell at what point you've reached the point of diminishing returns (referring to taste) just by tasting frequently once the thighs are safely "done". What I mean by that is that the thighs have reached a safe temperature (165F/74C). How long that will take will depend on a lot of factors, not the least of which is the setting you choose for the crockpot. Wait for a few minutes after the thighs lose their illusion of translucency. Once they look opaque, they're pretty close to being safely done. At that point, if you continue to cook them at whatever setting you have chosen for just a few more minutes (maybe 25 minutes more on low, 10 minutes on high), you will almost certainly be safe to taste the dish.

Especially if you're relatively new to cooking, I recommend backing up that visual method with a thermometer. It's a little harder to get an accurate reading on diced chicken than on whole chicken pieces, but it is totally doable as long as the pieces aren't tiny. Figure at least an inch square, roughly. Just stick an instant read thermometer into an individual piece or two, and also just in the center of the mass of food (not hitting the bottom of the crockpot). If all of those readings are reasonably similar, all of the readings are at at or above 165F, and the chicken passes the "opaque" test, then you can start tasting.

Cooking chicken thighs in a crockpot is one of the easiest ways to make chicken, and it works great. You can leave whole chicken thighs in a crockpot on low all day. On high, you might want to take them out in four or five hours (ish). If you debone and cut the thighs into approximately 1 inch cubes, then figure about 50% of the time that you would use for whole thighs.

If you Google "chicken thighs crockpot recipe", and "diced chicken thighs crockpot recipe", you will find many recipes that you can use as guides.

If I were making chicken thighs tonight with a spice blend or sauce, I would certainly consider a crockpot for the task.

One small caveat is that you want to use less water in a crockpot than the instructions say for stovetop preparation. You can always add a little more water for the final several minutes of cooking if you want the dish to be more liquid, but you barely need additional moisture at all to cook chicken thighs in a crockpot. I would actually consider using the spice blend like a rub, and then just adding a few teaspoons of water to the crockpot. One of the golden rules of cooking is that it's a whole lot easier to add more (of anything) than to take it away.

As far as the bonus, your ideas sound good. So do peas or potatoes. That question is more subjective than most we see here, so I'll reiterate the Google suggestion. Let the recipes you find and answers here be a guide, but decisions of taste are ultimately yours to make.


Yes, saurkraut can go bad.  It is a fermented product, protected from other micro-fauna growing by the acidity of the juice, a natural pickle created during the fermentation.

Having the juice cover the solids is important to protect them from spoilage.

If the juice gets diluted, or there simply is not enough to cover the kraut do to spillage, being eaten or whatever, then molds and other things can colonize and begin to grow.

Throw your saurkraut away if it shows signs of mold, or if it has an unusual odor.

Still, because of the pickle, it should have a long shelf life in practice.  Still Tasty suggests six months, refrigerated.


Roasted, salted dry chickpeas are a snack food.

I would not expect for you to be able to make humus out of them; for one thing, they would have way too much salt, and the texture would be wrong.  It might be possible with a lot of experimentation, but you'd need to go through several failed batches before you got one which worked.  Personally, I'd just go back to the store.


Does a bread box requires holes for ventilation?

There is no one true answer to it - otherwise you would see only one style of bread box. The better the ventilation, the faster the bread becomes hard and the less likely it is for the bread to develop mold - and vice versa, the less ventilation, the longer the bread does stay soft, the more likely it is to develop mold.


At what point should carrots be thrown away?

If your carrots are going soft after just a few days, you're not storing them properly. Mine keep for weeks and weeks. I leave them in the plastic bag, and keep that in one of the vegetable drawers in my fridge. How are you storing yours?

A rubbery soft carrot isn't bad for you, it just isn't very pleasant. A slimy carrot is bad for you, don't eat it.


Is there a reason to have coffee grounds at the bottom of an espresso?

Two possibilities:

It's just sloppy.  They're dispensing directly from the espresso machine into the cup, and as a result the finest particles that should be poured off, with proper technique, ended up in the cup.  Given that the main reason to dispense directly in the cup is that they're using a super-automatic (push-button) machine, I'd be pretty unhappy with that if I'd paid a lot for it.
They're deliberately leaving the fine particles in the pour to "prove" that it's real espresso and not a Nespresso capsule.  This seems misguided to me, but I can imagine someone doing it.


Here is why it's stupid:

Sous-vide doesn't get hot enough to kill botulism spores. Low acid foods will be very dangerous.
Boiling is required for a strong seal on canning jars.
All pectin jellies I have seen require boiling to set.

High acid recipes often call for processing in a water bath for a mere 10 minutes to seal the lids. Recipes that don't call for the water bath universally call for the product to be refrigerated.

Perhaps high acid foods could be vacuum sealed instead of bottled and pasteurized. It seems feasible but this is not the sort of thing you should experiment with. The failure conditions are catastrophic.


Teabags: for how long should I let them sit in the hot water?

This will vary greatly depending on the type of tea you are drinking. Green and white teas can have steeping times as short as 30 seconds, and darker teas like puehr can sometimes steep 7 minutes or more. It can also depend on if you are re-steeping the tea (which, using teabags, you probably aren't), as each additional steep will require more time.


What does "buttermilk" mean in an American pancake recipe?

You are correct that in the US buttermilk refers to cultured milk and not the soured leftovers from making butter. Historically buttermilk was the liquid left after making butter that had fermented during the accumulation of the cream. It was described as milky and sour- not creamy like modern buttermilk.

Your recipe is certainly referring to the cultured variety. I have never seen or heard of actual buttermilk being sold anywhere and so I have no idea if it can be used in the same recipes.

