What is the best way to find a reliable pepper mill?

Most basic mills with steel grinders will be OK

What breaks them are

Overly aggressive grinding; just grind gently and your mill will last much longer
Keep them dry; do not use a pepper grinder over a steaming pot. Grind pepper into a bowl or plate, and then pour into pot
Old peppercorns; as they age and dry, they get tougher to grind, and wear most mills out pretty fast. Store peppercorns in very air tight containers, so they can't dry out more than they are meant to be dried
Avoid those coloured peppercorn mixes; whatever makes the light colours, are also very tough. Stick with plain black pepper
Contaminants; pour your peppercorns onto a white plate and check for small stones or twigs before loading into grinder. Also check for "insect parts", most local food laws allow some of these, but who wants them!

I have gone through a variety of grinders over the years. Some expensive, some cheap. Price was not a factor, usage and care seem to have been

Acrylic grinders generally die quickly, as the acrylic cracks as it ages. Solid metal or wooden bodies are better as they last longer in general, and keep the pepper in a light proof container (which all food should be stored in, or in a light proof cupboard)


What are some good ways to treat frozen vegetables such that they behave like fresh vegetables when stir frying them?

The first thing is to do is thaw them properly before you cook them, half frozen vegetables will cool your pan too much. I often thaw frozen vegetables by soaking them in hot tap water, this is pretty quick and doesn't scorch them like microwaving them might. This might take a bit more time than microwaving but it's a much better result.

You will never get the same result as fresh using frozen vegetables, this is because freezing changes the structure. Water expands when it freezes, rupturing cell walls, which impacts some vegetables more than others. Peas, freeze very well, carrots pretty well. Green beans, broccoli, cauliflower freeze okay, they come out a bit more limp than fresh. Thin leafy vegetables like spinach don't freeze well at all, they come out very limp, almost as if they're cooked already. This isn't a deal-breaker, just something to be aware of. On the rare occasions I use frozen spinach I will squeeze the hell out of it after thawing as it's water-logged.

Cooking order will be important to sauteing them successfully. Water is the enemy of getting color on your vegetables, so you want to make sure they are relatively dry before you add them. Hardest vegetables go in first, like carrots, then medium ones like beans and broccoli, last you add the leaves because they take the shortest to cook and will give off a lot of water no matter how well you wrung them. You want the vegetables to be mostly cooked by the time you put the spinach in as the water will put an end to any browning. Peas go in last, they only need to be warmed through.


What is the name of this Turkish chocolate?

Alibaba has a site that let's you search by region, and indeed there is a page for Turkish chocolate including chocolate covered almonds.

As far as I can tell brand names seem to be Tafe and the ChocoVia and Dojo produced by Besler. Those brand names do not exclusively refer to chocolate covered almonds - which are called "chocolate covered almonds" on the Alibaba website, so that's no real help. But then I searched the company websites, and Tafe has a listing of "Çikolata Kaplı Drajeler". As per Google translate "Çikolata Kaplı" means "chocolate covered" ("Drajeler" is translated as "drapes", I don't think this can be correct), so there is a good chance that these are actually called "chocolate covered almonds" in Turkey.

As rumtscho in the comment pointed out Drajeler is a loan word from the French. "Draje" means (according to the first dictionary I could find) both:

sugar-coated pill.
chocolate-coated raisin or nut.


Why do US chicken taste "gamey"/rancid in no time despite proper storage?

I think what your experiencing is the difference between our factory farmed chickens and "normal" chickens. If you do a side-by-side comparison of something like a purdue chicken and an organic free range chicken it'll taste nothing alike. Chicken, eggs, and to a certain extent beef taste immensely different (better IMO) when they're not factory farmed. Now your going to obviously pay more money for an organic bird but i think it's worth it to avoid going through what you've described above.

I remember experiencing the same phenomenon but in reverse when visiting other countries where you may be eating proteins hours after slaughter.


Airiness, whether with big holes or little holes, occurs when the proof is near complete.  That is, the yeast has stretched the gluten very close to its maximal length without going beyond.  All other things being equal, the key to airiness is knowing when the bread has risen fully, and then to put it immediately into a very very hot oven.  This applies to kaiser rolls, panned loaves, baguettes, ciabatta, pizza, artisan, sandwich, you name it (and especially shaped things like challah).  It doesn't matter if you knead in a bread machine or not, though some machines will change the dough temperature, which will speed up a first rise.

So how much rise is enough rise?

Some recipes give a particular number of hours.  If you aren't in possession of a temperature-controlled proving box, don't go by time.  Watch the dough, not the clock.  A small temperature difference between your kitchen and the one in which the recipe was developed will change the speed of fermentation dramatically.  Other recipes say to do a second rise until the dough has 'doubled in bulk' but with unpanned loaves that's difficult to judge visually, short of doing something clever with water in a plastic bag...

For all my bread I use the poke test to judge how far the proof has gone: flour the surface of the dough, then sink a fingertip into the dough.  You want it to have enough bounce left to still rise in the oven, but you don't want it so stretched that it's started collapsing before your eyes.

Another tip: preheat the oven if you think the bread might be nearly done proving.  If it's not, the oven will wait, but a dough on its way to overproofing is inexorable!


Why can't I tighten my olive oil bottle?

Oil bottles tend to be opened and closed many times, and the caps deform. They're often made of very thin metal and every time you do them up the metal spreads a little until the screw threads don't engage properly. The oil itself doesn't help as it lubricates the thread so the normal cue that the cap is tight enough -- at least partly due to increased friction -- isn't as noticeable as on other bottles

Plastic caps seem better than metal but it's still easy to over tighten them.

You need to be more gentle, especially when they're new. The better oils I buy have a plastic stopper inside the metal cap that seals without much force. The cheaper ones have the same structure moulded into the plastic cap, so the seal isn't on the thread.


How to season iron cookware on gas stove?

I strongly advise against doing it. I tried stovetop seasoning at home and got terrible results.

A stove gives you hot spots - on gas, this will be the ring where the flame touches the metal. The temperature of the metal in this hot spot is way too high, and the oil burns instead of polymerizing. You get some oil-charcoal in this place, which doesn't have non-stick properties, and flakes off after a few uses.

Outside of the hot spots, the temperature is not high enough. The oil doesn't polymerize thoroughly, and forms a sticky paste instead of a smooth one. Your food will stick to these parts of the pan even worse than to the charcoaled parts.

Conclusion: use an oven. If your oven is too small for a pan (I only have a toaster oven, 30x30 cm, and my pan+handle is way too long even for the diagonal), leave the door cracked and seal the crack with alu foil. This is not very energy efficient, but you only do it once per pan. It worked for me, and I got a real, non-stick seasoning after multiple failures on stovetop.


As far as I understand the basic chemistry, golden syrup should do well for you.

A different option is to dissolve a lot of sugar in some hot water and then to slowly reduce it to the right consistency, which should be more or less identical to corn syrup.


Does the alcohol in wine affect cooking process?

The alcohol aids in extracting flavour enhancing compounds which may be more soluble in alcohol than in water.


According to a representative from a company that makes it, it's packaged with the words “make your own almond bark".

So "almond bark" (the coating) is a key ingredient in "almond bark" (the candy with almonds). Over time, according to the representative, the ingredient became called with the same name as the candy.


Pour over coffee : what is needed for a good pitcher replacement?

There are plenty of pour-over coffee funnels with a flared bottom so the funnel can sit on top of a normal pitcher, carafe or coffee cup.

So presumably the pitcher doesn't need to cover the sides of the funnel. Try using a mason jar or any similar heat-resistant container that the funnel fits into the mouth of. If you don't notice any flavor difference, then you know you don't need the glass sides.
There are also pour-over sets that use a stand to hold the funnel, for example:

You could probably improvise a stand. All it really needs is a ring for the funnel to sit in, and a stand to hold the ring the proper height over your pitcher or carafe. An erlenmeyer flask stand or a tripod  for using over a bunsen burner would work, eg
 (This one is only 5" tall which might be a bit short, but taller ones are available.)
As moscafj pointed out, some carafes are made of boro-silicate glass so they can be used on the stovetop. If that is your intended use, be sure that your substitute carafe is stovetop-safe.


Should I under-cook vegetables if I plan on microwaving them the next day?

The vegetables are likely to cook more during the reheating process, so if you don't want that you'll have to cook them less initially. They won't be the same as if you'd stir-fried them to perfection and eaten them straight away of course, but this is something I do myself when preparing meals to reheat at work.

So, basically, the answer to your question is "yes".


Uses for the Bulgarian/Balkan condiment "lutenitza"

Jared, I hope you bought it. If made right, it is really really tasty. If not, I can tell you how it is made, but be warned, it costs lots of time (you cook it until most of the water has boiled away, while constantly stirring, as it is prone to get burned on the bottom). Most people spend half a day making a big portion on open fire (because nobody has a stovetop on which a pan that  wide fits) and then preserve it in jars. On the other hand, homemade tastes best, and then you can control the hotness (ljutenica can go from purely sweet to tabasco hot, depending on the type of peppers used) and the additions (pure liutenica is peppers and tomatoes only, but it also contains any veggies currently ripe in the garden which might spoil if not preserved quickly).

As for use, it is just a bread spread - or rather, it is the bread spread. A thick slice of semiwhite bread with with ljutenica is an iconic symbol of childhood for anybody who grew up between the 1950s and 1970s in Bulgaria, as that's what kids grabbed for a quick snack before running back outside to play. Traditionally, nobody includes it in any dishes. And nobody considers it a condiment. It is sometimes served as meze, which is a kind of appetizer eaten when drinking strong alcohol, in order not to get too drunk. I guess that whenever you serve antipasti, you could also offer a dish with liutenica, it can be scooped from there and eaten pure or with black olives and/or cubes of feta cheese. If you want to add spices to it, fresh parsley is the traditional one.

On the other hand, although Bulgarian cuisine is somewhat on the simple side, with lots of tradition and not much experimentation, there are no hard rules (in the sense of the Italian rules to never use certain sauces with certain shapes of pasta). So you can use it in any capacity you like. I sometimes use it (without cooking it to a proper thick consistency) as a pasta sauce (no matter what shape of pasta, but psst, don't tell the Italians). Once I pureed feta cheese in it and filled a quiche with the result, it got quite tasty.

