Most raw meats contain high levels of glutamic acid bound in the proteins. Glutimates (the salts of the glutamic acid) are what impart the flavor of umami. Inosinate is one such salt. Proteins need to be broken down (cooked) to release the glutimates.  I have not been able to find a minimum temperature or time, but it is clear that cooking is necessary. However, you should also keep in mind that the umami flavor in a chicken stock comes from multiple sources, as vegetables also contain glutimates.

Cooking a chicken for 45 minutes in a pressure cooker will clearly result in over-cooked chicken. In terms of the release of glutimates, a pressure cooker does not appear to be more advantageous than a traditional pot. It certainly makes the production of stock quicker.

I would suggest three options: (a) save chicken scraps (bones, necks, wing tips, etc) for the specific purpose of making stock, and don't worry about over cooking the chicken, just make a good stock, (b) same as suggestion (a) except purchase less expensive legs (for example) to make stock, or (c) poach a chicken to your desired doneness and use the poaching liquid as a stock...or as the liquid portion of a more rich stock as a second step.


Many pizza stones are double-sided, if so you can use either. If you have a big difference between the two surfaces then I suggest using the smoother one.

Pizza can stick like glue to a baking stone, if you liberally sprinkle fine cornmeal, or better yet medium ground semolina under the dough it will keep it from adhering to the surface.

Also be sure to pre-heat the oven a long time before baking to get the stone up to temperature. An inch of stone takes well oven an hour to be ready to bake on.


I suspect that's what going on is this:

There is an metallic flavor in the canned meat
Browning the meat either reduces that flavor, or masks it with other flavors

Steaming, poaching, or other water-based cooking method isn't going to allow it to come to a sufficient temperature to brown it.  Grilling or frying (in oil) will cause the Maillard reaction (protein browning) which creates new chemical compounds.
If you have a microwave, try heating up a slice in there, as I suspect that it'll still taste metallic.  If you don't have a microwave, you could try steaming it, or just sampling it at room temperature.


How can I score wet bread dough more easily?

A very sharp blade with minimum drag.

The traditional tool is called a lame- basically just a curved classic razor blade on a handle. If you make a lot of bread you might consider buying this unitasker. (link to google images of lames)

You can use a kitchen knife if yours are very sharp but I've had the best results with a straight razor blade. I've read of people using serrated blades but they always mutilated my bread.

A little bit of non stick spray will do wonders at keeping the blade from binding up in the dough.

The rest is technique. Make each score in a single cut if possible. Instructions often say to make "deliberate slashes". Plan out where you want the cut then slash confidently. Multiple slashes or slow or halting cuts will do more damage to the loaf.


With boiled eggs, the yolk can get a blue/green tint, particularly when over-cooked or cooked at too high a temp a reaction most of us have seen.  It is a reaction between sulfur and iron.  The same can occur with scrambled eggs.  Over cooking and cooking at high temperature is considered a prime culprit.  Cooking in iron reportedly increases the likelihood as it increases the available iron for the reaction.  If the eggs are old, or if the birds have had a diet that resulted in a bit more sulfur in the yolk it might be more likely.


When should I use convection when baking?

Anytime you're in a rush, the convection oven's a big help.

Wikipedia had this to say:

  By moving fast hot air past the food,
  convection ovens can operate at a
  lower temperature than a standard
  conventional oven and yet cook food
  more quickly. The air circulation, or
  convection, tends to eliminate "hot
  spots" and thus food may bake more
  evenly.

  A convection oven will have a
  reduction in cooking temperature,
  compared to a conventional oven. This
  comparison will vary, depending on
  factors including, for example, how
  much food is being cooked at once or
  if airflow is being restricted by
  using an over sized baking
  tray.[citation needed] This difference
  in cooking temperature is offset by
  the fact that circulating air
  transfers heat more quickly than still
  air of the same temperature; in order
  to transfer the same amount of heat in
  the same time, then, one must lower
  the temperature to reduce the rate of
  heat transfer to compensate.

I sometimes feel like it dries things out a little more than a traditional oven, but that may just be a function of it being easier to overcook things due to the speed.


I can't say much for how professionals would do this, but I have found just about the quickest omelette is the Julia Child (French) version of one.

By her method, you cook the eggs (mixed with just a bit of water) over fairly high heat in a bit of melted butter, shaking the pan the whole time. At the end, you jerk the pan to get the eggs to roll up on themselves.

See a video here. It takes her about 30 seconds.


Whole leaf black tea is available, but because it has to be processed by hand it is expensive.  Twinings whole leaf black tea is roughly 50 cents per teabag as opposed to the equivalent processed tea bags at about 8 cents.

To make black tea, the leaves are wilted and processed by various methods - none of the mechanical methods will produce whole leaf tea.


Why do apples bleed after soaking in boiling water for 10 seconds and what substance is it?

There are two types of wax on apples, both of them are from natural sources and are safe to eat. Occasionally other types of sprays are used on apples, including polyethylene (a type of plastic), which is derived from ethanol made from fermenting corn.
The first type of wax is produced by the apples themselves, and is called a bloom. These natural waxes are produced by the apple to protect it from drying out and from allowing fungal spores to penetrate and cause rot in the apple (this would damage the seeds and hence the chance of the plant reproducing successfully).  The wax in blooms contain a bunch of chemicals (as one might expect), including ones found in petroleum.
Sometimes these waxes are removed from the apple by washing at the producer/growers after the apple is picked. In order to preserve the apple so that it appears on the shelf in a manner that most people like to eat, the apples are sprayed with the second type - a very fine wax coat which consists of about 3 milligrams of wax (3/1000ths of a gram, or 0.0001 oz) per apple. The waxes used here are from natural sources such as carnuba oil, candelilla wax or even shellac from the lac scale bug.
Boiling the apples as you did probably resulted in partial cooking of the apple (if the skin was loose at all, cooking is certain), this could result in releasing some of the fruit juice, much as you would when making apple sauce. As I am sure you know, apple sauce is sticky from the sugars in it, and this is likely the source of the sticky droplet - every time you picked up the apple or applied pressure to it, it squashed out some of the sticky sugar sauce.
Exactly what needs to be declared as a food additive is dependent on where in the world you are and often on the amount of additive added. It is quite likely that what you washed off the apple is a natural coating.
There is a basic description and some explanation of apple waxes at McGill University


Sorry, but no.

The baking powder aids in making the cake light, but the main "rising agent" is actually the air incorporated in the batter by patient whipping, together with the eggs.

Now if you plan to store the batter for three days and then making up for the deflation by whipping again, you'll totally lose the fluffyness: The flour will have developed a lot of gluten during the storage time and the mixing after that time will aid in that again, resulting in a very dense cake.The rule for this kind of batter is always to mix and then bake as fast as possible.

If you can't reschedule to bake on Wednesday, you could probably bake the cake or cupcakes at a convenient earlier date, e.g. Sunday, and freeze them, then defrost either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, decorate and serve.


How can I make lemon and chilli liquid to have with hummus?

In Israel I have often seen hummus/falafel/thina served with a hot sauce called skhug, I have mostly seen the green variety (skhug yarok), which is a sauce made of fresh herbs, garlic, chili, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, and some spices.
Hummus is often just served with thina on the side and with olive oil, but there is a lot of variety ... I have seen sauces based on olive oil and lemon juice, similar to what you describe (although not biter ... but the bitterness could also come from blending the olive oil). But I never saw it being prepared in front of me or it being called a particular name, but it looked a little like a thin vinaigrette.
Using my extremely limited hebrew knowledge and google I found this recipe.

The ingredients translate to:

2 hot chilies
3-4 cloves of garlic
3 tbsp olive oil
juice of half a lemon
salt
additional recomendation:
1 tsp cumin
sugar
Preparation: Put all ingredients into the food processor and turn into the sauce. Taste and adjust spices/oil/lemon juice to taste. And add sugar if too sour to balance the flavor.

You can let sit a little for the flavors to combine ... and strain out remaining bits if desired.
I am not sure if this is the sauce that you had ... but it could be very similar. Anyway ... it sounds tasty.


Turning toasted, non-crumbly whole wheat bread into breadcrumbs

A coffee grinder or food processor both work well. Drying the bread at low oven temperature will aid the crumbling.


How to carry a knife around a kitchen safely?

One should try not to situate the cutting station away from the sink.  Most of the time you clean what you are going to cut and you have scraps to put down the garbage disposal.  If you need to clean the knife you also need to clean the cutting board.

If I had to carry a lone knife around I would extend my arm down the knife next to my thigh blade pointing behind me. I used to work as a cook and that is how I carried my knife to my station.  Coming back I would typically have a number of dirty items so I would just place the knife in the bus tray.

Other way is wrist bent with dull side of the knife against your forearm.

Mistake I see is people want to start cooking before they prep.  You start producing dirty pans and use up the prep area and things just go to shit.  Here is what I recommend:

Clean (and disinfect) the kitchen. Sink counter, pots, and dishes
Soak and clean vegetables and fruit
Cut / prep vegetables and fruit and put them aside
Quick clean
Cut / prep meats (if marinade then do that first)
Cook - clean as you go
One full sanitize
Assemble / serve


What are some alternative wines for Boeuf Bourguignon?

Red Burgundy wine is made from Pinot noir grapes, so a Pinor noir from another region probably will work well. Wikipedia describes Pinot noir as “light to medium body with an aroma reminiscent of black cherry, raspberry or currant”, so any wine with those characteristics, such as a light Zinfandel or Shiraz/Syrah will be similarly substitutable.


Should a roast be covered in liquid in a slow-cooker?

It doesn't matter if it is covered or not. The inside of the slow cooker will be warm enough to cook the meat. Braising (not submerged) and simmering (submerged) are two methods which both can lead to good results.

The "very chewy" result sounds like choosing the wrong type of meat for slow cooking. If it was a real roast, then this is the obvious problem. Roasts should be roasted, not slow cooked. If it was an actual slow cooking cut sold under a bad label (these things happen), then probably it was cheap meat from an animal grown up without movement and slaughtered too young. You have to choose tough meat with lots of fascia streaking for slow cooking.