The milk doesn't have to be whole. The product is thick, creamy, and tart not unlike a loose yogurt.

I don't know German but I can say that Kefir (if it is the same product as one with the same name in Russian) is definitely not buttermilk. It can be used as a substitute as it has a similar texture but the flavor is very different.


Cook it with the string on, then remove the string when you eat it. It is there to hold it altogether while cooking. Should be fine to grill, butcher's twine is food safe and stands up to roasting and braising so should be fine on the grill too. But if you wanted to do something else, like turn the smaller pieces into kabobs, then you could skewer them with some veggies and grill them.

At least your butcher was honest about tying the pieces together with string. I bought a vaccum packed ribeye "steak" the other day and when I was grilling it and turned it, the top part came off as a thin slice like roladen.


How do I cook store-bought glutinous rice dumplings?

I would not follow the advice of boiling them for three hours, you will likely have nothing left! I would not boil them at all in fact, most dumplings you get from asian supermarkets in western countries are made so that they can be steamed from frozen for 15-30 minutes and then eaten. They are often produced for the catering trade, you see, so quick cooking times are important. The picture you posted looks like they are possibly fried, but it's hard to tell.

I am making the assumption you are not in Asia, and this is a specialist supermarket, so I would simply call up the supermarket and ask. It's pretty likely someone there will be able to speak with you.

If not, the important thing is to make sure that the dumplings are cooked throughout to at least 160F (72C), this will at least make them safe. I'd recommend using a digital instant-read thermometer for the job. The three methods I know of to cook pre-made dumplings are:

Steam: you can use a bamboo steamer if you have one, but any steamer will do really. If you can get banana leaves use them to line the bottom, but if not use something to line the bottom of your steamer because these things stick like glue!
Fry then steam: this is done with a wok, you brown the dumplings in the wok in some oil, then you pour a bit of water in and cover. The dumplings then steam under the cover, and the oil gets vaporized as well giving the dumplings a nice sheen. I've only used this for small wonton-style dumplings, I wouldn't recommend this method for your big ones although there's no reason you couldn't try it. Just remember that pouring water into hot oil causes spurts, a top tip from me to avoid being singed would be to hold the cover over and pour the water in through a small gap. Keeps the mess down as well
Deep frying: I'm sure shallow frying would work as well, however you must thaw these out before frying them. Throwing frozen dumplings straight into a pool of boiling oil is dangerous! I don't have a deep fryer and I don't like the mess of shallow frying so I avoid dumplings that require this. Also, not many dumplings are deep fried

All in all I'd try steaming one of them for 25-30 minutes and then testing it. Vary the steaming time accordingly.


The first way to boost the cheese flavor in any cheese sauce is by adding salt.  In Mac + Cheese, authors Allison Arevalo and Erin Wade give the following tip:

  If you have added the proper amount of cheese to your mac, but it still doesn't taste “cheesy” enough, chances are the problem is not cheese, but salt. Salt brings out the flavors of all kinds of food—meat, chocolate, bread—but it is particularly noticeable with mac and cheese. So if your mac isn't tasting as cheesy as you want, don't start grating more cheese. Try adding a bit more salt first, and see if you don’t notice a huge difference.

Another way to boost the savoriness of a cheese sauce is to add blanched or sweated onion puree before adding the cheese.  Many nacho cheese sauces start out with a bare-bones Bechamel, leaving out the onion and veal fat found in the richest Classic Bechamel recipes.  Adding sweated onion puree and cheese to a bare-bone Bechamel you end up with something richer and more savory.  This is the approach to cheese sauce that Michael Ruhlman suggests as a base for cheese souffle and mac and cheese in his book Ruhlman's 20.

Using aged cheeses can add a ton a flavor, but don't bother using anything too expensive some of the more pungent, barnyard flavors in cheeses like English Farmstead Cheddars can become too aggressive in a cheese sauce.  As others have mentioned some aged cheeses are dry and can lead to seizing if not balanced with other ingredients which help to reduce seizing.  One way to avoid seizing when using dry or aged cheeses is to make at least 20% (by weight) of the cheeses you use process cheese like American or cream cheese.

The more "modernist" method of getting aged cheese flavor in a cheese sauce relies on the use of so-called melting salts such as, Sodium citrate and Sodium hexametaphosphate.  These ingredients resist seizing and are used in lieu of a butter/flour roux in cheese sauces.


The parts that are inedible in an octopus of any size are the "insides" and beak. If you got it frozen, no need to worry about the insides but if you caught it yourself, you need to turn its bag inside out (it will fight but once it's inside out it will calm down!) and remove the white soft stuff in there with your finger.

The beak is the only hard bit and amazingly determines the widest hole an octopus can fit through. It needs to be removed before cooking (I have been told but not sure there's basis for it). It's fairly easy to cut around the beak and discard the mouth.

A REALLY important point however you choose to cook your octopus is to NOT USE ANY SALT! It has a lot absorbed in it already and it will lose about half its volume while cooked.

I would simmer it in a pan without any water (the rest of its lost volume is water) until you can easily pierce it with a fork and then chop the head and tentacles and finish them in a grill or oiled pan.

---edit---
Actually, the brain and eyes are not particularly appetising, so you might as well remove those as well...

