It really depends on how much of it you're using.

If it's only a small amount, it might be for mouthfeel -- it'll make the liquid more viscous and less 'watery'.  Consider a good chicken soup, where the broth has a bit of body to it.

If it's a large amount, it's to get the liquid to set up.  In something like a panna cotta, aspics, mousse, or a no-bake pie, it's to get the liquid to firm up and become either solid or at least scoopable.

And gelatin doesn't need to be used in solely liquid dishes -- America's Test Kitchen used in a meatloaf recipe for what was most likely mouthfeel.

... but it's possible that there are other uses.  I seem to recall hearing that it can be used to clarify broths as well.


Graham cracker crust too salty for cheesecake

Yes!  Try to avoid salted butter in cooking and baking.  If you must use it you will need to adjust, but I am not sure there is a consistent way to do this.  Different brands probably have different salt content.


First off, I personally love the hard edges of the brownie.
But to your question:
    There are a few things that you can try to keep the edges from burning.

Use a lighter ( both color and heaviness ) pan, as this does affect the heating rate as well as the distribution of the heat throughout the pan.
Try keeping your ingredients at a relative room temperature so there isn't a large transition from cold to hot in this oven ( the same reason you thaw some things before cooking ).
Try changing the temperature and cooking time. The recipes I usually stick with for brownies are cooking for about 30m at about 350 degrees F (175 c).

One last thing that might work that I have had to do with pie is wrapping foil around the edges until the last 10-15minutes of cooking.


What is the ideal temperature to cool the melted chocolate in a freezer?

Do not use a freezer, that's way too harsh on the chocolate and will almost certainly introduce terrible condensation, and possibly off tastes, if there is other food stored in the freezer.

If you have a way to create a temperature-controlled "box", you should cool it at 20 degrees Celsius. If not, keep it in a room which is as close to 20 C as you can get, and on the dry side - most normal rooms will do, unless you live in a tropical or equatorian climate without air conditioning, you just won't get the most perfect shine if you keep your room much colder or warmer than that.

"How long" cannot be answered, you just have to wait until it is solid through and through, which will depend on the thickness of your shapes. Just way overnight before trying the first one.

Also see a diagram with best temperatures, which is slightly more complicated because it considers chocolate poured over a solid core, in this old answer of mine.


What do green spots on the inside of a butternut squash indicate?

I always go with my gut in these situations, so scraping it off is probably a good idea.

If the green was not really dark and moldy looking, or really soft in comparison to the rest of the flesh, it could be that it just wasn't fully ripe yet in that area.

Either way, you're planning on cooking the squash, correct?  I believe that this would be perfectly safe to eat now that the questionable parts have been removed.  I'd eat it with no qualms.

If the rest of the squash was firm, and not bad looking on the outside or inside, then I am guessing this is not a problem, unless said green part was much softer than the rest of the squash.


How do I pick the best potatoes at the supermarket?

There are two basic kinds of potatoes: starchy and waxy.

The difference is actually in the amount of starch in them. Starchy potatoes, such as Russet or Idaho potatoes are best for baking, since the starch will allow it to be nice and fluffy after it's baked. They don't hold their shape particularly well when cooked. If you cut into a baked potato, it should be crumbly and dry.

Waxy potatoes include most fingerling potatoes, and most red potatoes. They hold their shape better when cooked, so they are good for soups and stews and potato salads.

Yellow-fleshed potatoes such as Yukon Gold or Yellow Finn are in between, and so can be used for either purpose. Purple potatoes also seem to have medium starch, and so can be used for both.

According to one cookbook I have (Moosewood Restaurant New Classics), there are two ways to determine which is which. If you cut the potato in half, the blade will have a film or a foamy residue on the knife. These potatoes may also stick to the knife because of the starch.

The rules for the brine is to make it of 11 parts water to 1 part salt. A high-starch potato will sink (it's denser) and a low-starch one will float.

Here's a good overview.

Now as to choosing ones that will bake well, it really depends on size. You want potatoes that will bake evenly, so try to choose ones of similar size. I bake my potatoes directly on the oven rack so that the hot air can move freely around them. Try to give them lots of room for that. Also, if you wrap them in aluminum foil, they'll steam and won't give you the nice crunchy skin. (And I'd avoid any potatoes with irregular shapes -- the smaller diameter ones may cook before the larger ones.)

Large potatoes take about an hour to bake at 350F. Lots of small ones may take a bit less time -- experiment with your oven and your potatoes. I'd start squeezing slightly after about 40-45 minutes. If they yield when squeezed, they're probably done.


What is that tool called for scraping vegetables?

From your description, I think you are referring to a julienne vegetable peeler.

There are many different styles. Some may julienne on one side and peel on the other. Others may have interchangeable blades. And, as you can see in the lower picture, they can make different size cuts.

If you do a Google search, I'm sure you will be able to find one that will suit your needs.


You are getting a lot of it right by patting the chicken dry and using a dry rub, I think you just need to tweak your method a bit.

Rendering fat and making crispy skin takes time, 7 minutes just isn't long enough for all the fat to melt away and it is searing instead. When I make crispy chicken in the oven I bake it on 190°C (375°F) in a fan oven for 35 minutes - that's thighs and legs, breast may vary.

What I would suggest in the barbecue is to reduce the heat to a bit short of medium, and cook the chicken longer on indirect heat. Once the fat has rendered and the skin gets crispy you can crank the heat up and get some color on it if you aren't happy with the color already. I'd keep the crispy skin away from the high heat though as it's likely to burn, instead caramelize the underside of the chicken.


How to keep fried fish warm and crispy during transport to venue?

Fried foods neither hold nor transport well.  They are best served directly from the frier.  If they do need to be held, a slow oven which will keep them dry (by allowing steam from the food to leave) is the best way.

There simply is no good way to hold, transport, and serve fried foods that will maintain the crispy quality.  Think of every delivery meal you have ever ordered of mozeralla sticks, chicken fingers, or even just plain french fries.   They simply are not the same as at the restaurant.

If you absolutely insist on serving fried fish, the best way to transport it would be in a single layer, in an insulated container, lined underneath with paper towels to absorb some moisture, and with vent holes so that at least some of the steam can escape instead of condensing back on to fish and making the breading even soggier.

You could improvise such a container with plastic or foil takeout containers, punching (fairly large) holes in the top, and using blankets or towels underneath and around the sides as insulation.  Make sure you leave the ventilation holes uncovered, so that the steam can escape.

Still, you will have tension between keeping the food hot, which requires no holes and lots of insulation, and keeping it (somewhat) crispy, which requires allowing free air circulation, but would cool the food faster.

In the end, this is a situation where choosing another item, one that is friendier for holding and transporting, will serve you better.

Poaching the fish would be ideal, as would creamy or saucy dishes with the fish as an ingredient instead of the featured player.


Where is fat and what is this gel in refrigerated fish soup?

Q1. Chicken and red meat is much more fatty than most fish, so you get a more noticeably thick layer of fat on top of say, chicken soup. Perhaps your fish was lacking in fat.

Q2. Gelatin is contained in other parts of animal flesh besides just the bones. [Sometimes vegetable matter as well e.g. tomatoes...unless vegetable "gelatin" has another name; if so, people will let me know I'm sure]

Q3. I wouldn't say the water had been "replaced" by gel. The water is taken up into the gel and becomes part of it. Think of Jello: You start out with a lot of water, then you mix the gelatin powder into it and cool it, and you wind up with a gel. The water didn't disappear or get replaced by a gel, it is simply a component of the resulting gel.


You won't be adding any ascorbic acid or such -would curdle the milk- but an oil based vitamin such as found inside a vitamin E gel-cap would mix in fine. Would only be as absorbable or bio-available as the original vitamin product.

The idea of fortifying soya comes from the notion that we get a large amount of our nutrients from cows milk and without it, must substitute. The answer in general as to 'how important' is to eat a wide variety of whole foods instead of relying on fortified foods.


What's the difference between pink tea and other types of tea?

It's hard to know exactly what you're referring to without any context of the event, location, or what you remember it tasting like, so I'll give you my best educated guesses.

If your pink tea sweet and fruity or floral, it was an herbal tea - tisane, and not true tea. ("Tea" actually refers to the plant whose leaves are used the beverage. Anything that is not made from the tea tree is usually called a tisane.) Some varieties of tisanes that produce a pink liquid include hibiscus, rose petals, rose hips, strawberry.
If the above is not the case, I suspect you're referring to Kashmiri pink tea, sometimes called noon chai.

Disclaimer: I can't find any authoritative sources about Kashmiri online; my knowledge of the subject is anecdotal from my own travels in India as well as stories from people I know who have lived or traveled in South Asia. My understanding is that, like masala chai throughout South Asia, pink tea has some general guidelines but everyone customizes it according to taste or local custom.

The basic distinguishing factors of Kashmiri pink tea compared to a "regular" black, green, oolong, or white tea are twofold: color and taste. As you mentioned, this tea is pink in color, which other beverages made from the tea tree are not. The pink color comes from the addition of baking soda. As for taste, pink tea tends to elicit mixed opinions about taste because it is salty; most people around the world typically drink tea unadulterated, or sweetened, but rarely with the addition of salt.

Pink tea shares many ingredients with masala chai, often including some or all of the following:

Ginger
Cardamom
Cinnamon
Peppercorns
Milk or cream
Sugar (or other sweetener)

Unlike masala chai, which is normally prepared with black tea, Kashmiri pink tea uses green or oolong tea leaves.

Ingredients included in Kashmiri chai that are not included in most other chai recipes:

baking soda (just a pinch)
ground pistachios and/or almonds
salt
white poppy seeds

The final major difference is in the method of preparation. Masala chai can be made in a matter of minutes by boiling the water, then adding tea, milk, spices and boiling it all together for a few minutes before straining and serving. Kashmiri chai, on the other hand, takes 1-2 hours to prepare (I believe the long boiling time is required for the baking soda to accomplish its task of turning the tea pink). I don't know the exact process and couldn't find any sources that seemed reliable.


You can use a torch.

