Flavourless Chocolate/Chocolate Alternative in Fudge

In white "chocolate" fudge the white chocolate adds fat, from cocoa butter, sugar and vanilla. White chocolate is mostly about texture and has little flavor of its own. In my opinion white chocolate isn't particularly useful in white fudge because the cocoa butter doesn't enhance the texture much and the sugar and vanilla are more easily (and inexpensively) added separately. In regular, chocolate, fudge there is no cocoa butter and the cocoa powder is used purely for the flavor.

Fudge is a creamy candy. It is creamy, and reminds us to some degree of chocolate, because of the small sugar crystals. The cocoa powder in chocolate fudge doesn't play a significant role in the texture of the candy.

You can leave the cocoa powder out of your chocolate fudge recipe and use other flavorings.

As ChrisH wrote in a comment, it might be easier to simply start with a blank-slate fudge recipe that has no cocoa powder. It will likely be very similar.


Do I need to let wine breathe if I'm cooking with it?

Not really. Letting the wine breath is basically just allowing some of the phenolic components of the wine oxidize lightly, which can improve the wine in your mouth. However when you are cooking, you are beating the piss out of the wine anyway and loosing most of the gentler esters that are improved thusly. Additionally the wine is breathing plenty in the skillet.


This has made me so hungry I came back down to write!
1:  Yes!  But I would not use roast drippings or suet as shortening for fear of overwhelming the fish with beef.  Anything else.  Duck fat would be lovely.  Lard or vegetable shortening or butter ok.  It might not be as stiff with butter.
2:  Have sauce added by diner on top right before eating or it will sog out the pudding.
3:  What deserves to be in with the fish?  Leek or carrot or parsley all very precious and would be visually spectacular.  But thinking @bob1 deconstructed fish and chips... what do you put on fish and chips?  Vinegar.  What wont soak the pudding but is vinegary and has some veg crunch.  A pickle!  A pickle spear in there with the fish would be perfect!
I was thinking also some of those crunchy premade onions like Frenchs makes for salad and hot dish but that is my belly talking.  You could have those on the side for the Americans to sprinkle on.


It will make a wonderful bread with lots of holes and a tough crust. Whether that's good for you or not is really whatever you like or not.

It bake the bread bagette style or free bread style right on the stone instead of using a loaf pan, but that's just me.


You need what Anglo-Saxon countries call "bread flour". The wheat for bread flour is not cultivated in Europe, so European bakers tended to import small amounts from Canada and call it "Manitoba flour". The term is falling out of use nowadays, at least I have not seen it much in the newer literature.

If you can buy bread flour somewhere, that's good, but chances are that it is not available at all. Else you can 1) add gluten, or 2) make the recipe nevertheless and live with the fact that it is slightly different, or 3) choose a different recipe. All the countries which don't use bread flours still have enjoyable breads and pizzas, so it is doable.


Not sure if this qualifies for an answer since I had never done beetroot chips. If not I would be happy to remove it.

I had success with parsnip and apple chips:

dip in 65°C dilute citric acid solution for 2-3 minutes (inhibits maillard), diluted vinegar or lemon juice works too
dry chips well on kitchen towel and place neatly on an oven tray without overlapping
put onto the lowest rack in a fan oven at the lowest temperature (<100°C)
bake overnight for 8-12 hours


Diarylheptanoids were recently identified as responsible for bitter off-flavor in hazelnuts. This correlates with

infection with bugs (of the bush, not in storage) and
starting germination

according to:
Singldinger: Molecular-sensory studies on the development of a bitter off-taste in hazelnuts, PhD thesis, 2019, Munich Technical University.

Here's also a paper: Singldinger et al.: The Cyclic Diarylheptanoid Asadanin as the Main Contributor to the Bitter Off-Taste in Hazelnuts (Corylus avellana L.), J Agric Food Chem. 2017


Does this sound like a reasonable way to slow cook a rib-eye?

The method sounds fairly traditional.

You may find better results doing the oven phase first, and the searing phase last.  By doing so, you will desiccate the outside of the steak, making it begin to sear more quickly (since there is little or no water left at the surface to evaporate).

The pan you use for the oven phase matters very little; cast iron will be superior for the searing phase.

Since you are going for a fairly classic red wine pan sauce, you may wish to investigate butter mounted sauces, rather than doing a roux based sauce.  This may give more intense flavor, but is certainly not core to the technique for the steak.  This Chicago Tribune article has a good summary of the technique.

The one key to success that you have left out is seasoning the steak.  Perhaps the best method is to season it liberally the night before (or at minimum, 40 minutes before cooking), and allow it to sit overnight in the refrigerator.  At first the salt will bring liquid to the surface of the steak, but later it will be reabsorbed, spreading seasoning into the meat itself.  See Kenji Alt's Food Lab article for more details.


After boiling, drain the bagels and then press the top of the bagel firmly into a dish containing the seed of your choice. Too much water still on the surface of the bagel and they won't adhere properly. This is how they did it at a bagel shop I worked at, and here's a corroborating video:

http://videos.sorensonmedia.com/San+Francisco+Baking+Institute/7.2+Boiling+and+Seeding+Bagels/b8ec0e85a84f3948ccca841Xb2fe940df302


how to correct a problem with my sourdough starter

When there’s liquid on top your starter it past the really active stage (or you put too much water). If the liquid smells alcoholic, even more so but don’t worry, these beasties are practically indestructible.

You can rejuvenate it by adding a couple of tablespoons of the starter (after discarding the liquid) to equal weights(not volumes) flour and water. I tend to go 40g starter to 80g flour+80g water which I then use to make poolish every 3-4 days or so (which I then use to bake 2 loaves using ~500g of flour). Once I make the poolish, I remove ~40g of flour and the cycle goes on. Remember, no salt goes in the poolish(or starter for that matter)!

If you bake less frequently than every few days go slightly drier: 100g flour/60 water to 40g starter - your starter will stay active for longer but it will also taste more sour as you leave it. If you bake really rarely, like once a month, you can keep it in the fridge and rejuvenate as above a 2ple of days ahead of baking, discarding what remains of 40g.

Finally, if you are wanting to keep a starter with rye, disregard the above- rye tends to mould more easily so you have to be vigilant with your feeds (although you can just give your starter a rye feed every once in a while to no ill effects in my experience)


Why is spicy food less spicy when it's allowed to cool?

Capsaicin, the chemical that makes peppers spicy, activates a sensory receptor which can also be activated by heat. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsaicin#Mechanism_of_action)

That means that when a food is spicy and hot, you feel both types of heat using the same sense! When the food has cooled and you're not feeling the heat (temperature) any more, it no longer adds to the feeling of spicyness.


Why does bread with filling separate and how do I prevent it?

The most recent Cook's Illustrated has a cinnamon swirl bread article that discusses this problem. According to them, the root cause is a lack of binding between the dough and filling. Gas from the yeast, and steam generated during baking, push into the spiral, creating pressure that compresses the dough and widens the gap.

In the specific case of cinnamon bread, they recommend using powdered (confectioner's) sugar instead of granulated, and using a large amount of cinnamon. The finer sugar dissolves more easily in moisture from the bread, quickly creating a paste that is reinforced by the cornstarch and by starches in the ground cinnamon. Misting the bread before adding the filling also helps.

In order to make a sausage filling adhere to the bread, you would need a sticky, water-soluble element. Cornstarch or powdered gelatin spring to mind immediately as possibilities.

The other tactic they employ is to actually expose the filling during proofing, preventing the yeast's gas (and later, steam) from building up alongside the filling. Once the filling is rolled into the dough, the loaf is cut in half lengthwise. With the two halves laid side-by-side, cut face up (exposing the filling), they are wound around each other, folding the left piece over the right until the end is reached (this is called a "Russian braid"). The ends are pinched together, and the loaf is placed in the pan to proof. This, obviously, should help with any kind of filling, not just cinnamon sugar.


I am not one to fall for the "as seen on tv" sales pitches... however, I came across the Titan Peeler's on sale at a Bed Bath and Beyond.

Let's say I have never looked back!  They are absolutely amazing, dishwasher safe and great for peeling anything.

Potatoes, apples, carrots, kiwi, you know it the peeler is great.


What is a substitute for celery root in a soup?

From Cook's Thesaurus

  turnips OR celery ribs (weaker flavor)
  OR parsley root OR (in salads of
  grated vegetables) carrots + dash
  celery seeds.

Enjoy!


The purpose of using a roux, as opposed to just plain flour, is to improve the dispersal of starch molecules in the sauce.  If you just toss a bunch of flour into a simmering sauce - or do the reverse, pour hot liquid onto dry flour - then you'll immediately start getting gross glutinous lumps and will find it nearly impossible to smooth them out.

Starch is not actually soluble in fat; instead the fat coats the starch molecules, making it difficult for them to clump together when incorporated into a sauce.  Making a roux out of the flour (and making sure to give the sauce a really good whisking after incorporation) basically helps to ensure an even distribution of starch so that your sauce ends up smooth, not lumpy.