And while we are at it, I assume you mean a common, mediterranean octopus with two sets of suckers on each tentacle; if you are referring to any other weird exotic things disregard my answer completely


How long after the expiry date can I use Chipits Skor toffee bits

This is likely a "best by" date, rather than some sort of indication of spoilage.  Usually these dates indicate when the flavor and/or texture is likely to begin to degrade.  Therefore, it is not a health or safety issue, but rather a quality issue.  You can eat them, and determine for yourself whether or not the flavor and/or texture has degraded from the same product consumed before the "best by" or "expiry" date.


How do you season and cook to palates and preferences different than yours?

I have (nearly) no sense of taste and smell, and what sense I do have is heavily distorted. As a result, my senses are non-indicative of dish quality. Nearly every meal I cook is shared with at least one person, though, so I've had to adapt.

I iterate over the same recipe over and over varying the spice mixtures and ratios, and ask for comment every time. I write down said comments with the recipe, and then adjust from there. Usually my recipes stop evolving by the time I've written iteration #4-5 (less for newer recipes, as I can now "play" the flavors by ear).

When I'm cooking for people I don't see often, I use my well-rehearsed recipes. I also select foods where the cooking is more of a science, where it's hard to mess up the flavor, or where people take a self-seasoning approach (e.g. baking bread, grilling steak, baking potatoes).

Edit: Here's some simple spice trends from my personal recipes. These have been calibrated almost exclusively on Southern U.S. guests:

Mild Spanish Paprika (Pimentón) is great for grilling and pan-frying pork (along with the usual suspects like salt and pepper).
Add 1/person dried bay leaves (whole ones, not chopped or ground) and 1/person garlic cloves to your rice when cooking it. Remove them after cooking. Do the same for stews, and really anything that cooks in water (other than pasta and potatoes).
Add some granulated garlic (which is basically powdered garlic without the dust issues) to nearly everything. It's quick, mess-free, and I think most people (at least near me) harbor a terrible addiction for garlic. Use actual garlic when doing stews, sauces, or you just have the extra time to peel it.
Substitute bacon fat for butter when cooking things other than bread and pork. Only thing people are more addicted to than garlic would be bacon. Use both garlic and bacon fat when making mashed potatoes, watch them cry happy tears while they ask for additional helpings.
Instead of plain vegetable/frying oil, get a bottle of non-virgin olive oil and a bottle of peanut oil. After cooking with them a few times you'll get a feel for which is right for each dish (rule of thumb: higher temperatures means peanut).
I have yet to find a dish that wasn't improved by sprinkling some parsley on top at the very end. It adds color (specially to anything that doesn't have green otherwise), and everyone either loves it or is neutral to it.


Difference between instant cocoa and drinking chocolate

They are technically different... but it seems that the producers do not always follow the correct terminology in an attempt to sound fancy.

Instant Cocoa is made with cocoa powder, as you stated in your question. It's made from leftovers from the chocolate making process and contains little cocoa butter. Hot beverages made with it are called "Hot Cocoa".

Drinking Chocolate is actually made with actual chocolate, either in disks, pellets or shavings. This means it contains lots of the rich, buttery cocoa butter. Adding it to hot milk causes the chocolate to melt and turn into the delicious beverage "Hot Chocolate".

The terms above are as found on several sites, including the one below... That being said, the "Drinking Chocolate" pictured above, Divine Drinking Chocolate, is not actually drinking chocolate.  It is a sweetened cocoa powder mixture. Divine Site

So, when you're looking for a true drinking chocolate be sure to read the ingredients label.

More in-depth info on the source link.

Source: The Nibble


Why exactly do leafy vegetables turn to mush when frozen uncoooked?

In freezing, it is mostly the bursting of the cell walls as the ice crystals expand.

Much like a water balloon holds its shape when it is intact, but becomes flaccid when punctured, so to the cell walls comprising the vegetable.

See related, for why a similar thing happens when you cook spinach:
Why does spinach lose its texture when cooked?

Cooked vegetables are already soft and their metaphorical balloons partially deflated.  It is not going to get a lot worse for the freezing.  The par cooking is mostly disable enzymes which would change the color of the vegetable to dull olive drab, or negatively affect the flavor.

See: Why blanche vegetables before freezing?


Why do my hotpockets always split down the sides?

Splitting is presumably because of steam building up inside and trying to escape, causing them to break at the weak points. I'm not sure I've ever had a hot pocket, but presumably since they're designed to be microwaved, it's possible to avoid.

Most likely the microwave is just higher power or more uneven than average. If the hot pockets are a bit too hot in addition to splitting, reduce the time. If you get them the right overall temperature and they still split, try cooking longer at a lower power (e.g. 4 minutes at 50%).  If there's no turntable, open the microwave and move it yourself halfway through. If no matter what you do, they split, try poking a hole at the top of one end to let steam escape.


Bubbles Are ONly on Top of My Sourdough Starter

I believe this is just because the bubbles all rise to the top which is where they will sit due to the surface tension. I don't believe it is anything to be concerned about.


Tips for cooking seared tuna just right?

With seared Tuna the point is to create a charred crust while leaving the inside mostly raw. It's very similar to cooking a steak rare in that the secret is a very hot pan and a short amount of time. So get your pan as hot as you can, coat the cooking surfaces of the tuna steaks with a bit of oil with a high smoke point (corn, canola, peanut - not olive oil or walnut oil), then fry the tuna for as little time as you can get away with. I'd think 45-60 seconds per side. In case you are wondering the oil forms a good heat contact with the tuna, improving conductivity, it's not for any flavor effect.

Now you may have a stove that doesn't get the pan hot enough in which case it takes too long to form a crust and the inside cooks more than you like, in which case you can try:

Not letting the tuna thaw completely. If it's still a teensy bit frozen in the middle the heat from the cooking will thaw it, not cook it. You could also try it straight out of the fridge
Use a cooking torch. You can also use a plumbing torch, it's the same thing except much cheaper


What is the best water to use for yeast being used in bread making?