Is it safe to use a propane torch bought at a Hardware store?

https://www.scienceofcooking.com/blow-torch-cooking.htm

https://modernistcuisine.com/2011/02/torch-tastes/


Cooking a large pork roast in a slow cooker

If you cut the nine pound roast into three equal three-pound sections, each should heat to recipe specs.


I have heard it stated before, but here it is from various sources:

Source 1

Source 2 (confirms the shake test)

Source 3

In general, the air pocket in an egg gets bigger as it gets older due to the permeability of the shell.  I think the shake test is a little hinky, unless it actually sounds like water sloshing.  I would try the float test; fill a bowl to twice the height of the egg, and place it in.  If it sinks to its side, it's fresh.  If it stands on its end, it's probably good, but needs to be used quickly.  If it floats, toss it.


How long will my pepper relish last, and how can I stretch it out?

I would dilute it with another sauce made the same way but with non-hot peppers if you want to make more of the same sauce you had last year. If you just want to use this up, two of my favourite sauces involve adding sriracha (which is pretty hot) to other sauces: added to mayo you can call it "sriracha aoli" as though you were on Top Chef, and it's yummy as a dipping sauce for meatballs, little pastry hors d'oeuvres and the like; added to plum sauce it is great in the places most people use plum sauce. I also put both sriracha and ketchup (but don't mix them) on hamburgers. So try mixing it into mayo, plum sauce, or ketchup, and see if you like what you've created.


How should burger patties be prepared in terms of mixing and flavourings?

Neither is right nor wrong, it simply depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

The way I make a basic burger is to try and pull off the right amount of ground meat from the package and shape it right there as is without kneading it at all. Literally just enough handling to shape it.

However sometimes I want a seasoned burger, and that's more like making a patty shaped meatball and you can't really avoid mixing/kneading it in the case.

Sometimes seasoning the outside of the burger is all that's needed.


Search google for this term and you'll find lots of suppliers.

ob210101

Buy several so you have a supply if and when they finally run out.


Is it possible to have a good crust without prebaking a quiche?

In the normal cooking time of a quiche (20 to 30 minutes), the crust doesn't really get soggy from the filling, even if it is quite liquid, as is expected for quiche Lorraine. So, you can without problem cook your quiche without first blind-baking the crust. The difference will be in the crispness of the crust: if you try to get it crispy, you should prebake, if you don't mind it being rather, well, “plain”, you don't.

The only real reason for me to blind-bake a crust is when you put something on it that won't be cooked (tartelettes), that will only get grilled or that will be baked less that it would require to bake the crust (meringue tart). Most of these examples are fruit tarts, however.


How to obtain the soft and pillowy texture in bread?

Milk is used as a kind of "tenderizer" in breads. Milk makes a softer crust and otherwise improves the texture of bread, so in this case, I think its your substitution that's giving you a problem. Oat milk may be a reasonable substitute for the liquid required in the recipe, but it just won't have the same effect on the finished product.
If you're not vegan, I would recommend using the regular milk next time. If you are, it may be possible to add a tiny bit more sugar and fat (in addition to the oat milk) to the recipe to compensate for the missing milk sugars and fats, but I'm unsure if that will produce the desired result. You may need to do more research into vegan breads to come up with a substitute for the milk in that case.


Can you develop an immunity to chopping onions causing tears?

Given that the tear-causing effect of onions is due to a straight forward chemical process, it seems highly unlikely that you would develop any kind of actual immunity in terms of the effect.  Scientific American describes it:

  Peeling, cutting or crushing an onion's tissue releases enzymes called
  allinases, which convert these molecules to sulfenic acids. The
  sulfenic acids, in turn, spontaneously rearrange to form
  syn-propanethial-S-oxide, the chemical that triggers the tears. They
  also condense to form odorous thiosulfinates, coincidentally evoking
  the pungent odor associated with chopping onions and eliciting the
  false accusation that it is the odor that causes the weepy eye.
  Incidentally, sulfenic acid in garlic takes a different chemical
  route, sparing the eyes. The formation of syn-propanethial-S-oxide
  peaks at about 30 seconds after mechanical damage to the onion and
  completes its cycle of chemical evolution over about five minutes.

  [ ... ] Free nerve endings [on the cornea] detect
  syn-propanethial-S-oxide on the cornea and drive activity in the
  ciliary nerve--which the central nervous system interprets as a
  burning sensation--in proportion to the compound's concentration. This
  nerve activity reflexively activates the autonomic fibers, which then
  carry a signal back to the eye ordering the lachrymal glands to wash
  the irritant away.

It turns out that newer science indicates the conversion is not spontaneous, but due to an enzyme for this purpose, now named lachrymatory-factor synthase.

What is likely, especially for an experienced cook are:

Improved knife skills and speed, lowering the amount of time in close contact with the irritating gasses produced by chopping onions
Increased tolerance for the specific sensation


What going to happen to Dulche De Leche during baking?

It will taste like dulce de leche.  It's already caramelized, so it's not going to change in most recipes.  If you cook it on high heat for long enough in a baking recipe, it will become a darker caramel, but that's it.

It will become more liquid at high heat, so you want to make sure you cook it "contained", like in an empanada or pie crust.  Otherwise it might drip onto the floor of the oven and burn.


Do milk and butter not work in place of cream for whipping, and why?

Heavy whipping cream is homogenized as @myklbykl mentions. That means the fat molecules are pretty evenly dispersed throughout the liquid parts, giving you a smooth mixture instead of one that separates.

When you whip cream, you don't just incorporate air. You also agitate those fat molecules and they start sticking together. As long as you keep whipping vigorously, the fat molecules Wil Form a matrix within which the tiny bubbles of air and liquid get trapped, making a foam. If you keep beating, all the fat globs together, and that's where you get butter and traditionally buttermilk.

So if you add butter to the milk, even if you melt it- it's already done. The fat was already beaten and globbed together completely. You won't be able to get that matrix to form again since it's already been completely whipped.

And unfortunately you can't homogenize the fat and liquid back together. It requires special machinery. I actually tried once because I was young and the internet lied to me. End result was me crying over a big bowl of milk with lots of tiny butter chunks in it.


No, it is not.

Traditionally it is first cured with salt to reduce the water content of the meat, then placed in a vinegar-based brine.

Recipes vary a bit, but for classic Bismarckhering 14% salt and 7% acetic acid are used. Additionally, today pickeled fish is stored in refrigerators (as opposed to the 19th century), providing additional safety.

This is sufficient to stop the growth of harmful microorganisms, including the feared clostridium botulinum.


Theoretically yes, practically, it will serve no purpose.

Marinades serve the purpose of drawing flavors out of the aromatics and herbs and distributing them to the food being marinated. To do so, they need to be in a form that can absorb and re-distribute.

There are so many opinions on marinating...you know, everyone has one.... but the other marinade components are often acid, stock or wine. The herb and spice flavors are more fat soluble than water soluble, so acid is added for dubious tenderizing benefits (for short time periods)

The pro way to prep meat is to have it come to room temperature before preparing. In this case, if tallow is liquid at room temperature (hot room, I think), you might get away with it, but would have little time before the emat needs to be prepared.

Even I will not advocate for meat left out at warm room temperature for an extended period.

Basically, once the tallow can do the job of a fat in a marinade, it will not have enough time to do anything useful.

PS. You could sautee some aromatics in tallow, then deglaze and make a mushy pasty mixture that you can slather on something, maybe in a plastic bag. If you turn and massage it every couple hours something good will happen, but in a refrigerator it will get quite hard and difficult to work with.


Since you don't describe your process in detail it`s impossible to figure out the exact cause of the spoilig. Most common mistakes while canning are:

Improper sterilization of the glasses and lids.
Too short or cold pasteurization of the canned vegetables. Time and temperature required are highly dependent on the type of canned good. For raw red beets it should be 45 min at 100°C, for pre-cooked 20 min at 100°C.
Too much air remaing under the lid.
Failing to create a vacuum for sealing, allowing micro-organisms to enter the glass.


Safe uses for sourdough starter discards during building phase

As long as there is no mold or any "off" smells, any use in which the discard gets cooked (i.e., no raw flour ends up in your final product) should be safe. After all, your starter is little more than a mixture of flour and water, the main ingredients in any number of baking recipes.

The internet is littered with recipes using sourdough discard. A personal favourite of mine are these cookies. If your starter has not yet matured, it is likely that it will not have the leavening power some recipes require. Look out for recipes that include alternative leaveners (such as baking powder or regular yeast), or that won't suffer from not rising (like these crackers). Once your starter is happily bubbling away, any recipe is an option.


What makes the 'Cat poo' coffee (Kopi Luwak) flavour worth drinking?

I've never drunk it (can't stand coffee myself), but the general theory is:

A wet ferment.  Some coffee producers have attempted to duplicate some of the processes with enzymes, as you've mentioned.
More likely to be picked closer to peak ripeness.  The animals have the advantage that they're picking berries to eat, and will pass over unripe ones to eat later -- unlike human processing which might just look to strip the whole bush.

In talking to one of my co-workers (also not a coffee drinker), and she said that she's had coffee right after it's been processed, and it was dramatically different from the stuff that was available in Europe or North America ... which leads me think that freshness might be a more important quality than some of the other aspects of the highly expensive coffee.  (unless you're talking about psychological effects)


How to prep a #5 plastic container for making yogurt?

For yougurt making, I would say you've covered it.  Someone should correct me if I am wrong, but I would be surprised if anything that would impact the next batch of yogurt survived the dishwasher.

If you want to be certain, though, how about a bleach solution?  Ratios of bleach to water vary widely on the web from 1 tablespoon to 3/4 cup of regular bleach per gallon of water, depending on what you are disinfecting and why. I would think that for this application you could use the lower amounts of bleach.  Soak for a few minutes.  Wash with soap and water.

You referenced beer making:  Beer making suppliers also sell iodine and non-iodine based sanitizers.


Steel is pretty much steel (carbon cast etc)

It's the surface that's needs to be conditioned. Only buy pans with a smooth surface regardless of price. Then use metal scourers and spatulas to remove any rough spots. And then regularly heat with oil until it smokes

For eggs, with a conditioned pan, pour in a layer of salt and heat until the salt discolours, discard salt, let cool a bit, roughly wipe out with paper, add a little oil, and the eggs should cook fine


How can I keep saffron fresh for longer?