So to answer your question, the minimum amount of butter (or other fat) you need is however much it takes to fully incorporate the flour.  If you've still got dry clumps, you haven't used enough fat.  More fat is okay, but if you don't use enough then you'll suffer some of the same lumpiness as if you didn't use a roux at all.

I'm not sure if there's a magic number - it's going to depend on the specific flour you're using and the specific fat.  Even if you narrow it down to, say, all-purpose flour and butter, it can depend on the brand of flour, the fat content of the butter, and whether or not the butter has been clarified (which, if you have the time and patience, it should be).

The 1:1 ratio (by volume or mass) gives you a pretty decent safety margin; you won't need more than that, but it's also not so much that it'll make your sauce greasy.  But you really don't need to measure it out at all; I don't, I just add fat while stirring until the flour is fully incorporated.  Sometimes I might be more generous with the butter simply for flavour purposes.

Bottom line, it's really pretty obvious when you haven't got enough fat.  If it looks good, it is good, and after a few sessions without the measuring spoons, you should very quickly get a feel for how much fat you really need.


Can raw soured milk be used to make cheese

Actually, you might.
 Depending on the strain(s) of bacteria in your milk, you might be well on the first steps for making "Handkäs", a speciality from the Frankfurt area in Germany. It uses no curdling agent like lemon juce (for fromage blanc) or rennet.

Try this recipe, (english version at the bottom):
Handcheese with music


Why does meat (beef and pork) stay pink inside even when braised or stewed for hours?

Your assumption about a temperature "near boiling" is wrong. Meat is an effective temperature insulator.

Meat in a pot always ends up having a heat gradient, with the center being colder than the outside. A thin piece of meat will end up the same temperature as the water after many hours, but a big slab will still have a few degrees Celsius difference.

I am also pretty sure that your meat doesn't look "like a medium steak". Sure, the color may not be grey, but the color needs very high temperatures to turn grey, maybe above 80 Celsius, while a steak stops being medium if it reaches 57 Celsius. There is a vast range between "medium" and "grey" where the color may still be in the pink part of the spectrum, but the texture is entirely different (and the color is also not the exact same shade, if you look closely). Combine this with the fact that simmering water is not close to boiling, it is 90-ish Celsius, and that stewing is done with meat which is high in isolating fat and connective tissues, and it is no wonder that, even after a couple of hours, the temperature has not compleltey evened out throughout a slab of meat and the middle stays a different color.


How do I keep my melted candy windows in my gingerbread house from cracking?

Using melted hard candy, you are at the mercy of the ingredients of the hard candy manufacturer.  I like to make my own sugar glass.  Here is my recipe for sugar glass:

1 C Water
1.75 C Sugar
.5 C Corn Syrup - the clearer the better
.25 t Cream of Tartar

I always supplement it with cream of tartar and corn syrup.  The cream of tartar stabilizes the mixture and the corn syrup helps the glass stay clear.  Sucrose (table sugar) is a disaccharide (two sugars) of glucose and fructose.  Most cracking occurs when when there is a structural defect due to crystallization.  Applying acid (cream of tartar) causes the sucrose to break down into its component sugars and stabilize.

Also remember that heat and humidity are the enemy of sugar glass.  Do the best you can to control the environment of the sugar glass.


Is it safe to cook with food grade mineral oil?

Well, food-grade means you can ingest some without poisoning yourself. It does not mean it’s a suitable replacement for cooking or baking. If you do use it, you will soon learn that it’s a laxative, which means you won’t get to enjoy the food in peace.

In hard times, people have used it and during World War II, the British government suggested using liquid paraffin in place of other, rationed, fats. The already mentioned side effects were also observed. You can find a sample recipe here.


From my own experience with weighing, 50% meat is correct.


Does meat/poultry keep in the fridge for just a couple of days after purchase, or a couple of days after the sell-by/use-by date?

The advice you see on sites is for poultry which doesn't come with an expiry date. It comes from the time when meat wasn't sold in individual containers with a date stamped on them. You buy poultry at the butcher, he wrapps it in wax paper, and you can keep that in the fridge for two days.

If you buy your meat in the supermarket, it does have a date, and that's what you should go by. If it is a "use by" date, then it is clear - this is the last day on which it is safe to eat it. If it is a "sell by" date, you can again turn to the advice you found. It is calculated conservatively, as is usual in food safety, and gives you a margin which is safe even for meat sold after lying around for a few days at the butcher's. If you buy the meat before the "sell by" date, you "get" extra time to use it.

  raw poultry/meat will degrade much more slowly while on grocery store shelves

While the system above would work without the need for such a mechanism, there is indeed a difference which goes in that direction. The supermarket meat is packaged under special atmosphere, which is low in pathogens and also differs from normal air in a way which inhibits bacterial growth. It is not sterile, and it definitely goes bad. But still, when compared to the butcher's meat, its total lifetime from slaughter to expiry date is longer.

This tidbit is not relevant to your practical question though, since this has already been accounted for in the choice of the "use by" or "sell by" date stamped on the package. I am simply sharing it for more background.


Is it possible to make Sour Cream at home?

Sour cream is just cultured cream. You want to take fresh cream and then add the correct culture, then let it sit.

One way is to add a small amount of cultured buttermilk (with live cultures) to the cream. Put the mixture in a clean container and leave it in a warm place. In a day or two the cultures will have turned the cream "sour." and it's ready to use. At this point, you can use your fresh sour cream to start other sour creams as well.


It sounds like you've forgotten (or not been directed) to blind-bake the crust. Blind-baking is baking a crust without a filling so that it gets a head start, sealing it and preventing it going soggy.

To blind-bake, place the pastry in the dish as usual, dot the base with a fork in a few places, then cut a square of baking paper roughly the same size as the dish, place it on the pastry, and add some baking weights (small ceramic balls) or dry kidney beans. These stop the pastry from bubbling up.

Place in a pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes until the crust is lightly golden. Remove from the oven, remove the weights and paper (if using kidney beans, you can use them again, but don't cook them to eat!) and let the crust cool for 30 minutes before adding the filling and completing the baking process.


What are the benefits of Ceylon cinnamon over Chinese cinnamon?

They both have a similar flavour but Ceylon cinnamon but your right that it can be slightly sweeter. It also has a different texture (more crumbly) which you may prefer for use in recipes. Chinese cinnamon does have a stronger flavour but some people actually prefer this so it's really just a matter of taste so it's difficult to say whether it's 'worth it'. It can be difficult to get hold of hence it being so expensive. If you're a huge cinnamon fan perhaps purchase yourself a small amount so that you can compare?


It depends on the kind of stock cube. Drier, powdery stock cubes can be crushed and sprinkled in and the appropriate amount of liquid added.

Paste cubes should be broken up (I often chop them with my knife so as not to get sticky stock paste on my fingers) and placed in hot water before adding to the dish, because they don't dissolve as readily as the powdery cubes.


What will happen if you cook in a container that has traces from another day of cooking?

There is no food safety issue involved, but in most cases, there will be a problem with taste. I think that the most important factor is whether the recipe involves heating (in the container in question) or not.

If you must heat something in the container, don't reuse. Different parts of a heated recipe are added at different times (e.g. for a stew onions and tubers first, then meat, then fluid, then the delicate veggies, and herbs at the end). Having some pieces of the old vegetables at the bottom will interfere with that. Even if you don't have such a dish and are heating everything at once, you will cook the old food for the second time, overcooking it. It will taste bad, or even burnt - not only the old pieces, they will give their bad taste to the rest of the dish.

If you don't heat in the container, but only do some physical changes (mixing, whipping, blending), it will probably be mostly OK. Take care with dishes where the mixing order is important - if you made a soufflé mixture in a bowl, you cannot start another one in the unwashed bowl, because you have to beat the egg whites in a clean bowl. If you get impurities into the eggwhites before they are beaten, they won't aerate properly, even if mixing in the same stuff after they are stiff presents no problem. For a chemically leavened (baking powder or baking soda) batter, you cannot start the dry part in the bowl which contains moist batter traces. And if you made anything which ferments, you will have some overfermented fragments. I wouldn't do it with yeast containing recipes, but if you are making yoghurt, you can just see it as a part of your starter culture.

If your food doesn't belong to these exception categories, you are probably OK. Still, your food will get some off tastes. Even if you remove the last of the old food immediately before the new cooking process (and do you really start cooking just after you've eaten?), the old food will have left dried traces on the walls of the container. These will mix or dissolve into the new food. The drying alone will have given them an unpleasant texture. If we are talking pieces, or even worse, purées of fruits or vegetables, they will likely have oxidized as well. Anything which changes its taste with age (like fish) is better washed away.

So much for the downsides: not game-breaking, but they exist. On the other hand, I cannot see any big gains. Cooking gets much more utensils dirty than the container in which the food is stored/prepared. If you are already doing them in the sink, elbow-deep in soapy water, the marginal effort for rinsing an additional item is close to nothing. And if you have a dishwasher, I don't see any reason to not use it. Conclusion: there is no reason to do it, even though it won't poison you if you do.


You may be thinking of Fah Sung Thong. You can find a recipe for it here.


I've never done anything in particular.  I just don't use soap on it.


How do I maintain the crunchy crust of home baked bread?