There's no single right or wrong answer to the question as it depends on the mineral content (ie hardness), acidity, and chlorine content of your water. Yeast and gluten development is affected by these factors, see this good summary from the King Arthur Flour site:

  The degree of hardness is an indication of the amount of calcium and
  magnesium ions in water, expressed in parts per million (ppm). Soft
  water has less than 50 ppm, while hard water has over 200 ppm.
  Generally, water of medium hardness, with about 100 to 150 ppm of
  minerals, is best suited to bread baking. The minerals in water
  provide food for the yeast, and therefore can benefit fermentation.
  However, if the water is excessively hard, there will be a tightening
  effect on the gluten, as well as a decrease in the fermentation rate
  (the minerals make water absorption more difficult for the proteins in
  the flour). On the other hand, if water is excessively soft, the lack
  of minerals will result in a dough that is sticky and slack.

Acidity has an effect as well, too acid or too basic will impact your yeast, neutral or very slightly acidic is best.

Water with a high chlorine content is not ideal as it may impact the flavor of the bread, and can impact the development of cultured starters like sourdoughs. Chlorine is not an issue though as simply leaving water in an open container for a day or two will let it naturally disperse.

So, your bread will be best if there's some minerals in the water to feed the yeast and aid gluten development, it will also be best if the water is very slightly acidic. In many places water that comes out of the tap is perfect, and in most places it will work fine. Purified water is not good because it doesn't have enough minerals in it. Filtered water from a RO system may be fine, whether you want to go further really depends on how much residual mineral content there is in it. I live in a hard water area, about 250ppm, and I use a brita filter for my bread making and cooking and as long as the filter is not used up it seems to work, although I don't know what the actual mineral content after filtering is. If I really wanted to know I would get a testing kit, they do not cost much and are simple to use. I would suggest you get test kits for hardness and acidity, you probably don't need one unless you know you are adding it in your RO system.

Another good article I've seen on the subject is here.

EDIT: chloramines
Chloramines are sometimes added to water instead of chlorine because it does not evaporate easily and therefore much less can be used. The EPA's guidelines is a maximum of 4ppm, however beer brewers state that yeast eating chloramines can produce off flavors in the end product even in small concentrations. I don't know how that translates into bread baking though. Chloramine can be boiled off, but that takes a lot of energy, or you can use Campden tablets to remove it. A charcoal filter like a brita can also remove some, how much I do not know. All I can say is that I've never detected any off flavors in bread when I've used filtered water.


My German Apple Cake sank in the middle and I don't know how to fix it

There are a few reasons a cake might sink. First, you may have added too much baking soda or the baking soda may have been old. Or, you may have allowed your batter to sit for too long. Both of these would contribute to your cake over rising and then collapsing.
 Otherwise, most cake-sink cases have a lot to do with temperature. It's possible your oven doesn't reach the temperature it's set at (can be solved with  handy thermometer) or you opened the oven too many times to check on your cake.
 If you're concerned about the streusel, try to apply it in a thin even layer, although I've never had a problem with it being so heavy the cake won't rise. Hope this helps!


Botulism is a risk with unprocessed food which has been close to the soil, so fresh vegetables, or especially alliums (garlic!). It is not present in commercially produced chocolate - if it were, it would grow inside the bar. Remember, there is no oxygen in the middle of a chocolate bar either!

Normally, you can't expect that the mixture of two shelf-stable substances is also shelf stable, as you may add back the one factor which was keeping bacteria out. But in the case of chocolate mixed with an oil (or any other kind of pure fat, such as cocoa butter), this is not a problem.

Your mixture is shelf stable, and safe to consume for years. The only thing you have to care about is rancidity.


Is the "gamey" taste of venison just a polite name for "rotten"?

According to the University of Minnesota Extension (emphasis added):

What causes the wild or gamey taste in venison?
Venison refers to the
meat of antlered animals such as deer, moose, elk and caribou. The
'wild' flavor of venison is directly related to what the animal eats.
Corn fed deer will have a milder flavor than those that eat acorns or
sage. The 'gamey' flavor is more noticeable in the fat. Removing the
fat, connective tissue, silver skin, bone and hair during processing
lessens the 'gamey' taste. However, undesirable strong flavors are due
to inadequate bleeding, delay in field dressing or failure to cool the
carcass promptly.

So while some gaminess is simply due to the diet of the wild animals, improper dressing or treatment can be a contributing factor.


The problem could be the recipe. If you're using a lot of lemon juice, then a lot of sugar to cover up all that acidity, you're guaranteed to end up with something pretty soft. Have a look around at other lemon sorbet recipes, and see if you're using relatively more.

But if your recipe is sane, then it could be your process. Here's how it could mess things up.

Sorbet is basically sugar water with a bit of flavor. When it freezes all the way, unless it was churned as it froze, there's going to be a tendency for it to separate into ice crystals and even stronger sugar water. Some of this may happen in your first freezing step. Then you're pulverizing it in a food processor, probably giving it a chance to melt a bit. This is much worse than just leaving it out, since once it's in tiny bits, there's a lot more surface area exposed to air, and you're continuously mixing it, bringing in warm air, and so on. Then finally, it refreezes. The part that managed to melt in the meantime is going to repeat the earlier process, except now there's lots of space, so it's even easier for ice crystals to form and force out the sugar. So I'd definitely expect a tendency to end up with a runny sugar syrup component to your "sorbet". (If it's at all grainy, this is probably what's happening.)