Of course, if you happen to cook a Bulgarian style dish, you can use it as a condiment served on the side. Or use it anywhere you'd use ketchup. As many Bulgarian dishes include cooked or pureed tomatoes, you can also try using some liutenica as a substitute, either adding water if you want to keep a runny consistency, or take advantage of the fact that it is thick and make a dish thicker or cook it for less time.


For white vinegar: basically forever.

Vinegar is acidic, so most bacteria won't grow in it. Plain white vinegar in a sealed container will keep longer than you'll be around to use it.

Some vinegars (balsamic, wine vinegar, etc) can experience flavor changes & other undesirable effects when exposed to air, light, or extreme temperatures. Stored in a sealed container in a cool, dark place, they will keep for a very long time--but not always forever.


interval cooking vs regular cooking meat

This would be essentially the same as cooking at a lower temperature.

It would also require considerable labor and handling, which is the single scarcest resource in a restaurant kitchen.

Modern restaurants, except in areas where the regulatory environment is hostile, can use sous-vide cooking methods to achieve much the same goal:  pre-cooking a steak to its final temperature, where it is held, and then only seared for service, with far less labor and fuss, and better, more consistent results.

In googling "interval cooking", this question itself was the number one hit, and nothing else was relevant.  While I won't go so far as to say no restaurant would do this, it certainly does not have significant traction.


Is it alright to store frozen meat above frozen prepared foods?

Are you not wrapping the meat (and the prepared food)?

Wrap the meat, put them in sealable bags (*)  (ziplock type) and you should be OK.

If your meat melts in tour freezer and start dripping, then you have a bigger problem than cross-contamination, fix your freezer.

(*) or better put the meat in a vacuum bag if you have the machine to do it.


Should pressure only be applied at the top of a pastry bag?

Usually you would twist the top of the bag (hint: don’t overfill) to close the bag and to get a “basic pressure level”, which will depend on the consistency of whatever is in the bag. Somewhat taut, but not leaking out of the nozzle.

Then you hold the bag closed at the twist part with thumb and forefinger, a bit like a ok-sign, just closer. Gradually closing the fingers, more sequentially that simultaneously, allows you to be very precise with the amount of pressure and thus with the flow at the nozzle. Twist the top further every once in a while to keep the bag tight.

If you are clenching the bag somewhere in the middle, you will

a) lose the “basic pressure level” after some of the batter/cream/icing was squeezed out
b) have a harder time controlling the “flow (which will for example influence the “tips” of a swirl or the top of a macaroon),
c) risk the top opening up and the filling overflowing and
d) warm up the content of the bag, which is often undesirable, changing the texture and at worst, melting it.

There’s a very good and practical reason to practice using only one hand - you need the other to maneuver the cupcakes/cookies/cake you are decorating. While for cupcakes you may get a decent enough swirl with a “two-handed clutch” method, there are more advanced skills like piping flowers on a flower nail where you really need the extra degrees of freedom.


For kosher thanksgiving roasted turkey, is oil a good substitute for butter for brushing the turkey?

I'm not expert on Kosher thing, but what about using chicken schmaltz?


Converting oven time and temp from convection to conventional

180 fan is 180 degrees Centigrade with the fan on. The general advice when converting from a fan to a non fan oven is increase temperature 15-20 degrees, so the range you are looking for is between 383 and 392 degrees Fahrenheit. If you have a digital stove I'd say set it for 390, if it's a dial you'll need to eyeball it.


If you google fat free marinade, you will find a myriad of recipes from many sources.

As a more general principal, you have many options:

For chicken and pork, brining (which seasons, but despite the myth does not add flavor)
Some marinades have soy, water, or citrus as their main base with little or no fat
Dry rub the meat with herbs and spices, which is probably the most effective method of adding flavor
Use a sauce or mop (as the barbecue folks say) during the cooking to add flavor; these tend to be low fat.


Gluten free baked good coming out bitter

Both of those ingredients are not bitter unless they are rancid. You may be using too much baking soda?

A basic gluten free flour is usually a combination of white rice flour, brown rice flour, sweet rice flour, tapioca starch and xanthan or guar gum. From there it can go into buckwheat, bean flours, quinoa, etc. The gums give resilience and elasticity to the dough (along with the tapioca and sweet rice flour) and replace the action of the gluten which creates a structure for baked goods to rise.

There's lots of gluten free flour recipes that come up with a Google search. It's sometimes easier to start with those than trying to create one from scratch.

Oats BTW, are not strictly gluten free because of cross contamination when growing or processing. The package should state that they are gluten free.


Why slow thawing is the best way to defrost a chicken flavor wise?

I took a look at Belni, H. (2015) Consumer Attitudes Toward Storing and Thawing Chicken and Effects of the Common Thawing Practices on Some Quality Characteristics of Frozen Chicken in the Asian-Austrailasian Journal of Animal Sciences. In the literature review, the paper states that

  ...the effects of the freezing and thawing on the quality of the meats continue to be a significant problem due to the complex physical, chemical, and biochemical changes during the processes including melting of ice crystals, relaxation of lipids, and relaxation/ proteolysis of proteins.

The author points out that, since the water fraction of the meat is the main issue, freezing rate and the formation of small ice crystals is desirable.  However,  consumers have little opportunity to control this variable, as we are using chicken that has already been frozen, or a home freezer that really doesn't freeze all that quickly.

The author examined 5 thawing methods:

in a refrigerator
on counter at room temperature
in warm water
under tap water
in a microwave

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of the most common thawing practices used by the consumers at home on some of the quality characteristics of chicken meat.

Quality was identified with regard to:

color
pH
drip loss
cooking loss (Cooking loss and drip loss are really about moisture loss * calculated by weight difference)
texture

The author found

  although there were significant differences among the thawing treatments for drip loss and cooking loss values, the experimental study revealed that defrosting frozen chicken meat using the most common home based thawing practices produced similar color and textural profile values among the cooked samples"

Significant differences:

Microwave and thawing on counter produced this highest drip loss.
Thawing in the refrigerator produced the lowest drip loss.

I would think this supports Julia's advice.


Most containers are not completely airtight. If you are worried that something like a cambro container seals too tightly, you can cover it with a baking tray or square plate, rather than the original lid. Alternatively, just poke a few holes in the lid.

Of course, make sure that there is enough head space between the dough and the top of the container, to avoid spills.


Why fold in ingredients, why not just whisk?

Folding is almost always done when you have one ingredient like whipped cream, egg whites, meringue, or similar which has had a lot of air whipped into it, and you are incorporating that with another ingredient.

The folding motion is meant to disturb the whipped ingredient is little as possible, in order to retain the whipped in air, and thus the volume of the mixture.  If you simply whisk, or beat, the air would be beaten out.

Whipping the egg whites or whipped cream alone forms a foam with nothing but the air and the fat in whipped cream, or the protein network in egg whites.   It us unstable much like the bubbles we used to blow as children.

If you add another ingredient, like flour, it can act as an abrasive, popping the little bubbles and deflating the foam.    Ingredients which can dissolve fully, and so won't be abrasive to the buddies, can still dissolve into the foam walls, and change their chemistry to the point where they don't hold air any more, again collapsing them.  So even though the motion still might be called whisking or whipping, the result is not the same.

There are only a few ingredients, such as sugar for whipped cream or egg whites, that can dissolve into the foam walls and not disrupt it, and these ingredients are best incorporated in the original whipping phase where the air is incorporated.

Even with folding, there is some volume loss; the goal is to minimize it.


Ball Canning Jars: Use them over and over?

Sure you can use the jars over and over, but the lids should never be reused.  That rubber seal is damaged the first time you use it.  They are designed to soften during the canning process in order to form an air-tight seal.  They may not form that seal upon reuse.  You should always use new lids when canning.


Do tea-like drinks typically require the plant material be dried or processed?

Dried vegetation usually suffers cell wall degradation. So when rehydrated all the oils and flavours will easily leach out. This is very desirable for vegetation you want to extract oils and flavours from

Many "teas" are also partially fermented for additional flavour. This processes need to be stopped otherwise the whole plant will be consumed. Drying is the simplest way to stop fermentation, and make the product storable and transportable


Probably like any other dry good, in a cool dark room temeperature, sealed container.  Since it is dessicated, it should be essentially shelf stable.   You might get a longer shelf life in the freezer, but that should not be necessary.  In any case, you should follow the manufacturer instructions.
That depends on the item, and how much moisture it has.   Very dry cracker like items no.  Very moist items, certainly.  In between, you probably have a day to two days, just like any other baked good.
According to one Thailand based manufacturer (breeder?  farmer?)  the shelf life is two years.  They do not indicate refrigeration is required.


Beautiful. If it were mine it would usually get cleaned with a quick wipe with a slightly damp paper towel. On the rare occasions that it needed it, it would get sponged with soapy water, rinsed, and lightly oiled as it dried.


How to not burn the sugars in veggies when simmering in a dutch oven for a long time?

It sounds like either your heat is too high, or there is not enough liquid in your stew. If you can't reduce the flame, consider a heat diffuser.


How do I make sugarfree chocolate mousse made with 100% cacao chocolate less stiff?

So there are a few things you could change here.

Firstly I would use 85g of dark chocolate for every 2 egg whites.
When melting your chocolate, 2 tablespoons of hot water will help smooth it out stopping that graininess and make it less stiff/easier for the egg white stage.
Leave to cool and whip up your egg whites. Then fold in a third of the egg whites, then fold in the rest.

If you don't want to use cream, I would recommend trying 50g of greek yoghurt into the cooled chocolate before adding the egg whites. This is not as heavy as cream, will keep the smoothness of the chocolate and also keep it light and fluffy.


Durability of hard andonised metal (aluminum)

Anodizing is a surface treatment that thickens the natural oxide layer of a piece of metal.  Aluminum is the most commonly used metal that is anodized, but magnezium, zinc, and some other metals can also be anodized.  Steel can not be effectively anodized.

So any description of pots and pans that uses "anodized" is almost certainly referring to aluminum.

It doesn't change the strength of the metal, only the surface properties - corrosion resistance, colour, etc.