There are special glass jars made to protect herbs from damaging uva/b rays, proven to maintain freshness.  Granted, these little jars are designed for a "different" kind of herb, I, on the other hand, use them for my ultra expensive, direct from the middle east saffron.  Keep an open mind and enjoy your saffron!!!

www.herbpreserve.com


Preparing cut vegetables for the next day?

I find that a small amount of acid helps prevent the ugly browning and "sliminess" that may occur, however many foods like eggplant, okra, etc. that rely mostly on their moisture for structure, tend to be the poorest performers. I've had more luck cooking certain vegetables like this in advance then refrigerating, than I have trying to prep in advance.


Tips and advice for cooking a bean recipe in the oven

I don't know why you didn't find any recipes for baked beans. They are quite common in many cuisines around the world. If you have grown up in a Western European or a North American country, it is quite likely that in your culture, stovetop dishes are generally more widespread than oven dishes overall, not only with regard to beans - but oven dishes still exist, including ones made with dried beans.
There is not much you need to do to convert a chickpea recipe to a beans recipe. Just give it more time in the oven, and it is likely to turn out quite good.
When talking about beans, there is not much you need to do to convert stovetop to oven recipes. Unlike many other foods, beans are always cooked with wet heat, and they will behave quite similarly in the oven as on stovetop. Since the oven warms up the food slower than stovetop, you will need to increase the cooking time, and it is more important to soak the beans sufficiently (overnight) before cooking them. I can't tell you how much longer you need to bake them, but be prepared to need large multiplicative factors - for example, I have a potato recipe which needs 3 hours in the oven before the potatoes are through, but if I precook the wet ingredients on stovetop and then only put it in the oven to overbake it with the topping, it takes about 20 minutes on stovetop to cook the potatoes. So, if you do a stovetop beans recipe in the oven, just check for doneness every hour or so and monitor the liquid level, adding water or stock if too much has evaporated.

If you don't have the patience to oven cook your beans, or you dislike the thought of wasting too much energy or of letting the oven run overnight, you can make casseroles with parcooked beans, which need much less time in the oven, frequently under one hour.


If only one choice - convection microwave, convection oven, regular micro, conventional oven?

IMO only a good convection microwave can replace a normal oven. They're not cheap, but I often use mine rather than heat up the big oven for something small *. The heat is a bit too much from the top for some baking, such as tall cakes, but it's OK for most things and there are workarounds like preheating with a pizza stone or covering a cake with foil.

I've actually got two convection microwaves (both Panasonic) because that's my main cooking option in the campervan when I've got electric hookup. I liked it so much I got one for home.

The biggest downside may be unfamiliarity - your guests may struggle to use the right combination of settings and accessories/dishes. They're also rather small so you won't be cooking a roast dinner in one.

* combination mode is also very good for some things but take a little getting used to


Where can I buy a larger than usual 13x4x4 pull man pan?

Like this one
Wilton Aluminum Loaf Pan?
Or are there some other requirements?


Don't consume unknown plants for safety reasons, not even ones identified by a random stranger on the internet!
It is very difficult to identify plants based just on leaves alone, generally for a certain identification you need stems, flowers and/or seeds to be absolutely certain
Having said that:
These look very much like young Mallow leaves (Malva from the Malvaceae), which is a genus of widespread plants found in temperate to tropical areas. Many species are considered weeds and are common in disturbed soils in urban areas.
The things that make me think it is mallow are the kidney-shaped leaves, with indented teeth and a dark spot where the petiole meets the blade
Most of the species of Mallow are edible, with a pleasant sweet taste to them. Some of the species are common garden flowers - usually a pretty pink or sometimes white.


Shelf-life of pressure-canned soups - is it still good?

While they are almost certainly very conservative (and with good reason), the FDA recommends that you plan on using home canned goods within one year.  They do not give shelf-life guidelines other than this.

I could not find truly authoritative sources (FDA, a major university extension center) that provided more detail.  Less authoritative sources make various claims, on the order of several years, but I will not quote them or link them here.

A five month old jar is certainly well within year that the FDA guidelines suggest, assuming you followed good canning practices.  The fact that you took the trouble to date the jar is a good indicator of your diligence.


How do I ensure my deep dish crust gets cooked

For a deep-dish pizza, around 425°F is right, and so is 20–30 minutes. That's starting with cold dough (need to keep the butter layers chilled, at least for a Chicago-style pizza).

Cooking in an aluminum 3" deep cake pan is fine. I suppose cast iron should work too (though it'll heat slower, so might take longer). As has been pointed out in comments, the cast iron much greater heat capacity may be part of the problem; I'd guess preheating it would help. (You can just put the cast iron skillet in the oven as the oven heats, though depending on how long you let the oven heat, you may want it in for only part of the time—no idea what the optimal temperature for it is). Make sure to have plenty of oil under the dough, and also cook on a lower oven rack.

I'd guess that you're using too-watery toppings. The tomato sauce should be pretty thick, much thicker than you'd ever use on a thin-crust pizza. Vegetables may need sweating to get some moisture out. If nothing else works, partially cook the crust (say, ten minutes or so) and then add the sauce and toppings.

I can vouch by Cook's Illustrated's Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizza recipe. Normally they have a paywall, but currently that recipe isn't behind it, so grab it quick.


Creating a recipe for a glazed fruit pie - what starch to use?

Use the tapioca starch, or, if you cannot find that, another tuber starch. It is more waxy than cornstarch, and therefore better suited for a glaze. It will give you a glossy, transparent appearance.

Cornstarch is a mealy starch, with high amylopectin content, and creates a soft, fluffy, somewhat cloudy mass, not as glossy or as transparent as waxy starches. By the way, it shouldn't have an off-taste if you cook it through.

I guess that most recipes haunting the Internet use cornstarch because it is so much more common in a home kitchen, and the home bakers found the result good enough for their purposes and/or were not aware that tapioca will give them a better end product. As you describe that you want a really good glaze, go for the tapioca.


I know this thread is way old but I did just find it It took me years to figure out that it was my meat filling that was too wet, making my tamales take forever to steam.


The comment of local food safety is spot on, they are the authority on legality for you and that is one of the criteria you must meet for your own protection and that of your clients/guests.  As you ask specifically about health department requirements, they are the authority, so go straight to the source to satisfy them and that is more of a legal question, so outside of what we can really answer.

Bacterial growth danger zone is 40-140F, so in general the advice is usually to stay out of that zone.  Now, on you specific item, raw carrots are not going to be a high illness risk I would think. However, going much into that range is also going to put you into a zone that the quality, not just the safety of the product will deteriorate more quickly if you are in that range.  Personal observation is that carrot will hold up fairly well up into the 50's, but why?  If you are in a salad bar setup, you likely have other items that may deteriorate more quickly so to handle them you want temps at least close to that 40F number or lower such as using an ice bath if the items will remain for an extended time. And if you have items such as those made with mayonnaise, boiled eggs or other cooked items, any meats, those must be outside that high growth zone so above 140F for hot items and below 40F or so for cold.  If you need to chill or keep warm some items, you might as well do all.


Can you list the leavening agents used in your Japanese Milk Bread?

Baker's Ammonia is NOT a good choice. The milk is likely to trap the ammonia and leave an awful taste. Baker's Ammonia is Ammonium Bicarbonate and Ammonium Carbonate and was used before Baking Soda. You should only use this for low moisture baked items like crisp cookies and crackers where the ammonia can vent out and not get trapped. Ammonia also interferes with Yeast's ability to communicate and since Yeast needs moisture the two should never be combined.

If your Milk bread recipe has baking soda or baking powder you'll need to study the ingredients and look for the leavening agents need to be pH balanced to ensure that enough leavening acid to fully activate the carbon dioxide rise without leaving an aftertaste (soap if too much baking soda, sour if too much acid). Milk can be matched to baking soda. You probably should add Baking powder which already includes the right amount of agent to acid to cancel out, but if the recipe is relying on the milk as an acid you may need to keep the baking soda to keep a balanced taste.

As for which kind of baking powder you need to look at the ingredients. MCP only gives 1 rise within 2 minutes of hitting a liquid so you need to mix and get into the oven quickly to keep it fluffy. Look for SAPP which will give you a second "double" action with a rise once it warms up in the oven. If you see bubbles hitting the surface then the dough isn't able to trap the CO2 (why gluten breads are better at this).

You could use baking powders with aluminum sulfate, but between the inedible aluminum salt ingredient and the bitter taste it can impart I wouldn't bother unless you really want a strong second leavening boost when it hits the higher oven temperature.

If you want to make this with yeast and are failing it is probably because the yeast isn't up to the task. Look for INSTANT dry yeast (also sold as breadmaker yeast). It has a finer granulation than Active yeast and doesn't require mixing with water before hand.

I've been working on a leavening book and have found that the secret to a good yeast that can give you a strong lift is to make your own yeast starter. Take a mason jar and add equal parts water to flour and a spoonful of yeast (fresh, active or instant it doesn't matter). It is important that the water have sat out for 24 hours on the counter before using (tap water has chlorine which if not vented out will kill most of the yeast). It is also important you use the same flour as your recipe. The goal is get the yeast used to converting the flour's sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide (that gives your milk bread the rise).

Use a chopstick to mix the flour, water and yeast in a mason jar and after you get a pancake batter consistency put a lid on the jar and leave it on a piece of cork, plastic or wood cutting board (just not a cold piece of tile or metal). Each day open the jar and look for bubbles and smell for alcohol (the key sign of a happy yeast taking to your gluten free flour). Go ahead and dump 1/2 in the garbage (don't clog the drain). Add another equal amount of water (left out 24 hours) and flour and mix. Recap and check again tomorrow.

After a week you should have a pretty good yeast champion that will outperform your sleeping dry yeast. Go ahead and swap in the activated yeast and count it towards your flour and water portion of your recipe. Don't use milk in the growing of your yeast since it is likely to spoil and either make you sick or make your bread sour from bacteria converting lactose to lactic acid, perfect for sourdough bread, but not Japanese Milk Bread!

Make sure your Milk bread gets a chance to proof in a warm environment. If it is too cold the yeast just won't work.