If you're determined to do this without any kind of ice cream maker, it's going to be hard to avoid problems. You can certainly try to correct for it by using less sugar, though. You could also just make a granita - freeze it on a sheet, and scrape it off to serve.


The main factors a base liquid can contribute to a marinade are:

Bulk -- enough volume to reach all of the food.
Acidity -- helps tenderize the surface of meats, and provides a bright flavor balance
Sweetness -- helps provide a flavor balance
Viscosity -- helps the marinade stick to or coat the target food
Enzymatic activity -- some liquids (such as pineapple juice) have active enzymes which can break down proteins, tenderizing them in the short term (with the danger of turning them mushy in the long term)
Flavor profile -- contribute flavor to the marinade, and thus to the food it adheres to or sauces it is eventually incorporated into

You did not provide a recipe, but in most Chinese dishes, the vinegar or rice wine in the marinade contributes some acidity (rice vinegar not always being as strong as western vinegar), possibly some sweetness, and of course, the characteristic flavor.  However, Chinese marinades are not normally used for long enough periods, nor are they acidic enough for the acid to be an active ingredient; it is just part of the overall flavor balance.

Therefore, whiskey should serve well for most purposes, assuming you like the flavor it brings.  While it probably has less acid than  vinegar or wine, this is unlikely to be a significant difference.


Yeast, depending on the strain, can typically sustain in alcohol in concentrations of up to 14-18%. Some strains can actually go higher. (I personally keep a champagne yeast on hand for homemade root beer and ginger ale that goes to about 18%). Typical bottled beer runs to about 6%.

Once started the fermentation process, at room temperature, is only slowed or stopped by CO2 build up or starvation, until the alcohol reaches toxic levels. Given the portion of beer to the overall volume in beer bread recipes, the abundance of food for the yeast and the relatively short period allowed for rising none of these factors should inhibit the yeast.

In short, the environment in your dough will reach nowhere near 'toxic' levels during the rise.


How do I cook a steak well-done without it drying out?

sous vide is an excellent technique to use, for your situation.  You can cook any number of foods to your desired doneness while also pasteurizing the product.  So, you can have your cake and eat it too, so to speak.  With sous vide there is no problem with a rare steak, because you can pasteurize.  Remember, pasteurization is not simply a result of temperature...but, temperature + time.  For example, with sous vide, you can cook a raw egg at 57C (134.6 F) for two hours...it will appear raw and behave as raw, but will be pasteurized and safe to eat.  Why give up steak the way you like it?


Turkish delight: cornstarch or gelatine?

If you want to make real Turkish delight, use cornstarch and only cornstarch. Nowhere on the Balkan have I seen a gelatine-thickened Turkish delight. No Turkish person will recognize a gelatine-thickened candy as lokum. I would go as far as to insist that aromatzied sugar syrup+gelatine = gummi bear, while aromatized sugar syrup+cornstarch = Turkish delight, although some people will feel that this is pedantic.

Beside authenticity, gelatine-containing recipes are prone to weeping, I have seen questions about that around here.

Bottom line: I would always make it with cornstarch. This doesn't mean that candy made with gelatine can't be tasty; it is just that if you want what you get in a Turkish shop, you can't do it with gelatine.


30 hours is fine. In most cases 24 hours just means prepare them the day before. I wouldn't eat them if they were soaking for 3 days. If you changed the water daily and they were refrigerated, they'd be safe but will have lost a lot of flavor.


The excellent answer to the question Why can applesauce be used in place of oil? points out that one of the key reasons for using applesauce in quick bread type recipes such as pancakes is the pectin.  Pumpkin also contains pectin.  Therefore pumpkin should provide a similar effect on your recipe as the applesauce.

What the pumpkin puree won't provide is the sugar that applesauce provides.  You will likely want to up the sugar provided by your recipe to account for this, unless you routinely use unsweetened applesauce.  The water content between pumpkin puree and applesauce will also be different, as will the exact proteins.

I would suggest starting with a one to one replacement of pumpkin for applesauce for a very pumpkin-y taste, but you will have to experiment.  You will also want to add sugar to taste.  If you want a more subtle flavor, consider substituting only part of the applesauce with pumpkin.


Can I substitute canola or safflower oil for vegetable oil when making granola?

canola oil and vegetable oil are the usually the same thing. Veg oil is simply a less specific oil that could be made from different or combined vegetable sources, but not those which contain nut oils.

sunflower (not safflower) oil is likely your best bet for the least flavor contribution to your granola.


Effect of xanthan gum on agar agar gels?

In lower concentrations of Agar Agar you'll have weeping (Syneresis); Xanthan gum is generally used to lower syneresis when combined with other hydrocolloids. Apart from slight texture changes; you'll benefit from less weeping.

per this paper Evaluation of Blends of Alternative Gelling Agents with Agar and Development of Xanthagar, A Gelling Mix, Suitable for Plant Tissue Culture Media; Agar Agar + Xanthan gum (i.e. Xanthagar) is considered as an economically viable alternative for using Agar Agar directly. As XG cheaper compared to Agar.


Home outdoor cooking apparatus for high heat cooking (wok, stir fry)

I don't know what's available in Australia, but in the US they market high-output outdoor burners for deep-frying turkeys. This one is marketed as 200,000 BTU, twice the output of the ones often used in Chinese restaurants. (This $1,000 restaurant wok is marketed as 90,000 BTU.)

