Is storing homeade dressing with garlic powder safe?

Short answer:  Homemade salad dressing, even with garlic, is generally considered safe, for a time frame of up to a week.

While some strains of botulism can grow slowly at refrigerator temperatures, in general botulism requires three things to grow in addition to having spores present:

Low salt, low acid environment
Low oxygen environment
Temperatures above about 35 to 40 F (depending on the strain)

Garlic is one of the foods at risk for having botulism spores present.

Your recipe is vinegar based, and so is acidic.  With the olive oil, the total dressing may be under the 3% threshold that completely inhibits botulism growth—especially when the dressing loses its emulsification and separates into layers, some layers may be less acidic.

Still, your strongest protection is the refrigeration, combined with the acid, and the short time frame.

Health Canada specifies that plain garlic and oil (much more at risk due to the lack of acid) can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week.

You can therefore infer that with the additional acid, you will get at least the same week of safety, although I would hesitate to go longer as safety issues always warrant conservative assumptions.


Reheating whole Brisket w/out drying out

Reheating a brisket will generally dry it out a bit more. It will depend on the quality of the brisket whether this will lead it to become too dry.
Moisture in cooked briskets is actually mostly fat. Some BBQ joints will call their point slices "moist" while others call them "fatty", which is probably most accurate. What you will probably want to do is to avoid rendering additional fat as much as possible. I would aim for a maximum internal temperature of about 120-125 F (50 C) and go slow about it. If you have any juices left, leave them in. And when it's finished, rest it for a little while (20-30 minutes should be plenty).


It is impossible to answer this. Normally, food is quite clearly divided into the categories of "perishable" and "shelf stable", with perishable food being safe for 3-5 days in the refrigerator and shelf stable food being safe indefinitely prior to opening.

Refrigerator pickles are one of the very rare cases in the middle. They are not shelf stable (else they would be suitable for canning), but they are still not very pathogen friendly. Just how much slower is bacterial growth in them? It will differ from recipe to recipe. And just saying "plenty of vinegar" is not at all sufficient to predict a real use-by date. Not even the exact recipe in gram of each ingredient would be sufficient for this, since bacterial growth is a complex system, which makes it practically impossible to calculate such a prediction.

Your only information source is your original recipe. If it gives you a time period, you should use that (and hope it is trustworthy). If it doesn't, then there is no way for somebody to just say how long it is safe.


Gritty White Globules in Precooked Grocery Store Sausage?

Largish white bits like that will be either fat, cartilage, or (other) connective tissue. Once cooked, if they can be squished apart with your fingers they're fat; if they're crunchy when you bite into them they're cartilage; if they're very chewy they're connective tissue.

Fat should be quite soft once the sausages are cooked to a safe temperature, so I assume they're not that. The other substances get their structure primarily or entirely from collagen, which will break down during long, slow cooking, but that's not a normal way to cook a sausage and will probably result in a dry, grainy texture overall. If they're a problem, I would suggest trying a different brand rather than trying to cook them differently.


To my understanding, frites are double fried. You wash, peel, and cut the potatoes (thicker, as you noted)*, then fry the potatoes at a lower temperature (325F is what I usually do). Then you let them drip the excess oil off on a wire rack or stack of paper towels, toss to coat them in cornstarch and fry again in hotter oil (400F). They're also usually fried in smaller batches in shallower oil than tradition shoestring fires.
The really cool thing with them is that you can freeze them between the two fry times, so you can basically have your own frozen fries ready to go at any time.

*Drop the cut potatoes in water to prevent discoloration and then dry them a bit before frying if you're cutting a lot.


What does it mean to place a "piece of parchment paper and an inverted lid of foil" to cover

Maybe cut the paper in a circle and put directly over the meat in the pot.

After that you put the foil over the pot and then the lid ?

this:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2016/04/how-to-make-a-parchment-paper-lid.html

and this:

http://www.thekitchn.com/culinary-school-tip-braise-wit-43041


How to go from a full pigeon to just the breast

I'd butcher the bird in three portions:

Use the breast as in your recipe.
Remove the legs, set them aside.
Roughly chop up the carcass and make a fonds, then stew/braise the legs from (2.) in it.

If the usual Christmas hustle and bustle doesn't allow a long cooking session now, I'd freeze the carcasses and make the fonds another time, perhaps with a few other delicious scraps. In this case, de-boning the legs (fiddly work, I know) and searing them together with the breasts is an option, or you could decide they are so small that they aren't worth the effort and use with the rest of the carcasses.


Why did my attempt at pan-searing beef filets fail miserably?

Butter is a very bad choice for frying at high heat, as it burns extremely easily. Cast iron is the ideal pan material though, so you are halfway there.

Take a flavourless oil like sunflower and brush it
directly on the steaks - don't put the oil in the pan.
Preheat the pan until it is ridiculously hot.
Preheat the oven if that's the
method you're going to use
Season the steaks generously with salt and
pepper
Sear the steaks and cook in the oven until desired level of
doneness is reached.
Rest the steak on a wire rack (or failing that, a plate) for 5 minutes so it doesn't leak juice all over the plate.

Personally I would omit the oven stage and just cook the steaks in the pan, turning frequently. Add a knob of butter near the end and baste it over the steaks with a spoon.

A probe thermometer is a great investment to make if you plan on cooking meat properly. You cannot rely on rules of thumb like pressing the steak or just timing it. There is a good chart here for the temperatures at each level of 'doneness'.


The meat for rouladen is cut from the upper part of the hind legs of the cow, or Oberschale.

You definitely don't pound rouladen; pounded meat tends to re-contract somewhat under heat, and this unacceptable in this case. I don't know how to cut it that way at home. In Germany, the butcher sells the meat pre-cut to the correct size. I guess that he "peels" it from the cut with a sharp knife. As far as I remember, it isn't cut across the grain like steaks. And it has to be very thin, from memory I would say that 1/7 inch thickness is normal. On this site, you can see some close-ups of the raw meat, maybe the butcher can recognize how to cut it from that. (Don't worry about the text, the recipe is far from traditional. I only gave it as a good illustration of the raw cuts).

Also, rouladen are supposed to be tender. If possible, get veal. If not, young bull's meat is better than the normal beef used for steaks.


What is bakery emulsion and how is it different from flavoring extract?

A flavoring extract is flavoring disolved in alcohol, while a flavoring emulsion is flavoring suspended in water with an emulsifier. Citrus oils like lemon have a stronger flavor when placed in an emulsion than an extract, and that is why they often come that way. (source)

As far as uses go, bakery emulsions keep the incorporated flavors more stable while your mixture changes temperature, and they combine more easily with other emulsions (butter, sugar, egg for example) than extracts do. As this book indicates those characteristics make them especially useful for pastry cremes.


It should be slightly duller than a fresh razor blade.  Skill can make up for lack of sharpness, but if you don't have the skills you'll mash the fish more than slice.  This is why instructors and surgeons can get away with dull knives; they've got years of experience cutting flesh.

Traditionally, fillet and boning knives are sharpened to a shallower angle than general-use chef knives, to allow a keener edge. The only knife in a cook's arsenal that should be sharper is the slicer, which sees rarer use, and needs to be super-sharp for thin slices.


Is it possible to make sugar cookies without butter?

I can't have butter very often for various reasons and so most things I make I have to make a substitution. If you have coconut oil, that's fine though you may need to put it in the fridge before you use it, depending on how hard it is at room temperature. If all you have is oil just use 20% less of it and add that amount of liquid (water, milk...) as that's  the approximate water content of butter. They will not be the same as butter cookies and they will brown faster have a somewhat different texture, but it will work.


In what ways does the size of the baking pan matter while baking cakes?

The right size is important, because baking times are designed for a specific batter thickness. If a recipe is meant for a 26 cm pan and you pour the whole batter in a 18 cm pan, it will be much thicker and the middle won't get done before the top burns. That is why high cakes are made by stacking layers, not by baking one high cake.

You can pour a batch of batter into multiple small cups and have it turn out all right as long as the height stays more or less the same as it would have been in the large pan. My advice is to calculate the area of the pan given in the recipe and the area of your silicone cups, so you can know how many cups to use. You don't have to be completely precise, for the average cake it is not too terrible if you have +-0.5 cm difference in batter height. If the difference is larger, you can still get good results, but you should adjust the baking time.

The resulting cupcakes will still have the thickness of the normal cake, or somewhat more if you use less cups and bake accordingly longer. I would advise against trying to bake high-rise muffins from normal cake recipes. Even a sponge cake recipe might need some adjustment of the amount of baking powder before working as a high muffin. Other types of cake, especially the more exotic ones (genoise, flourless cakes) are unlikely to bake well if you fill them into deep cups.


I usually let it soak overnight, though it isn't necessary to soak that long. You should soak it till it forms a paste/gel like consistency and it would take at least  2-3 hours, though this website claims under ten minutes (time might vary depending on the batch of the seeds). You could also soak it in any juice or fruit extract as well.

Additionally, you can also use it in its raw form without soaking, the way one would use poppy/sesame seeds.


3 tier steamer: Will chillies in the bottom tier make veg in the other levels spicy?

I wouldn't rely on steam to spread flavors through food. If you put chilis and ginger in one tier and meat/veg in the other tiers you will get meat and veggies with maybe, possibly a hint of chili and ginger. Many flavor compounds are oil based, and oil and water don't mix, so you aren't going to get the steam and vapor carrying your flavors around for you. Some of the oils may get airborne, but the majority of the flavor will stay with the foods.

If you want flavor transfer in a steamer you'll need to have the food in direct contact. Sliced chilis and garlic placed on top of a piece of fish will transfer some flavors to the fish, but it's better to contain them by placing them in between 2 pieces of fish/vegetables/meat, or wrapping them up in foil or wax paper.

Alternately you make a sauce separately and put it on the steamed ingredients after cooking.