The reason the crust is going soft is a combination of factors:

Moisture from inside the bread transfers to the outside during cooling: This is most prevalent in breads with thinner developed crusts. Leave your bread to cool completely either in the cooling down oven (best) or on the side on a rack.
Humidity of bread storage: never put warm bread in a container (not even a bread box) and never ever put it in the fridge (unless saving for croutons or breadcrumbs)
Ambient room humidity: If your kitchen is really humid this will definitely have an effect. I typically store bread in the oven if it's currently really humid (which it typically is in Ireland).

There are a few steps you can take to ensure you get a crispy crust for longer:

Take extra time to develop the crust after the initial bake

Remove the bread from the dutch oven at the end of your bake and place directly on the oven rack with the oven door open as it cools down.
Don't place your bread into a container (even a bread box) until hours after finished.

Store bread properly

Keep open in dry conditions. If cut, place cut side face down on board or countertop. Can cover with a tea towel (after complete dryness) and then just leave alone.

Rejuvenate the crust (best tip I ever received)

This seems counterintuitive, but if you've got some soft crust bread you want crisped up, crank your oven up, then wet the bread where you want it crispy (running a wet hand over it is about enough water), and chuck it in the oven directly on the rack and bake for a few minutes until you're satisfied.
This method works wonders for stale bread as well, and you can keep the soft (cut) side softer by wrapping that bit in some foil. It won't make it like day one fresh bread but it'll certainly make it edible again and good enough for some nice oil & vinegar or a nice slab of soft butter.

Update
+1 for oven cooling! http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2015/09/15/keep-baking-crispy/


Drying beef to preserve it without any equipment

Simply hanging meat likely won't result in a safe drying environment. The moist, room temperature surface is the environment that bacteria and mold thrive in, which is why holding food at room temperature is considered unsafe.

Alton Brown offers a method for homemade beef jerky without any specialized equipment, but does make use of a box fan and air conditioning filters:

  Evenly distribute the [thinly sliced, marinaded] strips of meat on 3 of the air filters, laying them in the grooves and then stacking the filters on top of one another. Top these with 1 empty filter. Next, lay the box fan on its side and lay the filters on top of it. Strap the filters to the fan with 2 bungee cords. Stand the fan upright, plug it in, and set it to medium. Dry the meat for 8 to 12 hours. (If using a commercial dehydrator, follow the manufacturer’s directions.)

  Once dry, store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 3 months.

Note that deviation from Alton's recipe & method may require additional changes to compensate to make it food safe. For example, changing the marinade may affect cure & dry times.


Meat sticking to metal happens in the very first few moments of contact. Salt will help a little because it draws moisture out of the meat, and that moisture is what is reducing the stick. You can reproduce the effect by oiling the bottom of the meat rather than the pan, this reduces the amount of oil required. If you want to avoid oil you can use water instead, I know this sounds wrong somehow, but all you are trying to achieve is a barrier between the meat and the pan for a few moments until the meat releases its own juices.

Leave the meat to form a crust - crusts are good, they give you flavor and texture, once they are formed they also won't stick to the pan. If you flip and it sticks a bit that's okay, let if form a crust and use a thin metal spatula to get it loose.


Dishwasher safety - "top shelf" vs. "bottom shelf"

In most dishwashers the heating elements are on the bottom only. Lightweight plastic items might melt (soften and distort, not drip away) on the bottom, but they don't mind being in the steamy environment or being sprayed with hot detergent-laced water. They are therefore only dishwasher safe on the top shelf.

I've melted a plastic bowl or two in my time; there is a definite difference between top and bottom.


Balsamic vinegar should not need storage in a refrigerator, just in a cupboard away from light and in an air tight container.

I would warm the balsamic vinegar by leaving it to warm in at room temperature, covered with a tea towel. If you want to speed up this process I would suggest putting it into a pan or warm water and then reduce it again.


There's a great overview of the differences here, including a taste-test experiment at the end.

Broadly: beurre manié started off as a "lazy" roux; some people claim that the cooking of the roux reduces any "floury" taste; the experiment did not find any discernible difference between the two options for either a bechamel sauce or a velouté.


How risky is it to eat raw flour, as in uncooked dough?

Does eating raw flour or doughs containing raw flour pose a significant food safety risk (i.e., greater than other dry goods or ingredients in your kitchen)?

Yes, as the level of bacteria has not been reduced/killed especially if the dough has been sitting/fermenting and/or contains harmful bacteria.
Nb: Most flour isn't washed or treated (irradiated) before use.
Although it is cosidered 'dry' it always contains a level of moisture and it's storage usually allows moisture transfer from the local environment that it is stored/used in.

If so, are there particular cooking or baking processes where we should be most concerned about this risk?

Not really, unless the cooking/baking process does not reach a high enough temperature or a long enough period to reduce/neutralise the bacteria that may be present.

I obviously don't wish to downplay the seriousness of this outbreak. But I am interested in the rationale behind the FDA's warning. In particular, is flour (and raw dough) actually a higher-risk food hazard than any other uncooked ingredient in a kitchen? For example, we all know that raw vegetables and fruits have been responsible for hundreds of outbreaks, but the FDA has not issued a general warning against consumption of raw vegetables and fruit. (Instead, the warnings tend to be against the specific batches of contaminated food, as well as a few specific high-risk raw vegetables like sprouts.)

While it can be argued on the quantities being consumed of flour compared to raw vegetables and fruits, and therefore the level of bacteria that the person is exposed to.  Besides most raw Fruit & Vegetables should be washed, the soil and bacteria can be removed this way, and that is before some of these are peeled/trimmed.  Dried fruit and vegetables after washing (and in some cases peeling), can have a number of processes (such as pre-treated - soaking in an acidic solution, or blanched) and are usually kept in a dry environment.
Minimally processed vegetables (high risk), such as watercress can be irradiated.  FDA article on produce (buying, storing, preparing raw fruit & vegetables)
However, raw nuts still have risks of bacteria (e.g. salmonella).  Most nuts are  treated (pasteurised - steam, blanched, roasted, or fumigated - propylene oxide)

So why has raw flour been singled out for a general prohibition (as opposed to a warning about a specific contaminated batch, which applies to most fruit and vegetable outbreaks, as well as most of the dry goods outbreaks mentioned above)?
Is there some new information that justifies this broad and sweeping FDA prohibition on the basis of a couple outbreaks? (And if contaminated flour is such a big deal now to justify the recall of millions of pounds of flour, what makes this new situation different from most wheat flour, which has been known for decades to have high rates of E. coli and Salmonella contamination, occurring in something like 13% of samples of flour?)

FDA Raw Flour/Dough update
Article on the investigation and the lead to the ban
Any further questions maybe better answered by getting in contact with the FDA
and the academic community.


Syracuse Salt Potatoes - what's the deal?

I've made these before, and in fact found them to be as you describe; well-salted new potatoes, but not somehow substantially more creamy than standard boiled baby new potatoes.  You don't say if you used actual new (young) potatoes, but I did, and did not get different results from yours.
Should it have been different?  Well, first, how much "higher" would that boiling point be?
Boiling temperature of water increases by 0.5 C for every 116 grams of dissolved salt per kilogram of water, so for the Chef John recipe, we are looking at an increase of ( 273g / 116g ) * 0.5 / 1.18l, or an increase of just about 1C.  This seems unlikely to make a substantial difference in starch texture -- starch conversion temperature ranges are much broader than that.
So, what's the appeal of Syracuse potatoes other than just being salted?
I think I can answer this using quotes from Good Eats:

The consensus among the true believers is that “new” is also an important part of the perfect salt potato equation. New potatoes are simply immature potatoes of any variety, usually harvested in the spring and early summer. Key characteristics of new potatoes include their tender, parchment-like skin, which never needs to be peeled, and their moist creamy texture. Note that new potatoes are not the same as small potatoes.
As the potatoes cook, the supersaturated salted water forms a subtle crust on outside and somehow seals the potatoes so they never taste water-logged like ordinary boiled potatoes often do. They have a unique texture closer to fluffy baked potatoes, only creamier.

I have to say that "somehow seals the potatoes" is a disappointingly unscientific statement from Alton Brown, particularly since we know already from brining that heavy salting affects how various cooked foods absorb and release water.  And that is different here, because normal cooking time for small new potatoes is more like 10-15 minutes and the salt boil allows the potatoes to boil for more than 50% longer without becoming waterlogged and mushy.
But here's another important part:

Back in the 1800s, blue-collar Irish miners in The Salt City headed off to work each day with a small bag of substandard potatoes.

Note the "substandard" potatoes, which might include young potatoes that are too green or too hard.  Likely for those the extra 8 minutes of cooking time makes a much larger difference that it does for the near-perfect baby potatoes I bought.
So, my conclusion: the primary reason to do Syracuse salt potatoes is because they come pre-salted out of the pan.  The secondary reason is because the longer cooking time benefits the texture of the potatoes in subtle ways, but this difference is very subtle indeed if you start the recipe with high-quality potatoes that would have been creamy anyway.