Most outdoor turkey fryers are marketed as 60,000 BTU, which will probably work reasonably well. They are decidedly not to be used indoors; YouTube has many videos of people setting their houses on fire.

Getting one in Australia may be a challenge, but they're very common in the US, and many kitchen stores and (oddly) hardware stores. I imagine you could have one shipped, though I'd verify that your propane tanks are compatible.


There's two things you really need to control, the moisture of the surface of the beef and the heat / fat content of the pan.

Always pat beef down with a paper kitchen towel (or whatever else you use) prior to seasoning it and searing it. It will sear considerably faster if you do this, which results in you having less time per batch for the fonde to burn.

The second thing you have to do is keep an eye on when your pan gets back up to temperature after you put your next batch in, and quite possibly lower the heat a bit (and even perhaps add a tiny bit more fat).

But there's also the possibility that 3 large batches is just going to be quite difficult using one pan, so you could use two pans, or deglaze the pan after the second batch and save it (not ideal, but better than losing all that flavor).

I've never done more than two large pan fulls in a single go (I'd probably use a griddle that sits over 2 burners instead, if I had that much to sear).


Hazelnuts have a lot of oil in them. Grinding the hazelnuts released that oil, resulting in a gloopy mixture.

The good news is, given a day or two some of the oil will separate out (at room temperature. Don't freeze it.) and you can pour it off the top. The result will be thicker when the remaining oil is stirred back in.


Substituting stevia for erythritol in recipes

No, you can't. If you're talking about pure stevia it needs to be mixed with another sweetener to add bulk and texture, as well as to minimise its bitter after-taste. For a cake, I use erythritol + 1 tsp pure stevia at most, depending on other ingredients in the mix. You could try an allulose blend instead of erythritol, but it isn't available in the UK.


How do I make soft caramel for homemade Caramel Apples?

Yield: Approximately 1½ cups

Ingredients

Making Caramel - Method 1 (Wet Method)

1 cups (200 grams) granulated sugar

¼ cup (60 ml) water

Making Caramel - Method 2 (Dry Method)

1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar

For the Caramel Sauce:

Caramel

¾ cup (178 ml) heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter

½-1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 vanilla bean, seeds removed from the pod (optional)

2 tablespoons whiskey (optional)
**

**Instructions**

**

Making Caramel - Method 1 (Wet Method):

Combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Allow sugar to melt and bring to a boil. Let the mixture caramelize and wait for it to turn dark amber in color. Do not stir, swirl pan as needed to promote even caramelization.

Making Caramel - Method 2 (Dry Method):

Sprinkle sugar evenly on the bottom of a medium saucepan set over medium heat. Allow sugar to melt and caramelize, swirling as necessary to promote even caramelization. Do not stir.

To make the Caramel Sauce:

As soon as the caramel is dark amber in color, immediately remove it from the heat and slowly add the heavy cream while whisking constantly. Caramel will bubble violently.

Return mixture to medium heat and simmer until any clumps have dissolved and
mixture is smooth.

Remove from heat and stir in butter and salt. Add vanilla extract and if desired, vanilla bean and whiskey.


1/2 pound to 1 pound per person is standard for US when planning meat amount; pending on the overall average guess and type of party.

For sides; figure on 2-3 gallons = 50 people

Another way to look at it; since you have so many sides.
1-1.5 pounds of food per person; total.


How to cook Beansprouts so that they remain crispy

I only know one way -- don't cook them.

I add them at the last second before serving.  If I want them to warm through slightly, I'll mix them into whatever else has been cooked before plating -- otherwise, I'll just add them on top as more of a garnish.


Why do sun-dried tomatoes taste different than fresh tomatoes?

There are a number of reasons why the flavor of tomatoes changes during both the cooking and drying processes.

The first is that when drying the tomatoes, farmers and processors will dust the tomatoes in fairly high levels of salt, which helps to keep harmful microbes and insects from eating into the fruit and causing rot and infections.

The second is that when drying anything, you need to remove the water from the flesh of whatever it is you're drying. This causes all of the flavor molecules to become more concentrated. The resulting flavor is more intense because there is simply more flavor per bite.

The final and probably most important (and beautiful:) reason is chemistry. Tomatoes play house to something like 400 volatile aromatic compounds - that is, molecular structures that change and break apart during the acts of heating or drying. While I don't have the EXACT science in front of me right now (and can't seem to find it on the interblags) there's strong indications that it has quite a bit to do with the structure of sulfur-heavy amino acids, c6 volatiles, and glutamic acid breaking down over the course of the drying process - due to the evaporation of water and introduction of salt - and changing into different aroma molecules.

All of these, taken together together have a profound impact on the flavor profile of sundried tomatoes.


Where can I find nut-free chocolate in the EU?

This company will send nut free chocolate worldwide.  They appear to be a small family firm that make some pretty robust claims about their nut-free credentials.  I'm not connected with them in any way and I can't vouch for how their product tastes either.  They're actually called the Nut Free Chocolate People so I'd hope they're true to their word.


I'm not an authority on poppadoms (I hadn't heard of them before today...) but after some searching online (and identifying three different brands of "cook at home" poppadoms), checking some ingredient lists, and checking other recipes, I think I'm prepared to say that the difference between the recipe you've used and the "ready to cook" prepackaged versions is indeed the raising agents, as you thought.
The next immediate question, then, is how much to add? One recipe that I saw used a 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda with an entire pound of flour. That seems on the lower end, to me, but like I already said, I'm not a poppadom expert by any means. Frankly, I'd recommend using at least 1/4 teaspoons of baking soda for every 1/2 cup of flour.
The exact amount will depend on your recipe. I hope this is helpful. :)


This is really an issue of risk.