Wrap food in cylinder shape and put in the fridge

This is called a roulade. It is when a protein or vegetable is rolled, typically in plastic, very tightly.  It is sometimes also tied. The roulade, can be poached or cooked sous vide in the wrapping, if it is to be a hot preparation.  It can also be refrigerated for cold preparations.  The cooking, or refrigeration, help keep the roll in tact when slicing for service.  A modernist technique for maintaining the roll might be to use transglutaminase (otherwise known as "meat glue").


Can I double cook apple? When making, say, Apple Crumble?

Yes, you can precook most fruit. Apples are among the best fruit to cook like this as they keep some texture after light cooking. (Stone fruit should be OK - I've used plums. Soft fruit much less so).

If you buy ready made fruit pie filling (and I don't recommend you do) it's precooked. Those of us who grow our own fruit sometimes cook up (and freeze) a batch of pie filling when we have a glut. The main trick is to not precook too much, where "too much" is a matter of taste (some people like mushy fillings; some would rather have a bit of bite) but also depends on the fruit (e.g. the variety of apple) you're starting with.

Do be careful not to keep it too long after precooking - cooked fruit doesn't keep like fresh fruit and is also more likely to spoil in ways you won't spot. So a few days in the fridge, or freeze it.


What do sushi bars do with left overs at the end of the day?

At the sushi belt restaurant I worked at the cut rolls are taken off the conveyor at closing time and the remaining staff takes home whatever is wanted, in the morning the leftovers are disposed of.


Food industry: where does buttermilk go?

If it's made from 'sweet cream', and not soured milk (it's easier to churn soured milk, so this was typical in the old days), then what's left is skim milk ... although there might be an extra buttery taste to it.

Some of it's used to make powdered milk; I don't know if any is actually resold as skim milk.  It's possible that cultures are added to make 'buttermilk'.  And you might think 'there'd be way too much milk powder left over vs. the amount of butter made' ... but it's used in protein powders for body builders and infant formula.

... and it can be used for animal feed.  (and it's safer than other milk by-products, as it won't cause as much indigestion as the whey left over from cheese making (salty), or drained from greek yogurt (acidic).

Update: I was basing my answer on something that I saw years ago (How It's Made, Unwrapped, some other similar TV show), and some knowledge of uses of powdered milk.  However, in doing some additional research:

Skim milk is separated off before the butter making process.  It's done by centrifuge, so the input to the butter making process is higher fat content (and lower moisture) than what a home butter-maker would be working with.
Protein powders are typically made from whey powder, not non-fat milk powder
Much powdered milk gets shipped to developing countries, as it's cheaper to ship and store.  (less weight and volume, and doesn't need refrigeration) ... but much of that is full-fat powdered milk
Non-fat milk powder is used in a lot of baker products and processed foods, as it can serve as a thickener, increases protein content, and promotes browning of baked goods.  (and it can be lower cost, due to reduced shipping and storage costs)  So when you see 'milk' on an ingredient list, it might actually be powdered milk.

So, there's probably not as much left over as we'd expect based solely on knowledge of home butter churning and the amount of butter production.  And I was off on where all of the non-fat powdered milk gets used.


Can I use a stoneware 9x13 pan instead of a metal 9x13 pan for Caramel Rolls?

If your caramel rolls are the kind with a sticky, gooey mass in the bottom of the pan that is flipped upside down out of the pan, then I would say that the rolls won't really get good and caramely in a stoneware pan. You'd be better off baking one pan of rolls at a time in the metal pan. While one pan is rising and baking, just chill the other part of the dough... either plain in a bowl, or prepared into a log that only needs to be cut.

If the caramel rolls are more like a cinnamon bun, then the stoneware dishes should do fine in a pinch. This is assuming they are glazed stoneware and not terra cotta. Cooking time will increase a bit as the stoneware will take longer to heat up (it will also retain the heat longer when removed from the oven).

You could always just go out and buy some foil pans. I do that when I make rolls (caramel, cinnamon, and sticky) for the local fire company's carnival. They go through 17=20 dozen rolls each year.

I know baking rolls can be a lot of work, so what I have found to be very helpful, is to make the dough the night before baking. Cover with cling film, and let it have a slow rise in the fridge all night. (you will get improved flavor too.) The next day, divide the cold dough up and prepare as usual. They will take a little longer for the rise in the pan after shaping, but it sure is a lot easier on you.


eggnog doubling the ingredients, what is the new cook time?

The goal is not to cook the eggnog for a particular time, but to a particular outcome, in this case to hit a temperature of 160°F, which will thicken the custard (eggnog is a very thin custard).

The exact amount of time this will take depends on the size and shape of your pot, and the heat output of your element or burner, and is hard to predict.

You can use roughly double as a very rough estimate, but you will want to monitor the temperature, and remove it when it is actually done.


How to prevent scorching and sticking when boil soy milk

My understanding is that the soy has to come to the boil, and be held there for several minutes to deactivate enzymes.  I hear you.  I hate the clean up after making tofu.  You can certainly avoid burning by stirring and controlling the heat, but the lees will stick to the bottom and sides of the pot. I don't think there is any way around it, unless you use a non-stick vessel of some sort.  I don't have access to that, so, my solution is simply get water into the pan right after the straining, and clean as soon as possible.  A scouring pad of some sort really helps, but it takes some effort.


How to improve the taste of sour coffee beans?

I don't think I would re-roast them.   I think you would be better off trying a different grind, or preparing the coffee with a different method.   Find ways to work with the acidity, basically.

A coarse grind and a french-press might work a bit better with the brightly acidic beans.


What different uses do we assign to salted butter vs. unsalted butter?

Salted butter is good only for spreading on toast. In all other cooking applications, without exception, you want to use unsalted butter. For one, the addition of salt in some contexts (particularly baking) will affect chemical reactions, so you want to control how much salt is being used. For another, and more importantly in most applications, using salted butter means you will have less control over actual seasoning.

We keep both salted and unsalted butter at home. Salted, as I noted, is for toast only really.


Scurvy grass - preparation and kitchen utensils

I would suggest that you look to Rene Redzepi's new Nordic cuisine, which sources the very type of ingredient(s) in which you're interested. Common scurvy-grass grows along French, northern Spanish, Danish and Norwegian coasts and on mountain peaks in Western Europe. Weigh anchor and sail to the Basque Country coast, and search the Barbadun, Plentzia and Urdaibai estuaries.


White residue after putting bacon grease laden cookware in dishwasher

I don't have a dishwasher, so I do dishes by hand, but there is something I've noticed that might help--when I have something very greasy, I sometimes find it hard to get it comepletely  clean after the first washing,  washing it a second time right away doesn't work much better,   I have to wash it, let it completely dry, and then wash it again.  Perhaps putting the items with residue through a second cycle will work.


How to ensure that the bottom of blind baked pie crusts brown properly?

I then chill or freeze the dough

That's your problem, right there. Especially if you are using a ceramic pan, like a traditional quiche pan.

For a long time, I also followed the ubiquitous advice to keep pie crusts as cold as possible, even freezing, and struggled with the same problems as you. Then, with more experience and some experimenting, I realized that the "cold is good" rule gets overinterpreted.

Instead of all this craze of "more cold, more cold", it is much better to use "just as much cold as needed". And what do you need the cold for? First, if you use a "cut the butter into the dough" method for a flaky crust, it is easy for an inexperienced baker to overmix. Cold butter mixes slower, making the process more forgiving towards bad technique or missing experience (to recognize the right moment to stop). Second, if you want to roll out the dough into the pan as opposed to using your fingers to spread it, there is a right temperature range to do that. If your dough is too warm, it won't work properly. Actually, it won't work if it is too cold either, but you seldom hear about that.

And that's it. No more cooling needed. In fact, I once purposely made crust without using any cooling technique - started with room temperature butter, and the dough and all utensils were kept at room temperature throughout. I placed it by hand into tartalette tins because it was too soft for rolling. And I ended up with perfectly nice flaky crust. So I would say that, while erring on the side of "a bit colder" can be helpful in making the process more fault-tolerant, excessive chilling is not needed.

Now my crusts are in the 15-20 C range when they go into the oven. And the pan itself is room temperature, it has never spent time in the fridge or freezer. And the problem of "wet bottom, overdone sides" has been greatly reduced. I don't bother to do anything more about it if I'm going to eat the result alone at home.

If you are baking a perfectionistic pie, after starting at the right temperature, you have to stage your blindbaking. First, you bake for some time with the beans, until the "walls" are just firm enough to not fold in the heat. Then you remove the beans and the foil. If you want to fiddle, or left it a bit too long in the oven, add a strip of foil over the walls. Now continue blindbaking without beans, until the bottom is well baked. The walls will still be somewhat more baked than the bottom, but the difference will be tiny. Now you can continue with filling, etc.


You can use whatever marinade you like for meatballs, though I would personally find that way too sweet.

No you should not ever mix different raw meats together, unless they are being cooked and served together. That is called cross-contamination; contaminating one product with another.


Is Ciao Bella's "Rosemary and Olive Oil Gelato" savory?

I can be both savory and sweet; that is the point of that gelato.

It is one of those dessert component that needs to be served with something else to balance it out.

I'd serve it with a lemon biscotti or a lemon pound cake.


On one hand there is theory that keeping the liver in milk overnight (in the fridge) let it get more tender and flush bitterness even better than for two hours.
But if it was the "success rate", the overnight soak would be the advised time for soaking.
The main times for soaking I've seen are "kissed" when you cut the liver in small pieces and soak for 30 minutes. The second is whole liver for two-three hours.
When leaving in milk for overnight I usually see adnotation that it help cook it quicker as liver is "fluffier" thus helping the heat go through it.


I cook a lot of pizza.
The biggest issue is that you want browning and leopards spots, but a really short period (under 2 minutes) so that the inside is still moist and fluffy on the cornicione.