My knowledge about the phenomenon itself is limited but I did see it mentioned in "Modernist Cuisine" (Nathan Myhrvold, p. 147)

  Many recipes for foie gras, liver, sweetbreads, and other offal include a soaking step before cooking. For kidneys,
  this step serves a very simple purpose: to remove any trace of the animal's bodily fluids. Recipes often call for
  soaking foie gras, liver, and sweetbreads in milk. It is often said that milk improves the taste, purges blood, lightens
  the color, or affects some other property of the meat. We were skeptical, so we tried several experiments. With
  a mild-flavored organ meat like foie gras, we could taste a difference, but, frankly, in our tests, we prefer the taste
  of water-soaked to milk-soaked foie gras. With stronger-flavored organ meats, there is even less of a difference than
  with foie gras. So our suggestion is to simply soak the meat in water.

So, there you have it.


Can I Re-use Unfiltered Frying Oil From Night Before?

As far as food safety goes, it should be safe to refry food with it (after all, you are heating this up to ~400 F again, bacteria stands no chance)

The filtering helps on the flavor department. As food particles/breadings fall off, they burn and impart a burnt flavor. If you reuse oil with much burnt parts, the burnt flavors will come through lot quicker.

Alternate to cheesecloths:
If you notice hardly any food particles in the bottom, you are good to go. if you have food particles, I can suggest either

Pour the oil slowly to another vessel, leaving the last half inches or so, and the food particles will remain in that last bit of oil. Discard that oil and use the remaining oil.
Use paper towel to filter.

Edit: If you want to go deeper in ther knowledge-base, heres an excellent source: http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/09/ask-the-food-lab-how-many-times-can-i-reuse-fry-oil.html


The normal way of making crystallised ginger is to boil 1-cm cubes or slices of ginger briefly in water a couple of times to get rid of the bitterness, then simmer it for a long time in syrup. Once it's nice and soft, you drain off as much of the syrup as possible, then coat the pieces in granulated sugar.

If you have already grated it, I guess you could still use the same method, but you wouldn't need to simmer it in syrup for so long, and draining the syrup off might be a challenge. If you add enough sugar, it will eventually absorb the remaining syrup, and I am sure that the surplus (gingery) sugar won't go to waste!


Pemmican -- how was it prepared without metal tools?

You are missing the tiny detail that metal is not the only material which can provide sharp, cutting edges.

The reason the Stone Age got its name was the use of stone for tools. Both flint stone and obsidian, a volcanic glass can splinter with razor-sharp edges. Both the raw material and the tools made from them were highly prized goods and mined and traded in prehistoric times.

Even today, obsidian scalpels are still used for some surgical procedures, especially in cosmetic surgery. What works for a face lift in Hollywood should easily be good enough for pemikan - not that I'm comparing the two tasks.

Failing to obtain the stones, bone knifes from long leg bones would also have been able to handle the task of cutting thin meat strips quite smoothly.

Not for the squeamish:

This Youtube video shows the butchering of a deer with a simple, hand made obsidian "knife".

This video compares a flint and a bone knife.


Lyle's Golden Syrup tin design, why is it like this and how to clean it

I suspect you are looking for deep explanations where none exist.

Flat metal work is flexible; by introducing a bend, it becomes stronger.  This is the same principal that makes corrugation, and the same reason car parts are all curved.  You will note that paint cans have essentially the same design, for the same reason.

The lip around the removable lid is quite likely to be there simply to give it enough strength to allow the lid to be removed and replaced multiple times without distorting the can.

This has nothing to do with the specific product inside.

As to cleaning, a damp paper towel seems ideal.  If the lid is well sealed, you could run it under some water to dissolve any caked on syrup, and then dry...


We do that frequently. Hot spots develop in our oven too, but we control the thing by just swapping the bread from center to edges twice along the process.

I think adding a "thick metal plate" would do too, but the toasting time will increase (or at least the time needed to pre-heat the oven will be greater).

HTH!


What kind of mortar and pestle will be strong enough for grinding date pits?

If your seeds have been dried a marble mortar and pestle works quite well. I would suggest making a disk the circumference of the mortar out of cardboard to surround the neck of the pestle. It will limit the amount of dust that goes in the air.


How do I know if US lettuce is safe, given the E. coli outbreak?

The CDC's current advice as of April 20 2018 is quite simple:

  Do not buy or eat romaine lettuce at a grocery store or restaurant unless you can confirm it is not from the Yuma, Arizona, growing region.

So, by the CDC's definition of safety, it's not safe if it's romaine possibly from the Yuma area. It has nothing to do with where you are; things get shipped all around.


Why cook onion with chicken? Is it just for taste?

Onion tastes good, especially when caramelized, and since both it and the chicken go on to to be cooked for an extended time in the chili, there's really no food safety concern with cooking them together.

Both contribute to the finished flavor of the dish, and cooking them together saves time. There's no magical interaction between chicken and onion - if there were you'd see the same step in many different types of recipes.


Non-plastic cutting board that can be cleaned in a dishwasher

There are 2 non-plastic cutting board options that I'm aware of that are dishwasher safe and aren't damaging to knives like glass boards.
First, there are the rubber cutting boards popular with commercial kitchens, sold under brand names like Sani-TUFF. While some sources (e.g. KaTom Restaurant Supply) claim these have to be hand washed, they are popular in commercial kitchens because they can handle the heat of the commercial sanitizing dishwashers without warping or melting, and they don't pick up scratches as easily as plastic. They are also generally anti-microbial, I assume because they are non-porous. Although these are usually synthetic rubber, they are much harder than plastic cutting boards -- though not too hard on your knives -- and the likelihood of you consuming any part of them inadvertently should be pretty small.
Next, there are wood fiber composite cutting boards. The brand I know best of these is the Epicurean label. They are made from various specific materials, but the Epicurean label is made from a paper composite called Richlite. Assuming it's the blend discussed on the Richlite page, it is 65% recycled paper and 35% phenolic resin. While that is a synthetic polymer, it's much harder than your typical cutting board and is unlikely to melt (up to 350°F) or react with anything it's likely to come into contact with in your kitchen. These boards are also quite dense, so again, the likelihood of you consuming any of it unintentionally is exceedingly low.
Both of these products are also "workable", meaning you could cut them to custom sizes or shapes and sand them if they ever get scratched up enough to need it.
For what it's worth, environmental sources of microplastics are a much stronger vector than anything in your kitchen, and many of these are practically unavoidable. However, if you are concerned about plastic from cutting boards, both of the above options are far more durable and less likely to introduce plastic into your food but are more convenient than wood in terms of cleaning. Of course, I encourage you to research these on your own and use your best judgment.


my chicken broth did not separate with layers

If you didn't roast the bones, then yes, it's going to be pale. Many recipes suggest browning the bones (I like to bake them at 450 for 45 minutes), for extra flavor and a nice color.

As for the lack of fat layer... the bones themselves don't have much fat. If you've got just cleaned bones, then I wouldn't expect a separate fat layer. If you'd included skin, then you'd expect it to have fat.

Either that, or your crock pot is broken, and it just sat there are room temperature for 24 hours.


Why would heating left-overs in a ring heat them more evenly?

I believe the unspecified context of this question is cooking in an oven or microwave.  No matter what your cooking method, the heat is introduced at the outside of the food:

Microwaves only penetrate a short distance; the rest of the cooking through to the center is by conduction (or convection, if the food is liquid)
Conduction/convection in an oven only interact with the surface of the food
Radiant heat (infrared essentially), one of the main cooking modes in an oven, again only affects the surface

By creating a ring shape, if it is practical, you create more surface for the heating modality to interact with the food.

This is the reason for an angel food cake pan or bundt pan having a tube at the center--it allows more surface area to be involved in the cooking process.

Also, with the metal pan, the metal has a higher conductivity of heat than does air.  This is why parts of the cake in contact with the pan (or a non-insulated metal cookie sheet, or whatever) generally brown more than the parts exposed to the air.

However, in practice except for things cooked in tube pans, I wouldn't really worry about this affect.  If you can stir occasionally, it becomes close to moot.

Note that in pan frying or sauteing or or griddling or stir frying (depending on the term used in context), the main surface area that is relevant is the bottom of the food, that which is contact with the pan.  A ring doesn't help much here, compared to spreading the food out.

I looked at the first part of that thread.  It does not seem to be a hot bed of science and knowledge of cookery.


What can I do to make sure plaice filet doesn't get dry?

Firstly consider a lower temprature but do start with a very hot pan, and turn down the heat and make sure you baste your fish correctly; cook skin side for a longer time, untill you have the desired colour. Add your butter and let it foam, and only then turn your fish. Once you have turned your fish you can take your pan off the heat. Start basting with foamy butter. For plaice, It should be done in under 1 minute. If your not serving straight away remove from pan for hot holding.
If you keep to do this method, its hard to end up with a dry fish.


How are commercial protein bars made so dense?

Yes, they would be processed under pressure. What I'm not seeing in your ingredient list are any thickeners or binding agents, which definitely works against creating density in the final product.

Now, I've never made protein bars (because I'm a fat kid and don't eat them (not that I'm actually fat)), but I have made granola bars, and in granola you use a combination of molasses and butter (or butter, honey and brown sugar, in some recipes) to hold it all together and create that density. Not the nutritional effect you're looking for, but in terms of physics, the same idea.