The USDA's recommendation is not to consume meat that has experienced more than four hours of cumulative time between 40° and 140° F. Essentially, that means that the level of risk of illness from food-borne pathogens is acceptable in that range. The government's position is that 5 hours beyond a level of risk that they are willing to expose the public to.

Also be aware that (sliced) deli meat is more prone to pathogens that a whole ham.

That said, it comes down to what level of risk you are comfortable with. Personally, I would probably eat it myself, but not serve it to others.


What can you do with an infrared thermometer?

Infrared thermometers work very well when measuring the temperature of hot oil. For deep frying it's not a big deal, as standard probe thermometers work fine. But for shallow frying or sauteeing, the IR thermometer does an excellent job at providing the temperature of the oil. (Note that IR thermometers are not accurate when measuring the temperature of a dry steel pan, as the shininess makes the pan look much cooler than it is. IR thermometers work fine on dry cast iron pans, though!)

IR thermometers work rather poorly when measuring the temperature of hot water, however! Rather than measuring the temperature of the water surface, which is usually similar to the mass of the water due to convection, it measures the average temperature of the water vapor coming off the surface! In my experience, boiling water measures about 200 F with an IR thermometer.


How to pasteurize eggs in a sous vide machine (in the shell)

The definitive source for Sous Vide information on the web at the moment is Douglas Baldwin's wonderful A Practical Guide to Sous Vide. It has wonderful safety information and goes well beyond the 'recipe' side of Sous Vide. It's pretty much the bible (since Modernist Cuisine is too expensive).

Based on the information he has on pasteurizing eggs, I would suggest trying a shorter period of time. He says that 75 minutes at 135F will be sufficient. If you read through his stuff, you'll see that he doesn't play fast and loose with safety / times, so I would trust that time / temp. That's significantly shorter period than you are doing them. Hopefully that's your issue.

I'm not sure how much your white is coagulating, but this is what he has to say about it:

  While the properties of the egg yolk are unaffected, the egg white is milky compared to a raw egg. Whipping time is significantly longer for pasteurized eggs, but the final whip volume is nearly the same

Update: There was a culinary research paper released in January that I think resolves this issue (or see this blog post for a more accessible overview). It turns out that the protein coagulation in eggs is a function of temperature and time, rather than just temperature as was commonly assumed. So leaving your egg in to pasteurize for longer than the minimum required time will affect the texture. So use the minimum time of 75 minutes and you should see a significant difference.


How to approximate the Maillard temperature (154°C) in a pan?

The Maillard reaction begins around 150° C.  You do not need that exact temperature.  Usually, you don't even want that exact temperature; even baking temperatures usually hover around 175-200° C (350-400° F), and those temperatures are held for 20 minutes or more.  Pan-frying is almost always a fast cooking process lasting no longer than 10 minutes.

Thus, almost every cooking oil has a smoke point at or around the ideal temperature.  Butter is a bit too low around 121-149° C (250-300° F), but the vast majority of liquid oils - peanut, sunflower, corn, canola, sesame, even EVOO - all have smoke points from 150-260° C (300-500° F).

See Wikipedia's list of smoke points for a fairly complete list.  Avoid butter and unrefined flaxseed/safflower/sunflower oil (commercially-bottled oil is almost always refined, except for EVOO).

Of course, this doesn't say anything about cooking time or sticking.  When we talk about frying or sautéing in oil (i.e. to get the Maillard reaction going), we usually want a quick sear, and for that you really want to get the pan screaming hot so that you can get a good sear on the outside without doing much to the inside.  Clarified butter, coconut oil, or any other of the highly-refined oils are the best for that purpose.

If you're really trying to prolong the cooking time, i.e. pan-frying a chicken breast all the way through, then I guess you'd stick with a lower smoke point oil, such as EVOO or unrefined peanut or sesame.


When cooking Chicken Tandoori or Chicken Kababs, how do you make that crisp spicy layer thicker?

Restaurants usually make it on charcoal grill. I don't know the science but that does make a difference in achieving that look as well as taste. Use thicker yogurt with higher fat level, and keep the marinade thicker. I have been able to achieve that crusty layer by keeping my marinade thicker and using yogurt with at least 5% fat. Low fat yogurt usually results in thinner marinade.

For red color, you can use either red/deep orange food color or paprika. In south asian cuisine, we would often use something called 'Kashmiri red chilli powder' which is a mild chilli pepper but brings a gorgeous red color.

Edit: To add more from comments

The list of ingredients in the recipe you've linked is exactly what we usually use. There is no additional ingredient to that. Only the quality of ingredients and cooking technique will make difference in the results. I usually cook on a Gas mark 6. If you're washing the chicken and then using it straightaway, I find that it leaves the chicken too wet and it doesn't hold the marinade very well.

Also, if the chicken is a bit watery inside before marinating (like it becomes if left soaking in water for a while), it releases a lot of water during cooking which makes the marinade layer come off. I drain my chicken in a metal strainer for roughly 10-15 minutes before mixing in with the spices, regardless of frozen or not.

Similar happens with low-fat yogurt which is more liquidy and runny than high-fat yogurt. If you do have to use low fat yogurt, try straining it like the recipes asks for thick strained curd. By straining you're removing the liquid which will help the marinade to stick together well. Greek yogurt will also work.


How long can olives be left out of the refrigerator?