This is not an exhaustive list, but it's what I use to tell mold on unevenly colored foods.

Obviously oddly colored spots are suspect, especially if the difference in appearance is very great.  If the food has spots for some other reason, this can be harder to see - but it at least tells you where to focus in on to catch other little details.

Mold forms on the surface of food (of course).  This means it will rise up above the surface of the food, usually in a vague dome shape.  Oftentimes, you can see the edges as distinct from the food they're sitting on - usually when looking slantwise or sidewise, not straight up and down.  A lumpy texture can make this harder to spot, but it helps to look at the spots as relative to what they're sitting on.  Mold spots generally don't dip down into a food, they rise up above it, and all the similar spots should have a same-ish construction - like color changes around the edges, texture, or mounding up in the same way, since they would be colonies of the same mold.

Mold also has a, hm, furry or fuzzy texture.  This sort of texture is not very common in foods, their upper edges might be moist, or shiny, or smooth, rough or flecked... but "furry" is not common.  So, again looking slantwise or sideways, if you can see thin little hairs, or something that looks like fluff, on your oddly colored spot - it is likely mold.

And, a mold spot is a single colony.  They spread out from a center, you usually don't get streaks, or squared off shapes, or folds (like inflated bubbles deflating have sags and wrinkles and folds) - they can be  irregularly roundish, but they will be roundish.  Also, if the dish is moist or wet, probing with a knife-tip or similar will have the whole colony move as a flat disc or even lift cleanly out.  Foods that wet rarely have spots move that cleanly otherwise.

So, in your picture, the greenish spots you're talking about are the duller, matte areas, yeah?  if you look at an angle or sideways, you should be able to tell if there's a fuzzy texture to the areas or if they're all mounding up the same way.  Also, just focus in real close on one spot and see of you can tell what is going on - like all the high points got browned more, or dried patches, or there are little flat puddles of fat on the surface, or those are actually fuzzy little molds.


What does adding water during the cooking process do to a curry?

Firstly, a good rich curry can become too rich (too concentrated and even too salty) as you continue to cook it and water evaporates - that is, cooking reduces the curry.  Adding a little water can restore the balance. Yes, it “dilutes the flavour” but that may be desirable.

Secondly, keeping the water content of your curry up to a consistent level (not too much, not too little) throughout the cooking process does ensure gentle cooking. A little gradual reduction over the cook by evaporation is fine (if that’s what you need to achieve the flavour you are after) but you don’t want to take that too far. If the curry gets too reduced during cooking you begin to alter flavours - you will even see it beginning to brown. In the end, yes, it will begin to catch on the bottom of the pan and burn.


Is there any alcohol remaining in beer-stewed chicken?

The short answer is:  it depends, on exactly how you cooked the dish, and what other ingredients are in it.

In practice, for a long simmered dish, the answer is going to approach about 20% as documented in the USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors Release 6 under the table entry "ALC BEV,STIRRED,BKD/SIMMRD 1.5 HR".  Increasing time to 2.5 hours would go down to about 5%.


Why does holding ice cream mix improve flavor?

Ice Cream Science - Aging the mix was the best reference I could find, though I haven't had a chance to look at Modernist Cuisine and Food and Cooking yet. Basically, it improves mouthfeel, allows more air to be retained (this could be good or bad depending on your opinion of overflow), and helps slow melting. All of the cited reasons have more to do with mouthfeel and texture, rather than taste though.

  (i) Absorption of Emulsifiers

  Two important changes take place during the aging process. First, the
  emulsifiers (lecithin from the egg yolks) absorb to the surface of the
  fat droplets, creating a weaker membrane that is more susceptible to
  partial coalescence.

  When the mix is frozen in the ice cream machine, it undergoes partial
  coalescence, during which clumps of the fat globules form and build an
  internal fat network (Marshall et. al, 2003). These fat globule clumps
  are responsible for stabilsing the air cells and creating a
  semi-continuous network of fat throughout the product resulting in a
  smooth texture and resistance to meltdown  (Tharp et al, 1998).

  (ii) Crystallisation of fat

  Second, the fat inside the droplets begins to crystallise. Nearly
  complete crystallisation is needed to promote coalescence of fat
  globules during freezing (Marshall et al., 2003). Cooling mix to 0-2°C
  increase the rate of crystallisation. Barfod et al., 1991, showed that
  crystallisation of fat  in a mix containing 10% fat requires at least
  4 hours.

  If you do not sufficiently age your mix, your ice cream can suffer
  from defects similar to those found in mixes with no added
  emulsifiers: less retention of shape and relatively fast meltdown
  (Marshall et al., 2003). It will also be difficult to stabilise air
  bubbles during the whipping stage, resulting in a hard chewy texture.


What are the most effective wheat flour substitutes?

Wheat Flours at Cook's Thesaurus discusses varieties of wheat flours and their substitutions in general baking, yeast breads, and as breading agents.

And here's a reference discussing "the carbohydrate-content, dietary fiber content and 'net carbs' in all types of flour": Carbohydrates in Flour and Baking Foods.

I consult these pages as jumping off points when I'm altering my baking recipes. I'm a big fan of mixing flours to come up with lower-carbohydrate and more nutritionally sound baked goods (white flour isn't the most nutritional option out there, no matter that it's one of the most common options in baking). Oat, spelt, and soy flours figure in a lot of my recipes (note that using soy flour calls reducing the baking temperature called for in a recipe by 25°F, and that soy has a very pronounced flavor that not everyone likes).

The more you learn about the various flour options, the easier it is to make substitutions with confidence, so I encourage you to do a bit of reading. Of course, if you're rushed, baking sites (ones that sell high-quality flour, such as Bob's Red Mill) tend to tell you right on the page how much of their flour to substitute for wheat flour.

As a general rule, the more whole grain flours you use the better because of their higher fiber contents. If you subtract the fiber from the carbohydrate count, you find the net carbohydrate of the flour in question, and it's the net carbohydrate that tells you how your sugar levels will be affected. One carbohydrate serving is 15 grams of carbohydrate total.

One cup of all-purpose flour has 95 grams of carbohydrate and 3 grams of dietary fiber, which gives each cup a net carbohydrate amount of 92 grams (which is 6.13 carb. servings). One cup of whole wheat flour, on the other hand, has 87 grams of carbohydrate and 15 grams of dietary fiber, which gives each cup a net carbohydrate amount of 72 grams (which is 4.8 carb. servings). Even if you're baking a bread that isn't particularly low in carbohydrate, getting the benefit of the increased nutrition and fiber from a whole grain flour will benefit you.


A splash of lemon juice mixed in the banana right off the bat can fix that colour at the beginning, but the molasses will turn it brown afterwards...

So if you want it lighter in colour, you'll need to substitute the molasses... Can you use white sugar and throw in a bit of rum in the end ?

If you must keep the molasses then just go for the darker route... Perhaps let the banana oxidize as much as possible before mixing ?


I would not keep it or eat it and just consider it a loss. That is a long time for the food to cool down/seal, etc. The processing time is usually carefully calculated so that the core of the product in the jar gets to the proper temp. With the processing time only being 10 mins it would mean only the jar and maybe a small amount on the edges would have gotten to 240 deg F.

I suppose it could make a difference if it was a hot pack vs. cold pack, but I would still not risk it.

Since you're an experienced canner, I assume you already know that it's possible to lose pressure during the process and then restart the time when the canner gets back up to pressure, but that is usually a few minutes at most, not hours.


Troubleshooting braised turkey legs dry and tough

So apparently the problem is that I didn't let the legs cook long enough to break down the collagen. Just getting to the target temperature isn't enough, it has to stay there for a significant amount of time. The liquid of the braise regulates the temperature in the pot so it won't get too hot, but it's ok for the legs to get up to 180º in a braise.


what is a good liquid to replace tequila with?

The tequila probably plays two roles in the recipe: as flavor and as a solvent.  The alcohol in the tequila will dissolve certain components in spices that water or oil do not. On the flavor side, tequila is basically a floral smell, so (and sniff together before you say no) why not try rose essence and honey with maybe a tiny bit of some cinnamon.  You can find cooking rose water in ethnic food stores.  It is used in Persian and Indian cooking.


I'm big on reading reviews of products before I decide. Sam's Club has several chafing dishes available on-line, with varied reviews. The Bakers & Chefs dish only has two reviews with one review echoing your complaints.

I assume this is yours?

Considering the better reviews, the appearance, the product descriptions, and the apparent flaws in yours, I'd definitely consider upgrading to one of the other Sam's Club chafers.

Images from Sam's Club.


How can I make a yogurt starter culture from scratch?

The question may be conflating two different things.  First, let's be clear about what yogurt is: the word traditionally refers to a milk product produced by fermentation with some lactic acid bacteria strains.  (The exact strains of bacteria may vary depending on the culture and method, though the word "yogurt" tends to be restricted to thermophilic bacterial strains which ferment best when milk is above room temperature.)  The yogurt becomes sour through the production of lactic acid, which is created as a waste product from the bacteria as they grow in the milk ("fermentation").

The second aspect of yogurt beyond the sour flavor is the texture.  When milk's pH is reduced to a certain point through introduction of acid, the proteins in milk unfold (denature) and begin to clump together.  The milk thus begins to "curdle" and take on a thicker texture which is generally associated with yogurt.

Any source of lactic acid bacteria can potentially be used to create a starter to generate yogurt.  In India, chili peppers and particularly their stems are frequently used, as they tend to harbor several bacterial strains that can ferment milk.  The resulting product is a type of yogurt, known as dahi or sometimes simply called curd in English.

Dahi can therefore be considered a type of yogurt, produced through fermentation of lactic acid bacteria at warm temperatures.

However, the OP also mentions the introduction of lemon in milk and links to a previous question which states that this can produce "cheese" rather than "yogurt."  The reason for the difference is that the method of production is very different with lemon juice.  Usually, when people just add lemon juice to milk, they are trying to artificially sour it quickly.  The lemon juice will lower the pH, producing a sour flavor.  It will also cause the proteins to denature and the milk to thicken.  This process happens in the matter of a few minutes, rather than hours.