As far as the ingredients you don't have, both are readily obtainable. Soy lecithin, or any kind of lecithin, is an emulsifier, which basically means that it assists in mixing ingredients of differing types. Most commonly, that means mixing an ingredient that is water-based with one that is oil-based (mayonnaise and pretty much any baked good other than yeast breads are all good examples of this - the lecithin in the egg yolks is what holds everything together). Not sure what your grocers are like, but I could buy soy lecithin from the baking aisle at mine. Bob's Red Mill manufactures bags of the stuff.

As for polydextrose, it's an "artificial sweetener" made from natural sugars (dextrose), sorbitol (a low-GI sugar alcohol that can either be made by reducing glucose or found in peaches, pears, apples, etc.), and a little citric acid. Note that it's considered artificial because the substance is man-made, not necessarily any of the component parts. What it does is help hold everything together, because it's also used as a thickening and hardening agent (which is ironic, because it's also used as a humectant, which means it keeps things moist). In other words, without this one ingredient, not only is your recipe not going to be able to hold any kind of density without something to replace it, but it's also likely to taste like flavored cardboard. The good news is that you can buy it on Amazon.

My honest advice would be to obtain the missing ingredients - the polydextrose at the very least - and use something heavy - perhaps a tortilla or burger press with a couple weights on top? - to press the mash before you cook it (and yes, you should cook it, I think for 10-15 minutes? Play with that.). Then refrigerate it all for a couple hours to harden it, then cut.

If all else fails, give up, and make granola bars with lots of nuts for protein. :-) In any case, here's a link to a pretty good explanation of how to make granola bars. I know, I know, not what you want to come up with, but I would imagine the process should be roughly similar.


Why is cheese never used in Americanized Chinese food?

It's simple; Americanized Chinese food rarely contains cheese because Chinese food rarely contains cheese.

As many as 90% of Chinese people are, to some degree, lactose intolerant. Dairy is simply not a large part of Chinese food culture. Dairy is growing as a business in China. However, since dairy makes most Chinese sick, I imagine the dairy industry will be primarily an industry of exportation.

EDIT As I promised in comments, I did look for citations for that 90% figure. The figure is ubiquitous. It may in fact have more to do with societal evolution than anything innate in the genetics of the Chinese people, but the fact remains. Most Chinese people react poorly to dairy.

Neato Chart


Why add salt to the water when cooking pasta?

The salt adds flavor, but it also helps reduce the gelation of the starch in the pasta.  The starch in food is the form of microscopic grains.  When these grains come into contact with water, they will trap some of it (think cornstarch in cold water), but when the water is hot they swell up like balloons and merge with each other, and you have starch gelation.

Another thing you may want to add to the pasta water is some acid (lemon or cream of tartar).  Tap water in most cities is made alkaline, which increases the starch loss from the pasta to the water, making the pasta stickier.


Angel Food Cake: crushed pineapple instead of sugar?

Sugar is not used as a sweetener in cakes, it is a major component which creates the needed texture. As such, it is very difficult to impossible to replace.

In angel food cake, you absolutely cannot replace it. Angel food is a fragile cake without chemical leaveners, and depends on a very well balanced ingredient list. Using a fruit puree instead of the sugar will create a mess. Also, the tube pan is important for angel food cake, unless you are willing to bake very thin separate layers, else the cake won't bake properly.

If you really insist on replacing the sugar, the least risky base would be a pound cake, since it is relatively insensitive to extra moisture. The basic ratio there is 1:1:1:1 of eggs, sugar, flour and butter by weight. If you are extra careful in reducing the moisture of your puree - maybe drying the pineapple in a low oven for several hours after it has been pureed - you will likely end up with something edible. It will be quite far from the original, and it would be better classified as a fruitbread than as a cake, but at least it is likely that it won't bake into a brick or remain a sticky underbaked mess. Other types of cake won't be as forgiving.


Is there a preferred tequila age for Strawberries Por Mi Amante?

The Cocktailians recommend Reposado: "use the 100% agave stuff, and definitely go for the reposado -- you want something with a little age and character". Paul Clarke quotes cocktail luminary Charles H Baker's recipe from 1939, which is non-specific, but Paul also uses Reposado.

Blanco is likely to be a little too light and easily dominated by the strawberries, a good Añejo is probably overkill, so a decent Reposado fits the bill.


I'd presume they just mean dish soap and not some more powerful cleanser.  With regard to additives, etc. I guess whatever you are okay with normally should be okay.  Obviously you have to rinse the trays thoroughly to get the soap off.

I've had a few dehydrators and there is nothing special about the plastic trays.  I doubt they are dishwasher safe but I've never put that to the test (I suspect it would not work that well anyway).  The trays can be pesky to clean if you've used a marinade. The best thing I've found for this is a small, soft circular brush.


You want to minimize gluten formation, like in making pastry. So, use a low-gluten (pastry) flour. That recipe uses cornstarch alongside flour, which makes sense. You also want to, as much as possible, minimize water and coat the starch granules with fat. So, you might try spinning the flour and fat in a food processor before mixing in the wet ingredients. Definitely use the brandy -- same idea as vodka in a pie crust which helps to prevent gluten formation!


What is the difference between grills when frying a burger?

There are many styles of burger, so there is no single answer.  Steamed sliders are going to have different constraints than a smashed burger compared to a pub style burger.

For burgers that are griddled (for the purposes of this post, cooked on a hot, flat surface), the main issue is how much heat can get into the burger, and how fast; secondarily, there are issues of sticking and general maintainability.

Some hamburger cooking methods rely on sustainable, very high heat to sear the outside of the burger, and give a good crust, even while maintaining a less cooked intererior.   This is dependent mostly on the total thermal mass of the pan.

Stone - Lots of mass, but low thermal mass.   Doesn't transmit heat very fast.  Also requires considerable care and maintenance to prevent sticking.
Pan - There are so many types, it is hard to give a single characterization.  Thicker, heavier metal tends to be better.   See Navigating the different types of cookware - new kitchen advice for some general advice.
Cast Iron - Generally has high weight, and very good thermal conductivity (compared to any non-metal), so often ideal for high temperature searing of hamburgers.  Requires seasoning and maintenance.
Charcoal (or propane) grill -- can develop extremely hot radiant heat, which is ideal for some forms of burger cookery, but cannot be done inside.

However, there are so many different types of tools and styles of burger, the quality of outcome is going to depend on your skill, what you are trying to achieve, and how you use the equipment you have as much as the specific pan that you use.

Similarly, the flavor is going to depend, not only on how you cook (which can develop the seared, brown, meaty flavors), but how you season the meat, and the quality of meat you start with.   This is again as important as the particularly pan that you might use.


Are MSG and Accent (Seasoning) the same thing?

MSG is the primary ingredient in Accent. The full ingredient list for Accent "original flavor" is as follows:

  Monosodium Glutamate, Salt, Chili Pepper, Tricalcium Phosphate (As Anticaking Agent), Spice (Cumin, Oregano), Paprika Extractives(color), Garlic Extractives, Onion Extractives, Yellow No.6 Lake, Yellow No.5 Lake.


What can I add to boiled lollies to stop them from melting in humid weather?

To be precise, the lollies are not melting. They are absorbing water from the air.

If you're really just crushing the lollies (not melting them and re-casting them into sheets of "glass") then you're accelerating the absorption process by increasing the surface area.

Does it need to be out in the open for five days? I'm surprised the gingerbread hasn't gone soggy (actually, I'm surprised it's not been eaten). I would consider putting it in an airtight box until it's ready to serve.

Otherwise, you might be able to make the windows last longer by reducing their water content. Put the crushed lollies in a pan, bring them to the boil and let them simmer to lose more water. Use a sugar thermometer to find the necessary stopping point. Be careful not to burn the sugar. Then pour onto a flat greased surface, to solidify into "glass".


I would probably just follow the recipes. If they're good, the amount of additional pectin they call for is what's necessary to get the jam to set well. If you use less than that, it might end up really runny.

Different kinds of fruit have different amounts of pectin, and it's not evenly distributed through the fruit. For example, apples and pears have a decent amount, while grapes and strawberries have very little. Oranges have some, but orange peel has a huge amount. There's a partial list in the Wikipedia article on pectin.

So, it's possible to make things that get the pectin they need from the fruit, especially if they're cooked enough to thicken and set more easily. Orange marmalade might be the most obvious example of this. But some recipes/fruits don't have enough to ever set, so they need additional pectin.

Since you're searching broadly online for recipes, you may also be seeing variations in how firmly set they come out. You might discover that some of the no-pectin or lower-pectin recipes just don't set as firmly, because that's what the author prefers. If the recipe comes with really good photos, you might be able to anticipate this.


How do you get a poached egg to coagulate evenly and professionally?

Acidify the water with lemon or white vinegar (balsamic vinegar would be a waste to use for this, plus would stain the eggs) to facilitate protein coaugulation.

When the water is boiling, break the egg in a small dish, then create a whirpool by stirring the water just before putting the egg in. This will help to make the white coaugulate around the yolk. Gently pour the egg from the dish into the whirpool.