I've had luck with three things in my gas oven:

A long, long rise on the dough - a couple of days cold in the fridge.  Supposedly what this does is convert more of the natural sugars in the flour.  The crust definitely browns better.
A pinch of sugar...yes, I know that Neapolitan Pizza doesn't have sugar.  But its also typically baked in a 900F oven...so, you're going to have to compromise.  Sugar promotes better color on the pizza.
A big heat source in the oven.  A baking stone is good, but the best thing I've found is the baking steel.  Preheat the oven for a long time (like an hour) and then slide it on here.

Pizza with these tips, cook time of 90 seconds in a normal home oven:


The answer is, as you suspected, you killed your yeast.

If you look at your original description of the process, you add the yeast to flour, along with salt and then add hot water, the flour is presumably room temperature, so it acts as a cooling agent and spreads the heat out so that most of the yeast survives and the final mixture is about body temp (37 C, or 98.6 F), which happens to be about the best temperature for yeast to grow. You do however need a little warmer to activate dried yeast, but this will be only a matter of 40 C/105 F

When you do this with just the yeast and water: You say that you use water that is as hot as your finger can stand. This happens to be about 55-60 C/130-140 F, yeast are killed by water hotter than about 45 C/120 F. To determine the tmperature, do not use your finger, these tend to be less heat sensitive than other body parts, instead drop a little on your wrist, if it feels comfortable, then it is good to go. If it feels hot the water may be too hot.

You can indeed just mix the flour, yeast, salt and add warm water for an instant dough, there is often no need to proof the yeast (this is the water step). The proofing step does lower the risk of your dough not rising because the yeast were inactive though, and then you have wasted ingredients...


Sourdough doughs behave somewhat differently from those made with only baker's yeast.  It's hard to predict, but the combination of acid produced in the sourdough and other components can make things weird, particularly during long fermentations with sourdough.  Studies have shown that sourdough fermentation breaks down various components in the dough chemically in a different way from fermentation with baker's yeast.

I made pizza dough with sourdough starter a number of times, but I've stopped doing it because I found it so unpredictable (as I used a longer fermentation dough).  Yes, it often turned out more sticky for the same level of hydration.  Stretching it was also unpredictable too.  Too much acid, and your gluten will break down, allowing the dough to tear much more easily.  I think this may be related to the "stickiness" issue as well.  I've had pizza crusts literally rip apart on the way into the oven when I was trying to unload them from the peel.  I've had holes appear during unloading with regular baker's yeast, but I've never had straight ripping apart as I've had on a couple different occasions with sourdough.

Anyhow, I don't want to make this answer about me, and I know I could modify the technique to make sourdough pizza more workable.  (Lots of people make sourdough pizzas successfully; I was just trying to maximize flavor a little too much.)  My point is that from my experiments with it, the dough behaved very differently, even with the exact same recipe, with the same hydration and other proportions.


Do garlic keeper jars have any tangible preservation benefit?

No citation, so not a 'real' answer; but common sense would say, "It's got air holes & it's dark" which makes it better than a sealed jar or glass jar.

Whether it's better than the cellar, outhouse or salad crisper in your average modern fridge… well, it looks pretty ;-)


Non-beet alternatives to standard red food dye

Red Velvet cake originally was a reddish brown from the natural processed cocoa (not Dutched) reacting with the baking soda.  You can still make red velvet cake this way, but it will not have the glowing hue that dyes create.

You have to be sure not to use Dutch-processed cocoa powder as this has been pH neutralized and it is the acidity of natural cocoa powder that helps it retain its red color (which is caused by anthocyanins in the cocoa).  Using buttermilk as the liquid in the recipe will help keep the environment acidic enough to be hospitable for the red coloring.

Hershey's and Nestle both sell natural cocoa powder.


Trim your carrots, rutabaga, turnips, etc. to consistent sizes and put in a large saute pan.  Add stock or water (amount will depend on vegetables and their density along with quantitye of vegetables.  Start with enough to come about 2/3 up the volume of veg.) along with some salt, a couple tablespoons of butter and a couple tablespoons of sugar.

Bring the liquid to a simmer and cover lightly with a lid or a circle of parchment paper.  Simmer until vegetables are getting tender.  Remove the lid and continue to simmer until liquid evaporates and sugar and butter create a nice glaze.  Watch at the end to make sure the sugar doesn't burn.  Add any desired herbs, taste and adjust seasoning and serve.


By `1 tbsp of x` should I assume heaped tablespoon or leveled tablespoon?

Unless the recipe specifies "heaping", read spoon measurements as level. That goes for cup measurements as well. Unless the recipe specifies another method to fill your measuring spoon or cup, use yet another implement to fill the spoon or cup, then level it by scraping with a knife. That is the most precisely repeatable way to measure (especially flour) with a cup or spoon.

The one exception to the "spooned and leveled" technique is in the measurement of brown sugar. Recipes will usually call for brown sugar to be "packed", which is just as at sounds. Press the brown sugar into the spoon or cup to squeeze in as much as you can and still have a level top.

It's far more accurate to measure by weight but most non-professional recipes in the US are written with volumetric measurements. For baking especially, consider converting volumetric measurements to weight using sources like this: Master Weight Chart, and measuring with an accurate digital scale. Depending upon the methods used in developing the recipe, measuring by weight the first time you make a recipe may not get you any closer to the measurements the author of the recipe intends, but at least your results will be accurately repeatable and tweakable.


What is an appropriate water to yeast ratio for hydrating yeast for bagels?

You're missing a step. You have to let them proof after forming them into rings. Just like how for bread making you always have to double proof, or else it'll be like pizza or pita dough.

After that they should be fine, just take care not to handle them too aggressively while moving to and from the boiling water (Again, just like bread. You deflate the first proofing intentionally but after the second proofing you have to maintain the air bubbles that make up your crumb)


How do I make gelatin gummies without adding sugar and still have it survive out of the fridge?

If eating fruit is ok for you, you could boil fruits rich in pectin (without adding water) to a very thick jam, then spread it out thinly onto a sheet of baking paper and let it dry. If your climate doesn't allow the jam to dry in a day or two, put it into an oven on the lowest temperature and leave the oven door slightly ajar. Adding citric acid to the jam improves durability.

Cut the jam into gummy-sized strips before it's completely dry. Dust it with a little corn starch to prevent the strips sticking together. Store them in a container that keeps moisture out.

Apples are well suited for this procedure, that was used in medieval Europe to process left-over apples before they spoiled. Unfortunately, the finished product has a brown color that is not very appetizing.

I think a similar result can be obtained by preparing gelatine with only a quarter of the prescribed quantity of water / juice.


My ciabatta dough hasn't risen after 2 hours!

As it turns out, my dough was very cold. Due dilligence: here's a full answer.

One of the requirements of yeast for fermentation is appropriate temperature. Cold dough straight from the fridge won't rise, or it will only rise very slowly. 25-30°C is a recommended temperature range for rising, although cooler temperatures can work.

Duh.


....Honestly I'm guessing it is the penicillium candidum (the normal white brie mold), but you can't know from looking at the picture. Common sensically speaking, if the brie was properly wrapped up, then the other molds in your fridge are unlikely to have gotten a foothold on your brie, BUT it is possible for the other completely unknown molds in your fridge to have taken up residence without having formed visible colonies. So from that perspective, better safe than sorry.

Personally, as someone with a healthy immune system, if it were a fairly pricey brie, I'd cut off and toss the exposed edges of the brie, wrap it in puff pastry or pie crust, and bake it. But if it were fairly cheap, I'd probably toss it, and I hate wasting food and money.


What is causing my sauerkraut to smell sweet?

In my experience a month is a bit long (although of course this depends on the size of the batch, etc) for active fermentation - however I don't think that's the problem.  In fact, I don't think there is a problem.  Since Sauerkraut is a 'wild' food, there are some variables that you can't (and shouldn't) control.

The most likely (85% sure without knowing other factors) situation is that your kraut has picked up an uncommon variety of wild yeast and that yeast is doing its thing and putting-off this sugary/sweet smell as a byproduct of its processes.

Are you doing anything different with this batch that you've not done in the past?  Fermenting it in a different part of your house, maybe?  Is the temperature unseasonably warm/cold?  Regardless I think you'll be safe and come out with good kraut (which doesn't seem to be your concern) - but if you come out with REALLY good kraut, maybe you'll want to try to duplicate your experience :)


Honey, for me, makes zabaglione terribly heavy. However, you can buy Crumiel, a dehydrated honey product from the Texturas line by Albert and Ferran Adria. My understanding is that it can essentially be used as a substitute for sugar while retaining the honey flavour.


Mast O Khiar, as you mention mainly consist of plain yogurt and cucumbers and most recipe do not require much more than that. Because of such, the shelf life for the yogurt product will be the shelf life of the yogurt itself. If it is a store bought yogurt, then the shelf life should be about 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Make sure to store the sauce in an air-tight container. Most tubberware should work. Those soup containers from Chinese takeout orders work perfectly.

EDIT: After a bit of a debate in cooking chat, I decided to change my answer a little. The reason I said 2 week is because personally I had eaten 2 week old Mast O Khiar. However it could be recipe dependant so it could be different for a different recipe.

However it is very easy to tell whether yogurt OR cucumber is bad.

Mast O Khiar should have a very fresh/clean aroma. When yogurt turn bad, it releases a rancid smell. If it smells bad, dont eat it.

If you see fuzzy mold it's a good idea to throw it out.


There are couple of reasons that causes a cake to collapse. One reason could be flour/baking powder ratio. As far as I understand from your description this applies to your case. Because the procedure that you follow is fine.

I suggest to use this ratio:

1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

If it does not work then try to use less baking powder.


One solution is to use a baking stone.  There are lots of variations available, from thick ceramic baking trays to pizza stones to bit of tile or stone scavenged from contractors or construction people.  The point is, the (well cleaned) stone goes in your oven, and stays there.  It takes more time to heat up, and also to cool down - but in exchange for this the temperature is more consistent since it takes longer to change.