The resulting product is superficially similar to cultured yogurt or buttermilk in sourness and texture, but no fermentation has taken place.  No lactic acid bacteria were involved.  The resulting product here is simply what I'd refer to as "sour milk" or "soured milk" or "acidified milk."  Because there is no fermentation, and the acid flavor comes from lemon juice (with citric acid) rather than lactic acid, it's not what most people would refer to as "yogurt."  And, as the linked answer notes, this process usually won't produce a very thick yogurt-like product unless you use a milk with high fat content like buffalo milk.

In any case, I personally would not call it "cheese" unless you actually strained the resulting soured milk.  But it's not "yogurt" either, according to traditional definitions: it's merely acidified milk.

In sum, both chili peppers and lemon juice can be used to sour and thicken milk, but the process is a bit different and produces somewhat different products.


This sounds like a lot of time and effort, that, for home use, might not be worth it.  Freezing as quickly as possible is generally recommended, but even with an ice bath first, you are not going to be able to freeze quickly enough to make that much of an impact using a home freezer.  At home we have more control over how a product is thawed.  For example, see this question/answer.  I would say that rapid thawing is probably where you lose quality, though I will admit that I often use the circulator to thaw meat that I forgot to remove from the freezer a day in advance.  Would I notice quality difference in a side-by-side comparison?  Maybe, but sometimes convenience outweighs a slight difference in the final product.


The preserving effect of canning is based on

removing all bacteria and fungi (normally present at least to some extent even in perfectly safe food) by a combination of heat and pressure over a certain time
preventing new bacteria or fungi from reaching the food by sealing the containers
avoiding oxidation by sealing the cans
sometimes supporting this by ingredients that are very inhospital for bacteria and fungi like acids (pickles, anyone?) or sugar (less available water).

For your tuna, this means the heat/pressure of the canning process is sufficient to prevent spoilage for a long time.

Special preservatives are typically not necessary. Checking the label should confirm this. If one brand should have choosen to add them nonetheless, you can pick another manufacturer.


How should I prepare an excellent sauce from sous vide juices?

Finely mince shallots, garlic and parsley (or whatever fresh herb you have on hand)
Mix into softened butter
Spoon butter mixture over hot steak
Feel good about the decisions you have made in your life


Is it true about a dull knife being more likely to cut you?

To my experience, the cutting "trajectory" (not sure if that's the right vocab) of a dull knife is less consistent and less controllable than a sharpened one, and is more subject to be influenced by the texture of the material being cut, especially cutting something hard, thick and fiber-ish such as carrot or big melon.


There are lots of potential thickeners, but you often need to select the one that works best with your given need (temperature, if it has dairy, resulting mouthfeel, etc).

In your case, you're already using rice, so you may want to stick with a starch -- corn starch, potato starch, tapioca, etc.  For these, you add a bit to cold liquid, mix it well, add it to the soup and heat it up.  As it approaches boiling, it'll thicken.

You can use flour (wheat, rice, yam, etc.), but in the case of wheat flour and possibly the others, you may have to deal with a raw taste.  You fix this by cooking the flour with butter or oil into a roux, and then adding that, and heating it up to a near boil.

You can also use pureed vegetables.  Cook them in the soup, then put it through a blender so the vegetables add body to the soup.


Why stirring an over-fermented sourdough starter caused it to rise a second time to about double the original size?

You actually kneaded the dough. This puts some of the flour and water into contact with yeast that didn't have access to food cause it already ate all its sources within their grasp. Feeding these yeast cells this way caused the second rise, a common method in bread making.


Well, now you've increased the odds of a variety of things you don't want, because you opened it up "to try some" and never had it all that well sealed (according to what you wrote - I don't use "professionally separating fools from money" airlocks either, but I seal my kraut jars to keep air out, and I leave them that way for a good 6 weeks, so I have no idea what it tastes like at one week, other than it would be horribly underdone) so it's been exposed to oxygen, which promotes a variety of spoilage in kraut.

If the cabbage is fully submerged, seal it as well as you can (a properly tightened canning jar lid works, plastic wrap and a rubber-band can also work) and put it away in the dark for 5 weeks at 50-65°F before you revisit it.

I stepped up the low-budget airlock game on the most recent batch and put 4 sealed canning jars into a plastic bucket - it catches the mess if I improperly oversealed a jar (didn't happen, but I'm cautious that way) and also makes a secondary containment for carbon dioxide to help keep oxygen out.

I had one jar earlier that was prepped with insufficient weights available, so it got some kahm yeast on top when the cabbage rose above waterline. Being properly sealed from air, it only got kahm yeast, and that was easily removed with the top layer of kraut when it was done. I specifically opted not to bother trying to deal with it when first seen,  since that would allow air into the jar. I have taken more care with weights since.

Edit: You can either add (if you have space) or replace some of the current liquid with (if you lack space) plain carbonated water (which will release carbon dioxide and help flush air out of the container) to reduce the impact of having opened it, so long as you then cobble up some sort of airlock.


Hot water provides perfectly acceptable sanitizing without corrosive chemicals I'd not want in my food anyway...

Immerse in hot water that is 77C (171F) for 30 seconds. Reference here.


What can be used as a wrapper with minimum taste?

It's not entirely clear if this needs to be cooked after being wrapped. If you can cook it beforehand, and you really want something that has no taste at all, then you can't do much better than the technique Adria uses his tomato and black olive ravioli, which is basically to create paper-thin sheets of gelled agar and gellan, cut them into circles, and wrap. Of course the technique makes it trivially easy to adapt to other shapes and sizes. If you really want them totally sealed, a torch or even a smear of very hot water should do the trick, it'll gel again as it cools.

If this needs to actually be baked or fried, then I'd go for dumpling wrappers or gyoza wrappers, which are just circular versions of spring roll skins. This is exactly the application they exist for, and there are various kinds of rice-based skins that are so thin, they're actually translucent:

It goes without saying that white rice is pretty bland and won't add much flavour of its own.

The Cook's Thesaurus also has a long page on wrappers; if the above don't work, maybe one of their other suggestions will suit your fancy.


Oven Temperature: How to be sure the selected temperature is correct.

The "correct" temperature is determined by using a properly calibrated thermometer. This will likely not match the 'setting' which you have dialed up on your stove because oven thermostats are notoriously unreliable. You should be able to arrive a correlation between the setting you use and watching the thermometer you bought. Remember that each time you open the oven a significant amount of heat is lost.

If you can place the thermometer where you can read it through a window into your oven and make note of the setting/actual you should be able to arrive at a useful guide to your oven.

That said, there is often very little difference between cooking something at 325F vs. 335F. But I would recommend you depend on time@temp less than internal temperature (using an instant read thermometer) to correctly gauge the 'doneness' of your dish.


How to prevent cucumbers from tasting bitter?

The biggest thing you can do is peel it. If a cucumber's bitter, it's much more in the peel than in the flesh. It's also usually more bitter at the stem end, so you might want to start from the other end, and possibly ultimately discard an inch from the stem end if it really is too bitter for you. Unless you're unusually sensitive to the bitterness, that ought to cover it.

Bitterness is also fairly variable from cucumber to cucumber, so it's possible that you could shop for less bitter ones - maybe a different variety - or buy them only during more favorable seasons.


Just simply use whipped double cream only:

add a knife point of starch and a few grains of vanilla per ¼L of double cream
whip it (not too much or it'll turn into butter)
pour into a piping bag
refrigerate overnight

and it'll remain stiff enough so you can create anything you want including flowers:


Substituting margarine for butter in cookies

I have a family member who is lactose intolerant, and we often substitute margarine (or various oils) for butter in cooking. We've found that this is mostly interchangeable, but can be unpredictable in baking due to different melting properties. Also, as Marti noted in a comment below, it's a challenge to find unsalted margarine (important if directly substituting for unsalted butter).

I'd love to see any answers on strategies for adapting recipes to account for butter-margarine differences, but in my experience it is easier to either settle for slightly sub-par cookies — or (preferably) to try non-dairy or vegan recipes instead, which are designed with a non-butter fat in mind and therefore have better results.


Convert to tablespoons of whipped butter

I would expect this to vary by how much air the manufacturer whipped into their butter.

I would recommend going by weight. Butter weighs about the same as water (obviously not exactly the same as it floats but close enough.) It is about .5oz per Tbs.

Either use a scale or use the weight/serving info on the label to measure out .5oz.


The traditional knife for sushi and sashimi is the yanagi sashimi.  It features a long blade (approx 10in or 270mm) that has a chisel ground blade which is often hollow ground on the back, called urasaki.  The long blade allows you to cut thin slices in one continuous motion so that you don't you don't have slashes marks from changing direction.  There are also other traditional Japanese knives for specific food preparation tasks such as vegetable chopping and meat preparation.  If you already have European-style knives you are comfortable with, there is no need to purchase Japanese-style knives for those tasks.


It is not inherently unsafe, but it may not be something you want to do for other reasons.

The main reasons not to store food in cast iron are:

Foods, especially acidic foods, may continue to react with the iron, developing off flavors
Moisture encourages cast iron to rust
It is not good for maintenance of your pans seasoning, which is part of what makes cast iron pans so desirable for cooking
Many cast iron skillets don't have a lid, which may be desirable to protect the food from drying out, getting odors and off flavors from other items in the refrigerator, or contributing odors to the other items in the refrigerator.  This one, of course, applies to any pan.

Note:  we have had extensive discussions elsewhere (see for example, this question, and the many links within).  Putting the food hot into your refrigerator may not be the best practice (it is more ideal to cool it quickly, in a shallow dish in an ice water bath), but putting it into the refrigerator still somewhat hot is certainly better than simply leaving it out on the counter until it is cooler then putting it into the refrigerator.

Per the USDA (thanks to Athanasius for the link to the source material):

  Hot food can be placed directly in the refrigerator or it can be
  rapidly chilled in an ice or cold water bath before refrigerating.
  Cover foods to retain moisture and prevent them from picking up odors
  from other foods.