Also, I find using eggs at room temperature works better, so if you are storing eggs in the fridge be sure to take them out a little bit in advance.


Difference between saucepan, frying pan and skillet

Skillet and frying pan are fairly interchangeable - generally a broad (usually around 30cm), circular pan with slightly sloped raised sides around 2-4cm high.

Saucepans are much deeper in relation to their base width, however. Saucepans come in a variety of sizes, with small pans generally being about 15cm across and around 10cm high, all the way up to big stock pots that can hold 3 or 4 litres of liquid that will be a good 30cm tall if not more. Saucepans almost always come with a lid.

Frying pans, as the name suggests, are made for shallow frying food. Saucepans are made for making sauces and cooking things in liquid. They are better suited to this as the higher sides and narrower base, along with the lid, serves to give better control of evaporation.

Boiling vegetables in a frying pan, with a large surface area to evaporate off and no lid to keep the liquid in, will mean you will either burn your vegetables or constantly be topping off the pan with hot water.

If you are going to be cooking small amounts of vegetables regularly I would suggest you invest in a smaller saucepan, or a set of three different sizes to give you some options.


How to know which pan to use for baking a cake

First, for the pan type: If the recipe didn't specify, don't use a special pan like a bundt or similar. Take a standard round pan from thin metal. Line with parchment and oil the walls, you never know how much a new recipe will stick.

As for the size, if the author didn't specify, then the recipe is probably intended for the most common size in the author's culture. The first pan to try would be the one common in the place the recipe comes from. This would be a 9 inch pan in the US and a 26 cm pan in continental Europe. I don't know what the standard size is in other places.

After you have made the batter, fill it into the pan. A good upper limit for rising would be 3 times the original height. If your batter takes up less than 1/3 of the pan height, you can bake it. In the worst case, it will go a little bit above the rim, but this will happen so late that it will be set enough to not get a muffin top, and definitely no spillage. If it is more than 1/3 of the height, move batter into a bigger pan.

If a recipe regularly rises much above 1/3, it is probably overleavened. An overleavened cake might look nicely fluffy at a first glance, but it will have problems such as frequent doming and a metallic taste from too much baking powder. You will get better results if you reduce the baking powder.


Easiest way to bread chicken for frying?

One piece at a time? Into the bag, shake to coat, out of the bag, shake to remove excess flour, put aside for subsequent egg-washing and breading once all pieces are done.

Also helps to have one hand only touching dry ingredients, the other only wet.


How to add creamy taste and consistency to pasta dish with cheese?

This is going to sound a little facetious, but a good way to add creaminess is... Add cream.

If you want something a little lighter, you can use a few egg yolks, tempered and whisked with hot pasta water and mixed through the pasta with the rest of the ingredients. This, along with plenty of parmesan, is the basic method for carbonara.


Beer Battered Onion Rings -- what makes them look shiny?

The shininess is from oil that has seeped into your food. According to About.com, the temperature at which oil starts to seep into food is around 163˚C (325˚F). You need to keep the temperature above that to prevent it getting shiny. Remember to use an oil with a high smoking point so you don't replace the shine with a carcinogen.


Is convex surface normal in cast iron skillet?

Pans should be completely flat, and producers are usually very good at getting it right. Even very cheaply made pans are usually sold properly flat.

What you describe sounds like you warped your pan. When you heat a pan on a burner that is too small, it becomes convex when viewed from above, if you heat it on a burner that is too large, it becomes concave. I have also seen lots of claims that heat shock (too quick heating by placing on an already hot plate, plunging into cold water right after cooking) increases warping. With thinner materials, you usually can see the warp easily with the naked eye.

I have never seen this happen in cast iron pans before (I assume here that it is really cast iron - some people call all iron pans "cast iron" although forged iron behaves differently and warps easily). Combined with you saying that you only notice it when heated, I wonder if it could be that your pan is not really warped, but only temporary developes a hump on the burner. Just try it on a fslightly large burner (which is supposed to bend the metal in the other direction) and see if it changes something.

If the pan continues to be warped when used on a different size burner, it has to be hammered flat. I have never done it myself, but the Internet is full of suggestions. They say that it can get "very flat", I have no idea if that means enough that there is no pooling, or simply much flatter than at the beginning.


Should I cover food while reheating it in a microwave?

You do get some reflection of microwaves off a glass or plastic cover (Table 1 here)

    Material    Reflection  Transmission
    Metal       0.88         0.00
    Glass       0.38         0.60
    Plexiglas   0.16         0.83

Don't use metal lids. Neither glass nor Plexiglass plastic absorb much of the beam.

The question then becomes: Does reflection off a lid slow heating more than retaining heat in an enclosed vessel speeds it?
Anecdotal, but experience tells me that using a plate over a bowl or a casserole dish cover routinely gives hotter, more uniformly heated food. Probably true for plastic wrap too, but I don't use that in a microwave since I had a piece of it melt on me.


Which pasta should be used for what sauce?

General rules are hard to be made or at least your question made me surprised that, in spite or knowing or feeling what goes with what, indeed I cannot condense everything in few words or even sentences.

Still I can try to list a few lines

a minimalistic sauce in which the principal fat is oil  goes with long dried pasta such as spaghetti or trenette (e.g. aglio e olio; salted anchovies and capers...)
a simple condiment in which the principal fat is butter or cheese goes with short fresh or dried pasta (e.g. penne or maccheroni al burro, cacio e pepe..)
condiments and sauces in which ingredients are cutted into not too small pieces that need emphasis usually go with short formats (penne mozzarella and eggplants, pasta alla norma, ....). I can also say if there are pieces with their own texture and consistency than this requires a solid pasta frame as well, plus comparable size... so short format here. A network of spaghetti would results to loose even if al dente
exceptions to the just above lines exist and one of the more iconic is spaghetti with seafood. I see why no to serve penne ai frutti di mare but I cannot write it down ;)
very creamy sauces goes with long format (spaghetti carbonara, trenette al pesto, ....)

Prevalently tomato or meat base condiments are better discussed in terms of dried no egg versus fresh egg containing pasta while keeping in mind the above "rules":

very red tomatoes sauces containing vegetables and sea ingredients go well with standard pasta, either fresh or dried
reach tomatoes sauces containing meat or high in fats do their best with fresh egg-based pasta.

I am aware that this is just an attempt.

The typical condiment of my town is pesto genovese.
It goes primarily with

Dried trenette, ie a kind of spaghetti with a flattened section

Mandilli (literally tissues, basically lasagna which is cutted down to 4×4 cm or more)

Dumplings.

It is indeed hard to give a rationale to this. Still, if not obliged by shorts of ingredients, I would never serve spaghetti al pesto in spite of the striking resemblance with trenette.  I just know it won't be that good.

It might be against the policy but I am curious to see how many contradictory items we could find and edit this answer accordingly.
Or even delete it if it turns out that direct test / experience / feeling are the only things that count.


Too much sugar in soup -- how to make it less cloying?

Removing dissolved sugar from a recipe, as in your soup, practically impossible.

You have two main choices:

Reduce the impact of the sweetness.  Increasing acidity (lemon juice or vinegar for example--since ketchup contains vinegar, vinegar or more ketchup may be most compatible with your specific recipe) may mitigate how sweet the soup seems.  This may or may not work--you would have to experiment, and it could make the soup taste worse worse (the risk being you would then still have to discard the soup.)
If you really like the borsht, and can eat (or freeze) it all:  make a second batch with considerable lower sugar, and combine them.  You will now have twice as much soup, but flavor balanced.


How do packet cake mixes get their lightness without creaming butter and sugar?

Cakes pretty much always have chemical leaveners in them, whether you're making them from a mix or from scratch. So yes, there are chemical leaveners, and that's plenty to get it that light. I'm not even sure if it takes significantly more leavening than you'd need if you'd creamed butter and sugar, since cake batters are wet, so sugar will generally dissolve more and not provide a structural component. Some cake recipes don't even bother with a creaming step. In any case, it obviously works. Creaming butter and sugar is perhaps more of a factor in cookies, as mentioned in this question, for example.


When I boil rice, they lump together after a while. How to prevent this?

To get very separate rice I use a long grain rice, pre-rinsed and cooked at a 2 to 1 ratio of water to rice by volume.

There are three factors that affect the tendency for rice to stick together:

Length of the grain. Long grain is the least likely to stick together. Medium and short grain are starchier and are more likely to stick together.
Amount of hydration. If your water to rice ratio is too high, it will cause even long grain rice to cake together.
Cold rinsing. Rinsing your uncooked rice in cold water helps to wash away the excess starch. My basmati rice recipe calls for a rinse followed by soaking the rice in cold water for 30 min to an hour to ensure very fluffy separate rice.


Is this a good way to grind beans for espresso?

If you're trying to actually make espresso in an espresso machine, a blade grinder won't do it, regardless of your method. It's simply too inconsistent. You'll get some small bits, some big bits and some dust.

Espresso needs to be ground fine - more fine than drip or French press or cold brew. You need a purpose-built grinder for this. You might get away with a high-quality burr grinder but for really great quality espresso, you need a specialty grinder.