People use them to avoid or lessen the effects of the kind of cyclic heating ovens normally use (heats up until it senses the temperature, stops heating until it cools enough to trigger the sensor, heats again) a style of heating which means oven temperature is usually a wobbly average, not an absolute temperature.  The stone also helps lessen the effect of hot-spots and areas, since the heating element preheating the stone, lets the stone be used as a sort of secondary heat-distributor... one which collects and distributes the heat more evenly, since it doesn't have the same hot-spots as the original element.  Hot spots from the top element might still happen, but the stone helps.

In your case, the heating element on the bottom would have to be buffered through the heating stone to reach the food - so the whole stone would heat more slowly, and more heat would cook the rest of the food instead of just getting the bottom burned.

Some dishes which use a shorter cooking time will cook a little differently, since being in contact with the hot stone means they will heat up a little faster (cookies, for example) - but it usually isn't a big problem, and dishes which cook longer will have time to even the heat back out.


Are there any differences between "baby" vegetables and their "regular" counterparts

Talking about nutritional value on here can be tricky, because this site about cooking

  Are baby carrots are simply carrots harvested early? Or are they a different kind of carrot, just small?

Yes they are harvested earlier, or even grown more closely. However nowadays they have developed miniature strains which are mature when small in stature. This page contains lot of information about baby carrots, an even a video, so you can try growing this in your garden.

Baby carrots are not as nutritious as full whole carrots, because a lot of the goodness in carrots is contained in the skin and just below it. This is removed in the baby carrot making process. A pack of baby carrots look more aesthetic and they are more tender/sweeter, that is a selling point.


Do I have to wait for frozen steak to defrost?

You can cook steaks from frozen, it is just a matter of adjusting cooking times.

They will take longer to cook. But you have saved several hours in defrost time.

I take my frozen steaks and sear on both sides, then finish them off in the oven for about 16 mins depending on cut, or with a thicker cut for about 18 to 20 mins.

America's Test Kitchen has experimented with this idea and says that the steaks taste better cooked from frozen (see here on youtube).

I have to watch the temperature otherwise the steak might get a little tough, but I always preheat the oven. For me, 180 °C.


Does dairy-based marinade increase the amount of browning (Maillard reaction) in meats?

Two things that encourage Maillard reactions are more heat and higher PH. Modernist cuisine has instructions to caramelise food in water using a pressure cooker and baking soda. Baking soda can taste soapy. You can also look to non-flavored antacid from the chemist and something used in asian noodle making called alkaline salts or lye water.


Smoking Boston Butt and Smoker Went out - Food Safety

The standard metric for safety is the cumulative time in the 'danger zone' temperature of 40 to 140°F. Which we really don't know, as that would also include things like bringing it home from the store and stuff like that.

From the sounds of things, you left it out for less than an hour.  As such, you should serve it ... but serve it immediately or hold it in a low oven or crock pot.

If you tend to leave out food for people to go back for seconds, and then pack up the leftovers after dinner, I'd also recommend a crock pot or low oven ... and make sure that it's chilled down promptly after dinner.

If you have a really, really long trip from the store, and you didn't transport the uncooked meat in a cooler, it's possible that you might want to avoid serving the food to immune-compromised people, as it'll be a slightly higher risk.**

** Although all food is technically risky ... you have no idea if that pre-wrapped package went for a 30 min walk with a customer through the grocery store before they changed their mind and returned it to the cooler.


Is it normal this white substance in my canned green peas?

Looks like starch. Several sites I find mention this for different vegetables containing starch, and they all seem to quote Causes and Possible Solutions for Problems with Canned Foods from the National Center for Home Food Preservation (note that these are guidelines for canning):

  Problem:
      Cloudy liquid (sometimes denotes spoilage)

  Causes and solution:
      1. Starch in vegetables   - Select products at desirable stage of maturity. Do not use overmature vegetables. If canning potatoes, use fresh boiling water to cover and not cooking liquid from preparing hot pack.
      2. Minerals in water      - Use soft water.
      3. Additives in salts     - Use pure refined salt (pickling or canning salt) without additives.
      4. Spoilage               - Prepare food as directed with published canning process. Process by recommended method and for recommended time.

I would just drain and rinse them, and let my taste and smell be the ultimate guide.

Another guideline formulated a little differently


Beating Egg Whites with Granulated Sugar Added for Tapioca Pudding

You can replace the granulated sugar with confectioner's sugar, but due to that starch, you'll end up with an icing-like consistency.  In fact, royal icing is just egg whites and confectioner's sugar.

There is actually a surprisingly large number of variables when it comes to beating egg whites, with the amount and type of sugar being just one of them.  I'm not sure if this is going to be a complete list, but here's the basics of what you need to know for beating up to the "stiff peak" stage (and if you want soft peaks, then just don't beat for as long):

Age of eggs.  Older eggs will whip faster and to a greater volume, but will be less stable (i.e. will deflate faster).  Most people seem to find they get the best results with eggs that are about 3 days old.  Very fresh eggs are difficult to whip, and very old eggs (more than 1-2 weeks) are just too unstable to work with.
Temperature. You want to separate the eggs when cold, because the whites are firmer and it will be easier for you to cleanly separate the yolks from the whites.  But you always want to allow the whites themselves to come up to room temperature before you start beating them, for the exact opposite reason - the proteins are less firm, more stretchy, and will more readily accept air.
Impurities (especially fat).  Make sure you don't have any impurities.  Use a clean, dry mixing bowl and whisk.  Don't let any of the yolk get in; even a trace amount will significantly decrease the amount of air you can incorporate, and if you happen to contaminate the whites this way, it's probably better just to start over.
Salt and acid both help egg whites to coagulate, which you might remember if you've ever had to poach them.  That has a stabilizing effect which will allow you to whip the eggs longer and firmer without blowing a hole in the web of proteins, and will also help to prevent (or at least slow down) the foam/meringue from deflating afterward.  You don't need more than a pinch of salt, and the traditional amount of acid is either 1/8 tsp cream of tartar (preferred) or 1/4 tsp lemon juice or vinegar.  You'll want to start adding these early, as soon as you see the egg whites starting to foam.
Finally, sugar is critical to attain the stiffest peaks, but it is critical that you do not add it too early or too quickly!  Sugar serves a similar role here as it does in baking; it dissolves in the water, absorbing it and drawing it away from the proteins, which improves stability a lot.  But this particular type of stabilization is a double-edged sword; if you add it too early, it will interfere with the coagulation process and it will take forever to beat them to peaks.  And if you dump in all the sugar at once, it will just deflate the foam you've worked so hard to produce (and possibly break it, requiring you to start all over again with new eggs).

In general, you want to add the sugar right after you see soft peaks beginning to form, and incorporate it very gradually while beating.  If you want the final result to be soft peaks instead of stiff peaks (which you do, in this case), you can add the sugar slightly early, but err on the side of caution here.  Stiffer peaks won't harm your pudding that much, but no peaks definitely will.  I also suggest using superfine sugar, because the finer the granules, the quicker they will dissolve; but don't use icing sugar unless you want icing.
Finally, don't over-beat the whites.  As I alluded to above in the salt/acid section, the beating process involves stretching the proteins and incorporating air; incorporate too much air and you'll just break the proteins, and then you'll have to throw the eggs out and start all over again.  This is especially easy to do accidentally if you use cold eggs.

If you keep all of these things in mind then you can whip the eggs all the way to a nice stiff meringue; soft peaks should be a piece of cake.


What is this cast iron skillet used for?

I have seen this kind of skillets in packets with ingredients.
Both for brownies and for mini pizza's. Mix the ingredients as per the instructions, put in the little skillet and put in the oven.

It might be a bit big for the 'cook on the table' sets, but it might fit for that.

You can use them for whatever is small enough to fit in and on each kind of heat source that is not going to spill the heat around rather than under them. They do very well in an oven but, being iron, not in a micro wave.

A US based friend told me that around where he lives, this kind of small skillet are used for single eggs, meat patties or two egg omelets.

(I am not sure how widely the 'cook on the table' sets have spread in the world, if they are not known where you are, it is very unlikely to be one. The sets have a heated surface and you cook your food on the table in small pans on that surface, often with a griddle plate as part of the set for grilling meat and other things. I could not find an English name, in Dutch they are known as 'gourmet stel' and the kind of cooking as 'gourmetten' -to gourmet-.)


Should you freeze pastry lukewarm? If so, why?

I think it's because freezing tend to dry things out. At lukewarm temperature, it's still 'steaming' a bit, which means evaporating liquid, so losing moist. If you can stop the drying out process at that point, the pastry won't be as dry as when you let it cool completely.
Of course, a too high temperature can do harm to already frozen things, or would cause condensation in the package, so that there would be ice formed.

This could be the reason, and therefore, the statement can be true.


Yes, keeping it in a 200F oven will keep it safely outside the bacterial danger zone, but it may also dry out a bit. Covering with foil or adding a pan of water to the rack below may help that, though that may also make the crust soggy. You'll have to experiment a bit.


Recipe calls for Tapioca pudding - none to be found!

I've seen recipes that does not use tapioca pudding (just jello and vanilla pudding)
The final consistency will not be the same, but it should work.
https://parade.com/841414/kristamarshall/popsicle-in-a-bowl/
https://www.madetobeamomma.com/creamsicle-fluff/


Will a sharpener for a wider edge ruin a knife with a narrow edge?

If you sharpen it with a 20 degree edge, it will remove material until it matches the 20 degree bevel.

It is up to you whether you like this better or not; however, if you selected this particular knife because you like the way it feels and cuts, the 15 degree bevel may be a contributor to that.

Will it harm the knife?  No, but it will change its performance characteristics.

Sharpening Supplies provides a table of common bevel angles for various purposes, but indicates it is mostly up to personal preference.  They indicate 20 degrees is common for chef's knives, and go on to say:

  The lower the angle the sharper it becomes, but it also becomes less
  durable and more prone to chipping. If you seek a very durable edge, a
  larger angle is preferred because it can withstand more than the
  thinner edge of a low bevel angle.