Hard anodizing creates a thicker layer of oxide than "normal" anodizing, but it's still a surface treatment, it doesn't change the strength of the metal.


How can I get chewy chocolate chip cookies?

I like my chocolate chip cookies chewy too and I do it all the time. Here is what I do:

Flour: I use a higher gluten flour instead of AP, such as Bread flour.
Eggs: An additional egg yolk will help
Sugar: A bigger Brown Sugar to Sugar ratio helps but not vital if you do not have brown sugar at hand.
Butter: Butter should be melted. I think this is the key to chewiness.

The recipe is straightforward: cream butter with sugar, add wet ingredients, incorporate dry ingredients slowly and lastly add the chips.

Be sure to chill the dough for at least 30 min. The more you rest, the better. See this NY Times Article for effects of resting the dough.


What is this piece of fatty thing, inside a fish (a large snapper) which was near the roe?

Those look like the ovaries.
I don't know how anyone else cooks them, but I usually prepare them with a simple Japanese recipe: simmer in a water, dashi, sake, mirin, sugar, soy sauce, ginger mix. Great companion for drinking!
A quick search and I can't find any recipes for this in English... You could search "真子" and "レシピ" to find other recipes (in Japanese). There's a few videos on Youtube as well.
(Remember to remove the fibers and membrane and remove the blood gently, then wash with cold water/run it through hot water/lightly salt to remove the smell.)


How long can you keep pancake batter in the refrigerator?

I don't know the answer, but this is for home, pancakes freeze very well. I will always make a double batch on weekends and cook them all. Those that are not eaten will be bagged in a zip-top bag and stored in the freezer. When you want to reheat them, place up to three frozen pancakes on a plate and microwave for one minute each. Flip them and microwave in 1 minute increments until no longer cold in the middle.

I worry that the leavening agents in uncooked batter will not maintain activity for very long in a refrigerator


Can you season skewers after cooking them?

It's very common to season steaks or other meats with salt and pepper after cooking, there would be nothing unusual about that. There are also seasoned salt mixes which people may use as well, that's also common. Using other spices is less common, there are finishing spice mixes which could be sprinkled on, which is less common.
As a writer myself I would say it will work any way you want it to. I would think nothing of seeing someone sprinkle some salt on food after cooking, unless I had reasons to be suspicious to begin with, and then I would touch and smell. Or I might not have suspicions until I smell the food and detect something odd.


I would discard this batch, carefully clean everything and start over.

If you truly mixed well in the beginning, then the fluffy bits are probably mold and the black spots are somewhat fishy as well. After only 24 hours, you won’t have a strong culture going under that top layer and the mold problem will likely continue. Remember that a sourdough means that the desired yeasts and bacteria grew faster than the unwanted ones and that they create an environment where they can outcompete possible intruders. While a mature starter with problems can be salvaged by using just a bit from an unaffected area, this is not true for fresh flour and water mixes.

If you start over now, you won’t have lost much: a day and a cup of flour perhaps?

Not part of your question but perhaps helpful:
The amount of yeasts is greatest on wholegrain flour - it may be worth it to get a small bag from your local organic store. For upkeep / later feeding, white flour is fine.


chicken 500gram(prefer boneless chicken)
Gram flour 100 gram
corn flour 50gram
garlic ginger paste 1 tbsp
salt
water
curd 1/2cup
lemon 1 tbsp
turmeric powder 1/2 tbsp

combine altogether as above mentioned and make paste apply in the chicken. Make wet for half an hour. Heat the oil in tawa and make a deep fry then chilly chicken is ready serve with sliced onion.


Does freezing sap freshness? Will acids bring the flavor back?

Freezing will not reduce acid.   Chemical reactions tend to slow down when at freezer temperatures, not speed up.

Fresh flavor is a complex amalgam of many factors:  texture, aromatics, color, and so forth.   While acid is perceived as lending a brightness, it is not the only factor in freshness.  After all, your sherry vinegar is far from fresh, but quite acidic.

While there may have been something off in your stored portion that was masked by adding additional vinegar, it is almost certainly not related to having frozen a portion of the soup.


How do I brown nuts without burning and without taking forever?

I know that most oven based recipes I've seen suggest 350 F and checking every 3-5 minutes. I personally prefer to use a skillet over medium heat - this way I can move the nuts around as they roast and I have more control over how dark they get. The time, of course, depends on the size and type of nut, etc.


Using/selecting a centrifuge in the kitchen?

The idea of using "science" equipment in the kitchen is a byproduct of the modernist cuisine movement, famously nurtured by Ferran Adria of the restaurant El Bulli in Spain. A centrifuge would be the optimal piece of equipment for separation and clarification, though there are other techniques that can be applied in home kitchens...admittedly slower, but which work fairly well.  High quality, high capacity, bench top, refrigerated centrifuges can cost several thousand dollars.  On the other hand, small, kitchen counter models can also be had for under $200 (see Amazon.com).   What you get for that price is much less capacity, no refrigeration, and slower speeds...but you could play.   Dave Arnold, inventor, author, cocktail expert, and owner  of Booker & Dax bar in NYC has developed and is preparing to release a fairly powerful home centrifuge. If I remember correctly, word is forthcoming this fall/early winter. You could Google him...or follow him on twitter.  A word of caution, some have recommissioned used lab centrifuges.  You have to be super careful, as these may have been used to spin liquids that could be dangerous if consumed.  Again, Arnold has discussed, and maybe even written about how to very carefully clean these reclaimed machines. This link would probably have some helpful info for you.


Turkish delight is simply syrup cooked with starch and flavoring until it has the texture we know. If you want the same taste but in a liquid form, take any standard recipe and leave out as much starch as you want, possibly even all of it.


Which gum/gums to use to get a gummy texture when using Agar agar powder

Just checked the ingredients of some common brands and it looks that they mostly use a mixture of sucrose and glucose-syrup or invert syrup(aka glucose-fructose-syrup) as a base, some also add modified starch. While pectine, locust bean gum, guar or xanthan is used as thickening agent. Agar also would go in this list, but seems not to be used very much by the industry for making gums. But this might rather be for financial than for technical reasons. I would recommend to search for some recipes to compare against each other and to use as starting point to figure out the right balancing of the mixture.


What's an acceptable substitute for Pandan Leaves?

If you have an indian market nearby, you can get kewra extract/essence.  Kewra is the indian name for pandanus plant and kewra essence is featured in a number of indian desserts.  I don't recall seeing kewra leaves in my local indian market, but I use kewra essence regularly.  (Careful, sometimes it's sold as a very concentrated oil extract and sometimes as the more dilute kewra water; so how much you need to add will depend on which form of kewra you buy).

Not too long ago, I made a Thai custard (usually served with sticky rice) that called for pandanus extract.  It was researching where to purchase that when I discovered that I already had it in my cupboard.  Great stuff.


Using steamed rice the next day or later safety

Cooked rice is not generally considered among the things (like bread, dried fruit...) to which the 2/4 hour rule does not apply - and also, cooked rice stored at room temperature is known as a considerable bacillus cereus risk.

Some people storing it unrefrigerated does not mean it is safe to do so.


Purple beans just have slightly different pigments in them, and the purple actually goes away when you cook them.

There's nothing particular about that pigment that would cause your soup to go bad.  While it's possible that the beans, or some other ingredient, caused it to go bad, it's not the color, itself, at fault.

The "foaming" and sour taste you describe in your comments suggests fermenting or bacterial activity.  I'd guess something was off with dried beans that you soaked and cooked, since you see that kind of activity start if you let beans soak for way longer then needed just to re-hydrate them.  Did they get both soaked, and then fully cooked?

Anyway, that's a more likely candidate vs. the color of a fresh or frozen snap bean.

EDIT - I see that the OP commented that she gave some of the snap beans to a friend, who blanched them right away and said they went bad.  Sounds like the snap beans could be the culprit, though not because of their color, per se.


Do the cup cakes bake faster in a 24 hole cup cake tray rather than a 12 hole cup cake tray?

I immediately thought of this table, from the front of the muffin section in Bread, by Beth Hensperger*:

Muffin size          Baking time     Yield
Mini/gem (1 5/8")    10-15 minutes   18-20
Regular (2 3/4")     20-25 minutes   9-10
Oversized (3 1/4")   25-30 minutes   6-7
Muffin cake (8-9")   55-65 minutes   1

The baking times are for 375-400F; most recipes will fall around that range. Note that the yields don't necessarily match up to typical pan sizes; for example, if you take a recipe meant for 12 regular muffins, you'll probably have more batter than you need for a pan of 6 oversized muffins. Similarly, if your recipe says to bake regular muffins for 30 minutes, you might have to bake miniature ones a bit over 15 minutes. "Muffin cake" refers to baking in an 8-9" pan of some sort - the author says that you can get away with it for any muffin recipe, but I've never tried it!

P.S. I know this is for muffins, but cupcakes are fairly similar, so I think it'll be about right!

* At least, I'm pretty sure it is. I have a copy of just this page (for the recipe next to the table, actually), from a book my mom has. I recognize the cover, I know we had that book, I think this was in it, and Google book search somehow found it when I searched for "fresh-lemon muffins".


To prevent the vegetable from going 'off' in the freezer.

From answers.com:

  Blanching is the scalding of
  vegetables in boiling water or steam.
  Blanching slows or stops the action of
  enzymes. Up until harvest time,
  enzymes cause vegetables to grow and
  mature. If vegetables are not
  blanched, or blanching is not long
  enough, the enzymes continue to be
  active during frozen storage causing
  off-colours, off-flavours and
  toughening. Blanching time is crucial
  and varies with the vegetable and size
  of the pieces to be frozen.
  Under-blanching speeds up the activity
  of enzymes and is worse than no
  blanching. Over-blanching causes loss
  of flavour, colour, vitamins and
  minerals.


Prevent sticky residue from oiling seasoned pan before storage

You really have to combine all those stages in one.
If you have to wet it at all, rather than just wipe it out after use, then dry it on the heat, wipe round some oil [the smallest amount you can manage] then heat it until it smokes off.
Cool & store.
The only way to truly avoid gummy oil is not to have any oil left, only seasoning.