Now, if you're just using espresso beans in your normal coffee maker, that's not espresso but your grind doesn't need to be as fine.

Info about grind taken from here and there's a lot more in-depth there, too.


The best way to open a brown hairy coconut, not a fresh green one (assuming you are right handed, I imagine that sinister people can reverse the instructions, but I've not tried it).

First image the coconut is a head, everything is related to this, so the visualization is important.  The three holes are the eyes and mouth of the face.  They naturally form an eyes/mouth thing.  you'll see that it only really looks like a eyes/mouth one way up.  stare into its eyes (this bit is not so important, but I like to do it).

Now hold it in your left palm, under its chin/where the neck would be, with the 3 holes in the coconut arranged like the eyes and mouth of a face looking out to the right, mouth below the eyes, with the hair pointing up.  There will be a slight 'seam' running between the eyes and back over the top of the head.

Then take a large, heavy knife and using the FLAT side of the knife (not the sharp edge), a meat cleaver works best, strike the coconut hard across the coconut's 'forehead', where its hair line would be, aiming to impact exactly on the 'seam'.  You might need a few goes to get the crack right open, but sometimes it can be done in a single strike.

Get this right and it will crack in a straight line from ear to ear along the hair line.  Works a treat.  And usually you can use the shell for something as you get a clean break.

Once you have the first crack you can either prise apart or rotate the coconut in your hand and hit it a couple more times on the uncracked parts, following the same line as the first crack, to completely separate the two pieces.

Alternatively you can stick it into the oven for 15 mins, @400F, after which the shell should have started to crack.  Then you can use the tool of choice to finish the cracking, rolling pin, hammer, wrench, flat of knife another coconut, whatever.  But where is the fun in that?


How do I get homemade mayonnaise to taste like store bought mayonnaise?

I have to make both mayonnaise and aioli every day at my job. We sometimes do R&D on off days and we spent quite some time trying to imitate our favorite gourmet mayonnaise. I think that we were successful, here are some tips:

Lemon juice comes closer to that crisp tartness that I taste in even cheaper mayonnaise. Try using the juice from lemons, limes, or both and see where that gets you.
The store bought brands don't taste like mustard, but let me emphasize that mustard is vital to getting you closer to that taste. There is a specific "tang" to store bought mayonnaise that doesn't come from the acid -- you can get very close to this tang with mustard. I use a good quality dijon when I make mayonnaise and the difference is noticeable. Keep adding dijon in small amounts and observe the change in taste. I end up 2 - 3 tablespoons to my batch.
Experiment with fresh garlic and/or garlic and onion powders.
Try adding white pepper instead of black pepper and see where that gets you.
I add a little water at the end. I find that it tones down some of the intensity of the acid and dijon.

Also, you don't have to add your acid in the beginning. In fact, I almost always add mine after the initial "setting" of the emulsification. It is easier to control the thickness and flavor of my mayo; I use my acid for my first thinning and then add oil to adjust from there.


How to prevent frozen food from freeze-drying?

The way to prevent freezer burn, or at least delay it as long as possible, is to remove air.  Even fairly low-end vacuum sealers will help you here.  However, if you don't want to get one, or can't, the next best thing is to use freezer zip bags and employ Archimedes principle.  It's commonly used in sous vide cooking, but can certainly help to remove air for freezing.  Another option is to seal a zip bag most of the way, with a straw inserted.  Suck the air out, then, in one swift motion, remove the straw and seal the bag.  By the way, both of these suggestions would work for more delicate items, like bread.


What does "Massage with salt" mean in a recipe?

I'd argue that 'massage' is the right word in this case.

I've this technique a lot in japanese cooking -- you cut up the vegetables, sprinkling with salt as you go (so there's layers of salt in between layers of vegetables), then you really get in there and basically massage (knead?) the pile of vegetables with the salt, so that the salt not only is spread through the pile of vegetables, but that there's some mechanical abrasion happening, too.  You then typically let the vegetables sit for a while, and then you rinse them off.

When people talk about 'rubs', it's often just a coating that's at most patted onto things (like for ribs), but there isn't the extended period of mechanical manipulation that you'd expect for 'massage' or 'knead'.

If you ever make sushi, I highly recommend trying it with carrots.  The carrots will lose some of their crispness, so that you can have large sticks of carrots without it being too crunchy compared to the rest of the fillings.  It's also useful for other firm vegetables that you're going to use raw in a salad.

This also works well to pre-wilt your cabbage before you make cole slaw -- the cabbage will give up much of its moisture that would otherwise end up in the final dish.  (I think this was the first time I saw it -- on an episode of Good Eats)


Should tamarind pulp go into Pad Thai sauce?

The pulp is what you're actually trying to obtain from tamarind. What you should be trying to strain out is any seeds or any chunks too fibrous to be considered pulp. It is sometimes possible to add liquid and smash the tamarind several times to extract more and more (progressively diluted) pulp each time.


Will lobsters caught in June be shedders?

Probably not, the shedding season starts mid-late July according to this site:

  By mid-to late July the Gulf of Maine begins to warm up significantly
  which triggers the seasonal molt.

The end of June is generally not going to be warm enough, however you might get lucky as sometimes its early, and it's worth asking because they are the most amazing tasting lobsters you will ever try. I'd suggest if you're going to be near the coast that you go directly to the source and call your local lobster pounds.

A lobster pound is the place where independent boats bring their lobsters to and sell, from there they go out to restaurants across the world (although some local restaurants will have their own docks and boats). Many pounds are set up as restaurants or cook lobsters and steamers (local clams) to order as take-out. It's the freshest lobster you'll get and the best prices too. Just call them up and ask if they have any shedders and they'll tell you, most will take orders over the phone although you can go to them as well. I hope you find some, there's nothing like them anywhere.


How does fat affect gluten development in strudel/phyllo dough?

Fat can inhibit gluten development in things like cakes, where the fat is allowed to coat the flour before other liquids are added. In things like bread dough, it slows down the gluten development a bit, but since the flour has already come in contact with water, it doesn't stop it. In the context of your phyllo or strudel, the oil serves a couple of purposes. First, oil in a dough helps to keep it from drying out which is very important when working with such thin doughs. Second, adding oil to a dough can help to make it easier to handle (less sticky).

The resting period of your dough both allows enzymatic reactions in the dough to further develop the gluten, and it allows the gluten to relax. You can think of the gluten as strings in your dough. As you knead the dough, you're winding these strings tighter and tigher, but when you let it sit, they can begin to stretch and loosen. This relaxation makes the dough much less "tight", so that it can be rolled out more easily without springing back as much.


How can I replace canned tomatoes with fresh?

Tomato Sauce made from fresh garden tomatoes can be very much more flavorful than canned tomatoes. If you have an abundance, it can certainly be a delicious improvement. I would follow the directions given in the previous answer for peeling the tomatoes, with the additional suggestion to plunge them in ice water immediately following the boiling water bath. They are much easier to handle that way. The recipe may call for reduction of the sauce, and this can be done with fresh as well as with canned tomatoes.  I have also made tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes by cooking down the unpeeled tomatoes until they are soft, and then pressing them through a food mill. After that you can reduce the sauce with additional ingredients  - olive oil, garlic, onions, herbs as desired.


Do I need two filters to strain cold brew coffee?

I make cold brew regularly using an ISI whipper, and simply filter through one paper filter in a Chemex set up.  So, I am sure you are just fine.  The wool filter appears to be the main filter in this system, with the paper filter in place simply to extend its life (see the FAQ on the website).  You probably want to go back to the wool filter, since this is the design of the product, but I am sure your result is drinkable.


If you  have a metal strainer then I

Fill a large pot with water. Just enough so it almost comes up to the bottom of the strainer when you place it on top.
Insert the strainer so it is balanced above the water.
Fill strainer with vegetables and cover with a lid
Boil
Take off when the vegetables are steamed to your specifications
Enjoy


How can I keep my split pea soup from becoming too thick during storage?

I'm afraid there isn't a lot you can do. You could use whole peas instead of split peas. But even then there will be some thickening. You could (evidently) make a thinner soup on day 1, so that on the days after, the soup would be of a normal consistency. You could do this by just adding more water and leaving the potatoes out, if you use them.

One tip that could help is to cover the soup as soon as possible, so that you don't loose a lot of steam (=water, which would also cause more thickening).

The only other advice I can give is to make it as you like it, and add some water each day you serve it, till it reaches the wanted consistency.


creme brulee caramelized sugar disappearing

Yes, you are correct. Creme brulee exudes and condensates enough moisture that the caramel would disappear. If you want to make it ahead, you have to make the custard only. Caramelization is always done just before serving.


Is it safe to leave butter at room temperature?

Try a butter crock. This will keep your butter fresh at room temperature for a fairly long time (weeks, not days).


To decrease the bitterness, bring out the sweetness in the carrots by cooking for longer. The best technique I've found to do this with carrots is frying and steaming them at a low temperature.

Make glazed carrots: per 200g of carrot, peel, cut into ~2cm thick diagonal cuts and add 40g butter, a half teaspoon of sugar and season with salt and black pepper. In a large lidded pan over a low heat, spread the carrots out in a single layer, add the lid and cook for 25-35 minutes. Shake the pan occasionally. Push the cooking time as long as you can without letting the carrots become overly soft. This should give deliciously sweet fragrant carrot.