  A large pot of food like soup or stew should be
  divided into small portions and put in shallow containers before being
  refrigerated. A large cut of meat or whole poultry should be divided
  into smaller pieces or placed in shallow containers before
  refrigerating.


How to make sure that I do not break the glass bowl in a double boiler?

Thickness is not an indicator of heat-proof glass, just think about laboratory glassware, which is sometimes quite thin. It’s rather the other way round, thermal conductivity is low for glass which can increase inner tension when heated quickly. Thicker glass will be more robust against mechanical force, simply because it’s thicker.

If you want to be sure, get a bowl that is labeled as “heat-proof” or similar (terms may vary). It’s still a good idea to avoid sudden temperature swings, just to be sure although some manufacturers claim that their products can withstand temperature swings of 150K. It shouldn’t be an issue with melting chocolate, because you should place the bowl over (not “in” or “touching”) barely simmering water anyway and not have the water in the lower pot at a full rolling boil. There’s a good chance that even non-ovenproof bowls will stand up to this, but as you experienced, it can go wrong.

Another, often overlooked factor is the tension within the heated glass, especially if the temperature distribution is uneven (again: don’t boil the water at full speed). The glass will be more sensitive to shocks, so don’t bang the bowl with a metal spoon when stirring or getting leftovers off the spoon and don’t set it down hard on the table or counter.


Is there any advantage to freezing a cut of meat after putting a rub on it?

It may be that the advice to freeze is meant to help with browning the outside while not overcooking the interior. See here for an experiment on freezing steaks. If this is the case, my recommendation would be to not thaw completely before you start cooking.


Why is this Surume Ika (Japanese Flying Squid) discolored? (Ingredient for Ika Somen.)

Just killed squid is white, but while death processes continue after defrosting internal organs and inner skin get reddish. It's still possible to eat it even for sashimi though it will be not tasty enough but absolutely fine for cooking.
At least this is according some japanese Q&A sites like this one http://oshiete.goo.ne.jp/qa/4199049.html

Most of fresh fish has almost no smell by the way.


How to get rid of the rich iron and blood taste in certain beef cuts?

If your beef has honest-to-goodness blood in it, complain to your butcher.
More likely, what you're seeing/tasting is myoglobin, which does have a bit of a metallic taste when it's not cooked. You can get rid of this in two main ways: osmosis and heat. So here's how to do that.

Dry brine it. Put the beef on a drying rack set on a paper-towel-lined baking sheet. Salt liberally on all sides and set uncovered on the bottom shelf of your fridge overnight. This will pull a lot of the myoglobin out, while also improving flavor, juiciness, and texture. Pat it dry with more paper towels before cooking/searing later.
Cooking with special equipment. If you want to serve it pink with no metallic taste, you'll want to cook slowly, and at a low heat. That's where immersion circulators (i.e. sous vide) and combi ovens shine. If you have access to these, try cooking your meat to 135F (medium rare, closer to medium) and then sear in a hot cast iron or carbon steel skillet (maybe with crushed up garlic, thyme, butter, etc.)
Cooking with common equipment. If you don't have access to these tools and the cut of meat is reasonably thick (2" or more), then you can set your oven to the lowest setting (other than plate warming) and just wait. Use a good thermometer to detect when your steak gets ~10F below your target temperature, then transfer it to a screaming hot skillet to sear.

Please include a way or two that is 'quick and dirty' when time is scarce, and also allow for still being able to serve it on the rare/medium-rare end of the spectrum.

You'll need to dry brine it, otherwise this is a "pick one" situation. However, if you're cooking skirt or flank steak, then you can still get good results by cooking very hot and very fast, though it will tend to dry the meat out a bit more.


I ended up cooking the chickpeas and eating them, without any discernible stomach problems


I usually stick with the venerable Alton Brown's 'The Chewy' recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/the-chewy-recipe.html

I often add a few extra tablespoons of wheat-gluten to make them even chewier.

You could reduce the amount of leavening (i.e. the baking soda (or any baking powder)) if you want a flatter cookie, but my results with the above recipe end-up pretty flat. Adding more vanilla and chips shouldn't make any difference in the end-product's texture, but I'd stick to the formula on flour for your first try.


I have heard about throwing it at the ceiling too, but not sure how that is supposed to work. It sounds a little bit too objective as a yes/no answer to "is it a good noodle?" Different people have slightly different ideas how well done they want their noodles.
Simple to determine experimentally how long is perfect. As the noodles cook, just pull one out of the boiling water at frequent intervals and sample it. Be prepared to quickly drain the water off when the sample noodle reaches the level of doneness that you want. As soon as the noodles get to that point, act.  Drain off the water immediately, voila.


kansui powder vs. lye water, which one is better for noodles?

This is a little tricky to answer because of terminology.  Kansui powder is a mixture of potassium carbonate and sodium carbonate, in powder form.  It is typically added to a noodle recipe in a range of .2% - 2.5%, depending on the type of noodle.

When it is sold in liquid form, it is also known as Kansui, but may be labeled as "lye water", or "alkaline solution", or with the ingredients "potassium carbonate" and "sodium carbonate."

They are both the same thing, and you can turn the powder into a liquid by creating a solution.

The terminology issues arises because this product is sometimes confused with food grade lye (sodium hydroxide), which is used, for example, in German pretzel making (among other things).  They are different products, with sodium hydroxide being much more caustic, and potentially a safety risk if not handled appropriately.


How can I translate my bread machine recipe to using a stand mixer instead?

You can, but you want to make sure the water or major liquid ingredient is about 120-130 F (50-55 C) to activate the yeast.  For best success, you want to put the liquid  ingredients into the mixer first.

Start it slowly.  No one enjoys having the bread ingredients flung around the kitchen to clean up, which can happen easuk if you start on high.

If the hydration of your loaf is fairly high, you may be able to beat the dough for a minute or two with the paddle.  For lower hydration loaves, you will want to start with the paddle, then switch to the dough hook when the dough comes together.

You will have to learn to tell when the kneading is sufficient.  For moderate hydration loaves, this is when:

The dough ball feels smooth and soft to the touch, and does not stick to your finger when you touch it
An impression made to the dough ball with your finger springs back in a few seconds
It passes the windowpane test: you can stretch it thinly between your fingers into a sheet thin enough to be translucent.  See the link for pictures and more detail.

High hydration breads are trickier, but typically about 2 minutes of beating with the paddle should give them sufficient development.


Is filtering Japanese matcha green tea drink recommended?

Matcha is supposed to be thick and frothy - one of the reasons it is traditionally prepared with a whisk is to froth up the texture - and filtering it would remove both the texture and the powder that has taken considerable effort to get properly suspended in the tea.

Matcha tea is very expensive because it is exceedingly high quality, and carefully ground smooth and stored well, and this is because the powder is all meant to be ingested.  If it was meant to be filtered out and removed, then it would simply be green tea, and it would be much easier to have larger flakes and lower standards.

Smaller particles will brew faster, that is pretty much the advantage of powder, but they will also overbrew very quickly and can introduce off flavors (compared to whole leaf tea) if the quality is not very good.  Teabags make this tradeoff, using crushed powder (fannings) which are meant to be steeped very quickly and removed, and usually end up being made of lower quality because it;s use is that steeps fast and strong, and the finer qualities of high quality teas are usually not preserved through the process.  Matcha makes a different tradeoff, if it is to be worth using only the highest quality leaf, the results must be much, much better than regular green tea for it to be worth the extra effort and expense - so the leaf is carefully selected and drunk whole for a very different experience than regular green tea, not strained out (which would give a teabag-like experience).


Can I add instant yeast to sourdough dough that is not very active?

Yes, you can add instant yeast to a sourdough.  However, the fact that you used AP vs bread flour should not have much to do with the fermentation activity.  The different flours have different protein contents, which impact gluten development. Certainly, allowing it to ferment overnight is an option, but if you are short on time you can use an instant yeast to speed things up.


Food Safety of "Scavenged" Chicken Stock

I use frozen trimmings and bones for stock on a regular basis and haven't ever had any issues (and I can't see why you would).  However, parts from food eaten by someone may have contamination issues unless they only removed the bones and/or skin with clean hands (which you could have done yourself before serving them).

I don't follow many rules for my "stock" either. I figure I can get vegetable flavor from vegetable stock, so I keep my meat stocks just to the meat trimmings and bones as much as possible (I do regularly and unavoidably end up with herbs and spices from rubs and marinades), let them simmer in a crockpot for days, and then reduce them. They are not clear like traditional stock, but I rarely need a clear stock--mostly I just want to extract all the good flavor for sauces, soups, and stews, and that is very successful with this method.


If a recipe calls for canned beans and I want to use dried beans, what do I need to do to the dried beans first?

Canned beans are already cooked, so if you want the same texture... yes.  Soak and then cook your beans until they are just tender.


Have I over oiled the wok when seasoning

You have used too much oil, or you haven't wiped enough off before heating the pan, the end result is the same.

The best thing to do would be to remove the oil and try again, making sure that you have wiped the wok properly.
Also, 1) make sure the wok is a bit warm before wiping it with oil (At least if it is cast iron) as this helps it absorb the oil properly; 2) When "baking" the wok in your oven, put it in upside down to prevent the oil "pooling" (And put something in the bottom of your oven to catch any oil that might drip.

Good luck.


How do I determine if my mussels are fresh?

Assuming your mussels came from clean, unpolluted waters, there is mainly only one thing that determines the quality of mussels:  Freshness.

For all shellfish, this means alive when you buy them and alive when you cook them. Their shells should be tightly closed when you buy them, or they should close when you tap them.

Mushiness doesn't mean much.  Shellfish are kind of mushy in their most perfect condition.


Microwave method of tempering chocolate - can it be done too fast?

To answer the question as it stands, yes, you can overheat your chocolate and burn it, and that would be my concern if it was not as shiny as soon as you took it out and stirred it up. Usually you can tell because it will start to get a burned taste, but not always.