Hope that is helpful and it is cool seeing your question on how to get a better rise in your bread!


What is the base of a seasoning blend for something like roast chicken?

Without a reference to the specific product, I would assume that it is in fact flour.

It's very common for many chicken (and other meat) recipes to call for dredging in either seasoned flour, or flour followed by an egg wash and spice/breadcrumb mix. Since these commercial mixes obviously have to be completely dry, they are most likely to be seasoned flour.

Check out some recipes for seasoned flour (alternatively called seasoning flour), you'll probably find them to be very similar to the mixes you've been using.


What size of jar, proportionally, should I keep my poolish in to prevent overflow?

This is after I saw it hitting the top last night and stirred it down before bed.

You have been warned. But it's certainly not a bizzare fluke.

What could have helped the dough out:

at 100% hydration and low volumes you have a good chance that you get less-than-90% hydration dough by only a slight mistake in measurements; 90% dough can actually be pretty stable to support itself all the way up (especially if you have some better bread flour)
there might be a giant heap of nutrients left for the yeast/bacteria after 2 less-active fridge rests
your jar is quite narrow, which in fact provides lots of support to rising dough

In my opinion, to your original question, filling 1/3 for counter rests is on the edge, 1/4 should be okay. You can add some extra safety by having a wider jar, wetter dough, and feeding the starter much less for fridge rests (I actually always let the culture feed on the new flour for a day or two on the counter, before putting it to fridge).

About your "why"s:

Just 1 gram of consumed sugar produces ~0.248 litres of carbon oxide. Not bizzare at all, just a bit of bad luck that your dough was strong enough to be able to trap it. :]
IMO yes.
Biga is a short-lived starter culture, people usually don't keep it for longer than 1 day. Given there's much less water (40%) the dough usually starts to tear instead of rising very much. Btw. poolish is usually also taken to be short-lived; isn't your poolish actually sourdough-ish?


If it has remained frozen, it is safe.  However, even vacuum packed, its flavor has probably degraded. It simply might taste very good.


What kind of chocolate should I use to coat homemade turtles?

There are certain kinds of chocolate that are formulated for coating. Couverture is one of the names.  My local grocery store has discs of chocolate that come in packages that are meant for this.  Here's a link to a good explanation of the differences.
http://gourmetcandymaker.com/select-the-best-chocolate/


It is better to let it cool down a little, because the hot items put into the refrigerator can raise the temperature inside.

If your refrigerator gets warm, it can cause harmful bacteria to grow on your food.

This can result in food poisoning, and the damage of the dairy products mainly (then you will have to get rid of them). It's better to be safe and wait for the food to cool first.

To cool them quickly, you can place them in a cold bath containing some ice cubes.


Why should (or shouldn't) we wash rice before cooking?

Reasons to wash your rice:

Reduce/Control Starch levels

Often when you're cooking rice you want distinct grains of rice and for your rice to have texture. In the case of Chinese fried rice for example, you specifically want your rice grains to not stick to one another. If you're talking white rice especially, there will be a lot more loose starch that will form a thickish paste if if you don't rinse it away.

To clean out impurities

I imagine there was a time when there were a lot more impurities (dirt, dust, bugs, etc...). I don't know if that's necessarily the case these days with modern manufacturing. If you're concerned about your source, then this may be a factor for you. There's also the occasional random article that suggest rinsing to reduce levels of something like arsenic (see FDA warning on arsenic in rice)... I think 1. is your bigger factor here though.

Reasons to not wash your rice:

It removes nutrients.

This is true for fortified rice. See here for more information on the fortification process. Note, whole grain/brown rices are less often fortified (I want to say they're not fortified, but I actually don't know for sure). So it would depend on what kind of product you're buying and where it came from.

You actually want to keep the extra starch.

This is the case for things like risotto where the starch is what gives the dish it's creaminess. Serious Eats has a great article that talks about the process.


I missed your point about heat completely until you pointed it out.

If you have a textbook-perfect black-body of a drip pan (totally non-reflective, thus not shiny), it will radiate heat in all directions once itself is heated by the coil above it.

If you have a perfect reflector of a drip pan, it would not absorb any heat and simply reflect any heat back up.

A silvery tray is much nearer to being a perfect reflector (still a long way off) than a shiny black one to a perfect black body.

I have no measurements or data of any kind, just as an educated guess, I would lean towards having a shiny silver tray rather than a shiny black one if you are concerned about efficiency. Besides, a silvery foil tray is most likely going to get less hot itself, less heat absorbed. However I am questioning how much of a difference is actually there between the two. I could be wrong on this without any data, but I suspect that would not be your main heat loss, convective losses around the coil (spaces under and along its circumference) and your sauce pan and radiative losses would far outnumber that.

You said they are non-shiny black metal trays. Could they be coated with a catalyst to self-clean any food residues like you have inside self-cleaning ovens?

Edit: you might want to check with the manufacturer about using shiny liners just in case if the coils are not designed to cope with reflected heat.


What can I add to soften too hard peanut butter ice cream?

Heat the scoop?

source

If you are serving lots of ice cream maybe you already have one of these.  If not it might come in handy.  The flowing water warms up the scoop which then more easily cuts its way thru the hard ice cream.


Why does food cooked with peanut oil stick less than food cooked with sunflower oil?

I feel the same as you Anderson. I found that too and you just made me to do some research, which I found they have different smoke points.

Unrefined sunflower oil 225°F   107°C
Unrefined peanut oil    320°F   160°C

see the link: http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/50/Smoke-Points-of-Various-Fats

Also, one of the reasons food stick to the pan is the evenness of the temperature of the pan. If you use a thicker pan or copper pan, the heat will be distributed on the pan more evenly and food will stick less. The higher smoke point of oil makes me to believe the oil helps to distribute heat more evenly.


Why does my dough never "fall" after its first rise?

Basic Physics of the System

Bread rises (as you probably know) due to microorganisms, primarily yeast, converting sugars into CO₂ + byproducts. The CO₂ forms bubbles, stretching the gluten in the flour. In order for the bread to rise, the microorganisms must produce CO₂ faster than it can escape from the dough.

Graphed over time, the amount of CO₂ produced would start at 0, fairly quickly rise to its maximum (as the yeast, etc. come back from dormancy), then slowly decrease, eventually to 0 (as they run out of food and/or are overwhelmed by byproducts such as alcohol). The amount of gas escaping from the dough also changes over time. It must obviously start at 0, and probably increases over time (after all, there is more to escape), and eventually of course its all escaped and thus it must be 0 again, but I'm not sure of its exact shape. So, a diagram:

That's the basic physics of the system. At some point, the bread must fall. (Well, maybe in a 0-g environment it would shrink instead of fall, but…)

How the Environment Matters

The microorganisms are very sensitive to fairly small changes in their environment. In particular:

Temperature. If your kitchen is 70°F and the author's is 80°F, it could easily take twice as long. The lower the temperature, the slow the microorganisms go (up to a point, once it gets too hot, they're not happy either).
Hydration. If your bread dough is lower hydration (drier) than the author's, it'll be slowed down again. The recipe is written in volume measures (cups), as you know flour packs down. That leads to huge variations in how two different people measure it. Make sure to measure it how the author says to (hopefully it specified somewhere in the book). Scoop-and-sweep vs. sift-and-sweep can easily be 25% different. Preferably, spend $25 on a kitchen scale, and do your baking by weight.
Salinity. Salt slows down yeast. If you happened to substitute table salt for kosher salt, and still measured out 1½ tablespoons, you've used more salt than the author wanted. A fair bit more.
Age of your yeast. If your yeast is old (and sometimes the packets in the store have been sitting for ages), it may not have the same potency as a fresh packet would. It'll probably take longer (but as long as it rises, it'll likely be fine)
The times in the book could just be nonsense. Authors and editors do sometimes make mistakes. Other times they're in a rush, and just take a guess. "Yeah, it was about two hours..." The book could just be wrong.

Also, generally speaking, slower leads to better flavor. So its not a bad thing.

Summary

Give it longer. Provided you've covered it in plastic (so it doesn't dry out), it'll eventually fall.

Keep in mind that "fall" doesn't mean it'll return to its original size, just that it'll fall back from its maximum size. The "or flattens on top" comment in your book is a pretty accurate description of what it looks like. Normally, while its rising, there is a dome shape on top, with the center as the highest point. When it starts falling, that dome vanishes, and may even invert (as in, the center will be the lowest point).

I've made preferments that take upwards of 20 hours to fall. It will eventually happen. And when it takes forever, it'll probably taste better.


It is currently a matter of opinion, not science, whether or not cooking hot foods in an unlined copper vessel leads to unheathy amounts of copper in the diet.  Many health authorities caution against the use of pure copper even for cold drinks.  However, it is demonstrably true that many, many people use pure copper vessels for cooking various foods and have done so for centuries, and Ayurvedic practitioners even consider water from copper pots to be healthier.  And most of us have copper pipes, at least for hot water, and don't worry about it even though copper leaching from acidic water in pipes is a widespread health problem.
I was able to find lots of opinions on whether or not to use unlined copper vessels and kettles.  This Fine Cooking article is typical of all of them.  What a literature search does not turn up is any kind of actual science.  National and regional health authorities seem to take it for granted that copper kettles leach toxic amounts of copper, and don't bother to test it, and everyone else seems to ignore them.
As such, as long as there's no history of Wilson's Disease in your family, I'd leave it up you.  If you really like the kettle, use it.  If you don't, then use something with no doubts attached -- and much easier to clean -- like stainless steel or ceramic.
Since this is a teapot and not a kettle (per comment), you do need to be careful of the acidity level of the teas you brew in it.  Strongly acid teas will cause the kettle to corrode, and whether or not that results in unhealthy copper leaching (again, no science on this yet) it will discolor the pot and make it impossible to clean.
(And yes, copper is a nutrient in very small amounts.  However, like many minerals, what's beneficial in tiny amounts is poisonous in larger ones.  For example, as a ceramic artist I have to be careful with copper glazes in their raw form.)


I'm trying to make yogurt, but it won't turn out. Can someone help?

Don't get frustrated. There really aren't that many variables to keep track of.