Spots in Stainless Pots after cleaning in self cleaning oven

A self cleaning oven won't clean pans put in it, only the bits of oven wall that have the right surface and get hot enough. If the pan you put in was dirty, all you've done is burn the food on to it.

Stainless isn't a finish, it's a material, so you may be able to remove the discolouration by polishing or sanding it. But if you make the surface rough, food will stick to it.


Why is it safe to bake a fish when unsaturated fats degrade in low temperatures?

Foods that contain quite a lot of water don't exceed the boiling point of water until that water has boiled off.  So in bread or cakes that's part of the reason why we get a crust -- the inside is still moist so is limited to 100°C (there's a fair bit of water in butter and eggs; even flour contains some) while the crust dries and the Maillard reaction takes place.  The temperature of the surface is limited by two things: thermal mass (i.e. it takes time for the thin surface layer to heat up after it's dried) and thermal conductivity (heat is transferred from the surface to the inside, which is how the inside cooks).  The oven temperature is high enough for the fats to smoke, and for other forms of "burntness" to become apparent, so time is also a factor.

Meat and fish have similar water contents (70--80% is typical in the case of fish), so again the bulk is prevented from exceeding 100°C until it's very dry.  But the goal is often to get the middle up to a safe temperature that gives a pleasant texture, while allowing some browning of the surface for flavour.  Fish baked uncovered may be baked with the skin on, and the skin then discarded anyway, which gives a little buffer against over-doing it at least from the point of view of the surface.  Fish that's baked in foil parcels or enclosed containers is in a micro-environment that heats up more slowly due to the water contained within it, and only thin bits touching the bottom would expect to brown.

So essentially very little if any of the fish (or cake) gets even close to the oven temperature by the time you take it out.  This is all slightly simplified ignoring various effects on the availabaility and boiling point of water.


Teflon-coated pans -- no, not a good idea, as the teflon and metal will contract differently when cooled, causing the layer to separate and flake off (eventually).

Hard-anodized aluminum: may cause warping if the pans aren't too thick, as aluminum isn't that mechanically strong, but the layer shouldn't separate, as it is strongly bonded to the aluminum, being produced from oxidation of the aluminum itself.

Pans that incorporate both teflon and hard-anodization: probably not a good idea to throw into water before cooling.

Indubitably, throwing a hot pan in water will deglaze the grease quite effectively, but if a teflon layer is involved, you are inviting trouble.


Absolutely you can! It's a popular choice with Chinese and Indian flavor profiles. You can just treat it exactly like you would any other leftover rice. It's a lovely ingredient to work with. The nutty Basmati flavor works beautifully however you choose to season fried rice.


No, it is impossible. There is a physics law which tells you how the temperature and pressure of a gas are related. If you try to heat a gas up, its pressure also increases automatically. If the gas is enclosed in a hermetically closed system (like a pressure cooker) then the pressure of the system becomes higher. That's actually how (and why) pressure cookers came into widespread use - not because people wanted higher pressure, but because they wanted higher steam temperature.
In a pot with the lid, the momentarily increased pressure lifts the lid of the pot, some steam escapes, and the pressure (and temperature) fall back, until a little bit more of pressure is built, the lid is lifted again, and so on, until something changes (you turn off the stove, or the water in the pot is spent). This process is frequently observed in kitchens - experienced cooks know they have to rush to a rattling pot and reduce the stove setting before something happens.


Take a plastic zip top bag, and put it inside a pint glass or tall quart size container. Fold the top of the bag down over the outside of the mug/container. Essentially, you're just using the mug to hold the bag up and open.
After you've melted your chocolate, dump it into the bag, squeeze out extra air, and zip the top closed. You've got a single use pastry bag!

Edit: Adding a suggestion from Graham: You can melt your chocolate directly in the zip top bag by placing your chocolate pieces in  the bag, then placing that bag directly in your water bath to melt--thus saving the entire "transfer messy, warm, gooey chocolate into a zip top bag" step entirely.
Nearly all freezer zip top bags will happily survive the water bath. Thinner, or budget bags may not keep together at the seams as well when heated, so read the box, or test first by filling the bag with plain water & heating. This way you can test durability without wasting a batch of chocolate.

Hold the bag with one corner pointing down. Use one hand to hold the bag on the top, so that squeezing will push the chocolate down (like a pastry bag). Now clip that corner off the bag with scissors. You can now drizzle in a nice steady stream, giving a squeeze, pushing chocolate down as you go.
With some practice, you'll be able to get a very even netting. And if you do it often, you can graduate to a proper pastry bag eventually, which makes things even a bit easier.
For a more detailed set of instructions with photos (albeit with a proper piping bag, but it's the same process), check out this.


Should I store my uncooked marinated chicken wings in the freezer?

From a flavor standpoint, the preparation of the wings isn't likely to affect how well they taste after being defrosted.  I think you're most likely to notice a difference in texture.

Although you didn't ask about safety, it's very important that you do cook the wings fully after they're thawed, even if you've par-cooked them previously.  If the meat is at all raw, there's a possibility that any bacteria present will continue to reproduce and quickly re-colonize the cooked portions.  Unless they're cooled from the initial cooking and frozen very quickly, they could stay long enough in the so-called "danger zone" to cause concern.

So, given that you need to cook them fully, partially cooking doesn't gain you anything - you're just damaging (via cooking) some of the meat.  That will make the wings drier than they would be otherwise.  For the best texture, keep them raw before freezing and cook them completely after being defrosted.


Pasta freezes well if you do it right.  In fact, I know of a very famous Italian restaurant in NY that freezes their pasta which they make fresh everyday.  They cycle through new pasta every three days and they serve A LOT of pasta.  The chef dared me to tell the difference.  And he's right.  99.9% of people can't tell.

To freeze, bundle into small amounts (e.g. wrap around your hand), enough for single servings.  Put on a tray, with a little semolina flour or cornmeal dusted underneath (to prevent sticking).  Keep each bunch separate, they shouldn't touch.  Put into freezer.  Once frozen (few hours), transfer to a ziplock freezer bag.  It will keep for several months, but I'd eat it within one month.

To use, dump straight into boiling water.  Make sure you have a big pot of water at a full boil (because the frozen pasta will drop the temperature more than unfrozen).  Stir immediately.

This works very well.


Why does this sourdough recipe call for 2 and 1/3 cups starter? Isn't that too much?

That is quite a bit of sourdough starter, but not extremely so. In sourdough recipes that also include yeast in the loaf, you might see measurements of a cup or less, but a tablespoon of starter in a loaf would be pretty negligible.

The recipe here does not include yeast other than what's in the starter, so 2 and 1/3 cup is not extreme. I watched the video; there is no reason to think that the recipe is in error.


Why are Built-in/Wall Microwaves Above Ovens when Stacked?

Three reasons:

The microwave oven itself is lighter than the conventional oven, and putting the lighter item at the top makes good construction sense, especially for freestanding oven/range/microwave units.  Such freestanding combo units were a lot more common in the early days of home microwaves, so folks got used to that configuration.
The space over the range/above the wall oven was also generally not used for anything important, and that's still the case.  So homeowners re-making a kitchen will put the microwave over the oven given that the space is "available".
Items you put into the microwave tend to be lighter than those you put in the stove, so it makes sense for the oven to be lower down.  For example, you might put a whole turkey in a heavy basting pan into the oven, but are unlikely to put anything half that large into the microwave.

Of course, if you're designing your own kitchen, it's possible that none of those reasons apply to you.  Certainly I did not put my microwave over my oven.


Why does the water in the recipe for dough making not have a definite temperature or an advise about temperature?

It doesn't have definite temperature because you don't need it. The dough will work with any temperature water you use, anywhere between 0 and 40 C. The difference will be in the time needed for the dough to rise, and the amount needed kneading to get the same gluten strength. But as these parameters are not firm, but you proof until the dough is risen properly, and knead until it is kneaded properly, you don't have to start with a specific temperature.

You don't need it for the milk either. But if the recipe author wants to spend roughly the same time preparing the bread, they must have used this temperature to achieve similar rising times for dough left to rise at room temperature, or maybe yeast left to proof at room temperature as suse mentions in a comment. It is just an additional convenience which can be followed, but is optional. So there is no need to supply it for the water either.


Cooking corned beef brisket for maximum slice-ability

After your brisket is cooked, refrigerate it overnight. This will help it stay solid when you slice it, and will also improve the texture and flavor. Reheat it before serving. If you have time, this will improve many slow cooked foods.


What is unique about veal and how can I take advantage of this in my preparation?

Veal is naturally tender, with a mild flavor.

I'm currently living in an area where I don't know where to even get veal easily, but we'd have it for special occassions at my great-grandmother's house growing up.

Think if it like the cow equivalent of lamb.  Anything that comes out well in lamb (shank, rib chops, shish-kabab, etc) works well.  My mom would also get a 'meatloaf mix' of beef, veal and pork growing up to use in meatballs and meatloaf, which I've since learned that the fats melt at different temperatures, which makes for a more juicy meatloaf.

I don't know that I've had enough veal to comment on what people enjoy so much about it.  (Although, I love osso bucco, and I don't know how a grown-cow equivalent would come out).

I also don't know that veal was always considered the "delicacy" that it is today -- male cows (bulls) can get agressive when get older, so they were culled at a younger age.  As I don't see veal for sale, and I don't see fields full of bulls, I can only assume it's either exported to other countries, or that it's used in products like dog food or processed products where people won't get obsessed with ethical issues so much.  (and if that's the case, it's not being sold for high value).


From experimental evidence*: Yes. Wet and acidic braising sauces (as you have in indian cooking) that stay in the wok for a long time are quite aggressive on the seasoning. A contributing factor could be rapid thermal changes when cold, wet ingredients are added to a hot mixture.

Also, in many cases the seasoning in cookware used for sundry purposes isn't exactly perfect - there can be spots where there is very thin or no seasoning covered by carbon deposits which can be underwashed or soaked if the pan is flooded with liquid for a long time, both softening these carbon crusts and allowing the liquid to attack the metal underneath.