It is a symptom of unusual growth conditions not variety or anything

Over-watering is the most likely culprit. This resulted in rapid growth. As carrots grow from the center, the formerly small outer parts weren't able to grow rapidly enough to keep up with the middle and resulted in spaces left behind.


can you make a mud cake using cooked quinoa instead of normal wheat flours

Making substitutions to baking usually requires a bit of experimentation, so unless you're set on converting a particular recipe, your best option is to start with a recipe that is designed to use it.  There are tons of chocolate quinoa cake recipes on the internet.

If you are hoping to convert a favourite recipe to gluten-free (the usual point of these cake recipes), then the proportions of the recipes I looked at are generally similar to flour cake recipes (2 cups cooked quinoa for a 2-layer cake), but the cake batters are mixed in a blender or food processor instead.  I assume this is to make the quinoa finer, more similar in texture to flour.


Can basil flowers be substituted for basil leaves to make tea?

Yes, you can use them the same way you would use the leaves- note that flowers are often used in herbal tea blends (I see hibiscus used particularly often). Depending on the cultivar, however, the flavor may be noticeably different than what you would get with the leaves, probably a bit more bitter- that's what I noticed when using mint flowers for tea, and mint is very closely related to basil.


How to convert slow cooker recipes to pressure cooker with different cooking times?

There is no rule, you should use the cooking times in your chart or a reputable timing chart, I use this one hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooking-times

Basically, you'll want to phase-in the ingredients. That means, cook the beef roast for the time your cooking chart says, say 30 minutes, then open the pressure cooker and add the vegetables and pressure cooker them for their cooking time 4 minutes.

BTW, that same blog has a section where you can post a recipe and they will convert it to the pressure cooker for you. That's here: hippressurecooking.com/recipe-conversions


What is food grade lye

Pure lye is by itself always food grade. There is nothing toxic about lye (although it's corrosive even at low-ish concentrations).

When a manufacturer sells you food grade lye, they are guaranteeing you that it is not contaminated with anything unpleasant. After all, a chemistry plant will make a lot of different chemicals using the same equipment, and you don't want to use lye which was mixed in the same erlenmeyer flask as a batch of pesticides. Also, the equipment used in an industry processes can leave unpleasant traces too, some search shows that one of the more common setups in the 20th century used an asbestos barrier for the electrolysis process of lye creation.

The problems of making lye from sodium and water at home

If you make your lye at home, you'll only have to ensure that your ingredients are food grade. There is nothing in the process which can make the lye accidentally toxic. Even if you use wrong ratios: if you add more water than intended, your lye will be diluted, which does nothing bad, and even makes it less corrosive. If you add more sodium, you get more concentrated lye, which you can dilute. You don't need any catalysts, solvents, or other intermediate reagents about whose possible residues you should worry. All you need is food grade sodium.

But here we come to the first problem with your plan. It is much easier to find food grade lye than to find food grade sodium. Retail lye is used for household purposes, including baking pretzels and cleaning cooking utensils. I don't know of any use for retail sodium beyond seventh grade chemistry class demonstrations.

The second problem is that storing pure sodium at home is a PITA. First, you'll need to find some food grade liquid for the airtight seal, and it will react with cooking oils. You obviously don't want to use kerosene, so you'll probably need to get medicine grade liquid paraffin. Should you ever have a fire in your kitchen, the sodium will also burn with a much hotter flame than anything else around, and you probably won't get it extinguished until it has burned itself out - non-watery fire extinguishers are not very effective on it, and water-based ones will actually accelerate the fire.

The third problem is that you should pay lots of attention during the reaction. Sodium powder is prone to spontaneous explosions. Luckily, there isn't that much chance that you'll produce powder from it unwittingly. But the byproduct of the reaction, pure hydrogen, is also explosive when mixed with air at certain ratios, and you cannot control the ratio you produce.

The fourth problem is that the reaction is quite exothermic. You can mitigate it somewhat by adding very small amounts of the metal to the water (but not small enough to make a powder), but you'll still get some heat development. And it is happening right under a possibly explosive hydrogen-air mixture - not a good idea.

So my recommendation is to just buy food grade lye and use that. It will save you from lots of headaches.

The problems of making lye by brine electrolysis at home

You clarified that you had planned to use electrolysis. This is possible, and sodium chloride is certainly a more benign ingredient than pure sodium. The resulting sodium hydroxide should be safe for consumption. Still, I think it's more trouble than it's worth, and purchasing commercial lye is the better option.

First, you still have to manage your byproducts. You'll get elemental hydrogen and elemental chlorine bubbling up. You don't want either of these gases floating in your living space, hydrogen being explosive and chlorine plain poisonous.

Also, if you want a decent lye concentration, you usually do the reaction in a container where the electrodes are separated by a semipermeable barrier, else it reacts right back to salt. The problem is that your product will corrode most barriers quickly. I have done it as a kid in a u-shaped part of a drinking straw, with a piece of sponge in the middle. The lye ate the sponge away, and before that the chlorine turned the water in its part sickly green (yes, you have to dispose of that byproduct too somehow, it doesn't get out so quickly).

If you use this method, it will be very hard to either find a barrier which is not corroded by the lye, or accept some corrosion but make sure that the product (which will contaminate your lye) is not harmful when eaten. Then there is the part about electrodes Wayfaring Stranger mentions in a comment: you want to choose a cathode material which is not dangerous when ingested, especially no heavy metals. To complete the equipment safety part, use a glass container for the whole bath, not a plastic or metal one. And of course, don't use phenolphtalein drops to check for the proper concentration, get dry strips for dipping.


What is the proper way to maintain a can opener?

I have a lot of canned food and have gone through my share of can openers. I'm generally OK with a rusty can opener, but I don't like the rust flakes getting into my food. I can't bear that metallic taste.

While I don't mind buying a new can opener (they sell them at the dollar general for two dollars), but I find it a bit wasteful.

This may sound a bit un-orthodox, but I use rubbing alcohol (90% or higher). I have a jar filled with it next to the sink, so I will rinse the can opener off, dip it in the jar of alcohol, and put it back in the drawer. It dries fine in there.

This also works for other rust-prone utensils like whisks.


If it's "green tea powder" it's probably matcha.

Matcha is finely ground powder of specially grown and processed green tea. It's special in two aspects of farming and processing: The green tea plants for matcha are shade-grown for about three weeks before harvest, and the stems and veins are removed in processing.
The traditional Japanese tea ceremony centers on the preparation, serving, and drinking of matcha. In modern times, matcha has also come to be used to flavour and dye foods such as mochi and soba noodles, green tea ice cream and a variety of wagashi (Japanese confectionery).

The drink you had in Thailand is probably an iced matcha shake of some sort, made with condensed milk.  In Japan, the drink is served by itself as part of tea ceremonies and is opaque even without milk added to it.
There's a guide to how tea ceremonies work and the process of making tea here, if you're interested.


Beef mince (ground beef) smells like vinegar

Probably. Beef should have a faintly sweet meaty smell. An acidic or vinegary smell is never good. I'd chuck it and/or take it back and get a refund, providing it was still supposed to be in date.

With any question of food safety, you have to make the trade off between your willingness to contract food poisoning and the cost of the item involved. Minced beef would cost, perhaps, £5 tops? Which would you rather, lose £5 (assuming you can't get a refund) or spend a few days in bed/in the bathroom being violently ill?


How can two pies made and baked identically have differing flavor qualities?

After reading your full accounting, the pies were after all, not really identical. My best guess is that the moister pie crust leeched softened crumbs into your pie filling, giving the pie an overall muddier quality.  I've had similar experiences with apple pies going muddy from either the thickener not gelling or the crust not holding up to the liquid filling. (Your filling sounds very interesting though! Yum!)


Does package yeast inhibit wild fermentation?

If started from packaged yeast, over time, your local wild strains will probably take over.  The same is true if you start with a starter from someone else or the dried sourdough starter packages.  But, it takes longer even than starting from scratch more than likely for them to slowly replace the current strains.

I would suggest following the link Spagirl gave and some others you can get here and starting again from scratch.  Maybe use what you have in the mean time to help stave off the impatience (which I share ;) )

Mine, I was very impatient, so I found that adding some whole rye flour gave the starter a huge boost and got it going much quicker.  The theory at least is the bran had a lot of wild yeasts in it and reduced how much the starter had to capture.  The somewhat downside was they were not really my local ones, but local will slowly replace those and take over as you starter matures.  Long ago though, I made a start as you did, by adding commercial yeast.  For months, I was disappointed by the lack of sourness but just before I gave up it turned the corner and the wild strains finally overpowered the domesticated little buggers, so it is possible.  I personally though would probably do the restart rather than waiting for that to happen.


Preheat the Dutch oven (and the oven itself) for No-Knead Bread?

I did not get an answer from America's Test Kitchen beyond that the written recipe supersedes the video, so I proceeded with the experiment. I made two identical doughs following ATK's recipe for Almost No-Knead Bread with Olives, Rosemary, and Parmesan. Knowing that I would bake them two hours apart, I even started the doughs two hours apart, so the two doughs were truly identical in every way possible. They were both allowed 18 hours for the first rise and 2 hours for the second.

For the first loaf I followed the written instructions for baking. I did not preheat the oven or the Dutch oven. When I put the loaf in, I turned the oven to 425F (219C). One half hour later I removed the lid and continued to bake until the dough registered 210F (99C), which took about another 35 minutes.

For the second loaf, I followed the instructions in the video. I preheated the oven and the Dutch oven to 500F (260C), put the ball of dough in the Dutch oven, returned it to the oven and immediately reduced the oven temperature to 425F (218C). It baked covered for one half hour, then baked uncovered until it registered 210F (99C), which took about another 25 minutes.

RESULTS

The loaf on the right was made per the instructions in the video, it used a pre-heated oven and Dutch oven. That loaf is superior in every way. As you can see in the second picture, it rose higher and the crumb is lighter. The first loaf is dense. The crust on the second loaf is perfectly crunchy. The crust on the first loaf is just hard. And, on the first loaf, the bottom burned before the bread was done.

I didn't think starting the bread in a cold Dutch oven made any sense, this experiment clinches it for me. If you're going to bake bread in a Dutch oven, I recommend that you pre-heat it.