1- I don't know the age of store bought yogurt but I have never had just-purchased yogurt not work as a starter. I have had month old yogurt from my fridge not turn out. If you don't plan on making yogurt often enough to keep you starter viable then consider freezing some in ice cube trays.

Whatever starter you use- make sure it lists "live, active cultures". Personally I wouldn't use a flavored yogurt as a starter.

2- I don't think that is enough starter. I will use 1/4 cup of starter for a quart of milk. If you are using 1 cup of milk that would be one Tbs of starter (12X the amount you used).

3- It depends. The goal is to denature the albumin proteins in the milk. 180F is hot enough if the milk is held at that temperature for at least half an hour. It needs to be held at 190F for closer to 10 minutes.

4- You need to get better control of your temperature. 130F will kill your starter but erratic temperature fluctuations will also produce very poor yogurt. Without a temperature controller or manual intervention your slow cooker will get much too hot- even with a water bath.

More successful approaches are to put it in a draft free place in an insulated container, or in your switched off oven.

5- The humidity is not going to play a role unless it is condensing into your container enough to dilute things.

Good luck. I hope you get it working. Fermenting milk is fun.


Why do frozen vegetable packets advise cooking from frozen, and should I follow that advice?

Well, "cook from frozen" comes with instructions on how to cook from frozen, on stovetop or microwave.  So their results are probably best for those methods.

Stir frying is a different process, so, unless they have stir-fry specific instructions, you should take the "from frozen" instructions to be specific to the methods and instructions given on the package for preparation, not necessarily an admonition for all types of preparation.


This may not be a perfect answer, since I'm Canadian - but our breakfast is pretty close to what you refer to as the English breakfast, minus the tomato.  I think an "authentic" English breakfast is rather different, but that's another question entirely!

If I understand correctly, you're hung up on two things, the first being timing and the second being specific preparations.  So I'll tell you what I do; mine's ready in about 20 minutes and always comes out terrific.

Lay the bacon strips and sausages in a cold pan and turn the heat up to medium.  I'm assuming the use of those thin breakfast sausages, which have approximately the same cooking time as bacon (slightly longer).
While the heat's coming up, crack 2-3 eggs into a bowl.  Add some cream (this makes them fluffier), and whatever seasonings you prefer; most people use salt and pepper, I occasionally use garlic or onion salt/powder.  Lightly beat the mixture with a fork.
At this stage, I like to get a second, small skillet for the eggs.  Turn the heat up to medium and let the pan heat up until you can flick some water at it and see it form droplets (and evaporate).  Now turn the heat on the egg skillet down to medium-low.
While the skillet's heating up, the bacon and sausage should be starting to sizzle.  You'll want to flip the bacon and turn the sausages every 2-3 minutes from now on, until you see the bacon starting to crisp.  Also constantly tilt the pan around so that the sausages actually fry in the bacon fat - this makes them cook faster and makes them tastier.
Get a large serving plate ready and line it with some paper towel.
At about 10 minutes in, the bacon should be just starting to crisp and turn brown in parts.  You'll want to leave it on for just a couple of minutes longer, depending on how crisp you like your bacon (I like it a little bit tender).
While you're finishing off the bacon, melt about a tablespoon of butter in the smaller skillet.  In the other pan, flip the bacon one last time.
As soon as the butter is melted (don't let it turn brown), pour the eggs into the small skillet.  You can let them sit for a moment - the bacon should be about done now, so take the strips out and lay them on the plate with paper towels so the fat drains.  The sausages will usually take a few minutes longer; turn the heat up to medium-high to speed this process up.
Now the eggs should be starting to set.  For a twist here, I like to sprinkle some paprika and/or dill weed onto the partially-set eggs, but you can skip that if you like.  Either way, start scrambling; use a spatula to break apart any areas that are set, push the edges into the center, and flip most of the pieces over.  Keep doing this for about 2-3 more minutes.
While you're doing the eggs (you can take them off the heat for a few seconds if you're slow), put the toast on.
The bacon should be drained by now, so remove the paper towel.  Remove the eggs to the same plate.  The sausages should be just about done as well; if they're still not fully cooked, I usually start to "sauté" them at this point to get them cooked as evenly as possible.  This should take a few more minutes at most; once done, remove them to the plate.  (You can drain them too if you like; I usually don't bother.)
Toast is done.  Butter it if you're into that.  Slice it along the diagonal and remove to the plate.

And there you are.  If you've followed all these steps correctly, you should already be able to feel your arteries hardening simply by looking at it.  Serve with tea (if you're English) or coffee (if you're anyone else).

Total preparation/cooking time: About 20 minutes.

P.S. Don't forget the spam and baked beans.


How can I preserve large quantities of garlic?

Peel the garlic bulbs and mince (or food-proccessorize) them.  Then portion the minced garlic into usable units and freeze those on a cookie sheet.  Once they're frozen, keep the lumps-o-garlic in a convenient vessel in the freezer.  You can then pull one lump at a time out of the freezer and use it.


How to adjust an oven to accommodate two items with different cook times and temperatures?

I would cook the Brie at that same temperature for 30-35 minutes and it should be okay.

Alternatively, you could cook the roast fully, remove it from the oven, tent it with foil and then cook the Brie.  The meat can rest while the Brie is cooking and being eaten.  Prior to slicing the roast, heat up the pan drippings to a sizzling temp and baste to ensure a crispy crust.  But if the appetizer course happens to last for 20-30 minutes, then the roast will have been resting for 40-50 minutes and could lose too much internal heat.


This works by increasing the porousness of the meat inside the bag. When a vacuum is created, there is a natural tendency for matter to occupy that space. It does this by increasing the amount of space between particles, otherwise known as density. This increases the size of the microscopic holes in the meat, and thus effectively increases the surface area in which the marinade can contact the meat. More surface area means by marinade sticks to your food.

If you'd like to see the effects of vacuum pressure on foods greatly exagerrated, put a marshmallow in a vacuum seal bag and see what happens. :-)


How do you make a chocolate chip cookie where the chips remain gooey after baked and cooled?

Naturally, chocolate is solid at room temperature. The only reason that chocolate chips are ever gooey is because they have been warmed recently enough that the chocolate has not yet reached it's solid state.

You may want to consider making your own chocolate chips with a little bit more liquid than normal to get the soft texture.

  Some Easy Ways to Warm Them Include:

  Throw the cookies up on your car windshield for a while.
  Stick them in the oven for a minute (generally dries them out)
  Put them in the Microwave for ~10-15 sec


Is there a term for the differentiating effects on loaves of bread?

The pattern of cuts on a loaf's crust is usually referred to as "slashing" or "scoring". I've never heard the seeds referred to as anything other than the bread being "seeded". I don't think that there would be a term for differentiating between breads using these techniques, as at most bakeries, differentiation is almost the entire purpose of using these techniques.


The most important difference here is the grain of the salt. Kosher salt has a coarse grain, whereas table salt ("iodized") is fine grain. Yes, it will affect the juiciness of your meat.
Here's an article that discusses it.

Cooking with Kosher salt: I generally reserve Kosher salt for meat and recipes that call specifically for it. Because the larger flakes hold onto moisture, Kosher salt essentially holds the moisture inside of the meat. It keeps pork chops tender, steaks juicy, and chicken breast moist.
See for yourself. Salt one chicken breast with table salt and another with kosher salt. The one with kosher salt will retain its moisture much better than the chicken breast salted with table salt.


Does beating hot oil into eggs before cooking an omelette make a difference?

Not tried or heard of this before. I can only arm-chair experiment in my head until I try this out. This seems to be an encapsulation/spherification method.

I can see a thin "shell" of cooked eggs coagulating around the hot oil droplets, trapping them and preventing separation. With many tiny beads of egg encased oil (effective oil buoyancy reduced) in suspension and thus more fats locked in the eggs there is likely a richer mouth-feel. This would not be achievable otherwise. Pretty neat trick. Your mom sounds like a modernist cook!


How can I improve the 2:1:1 margarita recipe?

You probably are used to having a lot of sugar in your mixes. Use lime-ade instead of lime juice, or add some simple syrup. Adding orange juice also helps. Of course, this isn't "traditional", but you'll probably like it better.

If you're looking for a ratio, I would try something like 2 parts tequila, 1 part triple sec, 2 parts lime-ade, 2 parts orange juice. Adjust the lime-ade and orange juice until it tastes good to you.


Gas or electric for rack oven in a bakery?

Electric is generally better for baking.  Gas ovens introduce a bit of water vapor due to the combustion of the gas.  In general, electric ovens also have smaller variations in temperature during the oven cycle than gas, and so maintain a more even heat.


Buying first cast iron pan size/depth/shape

I'd offer the following recommendations if someone hasn't worked with cast iron before:

Cast iron is heavy.  If you're not used to them, and used to flipping things in your pan by just lifting and shaking ... it will not go well until you've gotten used to it.  You'd likely be better off with a smaller pan, provided that it's of sufficient size for the amount you're cooking.  If you're only cooking for 1 or 2 people, a 10" (25cm) pan is likely better than a 12" (30cm) one.
If you're going to be grilling things, but not making sauces or sautéing, go with a griddle.  Round griddles heat up much more evenly (less issues w/ cold spots near the walls), are easier to clean, and are significantly lighter than cast iron pans.  Grill pans are really only needed for things that are going to drip significant amounts of fat, or if you really like grill lines.
If you buy a larger pan (14"/ 36cm) or larger, make sure it has a second handle.  I've seen some that just have a little nub and not much else, which makes it very difficult to lift when it's loaded down with food, as you don't always have good grip with the potholders.
Pour spouts are nice to have, as you don't want to hold the pan for a long time trying to be careful when pouring.  (heavy pan + liquid weight is not a good combination).  The only disadvantage to the spouts are that you can't lid it as tightly, which may be an issue for pots, but is generally not a problem for pans.
Learn how to hold the pan when transfering food out of it.  You'll notice in some cooking shows that the chefs use a strange grip : with your non-dominant hand, reach across the pan and grab the handle so that your palm is under the handle.  Grip tightly and lift over your serving dish, and then scrape things out with your dominant hand.  You will tire out much more quickly if you try to hold it with the handle to the side.
You only need a high-sided pan if you're going to be really loading up the pan (eg, trying to wilt down a bunch of greens), braising, or shallow frying.  (it's most important when frying).  Higher sides add extra weight, and less even heating.
Figure out where you're going to store it.  As they're heavy, you likely don't want to be storing them up high (hazardous) or down low (back problems) if you can avoid it.  You also can't stack them all on top of each other on a flimsy shelf.  I wouldn't hang them from a pot-rack if it was overhead.  (maybe on a wall-mounted one, where I knew it had good lags into studs)  If you just have one, you can clean it and leave it on your stovetop ... once you start getting a few different sizes, you have to figure out where to put them.
Invest in a handle cover.  You can get ones that are padded cloth, leather, or silicone that slip over the handle, and just stay on while you're cooking.  You don't want pans where the handle is a separate part from the cast iron.
Enameled cast iron is easier to clean, but it will start to stain and craze after years of use.  I like enamed for pots, but generally prefer seasoned for pans.
Make sure to read the manufacturer's directions for cleaning and seasoning your pan before the first use.  Seasoned pans may come 'pre-seasoned', and just need a touch up before you start using it, but bare metal pans generally need to be stripped down of whatever protective coating they shipped with, and then seasoned, which can take a couple of hours to build up some layers.  (it's easier to do in the oven, but slower ... I still recommend the oven so you can make sure to season the underside and handles of the pan, which frequently get forgotten)