*An extreme example: making american-chinese style spring roll or pineapple sweet-sour - plenty of vinegar, fruit juice, tomato balanced by plenty sugar. Seen that take a significant amount of the seasoning off a cast iron wok within half an hour.


What type of oil is used in korean side dishes?

Toasted sesame oil is usually the go-to for Korean cuisine. It is included as a seasoning in the last steps of the recipes you link.

Sesame oil is typically used for seasoning, not cooking with. Some types of sesame oil may be appropriate for stir frys and such, but I don't think I've ever used toasted sesame oil (the very strong smelling, flavored one) for that kind of use.


Look for two molds shaped as Wobbles eyes.
Fill the mold's border and center with black gelatin and leave it in the fridge until it's set. Add white gelatin for the eyeballs. Leave it in the fridge again. When the eyes are set you can put them inside the bigger mold and fill it with green gelatine.

This is an example of the same effect using candy fish and blue gelatin.
You could even use candy eyes and save time.

Jello aqualium.


Making sauerkraut with fish sauce instead of salt?

Salt is needed to give the good bacteria an edge over bad bacteria that do not handle salt so well. The amount of salt necessary differs from maker to maker. While the salt does draw the moisture out of the cabbage, you can also make tasty sauerkraut in a typical fermented pickle manner - shred your cabbage, pack it in a jar, pour salty water over it and let it ferment. Initially the texture will be more "pickled cabbage" than traditional "sauerkraut", but if you leave it long enough it yields the softer texture. Now if you don't want to use the salt plus water try fish sauce plus water.
  A frequent concentration for pickling vegetables is one tablespoon of (kosher) salt in two cups of water. Make some up and taste it. Then see what mixture of the fish sauce and water has a similar salty taste level. Pour that mixture over the shredded cabbage. Let us know in a few weeks if you survive!


Add the salt in te bowl of egg and potato mixture, right before pouring the mix to the pan. You don't salt the potatoes you salt the whole tortilla.

Even if you use onion. The onion inside the Spanish tortilla tastes always sweet.


Why so many fruits/veg fall into these color categories?

There are 3 primary colors, that being red, yellow, and blue. Most foods are red and yellowish due to the fact that blue is very rare in nature. Here is an article you can check out Why is the colour blue so rare in nature?
Now, you might ask, why is green so common then if green is a combination of blue and yellow, and blue is so rare? The pigmentation for green is usually chlorophyll, which is an important pigment that plants use in photosynthesis. That's why it is so common in leaves and other parts of the plant as well.


Just because industrial food producers can create a safe process for a given preservation method, it does not mean that you can do it too.

The best you can do in this case is to make canned juice, which, as long as it is in a closed jar or bottle, will last on the shelf for months and years. But as soon as you open it, you will only have 3-5 days in the fridge, after which you have to throw out that can. You also have to subject it to proper canning temperatures for a sufficiently long time, so it will not taste like fresh juice afterwards. Also, it is highly unlikely that you will see any savings - even if your own time costs nothing to you, fresh lemons are more expensive than bottled juice.

Most people do not see the point in that and simply squeeze their lemons whenever they need juice. But if you want to go the canned route, you can simply follow any recipe for high-acid juice canning. And obviously, you don't need to acidify it extra the way it is done with other juices, since lemon juice is already more acidic than standard acidifiers like vinegar.


Can I give my friend the sour dough "throw away" as a starter to their sourdough starter?

Sure, you can begin a new sour dough starter with the discard from a feeding. However, the reason for discarding isn't simply to reduce the amount.  As your starter matures it also becomes much more acidic.  Acidity is problematic for yeast and bacterial activity and, ultimately, the rise and flavor of your final product.  So, you discard during feeding time to keep the acidity in check, and ensure that your starter is as hospitable to yeast and bacteria as possible.  Your friend can get his or her starter going with your discard, but will then want to get into the habit of discarding when they feed.


You just make fresh pasta....dry pasta doesn't usually have egg, fresh pasta does....egg noodle is just dried pasta that was made with egg.

Follow a basic fresh pasta recipe using 2 eggs per cup of AP Flour.

You'll want a pasta roller and cutter...You don't have to have one, but you really do want one to make life much easier.


Can you use bread flour that is 2 months past the best use by date?

The purpose of "best used by" date, on most products, is an indicator of freshness, as opposed to safety.  Of course, things like temperature, light...storage conditions in general, also impact product quality.  So there are several variables to consider.  As pointed out above, give it a look, give it a smell...if it passes those tests give it a try.


How to what is left behind when I have Removed the Melted Aluminum Foil from the Oven bottom

Reading through the comments following that procedure you cited, the original author of that article suggested an application of naval jelly (from the paint department at your local hardware store) as the solution that actually worked. Naval jelly is pink goop containing phosphoric acid that is used to remove rust from iron or steel, leaving a clean surface.

Essentially, you spread aluminum jelly over the aluminum, smear it around every few hours, leave it overnight, wipe clean and repeat process until the residue is gone. It takes days, but it is gentle with no fumes. The solution was was verified by several users in that conversation. You can read about the process starting here:

 BK says: Back in November, I searched for a way to fix our new oven …

Bonus solution: The original article also claims that the entire bottom plate can be replaced usually for less than US$30.00. Contact your manufacturer for a replacement part and guidance on installing it.


Is there a definitive measure of completed lacto fermentation?

Well, if you really want a "definitive" way to measure when lactic fermentation is complete, you'd have to do a laboratory test directly for residual sugars.  Most traditional foods that are lactic-acid fermented don't have enough sugar to reach a final acidity that will self-limit continued fermentation by killing all the bacteria.  (Foods with too much sugar also often tend to spontaneously undergo yeast fermentation and lead to alcohol production instead if not monitored.)  Given the wide variety of fermentation products that can result from initial ingredients and different fermentation conditions, it's really difficult to come up with some sort of "test strip" or something for residual sugar that is accurate.  Home fermenters rarely bother with such things, but large-scale commercial fermentation sometimes tests residual sugar content for batches to ensure shelf-stability.

That said, a specific recipe with specific starting ingredients will often have a target pH range, depending on the quantity of sugar in the ingredients, the amount of salt (which in excess will inhibit further fermentation), desired flavor, etc.  The composition of the ingredients will determine the mininum possible pH when fermentation is effectively complete.

The desired pH of lacto-fermented foods can vary anywhere from about 3.0 (even down to ~2.75 for some sweet relishes) to 4.5 (more common in grain-based ferments, or quick-fermented vegetables meant to be used up quickly).  To answer the specific question for sauerkraut, I'd say most people would say sauerkraut fermentation is "complete" when a pH of ~3.5 or below is reached (though opinions may vary).

Part of the difficulty in answering the question is that home fermentation is often done with the intention of keeping the food "alive" even when it is consumed, which means fermentation will still be ongoing.  In most traditional food cultures around the word, lactic acid fermentation is often deliberately incomplete, only used for a short period to transform an ingredient and then use it within a dish for consumption.  This contrasts with much alcohol production, where continued fermentation in your final product can obviously create various difficulties for bottling, proper aging, etc.

And some people just prefer food at various earlier stages in the fermentation process.  To take sauerkraut as an example, a pH of 4.0-4.5 will be achieved rather quickly (usually within a few days, depending on temperature, salt content, etc.).  Some people prefer the taste of a fresher, crunchier product, and they may only ferment for a few days and then refrigerate to slow down fermentation significantly.  Other people like to go much further and will ferment sauerkraut anywhere from a month to several months, again depending on temperature -- to achieve a final pH below 3.5 and even down to ~3.0.  Over time, the final product will obviously get more sour, but it will also soften and various nutritional changes will take place.  It's all a matter of preference when done at home.

Lastly, in reference to the "lagering" aspect of the question, I think the closest analog in lacto-fermentation is the fact that various processes (and various bacteria) will work better at different temperatures.  A higher temperature fermentation, for example, may result in a greater acetic acid component in the final ingredients, enhancing the "sharp" vinegar notes.  At lower temperatures other bacteria may become more prominent in the fermentation, and in some temperature ranges enzymes and natural (spoilage) reactions may help to change flavor and texture too.  Anyhow, for these reasons, some people prefer to refrigerate fermented foods or hold them for a while at "cold cellar" temperatures to allow these "aging" mechanisms to work as bacteria slow down (analogous to lagering).  Whether this is done after fermentation is effectively complete or at an earlier stage when the food is less sour again depends on individual preference.


Polyethylene, which is the material typically used for sous vide bags, is stable at the temperatures the sous vide bath will reach. Ensuring you're using the right kind of bag, and checking that the temperature hasn't gone too high, should avoid any risk of melting.

  Polyethelene is much more stable than plasticized plastics. It's fine at the low temperatures typical of sous-vide cooking (which generally don't creep above 140 degrees Fahrenheit). They do, however, start to soften at temperatures above 176 degrees Fahrenheit...

from Sous-Vide Cooking in Plastic: Is It Safe?

  According to the latest research, the safest plastics for use with food are high-density polyethylene, low-density polyethylene, and polypropylene. Virtually all sous vide bags are made from these plastics, as are most brand-name food storage bags and plastic wraps such as Saran wrap.... The bottom line is that bags made expressly for cooking sous vide are perfectly safe as are oven bags, popular brands of zip-top bags, and stretchy plastics such as Saran wrap.

from Is It Safe to Cook with Plastic?

See also Sous vide without plastic bags? for some discussion of plastic bag safety and alternatives.


As cascabel mentions, it sounds like the bottom layer may be domed - if so, that uneven surface can encourage splitting by having uneven tension along the bottom.

One possible remedy, then, is to level the bottom cake.  you'll end up with scraps, from cutting to smooth the cake top, but it should help keep the level from splitting and sliding.