Cabinets at the top of the wall, what goes there?

The intention, I think, is that you'll use them for your most ornamental presentation dishes, that are saved for best.

If you don't have such things, I'd suggest using them for the rarely used items rather than for pretty things, but that's because I have more rarely used gadgets than decorative kitchen-/table-ware, and am of a practical nature.

In practice I also use my more inaccessible kitchen cupboards for reserve ingredients - the spare packs that I'll need next time I use a large quantity, the cupcake sprinkles, anything that I'm not likely to want suddenly.

But it's very much a matter of personal taste - what do you like about your kitchen? Its appearance? Its place as the centre of a home, where delicious things are made? It also depends how much you need the space - in an oversize kitchen you can use them for purely decorative items, whether that's vintage china or jars of dried chillies you selected for show.


I never tried to freeze a frangipane braid myself, but I assume it will be fine. The crust might not be crispy anymore though, a little more chewy and the overall thing might be a little bit drier.


How can I estimate cooking time for a brined and roasted turkey?

I've never roasted an entire turkey, but my grandmother followed Delia Smith's advice every year and it never failed us. Typically it worked at at around 15 - 20 minutes per lb of bird.

  Cooking times for other sizes of turkey:

  8-10 lb (3.5-4.5 kg) – 30 minutes at the high temperature, then 2½-3
  hours at the lower temperature, then a final 30 minutes (uncovered) at
  gas mark 6, 400°F (200°C).  15-20 lb (6.75-9 kg) – 45 minutes at the
  high temperature, then 4-5 hours at the lower temperature, then a
  final 30 minutes (uncovered) at gas mark 6, 400°F (200°C).


Presumably, you're following a standard cookie recipe that creams together butter and sugar, mixes with some flour, and adds leavening and other stuff.

In my experience, thin cookies are usually the result of two things: too much liquid, and white sugar. The ratio of dry ingredients to wet ones should be pretty self explanatory: for thicker cookies you might want to try adding less liquid, and/or more flour.

More likely is that you're using too much white sugar. White sugar liquifies at a high enough temperature, and in cookies this translates to a spreading out of the dough while baking. Then when the cookies are cooled and the sugar crystallizes again, the cookies become hard.

To remedy this, start by substituting half of the white sugar in your recipe for brown sugar. You can also try experimenting with other sweeteners such as molasses and honey, which should also help the cookies stay thicker (and likewise more cakey). Just keep adjusting the ratio of white sugar to other sweeteners until you get the texture you like.


Is there much of a difference between organic vs. regular olive oil?

Olive oil degrades over time so freshness is important.  Some of the higher priced olive oils sit on shelves for a very long time and by time they are sold they can be of lower quality than some mass produced olive oils.

I'd say you're in the right frame of mind and would recommend finding a brand with a local representative who can trust and know the source and timing of the oil.

Many smaller olive oil producers don't bother with organic certification because of cost, but they have same or better standards.  Therefore there is a sweet-spot where you can get quality olive oil similar to organics at decent prices.

Keep in mind good olive oil is produced in many places, including Greece, Spain, and Lebanon.  Not just Italy.


The thing is mascarpone doesn't really have much flavour. If you dilute it and a little soaks in, you won't be able to taste it at all. The much runnier liquid used in lemon drizzle cake doesn't soak in very far. Maybe you don't want too much cheese flavour, but something like mascarpone or ricotta would be better as a filling or topping than trying to flavour the cake itself

For a real cheese flavour I reckon you'd be better off mixing cheese in before baking. I have tasted a dark chocolate and blue cheese cake. Delicious and very rich. The concept came from Heston Blumenthal.


Other than gelatin what makes gummy bears chewy?

From a package:

  corn syrup, sucrose, gelatin, citric acid, apple juice concentrate, sodium citrate,
      coconut oil, natural and artificial flavors, carnauba wax, red 40, yellow 5, blue 1

Likely the sugar types and their ratio is important. pH (citrate) shouldn't make a lot of difference unless you're using something weird instead of apple juice. Carnauba wax is likely a mold release agent, which leaves coconut oil as the most mysterious ingredient. I wouldn't bet on it affecting chewiness much, but these dense gel recipes can be pretty sensitive to minor ingredients.


What temperature is the "warm" setting of a PC550 slow cooker?

so I am wondering what I should do from here (turn up the temperature, refrigerate it, etc.).

Raher late advice given your posting date, but perhaps helpful if you still have and use the PC550.
As long as temperature is over 63C chill quickly. For instance put in small containers and then put them in cold water. Then refrigerate or freeze. And before use reheat thoroughly; preferably on a stove top rather than in a slow cooker.
Note if the warm temperature is not holding at 63 or above the food is not safe to eat, but surely a slow cooker on warm will be designed to hold warm at above 63.  I do not have this model of slow cooker, and did not find the manual for PC550 on the internet.
I did note a post regarding a Presidents Choice slow cooker pointing out it automatically turns off after keeping warm for 6 hours, although the post did not specify the model of PC slowcooker.  You may therefore need to check it is still keeping warm. And as advised by @rackandboneman you really would benefit from having and using a food thermometer.
Note advice is usually that food may be held indefinitely in a slow cooker if over 63 degrees C or as in this USA advice over 140F (that is 60C)
https://www.foodsafety.gov/keep-food-safe/4-steps-to-food-safety


How does fast food restaurants make grilled chicken

If you are wondering explicitly about Nandos, it is marinated for 24 hours before its cooked. It is then cooked before its ordered:

  [The chickens] are cooked in a special oven for an average cycle of 30 minutes,
  reaching a temperature of at least 75C, then kept in a warming drawer
  at a temperature of 63C.

Source

When an order is placed, they take the Chicken and finish it on the grill.


It depends.

The skin of aubergines can sometimes be a bit hard after preparation, especially if you are working with older fruit and apply dry heat (e.g. grilling). During cooking, the skin should get soft, but some people dislike the texture difference between the very soft inner flesh and the noticeable firmer skin.

The decision to peel or not is similar to the question whether one should peel bell pepper or skin tomatoes - it depends on what one plans to cook and whether one objects to the texture. Leaving the peel on can help to hold slices together when grilling or frying slices. Or, one of my favorite preparations, the skin can be like a disposable container when grilling the whole fruit until the flesh becomes very soft, which can then be scooped out and puréed.

On the other hand, the color contrast between the dark skin and light interior can add visual appeal to a dish, some cooks remove only strips of the skin to create a pattern on the outside of aubergine slices.


How to prevent a cookie from becoming spongy like a cake?

They're definitely under cooked. The recipe calls for a 10 minute bake at 350 degrees -- that's seems short. You want to pull them when the edges are darker brown, which probably would have taken another 4-8 minutes.

It's hard to tell with the lighting of your photo, but I think your tops weren't browning fast enough either. Before I got a new oven, I'd have that same problem when I baked cookies. I fixed that by starting the cookies on a lower rack (one or two slots from the bottom) and moving them halfway through to a higher rack (one or two slots from the top).

Letting the cookies cool on the pan also helps set them hold together better.

EDIT: As for the texture -- you aren't going to get a crunchy cookie from this recipe. This recipe is for a slightly chewy cookie with crisp edges. If your cookie is still cakier than chewy, you may want to make sure you are measuring flour correctly.


best dairy-free yogurt for meat marinade (Biriyani)

In a marinade it is the enzymes and acids in yoghurt which are the important factor so a non-dairy substitute may not work well.

Probably the best approach would be to use an oil and spice marinade. As biryani is a fairly dry dish the yogurt is probably less essential in contributing to a thick sauce as it might be in other recipes.

Much will also depend on the cut of meat that you are using, yoghurt is especially good at tenderising cuts which can be tough or dry so you might consider using a more tender or fatty cut that usual, for example use chicken thigh instead of breast for moisture and adjust the marinate to suit eg add an acid (lemon juice, vinegar or tomato paste) for tougher cuts and a fat or oil for dryer ones.


I live in the Pacific Northwest, so I know quite a bit about salmon.  You have to, or they exile you.
First, I have no idea why you'd think that Alaskan salmon is bad. Given their extensive river networks and vast areas of untouched wilderness, Alaskans catch some of the best salmon in the world.  The salmon that is categorically inferior is farmed salmon, or salmon that's raised in a pen.  Now, farmed salmon tends to have a lighter, "pink" color to it compared with wild-caught, so I can see how you might get confused between that and Pink Salmon.
Pink Salmon is a specific species of salmon.  It's not considered as desireable as Coho, Chinook, King, or Sockeye, mostly because the shorter lifespan of the Pink Salmon means that it has a less well-developed flavor.  However, its short lifespan also means that it bounces back quickly from fishing, and as a result is the most sustainable and ecologically responsible salmon to eat.  They catch a lot of Pink Salmon in Alaska, but it's also available from Canada, Washington, Oregon, and Russia.
And ... since you're using commercially canned salmon, you're really not going to taste a lot of difference between salmon varieties anyway.
If you want to try a little better quality canned salmon, I'd suggest any of these brands: Wild Planet, Crown Prince Natural, or North Pacific Seafood (although, to be fair, Chicken of the Sea isn't bad).  You can also splurge and order from a tiny specialty place like Totem SmokeHouse.  You can also try Canned Red Salmon, which is generally Sockeye, and has a different flavor.


How to make hot chocolate drink thicker?

I believe what you're looking for is Italian Hot Chocolate which is thick and smooth.

You can thicken normal hot chocolate with arrowroot or cornstarch and you're there.  If you search for Italian hot chocolate you can find recipes such as this one which is made with:

real chocolate (bitter sweet)
Whole Milk (sometimes cream)
Cornstarch
Sugar

If you can't find good bittersweet chocolate (don't use the bakers stuff), you can buy any good dark chocolate and forgo most of the sugar to keep the balance.  Keep the heat super low and take your time melting the chocolate.

It is super easy to make, and if you start with quality chocolate (Lindt and better) it will be a crowd pleaser and then some.