If it just wasn't shiny once it re-solidified, that's a pretty sure sign that your chocolate lost its temper. You can melt chocolate in a microwave without un-tempering it, and you can also re-temper it pretty easily. I learned how to do that by watching a How to Cook That video from Ann Reorden's website.

Basically, you don't want to heat the chocolate so much that it loses its temper in the first place. So when you heated the chocolate very slowly and gently, you didn't temper the chocolate, you just prevented it from losing its temper.

I usually get my chocolate too hot, though, like you did on your second try. When that happens, I find it easiest to throw another chunk of the same melting chocolate into the hot stuff and stir that around really well until the temperature is back in the proper range. Then remove what's left of the unmelted piece and use your tempered chocolate. This is one of the techniques explained in that video.

The temperature at which your chocolate loses its temper varies depending on the type of chocolate you use. Off the top of my head, for dark chocolate, you want to make sure it's only heated to 85-90 degrees throughout. For milk chocolate, the temperature range is even lower, and white chocolate is lower still.

So it's not a matter of heating too quickly, but of over-heating. And as long as you don't burn your chocolate, you can actually fix it pretty easily if you have a thermometer.


Deep frying - taste difference in saturated vs. unsaturated oil

Fries cooked in animal fat will taste distinctly different than those fried in a neutral vegetable oil. They will be much richer in flavor and may make you weep with joy.

If you haven't had them, you must stop what you're doing and make some duck fat fries.

Here is a good recipe: http://hecooksshecooks.net/2009/03/duck-fat-french-fries/


Can I simply soak fruit and vegetables in water for several hours to sanitize them?

Washing fruit and vegetables in water is less an exercise in sterilisation and more a case of simply washing off any mud or debris. Soaking in still water does nothing to clean, well, anything really. Even if you sterilise the water and container, the fruit itself will still be teeming with bacteria which would be perfectly happy to multiply in stagnant water.

Simply wash the fruit/veg under a briskly running stream of water to remove any major dirt. There is unlikely to be anything terrible on fruit or vegetables in any case, assuming you have a healthy immune system.

If you really want to reduce bacterial load, the only solution is thorough cooking.


Why are Italian sausages so different from those in the UK?

I agree with your assessment of the sausages between the UK and Italy, getting decent sausages in the UK is harder, but not impossible. Commercial sausages in the UK tend to be very finely ground, and have rusk or some sort of meal to act as a filler and absorb juices as they are cooked. UK sausages tend to be flavored by herbs, or have apple in them. Italian sausages are generally more coarsely ground so you see distinct pieces of meat and fat throughout, they also have less fillers so they shed more fat when cooked.

In the UK you get what you pay for with sausages, if you get the cheap store brand stuff you'll get sad tubes of grey paste which will split the second they experience direct heat and spray so much fat the entire barbecue starts on fire. If you shell out a bit more you will get a better product. My advice is to find a good butcher, many make their own sausages in store and they usually have good variety. My local one has quite a few and one is an actual authentic Italian style sausage which is excellent, you mileage may vary but it's worth shopping around.


How can you tell when flour has gone off?

Whole wheat flour goes rancid. There is a lot of fat in wheat germ and when it oxidizes the flour becomes very bitter and has a very noticeable, unpleasant scent.

First of all- if you use bleached white flour there is little to worry about. Bleached flour has had much of the wheat removed to give it a longer shelf life. At the expense of flavor and nutrition of course.

Keeping whole wheat flour out of light, sealed from oxygen, and cold will keep it from going rancid. Any one of those will extend the life of the flour- putting it in the freezer sealed from air will keep it good indefinitely.

In the cupboard I will start noticing off flavors in my fresh ground flour in a couple weeks. In the freezer I have gone as much as a year with no discernible degradation.

You will notice if it has gone bad because it will smell and taste bad. This rancidity isn't dangerous so if the flour smells and tastes fine then it is.


What kind of cheese is the result of boiling milk with vinegar at home?

The resultant cheese in your first link will be a fresh, soft cheese, nothing like either of the Parmesan or cheddar cheeses mentioned in your second link.  It is also an acid-based cheese, not a made with either rennet or bacterial cultures as are most other cheeses.

Parmesan is a very long aged cheese.

Cheddar is a... well... cheddared cheese (cheddaring is a process which reduces the moisture content of the curds) that is then aged for varying periods of time.

The fresh cheese in your first link will not serve you well in the same roles as either Parmesan or Cheddar.  While I realize these products may not be available easily where you live, they are very distinctive and hard to substitute for with homemade products--they just also not the kind of cheese that is normally made at home.

The home made cheese described is most similar to an unaged feta (although not goat's milk), or a Mexican queso fresco.


How much oil do i use in place of butter in a cake?

Butter is around 80% fat so for your 10tbsp, 8tbsp of oil and 2 of water (or milk) would be closest. The texture and flavour will never be exactly the same using oil as butter, so on the rare occasions I want to use oil in a cake, I look for a recipe for that type of cake that uses oil.

Measuring butter in tablespoons, unless it's already melted, isn't very accurate, so perfect substitution probably isn't required for the texture in this case.


Ingredients to Get Started with Indian Cuisine

Indian foods uses a lot of spices. Almost in a level that you will find one new spice in every new recipe.

Still the most common spices AFIK are the follows in the decreasing order of frequency of use

Turmeric powder
Coriander powder
Cumin powder and seeds
Chili powder (You can replace with green chilies if you must)
Garam masala
Dried red chilies
Black peppers

Also asafoetida, fresh coriander leaf, whole cumin seeds, whole mustard seeds. Also, if you can get some ajowan, get it: While not useful in every recipe, it is really great in eg samosas and tikka marinades.

Also, these are very commonly used ingredients

Garlic
Ginger
Onion
Green chili peppers
Tomato
...
Cashew nuts for added thickening (as a paste of boiled cashew nuts) or whole as an ingredient (or both - cashew-thickened real korma with sundry vegetables, dried fruits, and whole cashews added is mind blowing - bring on the saffron too!).

Also always make some yogurt (Unflavored and unsweetened) available

Most common vegetables are

Cauliflower
Cabbage
Potato
Bell peppers (Green)
Red Kidney Beans

Most common grains are

Rice (Basmati rice is considered as delicacy)
Dal (Many varieties, but you might need mung bean, lentil, toor daal, urid dal )
Whole wheat flour and normal flour

Traditionaly different kind of oils are used but now a days mostly vegitable oil is used. You will also need ghee (Similar to clarified butter) to make some complex and rich dishes.


What is the minimum amount of sugar needed for getting the desired texture in this banana marmalade?

There is no way to predict the amount you want. If you want to know it, the only way is extensive experimentation.

You observed two outcomes, which I will call "amber" and "boiled" for short. If I got you right, you assume that the difference between them is determined by the amount of sugar, and are asking about the minimal amount of sugar to reach the "amber" state.

Preparation: isolate the responsible factor

You admit that the amount of sugar was not the single factor you varied. You also left out the flaxseeds, which is a major factor in texture. So, before you start the experiment proper, you will have to prove that it was not the flaxseeds, by making the 130g version with them. If you get the amber version, the experiment can continue. If you don't, the whole idea is moot anyway, because it was based on a false assumption. You could set up a similar experiment without flaxseed then - or simply make the recipe without flaxseed and with zero sugar, to see if it doesn't provide the effect you wanted all by itself.

The theory behind the experiment

So, assuming that you have proven that it is not the flaxseeds. Then you have two possible cases. Either this is a linear system, or a nonlinear one. In a linear system, there are not really two states of "amber" and "boiled", but a long, smooth spectrum, of which you observed two (or actually three) points. In that case, versions made with a middle amount of sugar will have characteristics somewhere between "amber" and "boiled", it is just your human brain with its penchant for dividing the world that assigns some of them into the "boiled" and others to the "amber" category. If that's the case, then the question of the boundary between "amber" and "boiled" is subjective. The only way to know where you personally will assign that boundary is to continue the experiment by making many more batches with different amounts of sugar and find out where your personal minimum lies.

The other interesting possibility is that of a nonlinear system, where there is no spectrum, but the end state is always objectively either "amber" or "boiled" and there is a tipping point in the amount of sugar which makes the whole system fall exactly into one of those states, without an in-between state. If this is it, you will never be able to mathematically model the process which creates the two states - humanity does not yet have the mathematics for that, and there are signs it may never have them. If this is the case, then there should be a wide swath of parameter space (= sugar amount) that practically always produces the "amber" state, another wide swath that produces "boiled", and a border region between them of unknown width that produces either the one or the other, without a way to predict which one will be. The only way to find out the minimum amount of sugar to produce the amber state, as opposed to being in the border state, will require repeated series of experiments.

The experiment itself

We don't know which case we have, but luckily, the experimental protocol for both will be the same. First, you should do a simple binary search to quickly find something that looks like a border region. This means: make and record batches of 130 and 70 g (the best thing would be to run the experiments in one day and keep samples, since you probably cannot record all relevant parameters in a home kitchen, and keeping the samples will make them change with time), then search in the middle (maybe that's why you tried 100 g already), then the middle between the two changing states, etc. After you have ran that, you will also have a good idea if you are dealing with case 1 or 2 (unless your search converges too quickly). Once you have it, you should enter the second phase, where you randomly choose 5-10 amounts of sugar close to the turning amount indentified in the binary search, and make those. The reason behind it is that your border will have some width in both cases, in the linear case because of subjectivity (if you are faced with something in the middle between amber and boiled, on some occasions you will perceive it as belonging to the amber category, on some as belonging to the boiled category) and in the nonlinear case because the border is not one-dimensional, but fractal-dimensional, so it has some width. In the end, you should have determined what amount of sugar reliably gives you "amber", and what amount produces different results, which you sometimes classify as "amber" and sometimes as "boiled".

A word on why this complicated approach is needed

You said that you dislike following recipes. But at the same time, you want to get to a well defined end state, and do so under a constraint (minimal amount of sugar).