Another possible remedy is, flipping the bottom cake over before stacking the upper layer.  This will give a smooth top, and the pressure should even out the rounded bottom without need for cutting.  I've only heard of this, not tried it, so I can't say for sure it will work - but it was mentioned as a possibility for a for soft tender cake, which this is (I can see it not working for a denser or sturdier baked good).

One outside possibility... you might try cooling the cake before stacking.  Hot, or even warm, cake tends to be more fragile, and warmer icing more slidy.  If you are already waiting until the cake is fully cool before trying to stack, you might try going even further and chilling in the fridge (or even freezing) before assembly with the idea it can come up to temperature before serving - it'll be more likely to stay put warming up when already stably affixed, under the theory an object at rest likes to stay at rest :)


Mushrooms should be stored in the refrigerator in a breathable container. A paper bag works great. Mushrooms stored in this manner should last at least 4-5 days.

For the record, the top of the fridge is one of the worst places to store foods. Depending on the model it can actually be a few degrees higher than ambient temperature, thus accelerating spoilage.


As some of the commenters have noted, this just might not be possible. Water is the enemy of crispy, and unfortunately for your chicken skin braising is all about moist heat. I would try searing the skin before braising, if you don't already, in order to get some of the fat rendered out and the Maillard reaction on it's way. Braise as you would, but remove the chicken five minutes before it hits doneness and place the thighs on wire rack. Put the thighs under a screaming hot broiler until, god willing, they're crispy. A torch or the searzall could also do the trick.


Whipping heavy cream with melted chocolate

If you are trying to make chocolate frosting using whipped cream, you need to:

Whip the cream first.
Melt the chocolate and add some amount of whipped cream to the melted chocolate (mix it by cut and fold method)
Add this mixture to the remaining whipped cream and fold it. Don't
over-mix it, it would knock out the air from the whipped cream.

To make chocolate ganache frosting, you just need to follow simple steps:

The ratio to make chocolate ganache frosting I use is 2 parts of chocolate to one part cream (by volume).

Heat the cream and bring it to the boil.
Once cream comes to boil, add the hot cream to chocolate. Let it sit for2-3 minutes. Now stir till it is well combined.
Let it cool completely. It would thicken up. Use it as your requirement.

If you feel that the ganache is too thick, you can add hot milk and mix it and then cool.

The images have been taken from internet.


Yeasted rye starter immediately doubles!

As another commenter asked, are you using store bought yeast or a sourdough starter? If you're using a starter, you can store it in the fridge, covered and then take it out a day or two in advance and give it feeds every 12 hours or less depending on its doubling speed. If its store bought yeast I wouldn't take the chance and would throw it out.


Can I use unbleached flour in quickbread?

EDIT

Cook's Illustrated (America's Test Kitchen) tested bleached versus unbleached flour in baking and in savory sauces.

They found that unbleached flour works pretty much identically to bleached flour in sauces, but they caution that some testers could taste off notes in some baked applications using bleached flour. The difference is more pronounced in applications where the ratio of flour to other ingredients is high.

  In baking tests, bleached flour was criticized for tasting flat or having “off” flavors (texturally, the flours behaved the same). These characteristics, however, were much harder to detect in recipes with a high proportion of ingredients other than flour, such as cornbread or oatmeal cookies.

According to ATK, unbleached flour is preferable to bleached. You may find that you actually like your bread better using unbleached flour.

Interestingly, the link in @dougal 2.0.0's answer directly contradicts ATK. Kitchn prefers bleached flour for quickbreads, claiming that bleached flour is softer.

So, knowledgeable cooks disagree. I will say that I frequently make quick breads including zucchini. I always use unbleached flour, and I've never seen any reason to buy bleached.

Original Answer

To the absolute best of my knowledge, I don't think there is a difference between unbleached and bleached flours in a particular application other than what quickly becomes obvious.

So, if you have used both flours in your bread, I see no reason other than preference or economy to use one or the other.


In my own cookie making experience, substituting margarine for butter yielded a crispier cookie than butter.  Sometimes too crispy.   The Perfect Cookie dismisses non butter fats for cookies although they did suggest the trick of substituting a small amount of butter for liquid oil to increase chewiness.

The margarine cookies slump and get crispy and almost toasty/ fried.  If that sounds good, try making a batch of toll house cookies with margarine and see what you think.


Are refrigerated hard boild eggs really unsafe after a week?

Yes, they really are unsafe after a week.
According to the USDA (similar information can be found from other food agencies):

Why do hard-cooked eggs spoil faster than fresh eggs?
When shell eggs are hard cooked, the protective coating is washed away, leaving bare the pores in the shell for bacteria to enter and contaminate it. Hard-cooked eggs should be refrigerated within 2 hours of cooking and used within a week.

Simply put, you're damaging the shell, and that expedites spoilage.  Some secondary sources such as StillTasy (who use the agencies as their primary sources) are more liberal and say up to 2 weeks, but I'd at least give it a very thorough sniff test before eating hard-boiled eggs that old.  (And note that the sniff test will not necessarily alert you to bacterial contamination, only the more conventional forms of food spoilage like rancidity).


Almond milk is much, much thinner than evaporated milk. Do you specifically need to use almond milk, or are you just looking for a non-dairy option? I've used coconut milk for custards with some success; you might also be able to use a soy creamer (since you can get away with subbing cream for evaporated milk).


What specific sugars are found in apple cider, apple juice, and apple cider vinegar?

There certainly are chemical differences between apples and commercially purchased apple juice, but it's impossible to tell what they are, they are trade secrets.

Apple juice bought in stores is not "apples squeezed then bottled", such a juice would become unappetizing before it was transported out of the factory. Juices are high tech products - "100% apple" just means that all ingredients were derived from apples, but the producer can have changed them in whatever ways it saw fit, before making a final product with the right consistency and aroma.

If you are talking about freshly squeezed apple juice at home, the only chemical difference between that and whole apples is the oxidation of some antioxidants in the apple, mostly polyphenols. The sugars are not changed chemically.


Are feral hog hind quarters hams, or a different type of pork?

They would be fresh hams, the hindquarter of a pig.

The word ham, unmodified, implies a cured product.

I would imagine that for a feral hog, if you are willing to risk eating it, that you should cook to the highest temperature reasonable, which in the case of a fresh ham might be at least 180 F, and as high as 200 F.  The best application at these ranges would be making puiled pork, which requires long, low, and slow cooking; smoking is definitely an option.

See also this recipe, although for a pork butt, should be easily adaptable to the fresh ham, which is similar, although not quite as fatty and full of connective tissue, so it won't be quite as tender when done.


Given the thinness of the steak, you achieve a good crust without overcooking the inside by applying high heat for a few minutes on each side of a thin steak. I would treat it like this skirt steak recipe from seriouseats.com :

Since it's a very long, flat steak, there's a lot of surface area to develop an outstanding crust, but this shouldn't be done at the expense of overcooking the inside, which is easy to do given the thinness. The solution is a blazing hot fire to sear the steak quickly before it cooks all the way through.
The grill is the best place to build up this type of heat, where a chimney full of lit coals piled close together can get you up to 700°F of direct heat.

Fix any doming issues and make sure you have an even, uniform crust by using your spatula to press the cut of meat down evenly or use a grill weight like this one (I'm not affiliated with the listing, just an example).1


Lots of liquid in bottom of wok when stir frying

Don't crowd the wok; steam has to escape.

Frying off meat separately then no more than a cup of veg at a time for an average/lg wok, should prevent steam from condensing to soup.

Some veg will always produce liquid unless cooking stops at the warm-but-raw stage: ie spinach.

Adding salty ingredients only in the last few seconds helps.

If you prefer quite tender veg then a parboil first is better than longer wok cooking.

I am guessing sprouts are your soggiest culprit. A blanching and pat dry might do the trick.


REDACTED. Botulism growth is inhibited at pH of 4.6 or lower. The pH of this recipe is lower than 4.6 because of the vinegars.
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnut/09305.html

After re-reading the recipe, I think the OP is right. This is not the safest recipe out there.

For a great pickling recipe that is safe, try this: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pickled-beets-recipe/index.html


Why does homemade pasta using wholemeal flour break easily as compared to all purpose flour?

This is quite typical for anything made with wholemeal flour. It has all of the wheat berry ground in it, including the hard outer hull. These hull particles tend to cut up the gluten of the dough, resulting in brittle end products.

The more "rustic" your wholemeal flour is (so larger hull particles), the more pronounced the effect gets. An organic store in my city has a small electric mill for people to buy a pack of grain of their choice and grind it themselves immediately, this makes a flour that is almost impossible to use for dough. Industrially milled flours with smaller particle sizes work better, but not as well as white flours.


What percentage of my chicken legs are bone

27% is the percentage of raw bone in a chicken leg.

Source: Bone Percentage in Raw Meaty Bones


Is there a way to experience pepper's endorphins effects without the burning sensation?

According to my research, the effect of capsaicin that causes the burning sensation is indirectly responsible for the pleasurable release of endorphins, which are the brain's way of counter-acting the pain sensation. If you don't feel any burn, then you probably haven't consumed enough capsaicin to trigger the endorphin rush.

This source from Northwestern University provides the most succinct summary:

  Capsaicinoids trick the brain into thinking it is being burned, which is a painful experience, through the transmission of neurotransmitters [...] The brain responds by releasing another type of neurotransmitter known as endorphins. Endorphins are the body’s natural way of relieving pain by blocking the nerve’s ability to transmit pain signals.


Are you starting with fresh noodles or dried?
Fresh are already 'greasier' than dried, so it may be a case of letting dried ones cool in the colander after their soak, in a good coating of oil, then adding towards the end of cooking as normal, just to re-heat.
One would imagine a take-away are not starting each portion of noodles from dried for every single order. They're already prepped & oiled so they don't stick.


Best guess without knowing your water supply composition; it's not the pan contaminating the water, it's the water contaminating the pan.
Iif you live in an area with certified potable water, it's really mainly visual, it won't hurt.
After comments
Yup, London water - safe, potable… but ugly.
You can either

scrub after every use, or
ignore until it annoys you enough to do a full descale
Buy a Brita jug & never boil unfiltered water.