Baking in gas oven does not brown the top

This is an issue I've had to come to terms with myself. I spent most of my catering life spoilt by having a massive fan assisted electric ovens with space for 24 trays at once. Then one day I left it all behind to work in a tiny 2 chef kitchen where all we had was a bottom heated gas oven. The first 6 months was a nightmare. It's still not easy even to this day but I'll share a couple of tricks me and my colleague have found.

Its all about the airflow:

Forget about the middle shelf for baking it's useless. It's there for roast joints and ... Stuff. Get your baked goods on the top shelf. The reason you are not getting browned tops is all the heat is hitting the bottom of your tray, by the time it reaches the top of your oven and bounces back down to your food it's nowhere near the temperature required.

In order to help cushion the bottoms of your food and direct the heat towards the top, you need to put a tray slightly larger than the tray you are cooking on, on the shelf below. You can add water to this tray for bread and Yorkshire puddings as the steam helps regulate the heat also, but when cooking pastries I find it makes the pastry more likely to split and crack.

Locate the thermostat in your oven. In ours, it's at the top right, in the middle. Always ensure there is sufficient space around it for the heat to hit it. If it's blocked in any way you'll find the oven just keeps pumping heat out. It'll be 300c at the bottom but the thermostat will still think it 100c.

Sometimes you will find the tops are now cooking perfectly but the bottoms are a little less done. At that point, you will be safe to either move the food down a shelf to help crisp the bottoms or if making scones you can safely flip them over just to finish off.

Good luck.


I haven't tried this myself, but this website has some good tips:

"Simple to prepare because all the quality comes from the quality of fruit used: the better the fruit is, the better your sorbet will be. In others words, if you use tasteless fruits, you will have a tasteless sorbet."
"...fruit purées lose their flavour, vitamins and colour quickly in the air. If possible, make the fruit purée in your blender at the last minute, then 30 minutes in the freezer, and finally into the machine"

This website simply states:

"Sorbets are water ices and at their best when freshly made, as they lose flavour in the freezer."


What is the difference between liquid and powdered pectin?

I found the following on the internet

Use only the type of pectin called for in your recipe. Powdered pectin and liquid pectin are not interchangeable in recipes. The preserving books seem to confirm that the reason liquid and powdered pectin may not be interchangeable is that the liquid version is always added after boiling but most types of powdered are added to the raw fruit or juice.

Source


Bread machine yeast substitute active to quick rise

Changing the type of dry yeast used shouldn't change the amount of water you need. However, it will probably change the timing, so you'll want to keep an eye on the bread machine and adjust its rise times as needed.

(And keep track of the new times, so you can re-use them if you make the same recipe again).


What makes the difference between domed and flat cookies?

Baking powder instead of baking soda could certainly cause that dome. Baking soda requires an acid to leaven, baking powder has that acid included. Cookies don't have a lot of acid on their own so baking soda doesn't cause them to rise much.

The baking soda is in a recipe like that to help with browning by altering the PH, soda makes the dough more alkaline. Since baking powder includes an acid, it doesn't have the same effect on the PH of the dough. That's probably why your cookies aren't as nicely brown as the ones in the other picture.

Try using the baking soda next time, let us know how it it goes.

Concerning your butter, you might like what melting it does, see Why is there a difference between softened and melted butter when baking?, but I'd definitely recommend trying the baking soda first.


How to avoid collapse of yeast-raised dough?

There are three major things that will cause collapsed yeast raised breads:

Underdeveloped gluten (possibly from insufficient kneading), which doesn't create enough of the gluten network to hold the gas from the yeast, especially during oven spring.  This may be exacerbated by using low-protein flours, which do not generate as much gluten as high-protein flours (called strong flours in Europe).  This tends not to manifest as a collapse, so much, as a failure to rise.
Considerable overkneading, to the point where the gluten network begins to break down, and cannot hold the gas (this is quite unlikely, unless machine kneaded)
Over-proofing (allowing to rise or ferment too long), which creates more gas than the gluten cells can hold, leading to their rupture and collapse when the heat of the oven causes expansion and oven spring.  This leads to collapse of the loaf.

Without more information, it is difficult to tell which of these you are experiencing.


A large bottle of caramelized onions and toasted garlic mix is essential in any situation.

And a bottle of powdered Parmesan, adulterated with broken blue cheese bits.

I have been thinking of the possibility of dried green peas, because adding unfrozen green peas (those I get from the frozen veg dept at the supermart) to my soup would sweeten up my soup. I would like to know if drying up the peas would be possible, and that dried green peas would not be a disaster to my broth.

I have a slow cooker. I use it to make spice mixes. I mix into the pot a combination of

cumin powder, various types
broken up anise
coriander seeds
cardamom
cloves
celery seeds
fanugreek seeds
tamarind

I don't think you should mix all of them together, but you should make different combinations of them. I put in sufficient water for each mixture and slow-cook them for a few hours. And they sit in bottles unrefrigerated on my shelf for a few months without getting spoiled.

Then, I have bottles of mint chutney to supplement my soup base above. Mint should not be cooked. Mint is topped onto your food or soup together with the parmesan/blue cheese, when it's being served. Cooking would destroy the scent and flavour of mint.

But then, this is my preference due to my upbringing.


To make a cream cheese icing, can I use cottage cheese?

It is true that you can use the cottage cheese, you could even use ricotta cheese which Italians have a Ricotta Cheese Pie and Sambucca Liqueur is used as a flavoring.  It is delicious.  Using cottage cheese, which I have, really does not taste good, not only in my opinion but others who have tried to cut calories.  Either use less cream cheese with less powdered sugar and no butter for the frosting or just dust it with the powdered sugar.  The first answer is correct, yes you can, but the taste ruins your carrot cake no matter how finely you blend it. So my answer is no, don't do it.    Good Luck


We most commonly braise it under some confit duck legs. That recipe is altogether more complicated than the method we use (usually just a bunch of herbs, an onion or two and some red wine, not red wine vinegar) but I'd start with theirs and simplify.

Like a lot of fresh veg, it can be frozen if you blanch it first. Essentially cut it up, boil a portion for 90 seconds, cool it rapidly, dry it and then seal each portion in a vac-pack bag before freezing it. This is great if you have unlimited freezer space... And you really like cabbage.

If you're desperate to can something —per the question tags— I'd either confit some duck thighs in duck fat in some cans (what the French do, seriously though you need to try duck and cabbage together), or do some pickled cabbage. It needs quite a sweet pickle and it's not as nice as pickled beetroot (that'll probably attract a downvote) but it's still a worthy sandwich stuffer.

If you get really bored of pickled cabbage, you could throw the rest of the allotment in, and make a piccalilli. Great way to hide some cauliflower and it keeps forever.


Which chili peppers does one use in arrabbiata sauce?

"Arrabiata" is the Italian word for angry...angry sauce,which is the literal translation for sugo all'arrabiata the spicy Italian tomato based sauce to which you refer.  The spiciness comes from dried red chili. In Italy these red peppers are often referred to as peperoncini.  You would likely get the effect you were looking for by using good quality dried red pepper flakes.

This question and response addresses Italian peppers.


What are the different parts of a zester called?

#1 is the zester.
#2 is called a channel knife, and is used to create a wider strip of zest for garnish.


According to Chestnuts for Sale:

  Chestnut storage is not the same as most nuts. Fresh chestnuts should
  be stored like carrots. Chestnuts are comprised of about 40-50% water
  and thus if not stored properly, they will spoil. Therefore, chestnuts
  should be stored with great care and attention. The ideal storage
  conditions for chestnuts are 33-35 degrees Fahrenheit and 85-90%
  humidity. We recommend storing chestnuts in covered containers in the
  coldest part of the refrigerator. Stored properly in the refrigerator,
  chestnuts can have a shelf life of approximately 2-3 weeks.   If you
  plan to use the chestnuts soon after receiving them, simply place them
  in a covered container in the coldest part of the refrigerator. The
  colder, the better.

Otherwise, they recommend freezing them (preferably par-cooked), and provide information at the link above.

Washington Chestnut offers the following information about storing chestnuts, to prevent molding to which they indicate the chestnuts are susceptible due to their high water content:

  Do not let fresch chestnuts freeze and thaw (except if you are freezing for a purpose)
  Never store chestnuts in a sealed plastic bag (except dried or frozen)
  Keep chestnuts refrigerated unless drying or sweetening the chestnuts
  If black molds have entered into the chestnut kernel, do not eat the chestnut
  Chestnuts can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 weeks
  Cooked chestnuts must also be refrigerated if not consumed right away
  Never bathe the chestnuts in plain water - this causes mold spores to be transferred to all the chestnuts passing though the bath water -
  instead, wash in clean running tap water
  Try to purchase fresh chestnuts close to the time you want to eat them


Catering event for 1st time. How should I prepare?

The most important thing is to check everything and then check it again.

Test your recipes and figure out what can be done in advance without reducing the quality.

You should have checklists of everything that needs to come with you (food, cooking utensils, serving utensils, eating utensils, decoration, cleanup gear, etc.)

You must pre-scout the location and make sure you have thought through how your logistics are going to work - do you have the refrigerator and burner space you need, for example?

Think through how everything will be transported as well. Will you be able to keep everything at safe temperatures? Make sure all containers are thoroughly sealed, and if there is any risk of spills, add a layer of masking tape.

Bring extras of everything. Inevitably, something is going to spill or there will be more guests than anticipated.

Then check everything again.

Also, keep good records of what you made and what got eaten so you'll be ready to do it next time.


Why are British cooking shows seemingly more lax in terms of cleanliness?

I would put this down to a number of factors - culture and location. The US is probably much more "Hygiene aware" due to the very high environmental temperatures found in some regions, unlike the UK, which is pretty temperate and generally a lot cooler. The US is also much more litigious than the UK, with extensive food safety warnings you would not normally find on UK/EU packaging. There is also a lot less fishing, hunting, shooting and homesteading culture in the UK, which would re-enforce core food safety values. I doubt if as many people here would be aware of botulism caused by garlic stored in oil for instance, or the discipline surrounding home canning. The lack of free universal healthcare in the US may also play a part, as a visit to the doctor is not cheap, and prevention being cheaper than cure. This all adds up to a greater sense of personal responsibility, whereas in the UK a stomach bug is casually dismissed almost as a rite of passage with a Gallic shrug (That dodgy pint of beer, kebab or curry after a night out etc.).