... and whatever you do, do not start collecting cast iron because it's decorative.  I have less than a dozen, and 3 of them get heavy use (14" skillet, 12" round griddle, 7qt enameled pot).  I had to work up to the 14" skillet ... starting out, it was a 10" until I got used to working with it, which is still a great size for cornbread and such.  ... but my mom has well over 100 pieces, because she's collecting Griswold and Wagner.  (and she's got at lot of it on an antique wooden baking rack that I'm amazed hasn't broken / collapsed considering that it's significantly sagging)


What should I do with my leftover bench flour?

The main problem I see is humidity - the bench flour can be lumpy, have bits of dough in it and will be partly moist. I would therefore not put it back in the main bag of flour.

If you use it like flour, it might leave dry lumps, so it depends on your technique whether it will work or not.
But there are techniques in bread baking that use leftover dough or even dry ground and soaked bread in new loaves - that's where I'd put it.

It can go into pre-ferments (even without yeast or starter), improving gluten development and dough texture. Unless it's absolutely dry, I recommend storing it in the freezer until your next baking day.

Apart from that: unless you are actively working the bench flour into your dough (vs. using just a bit to prevent sticking), have you considered using a "cheaper" flour?


It's not uncommon to par-cook meat for barbecue, as in these recipes:

http://www.food.com/recipe/best-baby-back-ribs-in-town-57185
http://www.jfolse.com/recipes/meats/beef19.htm

The meat is basically cooked before it goes on the grill. The grill is applied at the last minute to add extra flavor and to glaze the barbecue sauce.

There is considerable debate among barbecue aficionados about whether this is really appropriate. Some flavor is lost to the water (unless you use sous vide), and you lose the opportunity to spend hours in smoke. You certainly won't win any barbecue contests this way. But it's definitely one way to get falling-off-the-bone 'cue.

As for safety... the same 2/4 rule applies here as elsewhere. The food should spend no more than four hours in the 40-140F range before eating, and no more than two hours before storage.

The meat will be above that range while being simmered. As long as you cool it quickly (perhaps in a sous vide bag, in an icewater bath), you can put it in the refrigerator with minimal time in the danger zone. If you freeze it, defrost it in the refrigerator before cooking.

You can then let it spend perhaps three hours on the grill before it has spent too much time in the danger zone. Since it is fully cooked at this point, you won't need to spend more time than that.


Rising pizza dough in the fridge after punching it?

There is no emergency, you have a healthy, active dough. You can punch it down as much as you like, remember that with pizza dough you are going to knock a load of air out when you make your pizza bases. You can keep it in the fridge until tomorrow, it should slow down as it starts to exhaust the available sugars.

If you find things still going a bit too fast reduce the yeast in the dough.


How can I handle black pepper without sneezing?

Your local hardware store or DIY shop will likely have an assortment of dust masks you could try. The simplest ones would be cheap and very quick to put on and remove, and should help.

It seems a little over the top to have to put on a mask for using pepper, but perhaps you're extra sensitive and it's just something you'll have to deal with.

Do you have any reaction at all from eating things with lots of black pepper?

Finally, you might look at how you're physically dispensing the pepper. If you're shaking it from a container you're likely to stir up a small cloud of fine pepper dust. If you're not already doing so, consider trying to use a tiny measuring spoon or even the wrong end of a regular spoon to scoop a little pepper out of the container directly and add it to your food--less sprinkling/shaking, less irritant in the air.


Perhaps you are referring to guay teow haeng sukhothai (ก๋วยเตี๋ยวแห้งสุโขทัย). It has peanuts on it and it's not pad thai (ผัดไท่ย). Unfortunately, a search using English does not yield a recipe. Lucky for you I can read Thai. Here is a translation of the ingredients list posted in Thai at Chompoo Kitchen.

snake beans, sliced diagonally
cabbage, trimmed
bean shoots
thin rice noodles
crispy fried garlic
fish sauce
salted white radish, finely chopped
roasted bird pepper powder
roasted peanuts, ground
white sugar
parsley, chopped
lime wedge
deep fried dumpling or pork rinds

Along with that they give a recipe for the braised pork

5 coriander roots, can substitute coriander seeds
30 cloves of asian garlic (small cloves)
1 teaspoon green peppercorns
(almost) 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
(almost) 1 tablespoon fermented soybean sauce (not soy sauce)
5 cups water
500g pork sirloin, 2 inches thick, leave whole
300g pork skin
1/2 cup white sugar
3 teaspoons salt
light soy sauce as seasoning

Method for sliced pork

Roughly crush coriander root (or seeds), garlic, green peppercorns to form a paste then add it to a cooking pot
Pour in the water and add the pork and pork skin then put the pot on a medium heat
Bring it to the boil, reduce the heat to low, season with the white sugar, salt, hoisin sauce and soybean sauce
Adjust the seasoning with the light soy sauce and allow to simmer
When cooked and still soft remove the pork and pork skin from the pot and allow to cool
Slice the pork and pork skin, place in a container ready for serving time

Method for completing the dish

In a pot bring water to a boil then add the noodles, cook until al dente then remove them and put them aside
Combine the crispy fried garlic with a little vegetable oil and then combine that with all the pork
Blanch the snake beans, bean shoots and cabbage for a few seconds making sure they are still crispy.
Add the vegetables to the noodles followed by the pork, vegetables, bird pepper powder, peanuts, salted radish, parsley, lime wedge and fried dumpling wrappers
Enjoy

Serves 4 people

You'll find a stack of photos on the original recipe page to help you along.


I suspect that this is a question that it's impossible to give a definitive answer for.
In reality it's probably a mixture of religion, culture and confusion.
I reckon that in most cases that it boils down to "Fish isn't a meat because when I was growing up I was told it's not a meat", or something like that.
In terms of etymology, "meat" originally just meant "food" and as such could be used for food of any kind. This carries over to some extent in modern usage - we sometimes talk about meat of a fruit/vegetable to describe the inside of it, coconut for example.
Personally I use meat to describe animal flesh regardless of the origin, I don't view the meat/fish deviation as being one that is either meaningful nor useful.
RE: fish and vegetarianism,
Fish isn't vegetarian.
Phew, glad we could clear that up.

There's an accepted meaning for the word and it excludes the eating of fish. There are a lot of people who eat fish and are otherwise vegetarian*, which is perfectly fine, but it's a misuse of the word. At the end of the day we all eat what we're comfortable eating, but it can be difficult grouping that many variations. This confuses others and in the end leads to inconvenience to vegetarians.
Oh language...
*Although this probably isn't true. If you're eating fish than it's obviously not on moral grounds so you're less likely to exclude animal products in some of the more obscure places, like may be in wines, cheeses, or indeed any processed goods.


What kind of oil and vinegar are used on italian subs?

It depends. At Subway sandwich shops (the fast food chain), "oil and vinegar" means a blended vegetable oil and an inexpensive red wine vinegar. That is all. Some Subway shops may have one oil bottle and one vinegar bottle and put some of both on when you ask for oil and vinegar. A better Subway will have a third bottle that is a mix of oil and vinegar that can be shaken before applying to make it temporarily suspended, which also ensures a consistent proportion of oil and vinegar.

I find that at Subway, the oil and vinegar topping really works best if you also have the "Italian seasoning/herbs" and "salt and pepper" added as well. The latter is just salt and pepper. The former is actually Italian herbs including oregano, thyme, I think rosemary, and maybe some basil. The oregano and thyme are definitely prominent.

Other delis and sandwich shops are probably doing something similar to Subway. They may be mixing different proportions, using better or cheaper oils and vinegars, and/or they may mix the herbs and salt and pepper in with the oil and vinegar to make a complete dressing.

If I were doing this at home, I would make my own blend inspired by my favorite sandwich shop. I would use:

100% extra virgin olive oil instead of an oil blend, but if you find the oil to be too strongly flavored you can switch this for a canola oil or soybean or blended oil. Nut oils like peanut might give a strange flavor.
A nice red wine vinegar and not balsamic, because balsamic could be too strong and wasted on a sub that already has strong meat and cheese flavors. I'd go with about 2/3 oil to 1/3 vinegar and adjust to taste. You could try a white wine vinegar, malt vinegar, or cider vinegar but the latter two will taste much less "Italian".
Salt and finely ground pepper to taste.
Herbs, strong on the oregano and thyme, I might put in dried basil also. Rosemary would have to be finely ground or omitted because it can be "spiney" if not cooked in.

I would put it in a bottle I can shake vigorously right before I apply it, and I would want to apply it to a pile of shredded lettuce and other vegetable so it doesn't just run out, and I Would want the bun to soak it up a bit.

Instead of shaking vigorously, you could add a little bit of mustard flour or prepared mustard or an emulsifier and whisking it or shaking it to emulsify it before applying. Again, this helps ensure it applies evenly and the proportions stay constant.