You have a few choices how you can approach cooking. If you want freedom and creativity, and are happy with a random outcome, you can do random experiments. A little bit of kitchen experience will be enough to get good results most of the time. Alternatively, if you want a very specific outcome, you can strictily follow a recipe where somebody did all the work needed to find out how to achieve it. If you have decided that you will not follow a recipe, and if you have set your mind on a specific outcome, you have no choice but to invest the work needed to develop the recipe for that outcome. And the more constraints you have, the more work it is.

If you hoped that it is possible to take a look at the outcome of an experiment and predict the conditions which will give you the same results under a constraint - no, the chemistry and physics of cooking is way too complicated for doing that. The experimental approach is long and boring, but it is still the most efficient (and actually the most effective) one you can take.


Is there any trick to make a palindrome-cocktail?

You could, of course, create gel layers, and the determining factor in stability would be the firmness of those gels. However - and I suppose this is just a hunch - I seriously doubt that a gel firm enough to hold the weight of all the heavier layers above it (and you are asking for at least 3) would really be drinkable, unless you're aiming for the consistency of a "Jello shot".

A better idea, in my opinion, would be to simply change the densities of certain layers, and an effective (and tasty) way to do that is with sugar, or more accurately, sugar syrup. There's a type of syrup used in bartending called Gomme Syrup, which is a thick sugar syrup with Gum Arabic added to prevent crystallization (among other things).

Sugar, by itself, has very poor solubility in alcohol, but sugar syrups and gomme syrup in particular will have few problems, considering that's already how many mixed drinks are made (like Whiskey Sour). If you're feeling really adventurous, you could also use sugar alcohols such as sorbitol or xylitol, which dissolve readily in ethyl alcohol in solid form. However, these are much more potent (sweetness-wise) than sucrose and some people report gastrointestinal reactions, so use at your own risk.

Sugar syrups are very dense, so if you mix them thoroughly with a particular spirit, you'll end up with a heavier (and sweeter) version of that spirit. So to make your palindrome, start with what you'd normally put at the top (say GM for the B52), mix it with syrup (it shouldn't take an excessive amount - maybe 20-30% by volume, but you'll have to experiment), and layer that on the bottom. Then take the next-lightest, mix it with slightly less syrup, and continue. Once you reach what would normally be the densest liquid, layer the drink as normal up to the top with the "pure" spirits.

The more layers, the more math you'll have to do, because you'll need to make sure that you add just enough syrup to layer 2 so that it's lighter than layer 1 (bottom) but still heavier than layer 3, and so on. Unless you're prepared to make the drink very sweet, you'll need to be fairly precise in your calculations.

Disclaimer: I haven't yet tried this myself, as it's the first I've heard of anyone trying to do this. However, I see no reason why it wouldn't work with proper (careful) layering technique. In fact, I remember doing something very similar all the way back in primary school, called rainbow in a glass.


You make no mention of basting. 190 is more than high enough though 3 hours sounds a bit long. Basting fat over the skin throughout cooking is the key to crispy skin. Covering it is a sure way to soggy skin.


Why does some cookie recipes both put sugar and brown sugar? Also can we use sweetener like stevia instead of sugar in recipes?

You are asking a surprisingly lot of questions.

First, to deal with this question, you need to understand "creaming".

So look here and here.

Nothing "creams" as dramatically as granulated sugar with room temperature butter. Those particular ingredients are special for that. Brown sugar doesn't accomplish nearly the creaming effect of granulated sugar, but combined with granulated sugar the combination is greater than the sum of its parts. In other words, a 50/50 mix of brown and granulated sugar can achieve nearly the leavening effect of granulated sugar only with room temperature butter.

The sweetness of brown and regular sugar are pretty much equal. In the US and I think almost everywhere else, brown sugar is just granulated sugar with molasses added. Brown sugar adds the molasses flavor, and not surprisingly, some browning.

To use non-sugar sweeteners, choose recipes that don't call for The Creaming Method, they simply won't work right. If you want to use a sweetener other than sugar, pick a recipe with a fat that is unsaturated (liquid at room temperature), or melted butter. Also, be sure that your sweetener of choice will maintain its sweetness if baked.


What is the following cooking utensil used for?

It's a double boiler. You use it when you need to use 'soft' heat.

If you need to melt chocolate, or if you are making a hollandaise, or something that can easily scorch using direct heat, you use this pot.  It has a much more forgiving heat, the heat is generated from steam from the water that boils in the bottom pot.


How to I prevent shortcrust cracking while using a tartet machine?

Your shortcrust is a bit low on liquids. Here's why:

Icing sugar is more hygroscopic than regular sugar. This is generally good because helps in making water unavailable for gluten formation, but since there's a lot of it, it won't be
There isn't a lot of margarine
Assuming your eggs are in the 50g - 60g range, 240g of eggs is a bit on the low side.

There are also a few unclear things:

What is the exact weight of the eggs? You should weigh them!
Are you letting the dough rest in the fridge before using it? It should rest at least a couple of hours, ideally 12-24 hours.
How are you making the dough come together? Are you using a stand mixer, your hands, a spatula, a food processor?
In what order are you mixing the ingredients?
When are the cracks appearing? During the cooking process?

Since you can't change the ingredients, I would try adding another egg. It would add both liquids and color, and the dough should come together much better.

Color could improve vastly by using only yolks, and possibly by switching to a different egg vendor with more orange yolks. This would require rebalancing the entire recipe though.

Regarding the color, I have no experience in using a tartlet machine, but 165 °C seems low, and 115 °C seems very low. I would try higher temperatures (without exceeding 180 °C), keeping the time the same.

While not strictly related to the issues at hand, you should also really reconsider the high protein flour: it has no place in a shortcrust, which should use the lowest protein flour you can find.


You're right that a sealed plastic bag wasn't ideal. But if they still look and feel okay, no obvious spoilage, no dark and squishy spots, then you've gotten away with it and they're probably fine.

As with most fruit, storing without ventilation can definitely encourage kiwis to overripen and spoil faster, and they're a relatively sensitive fruit especially once ripe. So I wouldn't have been surprised if yours had fared badly, but on the other hand if they started out underripe and the room wasn't that hot, I'm not surprised if they're still okay.

Sounds like you already know what to do, though: the fruit bowl is good, at least until they're ripe, and once they're ripe the fridge can hold them longer before going bad.


Sourdough Starter: Very fast rise (doubles in an hour)

I'm not surprised your starter is very active given that it's being incubated at a cosy 30C. But the only way to know for sure that it has a suitable population of yeasts is to use it to bake a simple loaf. Just take a simple recipe and go for it. Your starter looks healthy so I expected you'll get good results.
For a very quick check, just fry a couple of teaspoons at about 100% hydration: if you can see bubbles forming on the surface there is active yeast.


It depends on the particulars of the recipe and the ingredients and the slow cooker itself.

You say you are using chicken or beef, but are the pieces of meat small or large?  Is the meat lean or fatty?  I've had problems with overcooking large pieces of lean meat, such as chicken breast, but smaller pieces and/or fattier pieces seem to hold up better to extra-long cooking.

Another issue is proportion of liquid.  For example, soups tend to work better in your scenario than "drier" recipes.

And, of course, the slow cooker itself can make a difference.  I assume you are talking about 9-10 hours on low, not on high.  But low itself is not likely to be entirely consistent between cookers.  For example, a large slow cooker is likely to put out more total energy than a small slow cooker, so for extra-long cooking times, you are probably better off using a small cooker with a full pot that a large cooker with a half-full pot.


How to stop mint flavor dying when cooking?

While it is true that the mint flavor will fade with cooking, it is still there to some degree.  I bet you would be able to identify the difference if you left it out.  However, whenever you want to highlight a fresh herb, such a mint, it is good practice to chop some of that herb at the last possible moment before serving, and garnish your finished product.  That will greatly enhance the flavor and the aroma.


How to make a Hungarian Túró Rudi at home?

I spent quite a bit of time working on a variety of recipes for this. In all honesty, none are particularly close to the "real thing" but the results can taste pretty good and are reminiscent of the actual product.

The main challenge is in buying authentic túró. After a lot of work, I've confirmed that there's no standard, easily available equivalent in the UK. British quark, an easily available curd, is very different to túró. British cottage cheese is really nothing like túró. So if you're in the UK and want to make anything with túró, you'll need to compromise on taste, or buy some túró from a Hungarian or Eastern/Central European provider. Alternatively you could make your own by acquiring the curd from soured milk.

The recipe I used with the best results was simple. Mix the túró with a little sour cream and some fine sugar to sweeten it to your taste. Stir in some liquid (melted) gelatine. Pour the mixture into moulds (I used a small ice cube tray) and freeze it. When frozen hard, quickly dip each in chocolate and put them in the fridge.

The texture is jelly-like, which is very different to a real túró rudi (which is firm and slightly crystalline), but it tastes pretty good.


I often soften Fondant by microwaving it for between 5-20 seconds. This does work on fondant that hasn't been left for more than 2 months. Once fondant has been left for this long, albeit in an airtight container, it isn't likely to be salvageable.

Most manufacturers of fondant quote 2 months as the lifetime of fondant stored in an airtight container.


In this case, I recommend you follow the manufacturer’s label text.

Traditional kvass is fermented (often in a home setting), and will contain live microorganisms, that keep unwanted ones at bay, similar to a well-established sourdough culture.

But of course there are a few caveats:

Some manufacturers don’t use the traditional fermentation method and sell a flavored, carbohydrated drink under the same name. This won’t have the “preserving” lactobacillae and yeasts. Consider this a kvass-flavored lemonade.
Traditionally fermented kvass that still contains active starter culture will continue to ferment - which is not a good idea if you want to ship a product. Like for beer, the manufacturers will ensure that the activity is stopped, which again means that the preserving effect of the culture is lost. (You will get some of the yeast though, unless it’s filtered.)
Even if someone shipped the still-active brew, there is no way to ensure that they are still alive by the time the consumer opens the bottle.

In short, while your home-fermented drink will keep for a while, the safe approach is to stick to the instructions.