The "3 second rule" is pretty much a fact of life here rather than an urban myth, despite a somewhat biased study carried out by a floor mop manufacturer (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2138777/The-second-rule-fact-fiction-Scientists-reveal-food-dropped-floor-safe-eat.html). With a lot of people not cooking from scratch, and depending on take-away food or ready meals etc. this also prevents the adoption of best practices. I am considered totally OCD as I have a fridge, meat and gun thermometers I use when cooking. Not many people in the UK would be concerned with fridge temperatures, whereas in the US it is a much more critical issue etc.

The UK program probably just reflects these more "casual” values, I have seen both British and American chefs wear jewelry or rings on TV shows when handling food for instance, something that would be condemned in a professional environment either side of the pond.

Taking into account the temperatures and time required to record inside a television studio though, I wouldn't just be worried about the dropped food.


Baking camembert with crust in a larger pan?

I recommend option 1, baking in the free standing crust.  The crust should not melt away; it will set fairly early in the baking.  The air circulation on the outside of the crust should actually contribute to nice browning.

If you are concerned that it doesn't have sufficient strength to support itself itself and contain the cheese, use an appropriately sized tart ring if you have one to help support it, or form one out of a strip of aluminum foil.   This will help it keep its shape in the early part of the baking.


By what method, other than heat, can I cause the alcohol in a liquid to evaporate?

The only thing I can think of: lower the air pressure in the container it's in.  Probably not practical.


Did I store these potatoes incorrectly (found a bug inside)?

Potatoes and the plants foliage are a feast for a lot of insects, some good some not so good, but as far as I'm aware none that will do you any harm. As bmargulies said, don't worry overly about it.

If you're 'really' interested, you can take a look at this site, see if you can spot your 'badguy' :)

Potato Homepage


How can I make the most effective use of high-quality olive oil?

In this part of the world, around the rim of the mediterranean, olive oils is very definitely used to dress a salad. This is not usually done by emulsifying everything in a shaker though. Generally, the salad is seasoned with salt and pepper, then drizzled generously with olive oil and a little lemon juice or good wine/balsamic vinegar. This allows the flavour of the oil to stand, and it is nicely complemented by the other secondary flavours.

Olive oil is also used to complement the flavour of fish, baked in foil in the oven after being brushed with olive oil and seasonings. This imparts a special aroma and flavour to the fish.

The best, and simplest in my opinion, is when for supper or breakfast we just slice some vegetables (cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, carrots) and drizzle them with olive oil, to be eaten as part of the meal.


Another physics digression.

All cooked food gets hot, and everything in any given dish will have the same temperature {*}. The tomatoes don't get hotter than the other ingredients. But they do have a tendency to burn more than certain other substances, so the question is "Why?".

You get burned when a portion of your flesh reaches a high enough temperature{+}. The food warms your tongue, lips, etc. by heat conduction until either you move the food or your mouth parts and the food reach the same temperature (a condition known as thermal equilibrium). What that common temperature is depends on the amount of heat (i.e. thermal energy) in the system. Some of the factors that come into play are:

How much (mass of) food there is.
How much (mass of) your mouth is involved (see below).
The initial temperature of the food.
The "heat capacity" of both the food and your mouth parts, which is a property of each substance that appears as a coefficient in the thermal equilibrium equation. (Don't worry, I'm not going to make you read any math.) Water has a (very!) high heat capacity, so watery foods tend to drive high final temperature and thus to burn you more easily. There is an added complication for the extra heat needed to establish a phase change (i.e. melt solids or vaporize liquids) called the heat of fusion or heat of vaporization. Again water has a high value for both of these numbers.

How fast the common temperature is reached depends on

The area of contact between the food and the mouth.
Another coefficient called the thermal conductivity. This one is complicated, but liquids tend to have a high thermal conductivity and solids less so. This is where soups, sauces, and melted cheese really get you. Note that your mouth parts has a pretty low thermal conductivity, so you only get to count the surface layers in finding the equilibrium temperature. Sorry.

Some consequences of all this:

This is why you can peel the aluminum foil off of a pan that has just come out of a 400 degree (F) oven without trouble, but if you get your hand stuck in the steam plume (which is only around 212 degrees F) you get scalded: Aluminum has a low heat capacity, and steam has a (very, very!) high one.
Small bites help in two ways: less total heat means a lower common temperature, and may allow you to move the food around in your mouth, reducing the temperature of any one part.
Some foods are just dangerous this way. You know what they are from experience: steam, hot soups and sauces, melted cheese, etc.

{*} Well, sort of. But take that as true for any particular region of any particular dish.
{+} What temperature is that? Good question. Maybe there is a medical professional around, 'cause I don't know. I'd guess around 140--150 degrees F (call it 60--65 degrees C), but don't quote me.


There is no science-based way to safely can dairy based products at home.

From Clemson.edu

  Despite what is found on the internet, there are no science-based methods for home canning of cheeses, milk, butter or other dairy products. Clemson Extension and the National Center for Home Food Preservation do not recommend any process for canning these products.

Just don't do it, it's not worth the risk.

Freezing on the other hand, would preserve it safely.


How do I cook Basmati rice without soaking?

Basmati doesn't need to be soaked, and anyway the water that gets absorbed in soaking would get absorbed in boiling instead. This is because the rice needs to do two things: hydrate, and heat, and the amount it needs to hydrate is fixed.

Rinsing is common and is much more wasteful of water than soaking. In fact if you measure the water, and soak then boil covered in the same water, all the water you use a ends up consumed (except a tiny amount lost to evaporation). 2:1 water:rice by volume should be about right for basmati, and cook gently.

Rinsing affects the surface starch, and it takes quite a lot of water to remove enough starch to prevent stickiness. You have to either tolerate some stickiness or find a good way to reuse the rinsing water, if you're going to save this. I wouldn't want to give too much starchy water to plants, though you could certainly give them some. It should be possible to use this water in cooking, to add to dishes that need a little thickening, but it shouldn't be stored for long.


Is there a difference between Stew and Casserole?

Is there some dialectical thing going on here? I have always known stews as stovetop and casseroles as baked, just as Jared said in his comment. See for example on wikipedia: stew vs. casserole; or in Merriam-Webster: stew (click the verb form) vs. casserole. (Casserole refers to the dish as well as the food cooked in it; it's pretty definitely something you would only bake in.)

Now and then I see things get muddled when I'm reading recipes, but these are definitely the meanings I grew up with and see in the vast majority of what I read.


How to Make Home-made Flour Tortilla Bowls for Salads?

Try brushing the tortilla with oil, and baking it upside down over a steel bowl.


how to make health bar hold (stick) together

I would advise omitting the cream, as you mentioned yourself. It's a liquid, and combined with the ground sunflower seeds, eggs, butter, honey, and vanilla in the bottom of the pan, chances are good that that was your "cake." If things seem too dry as you mix them together, I would suggest adding another egg—it will help stick things together and add moisture without being as likely to stay moist, which is probably what created the cake texture. Eggs solidify with heat, they don't just evaporate like milk or cream.


You don't need bread flour to make decent bread, plain flour doesn't generally have as much gluten content but it has enough to make bread that's perfectly fine. You won't get the same texture as with bread flour, it won't be as elastic a result.

Gluten is a protein, strong flour has more protein in it than plain flour, but there isn't always that much difference between the two. It depends on the brand. In my cupboard my plain flour has 10g of protein and my strong 12.5g, that's not that much more. In the past I've had plain flour with a lot less, like 6g, so your plain flour may have more gluten than you think.

If your plain is a little weak you can use your strong flour to bulk up the gluten content, a 30/70 mix will give a small boost and a 50/50 mix more so. But, remember if plain is all you have you can still make bread. You may want to reduce your hydration a bit with lower protein, and give it a longer proving time to develop the gluten you have.


Should steak be broiled crosswise or lengthwise?

There is no difference in whether you place your steak perpendicular or parallel to the flame, however, what's your goal?  If you want a crust or char over most of the surface, you would probably want to turn it part way through the cooking.


This is normal, expected, and desired.   The long simmering of the bones will dissolve collagen in the connective tissue, creating gelatin, which will cause it to quite literally gel when cooled.

This gives the stock a body and texture that is considered a virtue in using it for soup or as an ingredient in other recipes.  When heated, the gelatin will melt again.


Yes, you should dump them out. If you cook that you will right away smell the rotten blood coming out of it. But if you would like to make sure the only way to do it is to cook it and try a piece. Remember always cook your meat to 155 degrees to be safe that there is no bacteria left. 165 if possible.


What does the halal label mean to non-muslims for non-meat foods?

Since Halal food can't contain pork meat / by-products or alcohol, you'll see some ingredients substitutes (for example, Halal candy will not contain pork gelatin for sure; instead probably agar-agar will be used). So it might be advantageous if you can't consume alcohol or are allergic to pork.

As with any substitutions, sometimes you'll see a difference in texture / flavor, sometimes not.


What effect does removing previously-dried peppers from a sauce have?

Chilis supply 2 things, chili flavor and heat. The flavor comes from the flesh while the heat comes from the seeds and especially the membrane that connects the seeds to the flesh. Ordinarily when someone wants to reduce the heat of a pepper I would suggest cutting it open and removing the seeds and membrane, however that's pretty much impossible with a dried pepper.

My recommendation in this case would be to put the chipotles in whole, then remove them after cooking is done. Put the peppers in after all the other ingredients, just before simmering, then try to avoid stirring it if you can avoid it - be gentle so you don't burst the peppers open. Once the cooking is done you fish them out with a spoon and you can serve them as a side to the heat lovers if you like.


Rule #1 is always: When in doubt, throw it out. Nobody here can guarantee that it is safe. If you didn't pasteurize (or sterilize depending on acidity) then there is always a chance of dangerous contamination.

That being said, Worcestershire and and molasses are both shelf-stable while bourbon (alcohol), lemon juice (acid), and vinegar (acid) are all types of preservatives. So if that is the complete list of ingredients (no garlic or other perishable food) then the chances of this mixture developing any harmful bacteria, especially if it's been sealed and refrigerated all this time, are slim to nil.