Can semifreddo be used in fried ice cream recipe?

Well, yes and no. A lot of recipes for semifreddo aren't truly semifreddo because they are hard frozen. Recipes like that can be fried just like ice cream. The key to fried ice cream is to hard freeze the scoops of ice cream. By definition, that isn't semifreddo, but definitions don't seem to matter much to writers of recipes. So, if the "stuff" is hard frozen, it can be coated and fried like fried ice cream. Perhaps after being deep fried, the name "semifreddo" is more apropos.


What's the proper procedure of making ghee?

You can start it on high, until it is completely melted, and foaming, to save time.  Then reduce to a slow simmer to evaporate the water.
You want all of the water to be evaporated—this is critical to the shelf life of your ghee.

This is indicated by the solids beginning to brown and the cessation of bubbles as you noted; the milk solids cannot brown until all of the water is evaporated.  This is because as long as water is present, it will prevent the temperature from rising to the threshold required to brown the milk solids.  Once the water is evaporated, the temperature in the pot will rise past 212 F / 100 C, and the browning can begin starting around 250 F / 120 C (IIRC).

Side note: Although I have not seen a traditional recipe recommend it, I imagine it would be very effective to use a candy or deep fry thermometer to monitor when the temperature passes 212 F / 100 C by a reasonable margin.

You will be leaving the browned milk solids behind, so they will not be in your final ghee.

This typical recipe describes this part of the process as follows:

  Let the butter simmer for up to one hour. Keep an eye on it and keep
  the flame on your stove as low as possible. The ghee is done when you
  see browned butterfat caramelized on the bottom of the pan and the top
  portion of the ghee is clear.

To completely remove the water, you want to continue to heat, until no bubbles remain.  As sarge_smith kindly points out, once the agitation from major boiling completes, and the solids settle, local conditions directly in contact with the bottom of the pan may allow some browning, while a small amount of water remains in the ghee.
Store your ghee in a sealed container not exposed to oxygen, preferably opaque or in a cabinet to prevent ultraviolet light from reaching it, both of which contribute to rancidity.  Refrigerating smaller quantities doesn't hurt, but when sealed for long term storage, ghee should be shelf stable for at least a year, assuming you evaporated all of the water.  Even if you are worried that some water remains, you should still easily get a month of shelf life, longer in the refrigerator.

See also:
Should ghee be kept out of light?


Making corn bread pudding from corn bread

You can sort of substitute, yes. Bear in mind that cornbread has a far lower gluten content than wheat breads (zero gluten if there's no wheat flour in the recipe), and thus will not hold together quite as well. So you may wish to use slightly less of the custard base.

In addition, I've found that cornbread doesn't generally make a particularly nice sweet pudding; it's much better in a savoury application. So perhaps throw in some jalapeno and some goat cheese.


Why is a Gruyère sweet when it contains 0 carbohydrates?

Cheese is a complex variety of chemical compounds some of which can taste sweet. I don't know the exact make up of Gruyère but according to this article there are a couple of compounds that are known to lend a sweet flavor. Including: butyric acid, Alanine, glycine, serine, threonine, ethanol, etc.

Wikipedia says that Gruyère is a "sweet" cheese so I would assume these compounds mentioned above are in higher amounts than other cheeses.


Make bread with it (let it cool enough that you don't kill the yeast,
first.)
Make soup with it.


How to Tell if Beef Steak Has Been Dry-Aged

While there's some similarity in looks between aged steak and rotten meat (both usually have a dark color) it's easy to tell the difference. Spoiled meat will smell rotten and very unpleasant, and will probably have a slimy feel to it. I've found that dry aged meat has an intense, rich smell to it. Spoiled meat, or meat past its prime will lose its bounce, if you stick a finger into it the impression will last. Good meat will spring back and the impression will disappear.

Meat that has been frozen too long will look very different from a dry aged steak.

Meat loses moisture in the dry aging process, leaving the meat more concentrated if you will. Put a steak that has been dry aged for a good amount of time next to one which hasn't and you will tell the difference. Buy from a butcher with a good reputation and compare to a supermarket choice steak and you will see what I mean.


What's the difference between brioche feuilletee and croissant dough?

They are very similar, here is the difference according to The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum:

Croissant and brioche have the same ingredients: flour, yeast, salt,
sugar, milk, and butter. There are only two significant differences:
croissant dough contains almost double the amount of butter and has
only milk as the liquid component, whereas the liquid for brioche
dough comes mostly from eggs, with only a little milk. The eggs in the
brioche dough give it an airy cake-like crumb, while the large amount
of butter in the croissant dough, and the way in which it is rolled
and layered into the dough, gives it its flaky crumb.


Chocolate seized during dipping, how to prevent it?

There are two things to keep in mind while melting chocolate:

Keep a low uniform heat

I start off the melting process with low to medium heat. Once the chocolate fully melts, I reduce the heat to low and keep gently stirring all the while.

If you allow the chocolate to cool, it separates out into non-uniform areas of heat, and the cooler pockets start crystallizing. This causes lumps or spikes to form. However, if you go too high, the chocolate may burn.

Keep the chocolate absolutely dry

This also includes steam and condensation from the boiler. The water in the boiler should not splash over or steam into the chocolate. Also make sure that the dipped materials (truffles in your case) are totally dry.

Presence of water causes rapid cooling of parts of the chocolate, which again causes lumps to form. It also causes sugar to crystallize out of the fine chocolate mix.  This is called "seizing", and such chocolate is very brittle and difficult to melt.

EDIT:
Here's a nicely written article on the different methods of melting chocolate: How to Melt Chocolate for Dipping


How to set up the sous vide bath for guineafowl breasts?

One of the benefits of sous vide cooking is that you cannot cook food over the temperature set, if you set the temp to 70 degrees it's physically impossible for it to go over that. This means that if you cook it longer than it needs to get up to the desired temperature you won't dry it out. I would think for guineafowl that 120 minutes would be enough. As for temperature shock you'd have to go much higher than 70C to run into that, so I'd start with the water at your desired temperature.

As for sauces guineafowl is very rich and savory, so something with acidity would help to balance it. I like your sauce idea and think it would work fine. Riesling is a good choice if you get one with a more mineral character than a sweet bomb, although a squeeze of lemon can supplement the acidity if needed.


Kitchen knife rust after one day of use?

This happens a lot when the knives are more carbon steel vs. stainless steel.  I have many Japanese knives, and this happens when I don't immediately wipe off the blade after washing, or when cutting up more acidic foods, and not wiping the knife off with a damp towel.

I use a Japanese rust eraser, and most if not all rust will come off, and it will not scratch the knife's surface if you run along the grain of the metal.  These eraser are pretty inexpensive at your local japanese market, or you can get them on line.  They have a small amount of abrasive on it.

In your case, it will be a bit difficult, as the grain of your knife is going up and down the knife.  But if you don't care too much about a bit of scratching, then you could run the eraser length wise or side to side, along your knife.

Another alternative is to use a non scratching powdered cleanser, such as Bon Ami or Bar Keepers Friend and a cut potato or dai-kon (asian radish) to polish the blade.  Try a small area first and then if it works, polish the whole blade.  Wash and dry immediately.

To see a demonstration of this technique I would watch some youtube videos by, Jon Broida, at Japanese Knife Imports.  He is a master knife sharpener and knife shop owner in Los Angeles.


How to dispense thick, intense hot sauce without getting residue on the bottle?

Unless you want to go through the faff I do every time I use gravy browning (notorious lid-glue!) - wipe the top of the bottle; rinse the lid under the tap; seal top of bottle with thumb & rinse screw-thread - then why not just thin it down a bit so it's less sticky?

Water or vinegar ought to do it, assuming you at least use boiled water.


Why is my homemade bread molding after 2 days?

Without preservatives in the bread your bread won't last as long as store-bought, but there are some things you can do to make it last longer:

Proof the bread longer, thus creating more acid in the bread. This
will help preserve it.
Make sure it is fully baked and a little drier. Cool it fully on a rack before storing, allowing more steam to exit the loaf
Store it in a cool, dry, dark place.
A little extra salt in the recipe may help.
If you live in a humid area, try some kind of desiccant or dehumidifier.


You can. Cows' feet will add gelatin without adding much meaty taste, which may not be ideal for pho both (depending on the other ingredients). In my experience they take longer to render than pork gelatin. They can also add off flavors if not treated properly (similar to tendon); blanch them in a couple of changes of water before you use them.


You can feed your starter with whatever flour you have, keeping in mind the following things:

1) If you want to change flour type you should start with an active, healthy culture (don't start with one that is dormant or low activity). I would feed it at room temperature using the normal flour for a few days and make sure it is robust and active. Your new flour will have different yeast and bacteria strains which will compete with those in your current starter, so expect there to be a period of lower activity while things adjust to your new food. If the starter is not healthy and active enough to begin you could end up with problems like you did.

2) You may need to feed it more often, and you should keep it at room temperature to give it the best chance of a healthy transition.

3) this will change the flavor profile of the bread. The extent to which this happens depends on the type of bread and method you're using.

4) some flours make more robust starters than others. Also, starters with some flours need to be fed more or less often than others. You need to judge the activity of the starter.


What to do with rotisserie chicken juices

I threw away the fat, but is the gelatin good for anything? Is it a kind of stock?

Oh yeah.. you can use it. That is some great chicken stock. You just don't recognize it as such, because it's cold, which gels it.

When that gel is in a heated dish, it will taste very good. Superior to any canned broth, better than any bullion cube.


I have a frozen brown bear (roast?) from somewhere in Alaska

Like any meat, the best cooking method for bear depends a lot upon the cut of meat. Brown bear, even if taken in the early spring (before they start eating salmon), is pretty strongly flavored. A lot of hunters in Alaska don't even eat brown bears that they take, preferring to use them for taxidermy purposes only. (BTW, I don't like that, I firmly believe that hunters should eat what they kill, but that's beside the point)

Considering the gaminess of brown bear, that your cut appears lean, and that you're not entirely sure what cut it is; I recommend that you make sausage. Trim away any noticeable pockets of fat since bear fat is not particularly pleasant. Grind the roast with about 25% fat by weight. Since pork is the closest easily available fat to bear, I would go with that if you can. You can use a meat grinder, if you have one available, or food processor. If you don't have either of those, you can also use a knife. Just pound it as you mince it as finely as possible. From there, you can use any recipe for pork sausage that appeals to you, just increase spice a bit to compensate for the strength of bear meat flavor. You don't need to stuff sausage casings or anything like that unless you care to. Smoking or any other specialty technique is also entirely optional.