Traditional pickles made with brine and vinegar are very hardy, and where used in the days before refrigeration to store food over many months

The secret is to only use a very clean utensil to remove a single daily portion from the main storage vessel, and otherwise keep the main storage vessel tightly closed and in a cool and dark location

With modern pickles, who knows? Read the side of the jar, if it seems to have a decent amount of salt and/or vinegar it should be just fine

If you haven't put dirty utensils or your hands in it, it will last a long time (weeks or months, depending on the ambient temperature level)

Otherwise, just keep them in the fridge :-)


What is the difference between quick cook and traditional steel cut oats?

Bob's Red Mill makes quick cook steel cut oats. According to them, they're just cut smaller.

  Quick Cooking Steel Cut Oats are simply whole oat groats that have been cut into neat little pieces on a specialized rotary granulator mill. We use high protein, whole grain oats that have been lightly toasted to create our hearty steel cut oats. Also known as Irish oats or pinhead oats, steel cut oats create a chewy, full-bodied hot cereal. Our Quick Cooking Steel Cut Oats are cut a little smaller than our Regular Steel Cut Oats, making them ready in a scant 5 to 7 minutes.


Are there any sugar substitutes for preserving food?

It's hard to understand what you are asking about here.

If you mean a substitute as something you drop into an existing recipe instead of the required sugar, then no, there aren't any.

There are other methods for preserving food instead of sugar-based ones though. So, if you don't like pumpkin jam, you can make pickled pumpkin instead. If this is what you meant, then there are "substitutes".

There are no methods for food preservation which don't alter the taste. Freezing comes closest. It preserves flavor, but not texture.


How does the Croatian system of flour categorization correspond to the systems of Western Europe and USA?

Flour types are quite different in various countries, but yes, all flours are basically made from crushing grains (wheat in this case).

A grain mainly consists of three parts:

 Source: http://www.californiawheat.org/industry/diagram-of-wheat-kernel/

The bran.
The outer layer of the grain.
The endosperm.
The white inner part that we tend to associate with flour.
The germ.
The sprouting section. Often removed in flours for longer shelf life.

So when milling grains, the parts of the grain are separated, for whiter flour (that's the lower numbered types, the number actually giving the mineral content and indirectly indicating the fiber content.), the bran and germ are mostly removed, "brown" and "black" flour (middle to high number range) increasing amounts of the bran are kept,resulting in a higher fiber content.

Whole grain is - as the name implies - made from the whole kernel (but quite close to "black" / 1600).

As you noted, the "numbers" (= mineral content) typically sold in stores are not consistent in European countries, but the pattern is always the same. (In France, the numbers seem different, but are basically the numbers you know divided by 10.) If your recipe calls for a specfic "number", you can "mix" "lower numbered" and "higher numbered" flours to get the desired strength.

For simplicity the lighter types are sometimes labeled according to their use: Cake flour / all purpose flour / bread flour (-> increasing "numbers").

The US has a slightly different system, here flours are characterized by their protein content and labeled according to use. if I remember correctly there was some kind of "substitute chart" here, but I can't find it at the moment.


Salad onions -- any way to make them sweet but not soft?

A nice trick is to soak them in a mixture of balsamic/water/sugar for a few hours.  They take on the flavour of the balsamic, the sugar helps to lessen the sour and the water just makes the cost of it all a little less.  The onions should remain somewhat crisp but if you leave them in too long then the vinegar will start to do it's job and soften them up.  You'll have to find the best time for you.


When do you add spices to homemade butter?

I'd add herbs and spices after churning.

If you'd add them to the cream, you 'd discard at least some of it with the buttermilk and some more when "washing" the butter in cold water (depending on which method you use), which is a) wasteful and b) makes judging the correct amount very difficult.


What would give Swiss Chard a gritty texture?

The recipe you linked to has lentils in it. Most recipes with lentils tell you to rinse and drain them, and also to pick over them for stones. Lentils are seeds from a plant, and during their harvest, it's not uncommon for small stones to be picked up as well. (Same goes for rice and any type of legume.)

If you didn't check for any small stones before cooking your lentils, your encounter with "stone-like" objects is probably, in fact, due to stones.


The carbonation in soda water (or beer...or the use of a whipping siphon) is added so that the batter becomes more "airy", leading to a lighter and crispier final result after frying.


data about the rate of nutrient decay in fruit/vegetable juice

I decided to look into this question out of personal curiosity and here is what I found:

Some nutrients will naturally decay over time - mainly due to oxidation, but also on their own. The lifespan of most vitamins I looked up was at least a few days, so if you are making your juice ~18 hours ahead of time I doubt you'll lose much (if any) nutritional value.

According to this article: http://www.ultimatecitrus.com/vitaminc.html

  When fresh citrus is stored at 38°F for 12 weeks, there was no loss of vitamin C, but when stored at high temperatures, the loss was great.

Vitamin A, B6, K also last for a very long time before decaying. Only a few have a low half-life, eg. B3 with a half-life of 20-45 mins, but your body can produce that on its own.

Based on that, it doesn't seem like you have anything to lose by making the juice in advance and storing it. If you were leaving the juice to sit in the fridge for weeks at a time then I'd say you might lose a tiny bit of nutrients (also the juice would go bad :-P).

A good tip is to minimize the exposure to oxygen by using either a sealable container or a jug with a lid that closes, and keep your juice in the fridge and the loss of nutrients is sure to be minimal even after the length of time that you plan to store it for.


What dish is improved by pressure cooker?

It works well with rice and lentil soups (Indian Daal) where uniformity is desirable. It is inferior than pots for making curries and stews.

It works wonderfully for stocks and it can dramatically reduce the cooking time. Although I have no experience with non veg cooking!