Leftover rice is one of the most common causes of food poisoning. Once cooked it needs to be immediately cooled down if you aren't going to eat it straight away, and it needs to be kept cold until reheated. Reheating should be a quick process that doesn't allow it to sit for a long time at a lukewarm temperature.


What distinguishes pork sausage from ground pork?

Ground pork is simply that, pork. Pork sausage is ground pork that has been seasoned.

You can substitute, but you'll have to bring your own seasoning.


In the US, traditional Tiramisu needs to be made at home because it uses raw eggs and it would be too risky for a restaurant or bakery to sell.

For years I have been making the Williams Sonoma recipe.  To get the tiramisu to come out firm I had to:

Soak the lady fingers just so.  Pour a thin layer of coffee onto a plate.  Practice rolling the lady fingers by rolling one in the coffee as fast as you can, another for little slower, and one two seconds on each side.  Let them sit for half an hour and cut them in half.  The coffee should have made it half way to the core of the biscuit and should not be mushy.
When recipes call for eggs, they mean large eggs, not extra large or jumbo.  Larger eggs have more water.
The mascarpone should be at room temperature. Before you mix it in with the other ingredients, whip it in a separate bowl with a whisk.
Add some cream of tartar to the eggs whites.  Make sure you whip them to stiff peaks.
If it still comes runny after those adjustments, lower the amount of cream and coffee you add to the dish.

Ever since I learned to bake a Genoise (French sponge) cake, I use it instead of the lady fingers.  It took me several attempts to master the Genoise, but it makes a prettier tiramisu.

For flavor variants, the next most popular combination must be limoncello (a popular Italian liqueur) with lemon zest.  I have also used left over poached spiced pears in a tiramisu.


Why is commercial sandwich bread so popular in the US and UK?

To put it bluntly, convenience, price and availability. While more artisan or rustic breads are available in supermarkets (where the vast majority of westerners shop, especially the US and UK), they are generally more expensive, a less convenient shape and size for sandwiches, and don't keep as well.

Having said that, in recent years in the countries mentioned, there has been an increasing interest in home baking of all kinds, including bread.

It's worth pointing out that some western countries like France and Italy still have a strong tradition of buying fresh bread daily.


This question is a bit tough to answer, since it depends on precisely what is meant by "gluten development."  If you mean "the gluten is stronger and tighter, providing greater structural support for the loaf shape," then salt clearly enhances the gluten structure.  If you mean "the gluten can form more chemical bonds and develop connections most rapidly," then salt can have different effects, some of which are mildly detrimental to certain types of gluten development.

Basically, bread dough (sourdough or not) without salt will have a looser structure.  Doughs without salt are noticeably more sticky, slack, and hard to work with.  The final loaf volume (and particularly height) are usually less, due to inadequate gluten structure support.  In that sense, salt is ultimately necessary for a loaf to hold its shape and have adequate support during the final proof and bake to make a tall loaf.  Dough without salt will generally rise faster and higher initially, but it will be more prone to collapse if you're not careful.  (It's possible to still get a decent loaf shaped without salt -- see traditional Tuscan breads, for example -- but the final size will usually still be smaller.)

However, that isn't the whole story.  Many bakers practice some form of autolyse step, which traditionally consists of mixing only the flour and water and letting them rest for at least 30 minutes before completing the final dough.  (Some people do an hour, or several hours, or even an day.)  While yeast is occasionally added to an autolyse, particularly when using a sourdough culture, many people insist on keeping the salt out.

There are several effects of autolysing without salt, including greater activity of some enzymes which can break down more food for yeast and ultimately make the proofing stage shorter.  But in terms of the gluten structure, salt will tighten it immediately and remove more free water, making the formation of a large number of random gluten bonds slower.  (Some experts claim there are also different types of gluten networks that form easily without salt, and when salt is finally added, they are tightened up into an even stronger result.)

In any case, doing an autolyse step in many cases can result in a dough that's easier to work with, as well as a greater final loaf volume with a lighter, airy (sometimes creamier) crumb.  That said, many bakers find that adding salt to an autolyse step won't make a big difference.*  It really depends on duration of autolyse, whether you add any levain (sourdough yeast) to the autolyse, and how effectively and evenly the salt is ultimately incorporated after the autolyse (which can be hard to do, particularly by hand).

Bottom line: Salt mostly stabilizes the gluten structure and makes it stronger, but it can also inhibit development of new gluten bonds somewhat, particularly when the flour is initially hydrating.

*Note: The traditional method of autolyse developed by Raymond Calvel specifically excluded salt.  Thus, many purists say that it's impossible to do an "autolyse" with salt; instead, you're just "resting the dough" or something before kneading/mixing further.  I see the point, but the word "autolyse" in other contexts simply means "breaking itself down" etymologically, and those who rest dough even with salt are usually trying to achieve some of the benefits of autolysis -- including enzymatic breakdown of starches, flavor enhancement, and gluten formation without as much mixing -- just on a smaller and slower scale.  So I'm not pedantic about the word use here.


Trouble frying an egg on a stainless steel pan

From your description there are two things that stand out to me:

1) stainless steel pans should NOT be seasoned in a manner similar to cast iron.  These are completely different materials, and if you "seasoned" your stainless pan, such that it has a coating of basically burned oil on it, you have to first clean that pan until it's nice and shiny/bare steel again.

2) using the sizzle test for eggs suggests to me the pan is too hot.  For eggs, you always want to use lower heat to prevent them going dry and sticking (even in a non-stick pan, you will have some sticking if you use high heat for eggs, especially when scrambling)

so try this:  clean your pan.  when ready to cook the egg, heat the pan on medium heat.  to test for hotness, hold your hand close to the surface to see if it feels warm.  obviously, don't burn yourself ;)  add your ghee to the pan and let it heat a little longer until it looks very fluid and shimmery.  swirl the pan to distribute the oil, then add your egg(s) and do your thing


sealing a jar just to reseal it is not practical and would not help preserve the longevity of these syrups and shrubs.


Close the lid of unsealed jar with pop-up lid

After a couple of hours it will be unsafe if it was below 140 °F/60 °C during that time.

Even if you resealed it, it wouldn't "undo" the bacterial growth that occurred during the time it was unsealed.  So, no, it would not be safe to do this even if you could.


Should I drain water after I cook noodles in microwave?

Do you like your noodles swimming in water? If not, drain them.


As is usually the case with food safety, it is not purely the time something is cooking, but the temperature. Most recipes, even for fresh squid, call for a very short boil in water. If, out of an abundance of caution, you wanted to make absolutely sure that your squid is cooked safely, the CDC mandates that the internal temperature of seafood should reach 145° F [~63° C].

The most cautious method available is measuring the internal temperature of your cooked squid to ensure that it is up to temperature. That is the most surefire, consistent way to test food safety.

However, this is probably overkill and is especially overkill if your squid are already frozen.


I did some reading and checked several recipes. First, while all pizelle irons cook thin waffles, there does appear to be a difference in thickness from one iron to another.

From the recipes I looked at, the following information and suggestions were given:

In order split the pizelles in half, you must split them immediately upon removal from the iron, before they have had a chance to harden.
If your pizelle iron makes the thinnest waffles and it is impossible to split them you can put the filling between two waffles.

Also, regarding the comments about the hardness of stroopwafels, it seems that it is customary to sit them on top of a hot cup of coffee or tea for some seconds to soften them.

I haven't had the opportunity to try these but they sound delicious. I may try my hand at them soon. :)


what to use in place of marjoram in vegetable soup

It sounds like you know that marjoram is closely related to oregano; so if you don't want to use marjoram (or don't have it) you can just omit it or use a bit more oregano. If not already called for, you could also use other herbs that are generally compatible like parsley, sage, or thyme.


Aromatics from roasted chicken and sauce

Remove all the vegetables and discard, they should have released all their "aromatics" to the gravy

You could press them in a chinois (fine meshed sieve) and extract more juices from them.

Pass all the juices through the chinois into a pot and reduce, and you could add a little bit of white wine to finish up the sauce to serve with the chicken.

When I roast chicken, I usually put potatoes, onions, garlic and carrots (and or other root vegetables) in the pan and they roast at the same time; most of the time, the onions are just too cooked to be served, so either I eat them myself, or just discard them.


Short answer: Oven-dried olives are your only non-salted option.

Long answer:

Almost all olive cures involve some quantity of salt. Some olives are just brined; olives cured with lye are also brined; so-called "oil-cured olives" are actually heavily salted.

Your only non-salted option are "oven-dried olives", a Tuscan specialty ... but they won't taste like the olives you're used to.  You might try them anyway.  I'll warn you though -- they're better if you add a little salt.


How to gauge orzo's change in volume from dry to cooked for a soup?

It will double in size when it is cooked, however the longer it is kept in the liquid the bigger it will grow until ultimately all liquid has been absorbed.

A trick is to cook it separately, drain it, and toss with olive oil so it doesn't clump. Then, add it to the rest of the soup, stirring well just before serving.


What are the benefits of using natural casing when making sausages?

If you're planning to smoke your sausages, natural casings will allow for greater smoke penetration than many non-natural casings, and they won't impart any odd flavors of their own to the meat. That said, when you first open a container of natural casings, they may have a strong smell because of gas build-up; let them air out (in the fridge!) and they'll be fine.


Can I swap out butter and milk for heavy cream in a ganache recipe?

Yes you can, some Portuguese/Brazilian ganache recipes actually don't use cream at all.
Cream (creme de leite) can be prepared this home-made way:

500 ml of fresh milk
1 egg yolk passed through the sieve
200 g butter
200 g hydrogenated vegetable fat (margarine)

In a pan, mix the sieved yolk and the milk, heat it slow so that the yolk does not cook and the mixture does not boil.
Turn off the heat and add the other two ingredients. As soon as the fat and butter have completely melted, beat it still hot for three minutes in the blender.
now you have your cream, continue finishing your ganache as usual...


What is the difference between normal salt and salt of guérande?

Salt is salt is salt.