The one thing that isn't optional is that bear meat should be cooked to a minimum of 160°F (71°C) because many bears carry trichinosis.

Quit looking at my avatar!


semi-freezing ripe avocado for easier handling

I would avoid freezing them as it will change the texture. A lot of people say they don't notice, but I notice right away. I can tell if food has been frozen in the first bite.

I just halve them, take out the pit and then slice them lengthwise in the skin.
Then with a spoon carefully scoop out the slices.
Works like a charm, no matter how soft.


How long should you cook anchovy and anchovy paste to extract the most flavor?

This is completely personal opinion, but I do not believe it is possible to overcook anchovies when they are being used to add flavor to a dish. The optimal situation is that you cook the food long enough for the anchovies to completely break down. It is an entirely different issue when you actually want to serve them as a featured ingredient instead of a seasoning.

With either paste or whole/ chopped, it is impossible to undercook as both are ready to eat as sold, unless your anchovy can was ready to burst due to a little Gram-positive bowling-pin shaped spore-forming rod called Clostridium botulinum having some fun.

Getting to the actual questions, when using a paste it doesn't actually need any cooking, just stir it in and you are ready once it's incorporated. If you can't see the lump of paste you have successfully extracted the flavor.


Lemon vs lime in choc chip cookie recipe

It's really hard to say without seeing your recipe. (Why is there lemon juice in the first place?) In general, lime juice will provide about the same amount of acidity (good), and the flavor will be similar but not quite the same (probably okay, maybe won't go as well with the chocolate). If you've made this before and you can't really taste the lemon juice flavor in the final product, then don't worry about it. If you haven't, well, I doubt half a teaspoon in a whole batch of cookies is providing substantial flavor, so I'd say go for it, unless the cookies are for something really important.


It seems to me that the risk of adding soduim benzoate, while small, is higher than adding no preservative at all. I doubt you really need any type of preservative.  If you begin with impeccably clean bottles...perhaps sanitized the way a home brewer might sanitize beer bottles (using iodine or other sanitizing product), and work cleanly, I don't see a safety risk here. Use a known clean water source.  You could also decrease your worries further by using distilled water, but the taste might not be agreeable.  It seems like the biggest potential problem is that you might grow some algae.

Now, I don't quite understand your comment above where you state that a 16oz container would contain a hundred or so servings.  If you intend on taking a swig, and re-capping the bottle...well, every time you do that you introduce bacteria into the equation. Additional potential problems arise if you were sharing that bottle with others.  This, of course, could be remedied by pouring your dose into a cup.


There are many, many ways to make lasagna, so there cannot be one single answer.  You have to ask yourself, what is the goal of a good lasagna?

It is not to feature the individual components that make up the layers, but rather to have a cohesive, unified experience.

The order layering is more for visual effect than to control how the ingredients taste.

However, if the contribution of your other ingredients is not coming through, they may not be bold enough to stand up to the cheeses, pasta, and sauces (none of which are usually very bold) and still hold their own.  Some of the common accent ingredients in lasgana commonly include:

Bolognese sauce, or another ragu type sauce, with a strong, meaty flavor from long cooking.
A spicy sausage or salumi

Also, make sure each component is properly and individually seasoned, to taste its best.  Each component should also be treated properly to bring out its best flavor (long slow braising for ragu, good browning for sausage, and so on).

These ingredients are aggressively flavored, and while they shouldn't dominate the casserole, they should come through as part of the overall flavor.


How to add panko to chicken without frying the chicken?

You could oven bake them.

You bread the chicken the same way you do when frying them but instead you put them on a baking sheet; cook and mid-way, gently flip them over.

It is a little bit like making Shake'n'Bake chicken.


Is both creaming and chemical leavening needed?

Depending on what you are making, you can easily use just one of the mechanisms to create tiny air bubbles in your finished product. On one end of the spectrum are for example pancakes: you mix just enough to ensure that the baking powder (or soda) is distributed well enough, then bake. On the other side we have sponges that work fine with just a base of beaten eggs and sugar.

A rich pound cake is something like a middle ground: it will actually work even without chemical leaveners, provided the fat and sugar were creamed well, but the baking powder is like an extra “boost”. But you need the creaming step for a simple reason: You need the solid fat to be soft and dispersed enough so that the gas from the baking powder can actually lift the batter and enlarge the existing tiny air bubbles created with creaming. And I find it difficult to think of ways to make a batter without softening the fat, simply because you need to mix the ingredients properly.

And finally: The amount of baking powder that you can add is limited. Use too much and it will negatively affect the cake’s taste.


Tennessee Honey Jack Daniels substitution

The flavored varieties of Jack Daniels (and most other brands, really) are nothing more than the same base whiskey, cut with additives including neutral spirits, sugar, and water.  You can very easily add those last at home.

Make a honey syrup by combining honey and boiling water in equal amounts by volume in a heat-proof container; stir this until combined, allow to cool, and store in a sealed container in the refrigerator. This is both easier to mix with alcohol (just ask a bartender) and will provide some dilution.

Honey has about 17 grams of sugar per tablespoon (which equals 1/2 oz) and we've diluted it by half (so we now have the same sugar content of 17 grams per 1 oz). There's no exact information available for Tennessee Honey, but one estimate pegs the sugar content at about 6 grams in a 1.5 oz serving (which we'll convert to 4 grams per 1 oz). Many of these commercial liqueurs also include other additives which add a sweet taste and mouthfeel, so we'll err on the side of sweetness.  A little napkin math then tells us that 1 oz of honey syrup should be enough to sweeten 3 oz of standard Jack Daniel's (producing 4 total oz with 17 grams of sugar, for 4.25 g/oz). You can also use just about any other bourbon out there; Jack Daniel's tends to be a little sweeter in general, but we've accounted for that to a degree already.

You can ramp this up or down for any amount needed, using the same ratio of 1 part honey syrup to 3 parts Jack Daniel's (or bourbon).  And yes - that is a lot of sugar.


How to keep my pizza hot and crispy during transport

Pizza parlors have adapted to using thermal bags to slide the pizza boxes into and keep the pizza relatively warm. One or two of these might be worth the investment. 18" square x 5" would be for larger pies, but you can get smaller bags, the 5" depth would hold two standard pizza boxes stacked on top of each other. There are a lot of similar products on the market which may work, but I linked a restaurant quality bag. Your local restaurant supply store may have them in stock (and most sell to the public).  The bags eliminate the worry about humidity, although many restaurants use a thick sheet of something similar to wax paper to prevent grease from bleeding through to the box.


Oil solidifies at cold temperature.

In the case of olive oil, it does so at 37F.

It takes a few minutes to get back to liquid state, either by leaving it on the counter or putting the jar in warm water.


Time effective technique for separating mint leaves from stems

Separating the leaves of mint from the stem is only necessary if the stem is woody, which partly depends on the variety and age of the mint. The stems of young mint shoots on most varieties of plant are tender and full of mint flavor, so can be used in dishes. Once they get older the shoots become stiff and woody, and can't be left in dishes or pureed. You can still use them to flavor dishes if you remove them before serving, but if you want the leaves to stay in you must remove the leaves.

The best way to remove leaves is to hold the tip of the branch with one hand and loosely grip the branch with your other, then slide your hand down the branch. This pulls the leaves off without you having to pick them off.


Why do some recipes call for kneading pie/tart dough?

Recipes usually specify lightly kneading pie dough to help it hold together better (especially when fitting it into the pie dish) and to orienting the gluten and fat into flaky layers instead of crumbly crumbs.  Over kneading blends the fat and flour into a mortar/paste that  takes longer to cook through and is tough and cardboard-like.


How to roast potatoes in the oven to make them crispy?

First you want the right potatoes, a medium starch content works best. Waxy potatoes don't work, they have too much water in them. Maris Piper potatoes work well, in the US Yukon Golds are a good choice.

Next you have to peel them, don't try and get them crispy with the skins on. Crispy skins are great, but you'd use a different method then this to get them.

Boil them in salted water until you can get a fork into them but they aren't completely done. Drain them while still in the pot and then shake them around a bit as it will rough up the outsides, giving a good surface area. This is the real secret, the rough outside of the potatoes.

While the water was heating up you needed to be putting a baking tray in the hottest oven you can manage or just below the smoke point of your oil or fat. Do not use olive oil, butter or anything with a low smoke point. Goose fat, duck fat, peanut oil, canola, sunflower will all work, it all depends on how thick you want your arteries to get ;) . 200C (about 400F) is a good temperature to shoot for with most oils.

Once the potatoes are boiled, drained and roughed up get the hot pan with the oil out and pour the potatoes in, spreading them out. Tilt the pan so the oil pool at one end and use a big spoon to coat the potatoes in the oil, then get them right into the oven. Really crispy potatoes take about 45 minutes, it helps if you take the pan out halfway and turn the potatoes over, then do the tilt and spoon trick again. Once they're done get them out of the oil into a bowl, you don't want them sitting in the oil when you serve.

If you overboil the potatoes you can come back from it, you simply shape the loose potato with your hands and drop them onto the pan, the outside will harden and get crispy, holding it all together. I know people who boil their potatoes until they fall apart on purpose as they like them that way, to me it's too much extra work, but they do get really crispy.


How can I use these peaches in a box cake mix?

I bet you can puree some peaches and their juice to use in place of the butter and water, respectively. Although, the texture might be better if you only replace half of the butter.  I wouldn't recommend replacing the eggs with peaches because that would make the cake quite crumbly.  Note that the peaches can make the cake a lot sweeter, especially if they're canned in heavy syrup.

Perhaps a better use would be to turn the peaches into an ice cream or sorbet to serve with the cake.  You could also add a small amount of peach to some butter and powdered sugar to make a buttercream frosting for the cake.