It is completely harmless, just unsightly.


How can I stop my soups sticking to the bottom of the pot?

Cook on a lower heat, in a pan with a thicker base, to distribute the heat. Check every now and again, and add water if the soup has become too thick. Also, the occasional stir can only help.

Consider buying a slow cooker -- there are very cheap models that do the job well.


Typically, dutch ovens and other heavy, especially cast iron pots would be buried to allow a slow dissipation of the heat.  This will allow the contents to continue to cook at a very low and slow pace, usually to allow the release and melding of more flavor.  In the case of chili for instance, this could allow more of a dried chili essence to reconstitute and become more uniform throughout the pot.  The insulation of the ground will slow the cooling and allow this process to extend much longer than air would.  Additionally, packing soil around the pot would tend to act as a barrier to hold in more of the aromatics than in air, combined with the slower cooling to again allow more absorption and a more even distribution for a more mellow taste to the dish.

Especially pots such as dutch ovens, this process is often done without additional heat, or in ground warmed by a fire, or with added coals or hot rocks depending on how long you want this process to continue and if you want more actual cooking to occur.

Fully duplicating this process inside would be difficult, but a somewhat close approximation would be to heat up an oven.  Put in your covered pot, preferably tightly covered.  Close the oven then turn it off or down to a very low setting, and keep it closed for a few hours and you should get much of the same effect.  I would call this process marrying or melding the flavor rather than saving it.


(Why) do onions taste sweeter when cooked at lower temperature?

Well, you're definitely right. Onions cooked at a high temperature act differently than ones cooked at a low temperature, per "the bible" aka On Food and Cooking. However, it doesn't go in to much of an explanation as to why. Probably the most relevant aspects of what is in there are:

  When onions and their relatives are heated, the various sulfur compounds react with each other and with other substances to produce a range of characteristic flavor molecules. The cooking method, temperature and medium strongly affect the flavor balance. Baking, drying, and microwaving tend to generate trisulfides, the characteristic notes of overcooked cabbage. Cooking at high temperatures in fat produces more volatiles and a stronger flavor than do other techniques. (p.311)

Since a low temperature produces less volatiles, I assume that the natural sugars of the onion shine through instead.

It's probably also important to understand where the oniony flavor comes from. The spice, as you describe it, is the onions natural defense mechanism. However, it doesn't exist defacto in the onion, but is rather the result of a chemical reaction. The onion stores very reactive sulfur in the cell fluid, and a seperate trigger mechanism in a storage vacuole. When you cut / crush / cook/ peel the onion, you break the vacuole and the enzyme and sulfur cause a chemical reaction giving off the spice. (p272 & 310)


So, let's first get clear about what "oil" means. In common language there are two "oils" contained in food: "oil" and "essential oils".

"Oil" means the common, cooking liquid fat, that has a more neutral taste and is used for various applications (deep-frying, stir frying...). Main composition of this is unsaturated fats, and the oil comes from the so-called oleiferous plants, which are plants that use oil as nutrition storage for their sprouts - e.g. peanuts, sunflower, canola, olive, flax seed, soy...

"Essential oils" have a very different composition and application - they contain a very diverse mix of components that give spices, herbs, flowers and other seasonings their caracteristic aroma (or "essence"). These components are usually volatile and present in very small quantities in the natural product, and of course, since they're present in very small quantities in the seed / herb, you need a lot of it to make a portion of essential oil, therefore, those are really expensive.
One of the methods for extracting this oil is to steep the aromatic (spice / herb / flower) in common oil or fat - then you get aromatized oil in a quantity you can handle with more ease.

When you hear that cumin seeds and turmeric (which is a root, not a seed) contain oil, we're talking about the essential oil. The oil is there, in a very small quantity, that's the reason why you cannot see it with the naked eye, unless you grind large quantities of the seed very finely to directly obtain the oil. You're also right on oxidation and evaporation - this is why pre-ground spice loses its punch very quicker than the whole thing.


Over mixing, when do I have to be aware of it? (Baking cookies)

I don't think that your problem has anything to do with overmixing.

With melted butter, it doesn't really matter once it looks reasonably homogenous. With soft (22-ish Celsius) butter, longer mixing is even better.
You cannot overbeat an egg for cookies, as long as you are using whole eggs. it is possible to overbeat egg whites only, or omelette mixture, etc., but those are different cases.
This is the step about which you hear warnings for cookie making. Beating dough is similar to kneading it, because the wet flour starts forming gluten, which makes the dough more bread-like. So, should you pay attention here? Generally yes, it is a good idea. But in practice, it is pretty hard to overbeat cookie dough at this stage. Bread dough needs several minutes in a strong mixer before starting to exhibit significant gluten creation. The butter in cookie dough inhibits gluten formation, so you could expect to have to beat it even more before you get gluten. Your ingredients usually come together after maybe one minute of beating; you would have to continue beating for at least 3-4 minutes longer before something happens, so beat it 5 times longer than necessary.

And even if you overbeat it, the result is that you get gluten, which makes the dough tough and chewy. So, while this is generally a good advice for most kinds of cookies, a little gluten production will probably not give you much trouble, because you want a chewy cookie anyway. So, altogether, you have a pretty large margin of error. And if you indeed happen to overbeat a little bit, it won't be so tragic. It makes the difference between good cookies and great cookies; it doesn't make the difference between just-edible and good cookies.

As for why your dough is different than the one in the video, I have two suspicions.

First, you may have overheated your butter. You should just melt it on a low flame. If you leave it on the heat for too long, or use too high a heat, you will get browned butter, which is darker in color, and has much less water (the normally present water evaporates). This may account for both the color and the non-stickiness of the dough.

Second, I don't know how you measured. Around here, the US system is practically unknown, and whoever reads a US recipe with cups, usually starts measuring with the first best drinking cup he has lying around. But even if you used a measuring cup, it is likely that you got a large measurement error, because measuring by volume is inherently inaccurate. Too little flour in relation to the butter will produce the kind of dough you are talking about.

And in the end, you don't mention anything about the baked cookies. I have made chewy-cookie recipes before, and they frequently made a dough similar to what you describe: dark and non-sticky. The resulting cookies were good after baking. So, if you posted the question before baking the cookies, there is a chance that the result will be good. Even if not, the problem is likely not in overbeating.


Do I need the turntable in a combi microwave when using convection mode?

I hope the moderators will allow me to go off tangent and contribute my own notes of my personal experience. As per your observation,

  "...the center of the pizza is not really cooked."

So will other foods you put in to bake in convection mode. It does not work as well as a industrial turntable oven.

So because the center of the cake will cook slower, you probably need to lower the temperature even further and hence a usual size cake may take up to 1-1/2 hours to bake.

Worse for cookies. Those that are lined near the rim of the round baking pan have their outer halves more baked than the inner halves. So at the half way mark of the baking time, I have to take them out and rotate each and every cookie 180º. Since I bake them on three levels, I also switch the bottom tray with the center one as the heat is not even for these two levels.

Lesson learned. I will get a normal oven for my kind of bakes. For anyone out there interested to get a turntable oven, make sure the one you are interested has a blast of heat directing at the center.


That recipe is going to be a problem -- it has flour measured by volume, and it compacts.

For the recipe to be useful, you need to know how the person measures their flour:

dip and shake
dip and sweep
spoon and sweep

It's basically, do you just dip the measuring cup into the flour, compacting it more, or do you use a spoon to fill the measuring cup, which aerates it more resulting in less flour ... and then how do you level off the top of the cup.

This is why most European and professional recipes use weight rather than volume.

You also have to beware of differences in flour by region.  In the US south, the flour tends to be more towards cake flour vs. the US northeast being more towards break flour.

So even though it calls for 'cake flour', if they're from the south, you'll want to use White Lily or some other southern brand of flour.  But just because it says 'southern' in the name of the recipe, if it's someone from Maine who tested it, you'll want some other brand (I'm not even sure what the northern brands are).


Is it possible to make salty avocado Ice Cream without a machine?

On the question of dry ice, yes...it makes excellent ice cream using a kitchen aid and the beater in the standard bowl.  It is best if you pulverize the dry ice in a blender first.  You will want to avoid using too much (your base will become carbonated, but you can allow it to off-gas). Add a little at a time until the appropriate texture is achieved. Make sure it is not possible for someone to eat a chunk of dry ice!


How long can pie batter stay in the refrigerator?

Still Tasty gives raw eggs out of the shell 2-4 days. Since they rely on the USDA and other (conservative) sources, I'd go with 4 days for reasonable quality, perhaps a bit longer (assess your own risk) for safety. I can't really predict how it would affect quality, but you could certainly try freezing it if you wanted to try to keep it longer. As with all frozen foods that were safe when frozen, the filling would remain safe indefinitely if kept frozen at 0F or lower.

Incidentally, King Arthur Flour has a very highly rated recipe for pumpkin pie, and they specifically recommend making the filling in advance and keeping it refrigerated to give the spice flavors a chance to blend. Put plastic film directly on the surface to keep an unpleasant film from developing.


I can't tell for 100% certain from that photo, but I believe it may be Houskove Knedliky, a sort of unstuffed dumpling common to many Czech dishes. The variety in your image looks similar to Houskove Knedliky v Ubrousku, literally "Bread Dumplings [cooked] in a Napkin":

http://www.trixicooks.com/2015/10/houskove-knedliky-v-ubrousku.html

You can find several recipes for that variety of houskove knedliky, though when I lived in the Czech Republic ordinary houskove knedliky (i.e. not the "in napkin" style) were far more common as sides to dishes like Svickova, Gulas, etc.:

http://recepty.vareni.cz/kynute-houskove-knedliky/

If you want to find recipes for ones made from potatoes, add the word "bramborove" to your searches. Here's one example I found:

http://www.mimibazar.cz/recept/94046/bramborove-knedliky-v-ubrousku