That being said, most regular salt comes from salt mining, which tend to be neutral as there is no (or lot less) additional minerals (or other stuff) in the salt that will change the taste.

Sel the Guérande is a sea salt, it comes from evaporation of sea water, since the sea water contains a lot more minerals and "stuff", like algae.

Depending on the production method, the resulting salt can have different shapes and texture (e.g. guerande is flaky, Maldon is like a "pyramid").

The resulting taste will be subtly different, and will have a different feeling in the mouth when used as a finishing touch on a dish.


What happens to lemon juice when boiled?

When lemon juice is boiled, it reduces, which means that water evaporates.  This concentrates the flavor.  This concentration and cooking also changes the flavor.  The now cooked juice, while still clearly identifiable as lemon, will be much less bright. Keep going, and eventually you will get a syrup.  Soon after that it will burn.


If it is just steel then a stiff brush ought to do it, or steel wool. I'd be tempted to hose it down a few times, the water ought to loosen the ash before sponging it off. If there are coatings on it then using getting it wet makes the most sense as abrasives could damage the coatings.


Can I substitute quinoa flour for bleached flour in a baking recipe?

According to Bob's Red Mill, which makes the quinoa flour that I use:

  You can substitute this flour for half of the all-purpose flour in many recipes or completely replace wheat flour in cakes and cookie recipes.


Can opened cooking cream in frozen state go bad?

Typically cream that you buy from the supermarket is homogenized and stabilized so that the cream looks and behaves uniformly when you want to use it. If you get milk from a cow, the cream tends to separate from the water component and create a layer of fat (the cream) on top of the water (largely milk).

The reason it separates is that it is full of small lipo-spheres (think tiny ball-shaped droplets) of fat which are less dense than water, so they float and interact with each other to form larger balls which then from the top layer, kind of like when you shake a vinaigrette and the oil separates at the top over time. When you have homogenized cream, this doesn't happen because the lipo-spheres are even tinier and too small to interact effectively or even to float well.

Now you  are probably wondering where I am going with this - well, what is happening in your frozen cream is that the water component (about 70% of cream) freezes and creates ice crystals and these crystals disrupt the tiny lipo-spheres allowing the fats to again interact and separate out from the water when defrosted. This is a bit patchy in how it happens so the cream appears clotted and looks funny as not all those tiny lipo-spheres are disrupted, so some remain in suspension and still won't interact effectively, while others come apart and form the clumps that you see.

If it was frozen while still cold from when you first opened it, then it should be fine to use, just give it a shake to break up the lumps as much as you can and then beat as you would normally.

As you indicate that there is no smell, this is probably fine to use (I know this advice is late for OP, but maybe it will help someone else later). If it had a smell, that was sour or "bad", then like always, I would advise not to use.


How do I keep the rice cooker from boiling over?

I've heard that adding a little olive oil (any kind) can help with bubbling over.

Otherwise if you don't get any answers, consider that your rice cooker might be broken. If you get that far, try to borrow someone else's and repeat your method.


I agree with yossarian, if I question it, I chuck it.  Although in this case, the salmon probably will not harm you, it might just taste bad.  Loss of moisture (freezer burn), taking on of flavours, etc.  I wouldn't eat it because it wouldn't taste great.   My father-in-law would eat it, because you don't throw out food (his rule).  Bottom line, if it has been in the freezer for those two years straight, it won't give you food poisoning or harm you.  It's just a matter of palate.  But rest assured, it won't taste great.


Sticky aluminum half sheet pans - Self cleaning oven - What would happen?

I'd be mighty cautious about putting aluminum pans in your oven's self-cleaning cycle. It's melting point is 660 degrees C, and although your oven isn't going to reach that it will probably get to the point where they will warp.


Are you talking about raw clean eggs or boiled clean eggs? Were there worms crawling inside the pot on the eggs? Are these 'worms' maggots or what?

Since there's no such thing as spontaneous generation of life, I can think of a few explanations. The rotting eggs would give off a smell that you might miss until close but carrion insects have an extremely sensitive sense of smell. You would know best which fits.

There may have been insect eggs either on the pot and lid or inside the garbage bag (maybe when you shook it open, small airborne eggs were added). They could be small enough for you to miss.
When you sealed the bag, a tiny fly species got in. If you put boiled eggs in the pot, the smell of the eggs would be enough to attract some insect's attention.
The bag wasn't sealed air-tight (or there's a small tear in the bag you didn't notice) and a tiny fly species got in and then got busy laying eggs as close to the scent of food as it could.


I have clay tajines from Morocco that I've always cooked in and suddenly new stove is smoking?

You're not using the induction stove-top properly. Induction cooking works by inducting a magnetic field in the cooking vessel. Practically this means that a cooking vessel must be made of, or contain, a ferromagnetic metal such as cast iron or some stainless steels. If you want to use a ceramic or glass cooking disk then you should use a ferromagnetic interface disk (essentially an iron plate) which functions as a conventional hotplate.

See page 17 of the pdf file for an Electrolux range which describes the cookware type to use. Basically you want a magnet to be able to stick to the cookware.


Vietnamese Coffee (cocktail) - what to sub for condensed milk?

I would suggest that you use cream of coconut, which is the base for piña coladas as a substitute. It's thick and sweet, and should complement the avocado pretty well. Note that this is a canned produce, the most widely available brand in the USA is Coco Lopez.
Outside the USA it's harder to find, and can be pretty expensive. There are also products that are confusing, like creamed coconut, which isn't remotely the same thing. I make my own by spooning the cream off the top of coconut milk and mixing it with some palm sugar (regular sugar works fine too) and then cooking it down to thicken it.


What is the function of oil in baking/roasting?

(Liquid) water cannot exceed 100°C because that it's boiling point, and any additional heat applied goes toward the latent heat of evaporation needed to turn it into a gas (steam, which can then be higher than 100°C).

Oils have a boiling point much higher than water, and a point lower than that (but still much higher than water's boiling point) called the smoke point which you do not want to reach (as it causes dangerous break downs of the oil).

Oils aid in crisping by facilitating heat transfer. They are liquid so they have good coverage, and they sort of "stick" to the surface of the pan and the food. Excess drips off, but there's still a layer.

This layer has good coverage so it provides more contact between the food and pan, facilitating heat transfer.


Your friend is right. The avocado is not spoiled or in any way dangerous, just changed during storage. You can eat it without any ill effects.
There are people who would throw food out for cosmetic reasons, you can do that too, if you prefer.


What were the primary reasons for different livestock consumption habits of countries and cultures?

Id'say availability, like others have commented on.

If you have access to sea, seafood is an easy choice.

You cannot keep cattle high up in the mountains, that's why goats and sheep are more popular in e.g., Greece, where there are no plains for cattle to graze on.

Chickens and doves are easy to keep and were cheaper than pigs or cows.

Pigs are omnivores. On the one hand, they are happy in forest regions eating acorns (which cows wouldn't like). Pigs also eat kitchen trash like potato peel and leftovers. On the other hand pigs compete with humans for food (potatos, fruit).

Other animals were primarily work animals (dogs to guard, cats to catch mice, horses to pull carts and ploughs) and were hence not eaten (there are exemptions to this rule like Sauerbraten which was made from horse meat of horses that were too old to be used as work animals).


What is a mixed spice with respect to a cake?

Mixed spice is a blend you find in the UK. It's a mix of cinnamon, ground coriander, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Some recipes call for mace, caraway, and/or allspice as well. It's a bit like garam masala, there's no set blend. It's as simple as mixing together equal quantities of each, although you may want to add double the mace if you opt for it.


The only difference between a bamboo steamer and a metal/plastic steamer is that a bamboo steamer will absorb (some of the) moisture from the steam, rather than allowing it to recondense and drop into the food.

It's possible that recondensed moisture could take a small amount of water-soluble nutrients with it, but between the limited ability of bamboo to absorb water and the limited amount of time that water would be in contact with the food, I don't imagine it adds up to much.

What it may add up to is a slightly different cooking process in total.  A metal steamer gets a bit hotter than a bamboo one, meaning the bottom of the food might be a bit crisper.  That can be useful, or not - making dumplings or other bread products, lower heat means less sticking to the wrapper/steamer.  A bamboo steamer will absorb some of the flavor of what you're cooking (and keep it), meaning it can add some interesting flavors to other things you cook (which can be good or bad), although that's controversial and appears to be only a minimal effect.

I tend to stay away from plastic steamers, as even if they are BPA-free, who knows what the next BPA will be.


The scientists tell us the temperature of plain water when it is boiling is 212 degrees F, or 100 degrees C at standard pressure. So it will be very close to that unless you are on a super-high mountain or someplace else where the air pressure isn't what we are used to at sea level.

"Rolling boil" is an expression I have usually seen applied to very vigorous boiling of things other than plain water (like for example when you are making jam, you are boiling water with fruit and lots of sugar in it). However, plain water at a very vigorous boil will still be the same temperature as gently boiling plain water. The difference would be the intensity of the heat source you are cooking it with. If you add heat to your boiling water at a very fast rate, it will boil very vigorously. Gentler heating will make for gentler boiling, but same temperature once boiling starts.

As far as the time it takes to get to that boiling state, that also would depend on your heat source. A little portable camping stove sometimes takes a very long time to boil your pot of water, but a very hot roaring campfire will get it boiling right away. At home, your big burner would be faster than your small burner. So we can't really say how long it will take to come to any type of boil.


Whipped cream running permanently from siphon

your gasket is probably not clean enough. try taking it apart and giving everything a thorough cleaning and it should work again.


Why did my storebought spaghetti sauce bubble out of the jar?

Since it was unheated, this is definitely a sign of food contamination. Since this had Italian sausage, it is low pH, and could be in danger of botulism toxin. Here is information from the CDC about botulism. If you ate the sauce, I recommend you see a doctor quickly, as it can lead to paralysis.

If it had been heated, it could have just been boiling over. As liquids boil, bubbles start to form. Since the spaghetti sauce is thick, it's going to trap the bubbles, and release them with more force. The bubbles may accumulate so much, that it will spill over the pan.