I'd still throw it out. Your health is worth more than the $2 and 10 minutes it costs to make a new batch. Even if it won't harm you, it can't be very good in terms of quality anymore.


Rillette is pork cooked in fat (not really confit, but close to).

Most of what I've seen on the internets is that you can freeze the rillette for longer storage; if not, keep at most for 30 days in the fridge.

You can pour a little bit of the fat on top of the rillette in the container, mostly for extra flavour, not for long term conservation.

I don't know enough about pink salt (Himalayan salt or the Pink curing salt ?) to help you there.


Is it a known technique to serve hot crispy-crust sandwiches on edge?

I think this is a perfectly legitimate question. Flat plating of a grilled sandwich will almost always result in the bottom piece of bread being steamed by the time it is eaten. Grilling with thicker or denser bread somewhat alleviates the problem, as well as grilling with a roll sliced and grilled on the cut side.

As for presentation, your method is definitely not unheard of. The comment about the Club Sandwich is point on. You might also consider serving your sandwich with one half of the sandwich laying against some chips or veggie slices (carrot or celery sticks). That would keep the steam from developing under the sandwich. Then place the second half on the plate, barely overlapping the first. Grilled sandwiches are just one of those things that don't hold too long for service.


Dry cottage cheese is called Farmer's Cheese.  The curds and whey are separated, and the curds are pressed.  My Russian grandmother used Farmer's Cheese as a filling for blintzes.


How to compare the strength of commercial natural vanilla extracts?

By US law, any "pure" vanilla extract must contain at least 35% alcohol and 13.35 oz vanilla bean per gallon; I'm willing to bet companies do their very best to keep the vanilla concentration to exactly that amount and no more.  I have no idea why the Kirkland brand talked about ppm.  A "pure" vanilla extract lawfully may contain other things besides vanilla, alcohol, and water (e.g., corn syrup), but the best ones don't -- check the ingredient list.
If, by the way, you search the internet, you can find double- and even triple-strength extracts, but these are not sold in the typical megamart and few recipes call for them, so there is little point for the home cook to worry about them.

Unfortunately, your only choice is a taste test (unless you have access to a highly sophisticated food-chemistry lab).

Yes.  Vanilla is grown in a variety of tropical and sub-tropical climates, including Florida and Hawaii, but there are three commercially significant places where vanilla is grown:  Tahiti, Mexico, and Madagascar.

Tahitian vanilla is its own variety of plant (vanilla tahitensis); it produces beans with a delicate floral aroma.  Many say Tahitian vanilla is the cream of the crop, but it is also the least potent.
Mexican vanilla (vanilla planifolia) makes bean with a potent, sometimes even funky aroma (funky in a good way), which will provide the greatest vanilla bang for the buck.  The main problem is finding a reliable supply.  Note that some extracts claiming to be of pure vanilla that were made in Mexico have proven to be vanilla-flavored extracts that do not, in fact, contain any vanilla.
Madagascar (also planifolia) produces about 70% of all vanilla imported into the US.  It is sometimes called "Bourbon" because the French imported the plant back when they were the colonial masters of Madagascar, then called the Island of Bourbon.


the foam is made of water soluble proteins from when you have cooked the sausages. It may not look nice, or even taste nice, but wont kill you.


Is there a difference between freezing meat at 26°F and 0°F?

Water freezes at 32F, but turkey contains more than just water. Alton Brown answers this question in his original turkey episode of Good eats. The meat freezes at 26F, so they can call it "fresh" if it's kept at say, 30F (below the freezing temp for water).
The USDA recognizes "frozen" for a turkey as having been brought down to 0F. Apparently the middle range is called "refrigerated" (frozen, but not quite as rock hard as a bird at 0F).
More information here.
Edit: The rules themselves make sense I think. At 30f your turkey meat isn't frozen. Now whether the transport and stores have it at 25f or 27f I don't know how strict they are. I could see turkeys crossing that 26f threshold because of human error.
Edit 2: As Ben pointed out. Surface ice is very likely as the bird itself is below the freezing point of water. Condensation will freeze on the surface as normal. It is the quality of the meat that is of concern.


Does using a heavy based cook pot stop things from burning on the bottom?

A heavy based pot will not prevent burning, but it help a great deal as more mass retains and distributes heat evenly, allowing more flexibility with temperature.  Depending on what you are cooking, stirring will also help.

There is also the issue of cooking technique.  It would be beneficial to know what you are preparing.  If, for example, you begin a stew by browning meat and aromatics, the fond that forms at the bottom of the pot needs to be released to help form/flavor the sauce. Normally this is done with the addition of a small amount of liquid and scraping the fond free with a wooden spoon.  If you don't do this, you will be both losing a lot of flavor, and creating conditions for the fond to burn at the bottom of your pot later during the rest of the cooking process. A heavy bottom pan has advantages in the creation of this fond.

I would suggest enameled cast iron rather than non-enameled.  Maintenance is a bit easier and you can usually avoid a black colored surface, which will help you more easily see browning. Even a stainless pot with a copper layer, or a heavy aluminum pot can work.  Mass of the cooking vessel does make a difference in your ability to produce consistent results.


Possible internal contamination from soaking or scalding slaughtered chicken in hot water to ease plucking

Are you looking to do this for industrial purposes? Or are you just doing this at home? Also, what is your major concern - putrid water getting into the lungs and growing from there? The water should be hot enough to kill most bacteria at boiling after a relatively short exposure (anything from defecation or exposed on the feathers).

As for internal temperature, at a small home scale, I don't think it's that big of a deal. Whenever we slaughtered our chickens we always scalded them to remove the feathers, and never had any issue. Same with the hogs (removing hair).

Anything which may get kicked off internally should be halted/paused relatively quickly by proper sanitation and food prep techniques after plucking. If you are cooking the bird right away, you shouldn't have any issue because it would take awhile at room temperature for most bacteria to really start working their mojo. Assuming you slaughter, scald, defeather, clean, and then do whatever butchering is necessary (if any), you're talking about an hour to an hour and a half (generously). Afterwards, it'll go in a freezer or a refrigerator (both of which will slow the metabolism of any bacteria), or a pan (which will kill the bacteria using proper cooking techniques). There simply shouldn't be enough time IMHO. Now, I wouldn't let the bird sit around for a few hours, but that's pretty common sense.


Is it safe to eat white rice that turned blue/purple in the fridge?

From a bit of research, there is a bacteria called Chromobacterium suttsuga that is put on some types of rice to provide pest-control:

  The bacterium’s toxins can be combined with chemical compounds and then applied to soil, plants or seeds. To control soil-dwelling pests, rice grains can be treated with the toxins and applied to the soil, where pests will feed on the treated grains.

This source seems to be referenced in a lot of other scientific papers for agriculture for talking about Chromobacterium suttsuga and pest-control.  Some people claim seeing the discoloration on rice after a few days of being left in the fridge in a dark humid environment (like the bottom of a storage container where the discoloration appeared).  There are a few forums about this you can find by Googling "white rice turns purple".

For the question on whether or not it is safe to eat, since we don't have the tools to do any biological analysis to be certain it is Chromobacterium suttsuga in the rice I would recommend against eating it.  Even though the papers claim this strain of bacteria is safe to consume.

Source: https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/newsletters/vpmnews/mar04/mar04newdefense.html


Can I bake bread in a cast iron Dutch oven with the lid on, or should I use tin foil instead?

Presuming the Cuisinart knob is made of the same material as the Le Creuset one (Phenolic), the given maximum temperature is 375°F.

However, many people (including this thorough article) recommend covering it with foil to protect it at higher temperatures. Also, I would suspect that giving 375°F as the limit means that it's OK to go higher, just not too often, and also they won't guarantee it above that temperature.


Is there a way to recover hardened Pecorino Romano?

I don't think you can rescue it, but you can use it. Try putting it into a vegetable soup; you'll find that it adds a bit of body as well as flavour. You can also do this with the left-over rinds of any hard cheese.


What kind of mushroom goes well with Tandoori Chicken on a pizza?

Not the question you asked, but properly done tandoori chicken or Mexican chorizo will completely mask all of the other flavors you list.  Subbing a simple grilled chicken and Spanish chorizo makes for a nice savory pizza (indeed, I had just that pizza last night, without chorizo).  In that case, simple white, button, or crimini mushrooms (the latter sometime sold as "baby portabello") will give a nice earthy note without breaking the bank.   Saute' them before putting them on the pizza for maximal flavor and minimal chewiness.

As for herbs, basil and oregano are obvious, and nothing else is required.  Marjoram and/or nutmeg would be okay. Lemongrass would be interesting but maybe overkill.


Thermometers are really practical when you do not have a lot of experience cooking things; it let you keep track of the proper food temperature.

For example, I do not cook beef roasts often, so I will use a thermometer to not mess up my cooking and waste a good amount of money on a good cut of meat.

Thermometers are essential for confectioneries where exact temperature are needed, mostly for sugar caramel stages.

Thermometers are also essential if you decide to try "molecular" cooking techniques with different chemicals; where temperature needs to be precise for certain reaction to happen (I do not have examples for that).


Technical terms for an oven that would resist to cleaning products wipping out painted symbols?

In my experience, it is not an issue, I've been clean my oven, inside and out for 15 years and there are no problem with removing painted decals or not.

Unless you are using really harsh cleaning product or too much abrasive, you should not have an issue.


Cooking white (cannellini) beans: What went wrong?

I'm not sure if you did or not, but there's like an hour standing period with cannelinis afterward. That may have affected it if you ate them right away. You really should try doing your beans in a slow cooker as well. Try cooking normally, but then adding dry beans to slow cooked dishes is GREAT. Depending on the bean, and a nice sturdy bean like cannelini is great for that.

Enjoy!


I am inferring you have coated the cake with chocolate, as some sort of petit four or confection.

This will not change its shelf life.  It will still stale inside the chocolate (as this is a function of the change in hydration and gelation of the starches), and while less likely, pathogens may still grow since they will have been present from before the cake was enrobed with the chocolate.

Depending on the type of cake, it should be good for between 1-4 days or so, refrigerated.

Cakes freeze exceptionally well.  If you wrap your confections tightly to prevent condensation when thawed, you should be easily able to hold them for several months.