Another thing to keep in mind is that salt is better than sugar to reduce bitterness so add as much as you can without oversalting the carrots.


It's obvious why these nuts are not mass-produced: the environmental variables are just too disparate:

you need to harvest them at the correct time
peel them correctly
wash them correctly
dry them correctly
roast them for the right time and the right T°

So that's why you're seeing a large number of methodologies on how to roast them: it  d e p e n d s so we will not be able to tell you how to handle your nuts exactly ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and you need to fall back to the empirical method.

As you've only got a jar of them, it doesn't make sense to put them in an oven as the quantity is too small.  That's the major difference between home cooking (small batch) and professional cooking (large batch) and in this case, you should use the non-professional method of dry-frying them instead:

Take a pan large enough to contain all of the nuts
Put the pan on medium heat and dry-fry one single nut
Put the pan on medium-high and dry-fry one single nut
Repeat with multiple heats and times until you've got the one single perfectly roasted nut

Now pour the jar in the pan ensuring the nuts are not stacked on top of one another and are all touching the base of the pan just like the one single nut did and repeat the process for the single perfect nut for all of the nuts you've got left in your jar.

P.S. And if you're still not totally nuts about how to handle these nuts, you might actually be able to enjoy your nuts! ;-)
P.P.S. Anyone else reading this who has an entire crate of these: yes you can use the empirical method for your particular oven, for your particular settings for your individual taste too... :-)


Can cashews go bad? If so, how do you tell?

It is possible for mold to form on cashews - or any other nuts - but only if there has been moisture penetration into the container. If the moisture is at a safe (low) level, then mold won't grow.

See for example, Mycology and spoilage of retail cashew nuts, which refers to the maximum acceptable moisture content of 5.8% for retail storage/shipping, although if you look at their data table, it appears that you may still end up with non-trivial amounts of mold in the low 5% range (which is why you are supposed to store nuts sealed and in a cool, dry place).

Honestly, cashews are hard enough such that you would almost certainly see mold on the surface if it were present in harmful quantities. Most likely what you're smelling/tasting is simply oxidation of the fats (the process which causes rancidity) without actual full-blown rancidity. Mold requires moisture but all oxidation requires is light and maybe a little air exposure.

If you really want to be on the safe side - e.g. if your home is particularly hot or humid - then store your nuts in the refrigerator or freezer (sealed, to prevent contamination or off-odours). Although most (all?) nuts are considered shelf-stable, they do keep longer in the fridge or freezer.


What causes Béchamel Sauce to get so clumpy?

Normally, in industry, you combine the butter and flour, and cook it for a bit (usually gets a nice nutty aroma). Then, you heat the milk to a boil, and add some of the milk to the cooked roux (fat and flour). This will be VERY thick. You can easily whisk the lumps out of that. You then add this back into the other milk, which thickens the milk.  Also, in industry, there is often just a big pail of roux, and a shortcut is to heat the milk, and then add the roux in a bit at a time, whisking like hell to get out the lumps. You can control the thickness of the sauce better that way.  When you have the desired thickness, you then season.


Can garlic or onion stored in the fridge help to sanitize?

I have often heard claims that garlic has antibacterial properties when consumed. I haven't read any reliable sources which prove or disprove that, so it could be false. Even if it inhibits the growth of certain bacteria, the botulism cases caused by improperly stored garlic alone are an indication that garlic, unlike substances like pure ethanol, doesn't kill all bacteria. But even assuming that garlic has some antibacterial properties, it doesn't do anything for your fridge. Oh, and I have never heard these claims for onions - just because two plants are botanically related, it doesn't mean they have the same effect on living organisms.

Garlic isn't something magic which kills germs through its mere presence. You would have to get it in contact with them. As germs live on food, if garlic is indeed, as per our assumption, antibacterial, you would have smear garlic juice on each food item before packaging it, which is clear nonsense.

Luckily, you don't have to do that. There is no need to sterilize your fridge at all. It doesn't preserve food by killing bacteria; it preserves food by lowering the temperature to a point at which bacteria don't multiply, or do so very, very slowly. You don't have to rid of the bacteria present in food before you put it into the fridge, it will keep anyway for a reasonable length of time.

The only thing you want to do is to keep your fridge clean of spilled food. Bacteria multiply in food media. If you put a droplet containing bacteria on a clean, cold metal surface (like a fridge wall), they will fall "asleep" due to the temperature and eventually die of starvation. If you put them in that puddle of spilled pancake batter you didn't clean because you were in a hurry, they will start multiplying very slowly. After a few days to a few weeks, you will have a big bacterial colony in your batter puddle. And while the bacteria won't magically jump to any food items held in the same fridge as the puddle (airborne pathogens are pathogens people cough on each other, they can't fly by themselves), any physical contact of a food item with the puddle will result in contamination.

Bottom line: Keep the fridge clean on the inside with a sponge and some detergent, and you are safe from fridge-caused bacterial contamination. Your food can still spoil if held for too long time in the fridge, but there is no way you can prevent that except for methods which change the food a lot (e.g. canning, salting, or drying). Garlic will not help you in any way.


No, there's no need to wash the pasta, and really, it's best not to.

It's good that the water gets cloudy from the pasta starch. If it has enough starch in it, it'll leave the surface of the noodles a bit stickier, making sauce adhere better. And you can also use some of the pasta water in a sauce to the same end. Getting the water that starchy generally requires using less water (see What is the correct water to pasta ratio?). If you're using tons and tons of water, like the pasta package probably says, it's probably going to be too diluted.

The one case in which you might want to wash the pasta is if, even when you start it from cold water and stir enough, it sticks. The only kind of pasta I've had this happen with is orecchiette, which is shaped perfectly for getting it to stick to itself.


Unless he actually canned the sauce (processing the jars in boiling water bath or pressure canner as appropriate) and was working from a trusted recipe, no, this is definitely not safe.

It takes processing like this to make canned goods shelf stable. And the recipe is important too; for example if the pH isn't low enough it's not safe to use the boiling water bath method. This isn't just because of the onion, it's the sauce as a whole.

The risk here isn't just that the food may spoil. It's that something unnoticeable will grow in there, like botulism, and it could make you extremely sick or even kill you.


Is there a general strategy to cooking a stew?

You can't give a general approach the way you outlined it, as different cuts of meat (and different ages of the animal) demand different cooking times.
So the timing of the vegetables would have to be "X minutes before the meat is done"... (and that leaves out the characteristics of your particular batch of vegetables)

Then there's the option of adding a vegetable in two batches, once to add flavour to the stew (added very early in the process) and once just in time to get the vegetable cooked to taste.

So there not really a standard approach, but more a few basic principles to be understood and then applied at will.

(As an aside, flouring the meat is done here in France sometimes. I don't quite agree with the reason given not to flour the meat, as the maillard reaction needs both protein, from the meat juices, and sugars, from the flour. Browning only the flour would be closer to a caramelisation process)


Is there such thing as "almond tofu," and if so, is it a misnomer?

It's semantic nitpicking.

Tofu is defined as soy milk, curdled and pressed. Some people who don't care about oriental culinary tradition think of tofu as any non-dairy milk that is curdled and pressed into a curd.

Technically your almond tofu would be almond milk curd or some such.

In reality your coworker is being pedantic and I would accept the term "almond tofu" as a perfectly understandable, non oriental, colloquialism.


Equipment: Intense candle for nabemono. What is it?

Sounds like they were using タブレット型固形燃料 taburetto-gata kokeinenryou, literally "tablet-shaped solid fuel":

(courtesy メシ通)

The market leader is a company called Nitinen, who offer a wide range of different sizes and shapes.  The primary ingredients are methanol and alcohol, blended with fat in much the same way as soap.


I'm trying to make cheddar sticks from scratch

Sodium Citrate is the most common emulsifier for cheese, it keeps it soft and flexible when cold, and like a smooth sauce when hot. Being an emulsifier it stops it separating too

See http://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/sodium-citrate-creates-silky-smooth-macaroni-and-cheese/

You can make Sodium Citrate at home, heat a tbs of lemon juice, add 1/2+ tsp of baking soda and stir. Add this to a cup of melted cheese (all very rough measurements). Experiment to get the best results for your cheese of choice!


I have an older 500ml/pint version and a family of 4; I find it more than adequate for my applications. If I'm doing whipped cream it's somewhat unusual that I go through it fast enough, so I can imagine it would not be helpful to have a larger one unless I was using it for catering or extreme holiday cooking.

For what it's worth, I usually find half-full the minimum useful fill line on the 500ml. (which is to say, about 250 ml). Some people really insist it needs to be full. The cream tends to get too aerated and not dispense properly if you use it for too small of an amount, plus you're going to use at least a full cartridge per use anyway, so it's kind of "wasteful" to use less considering the cost of the disposable cartridge.


Need a gas cooker but have no gas supply

Those little single ring gas stoves are really intended for camping use, or emergency use at home (during a power cut). The cylinders for them are very small and don't last long.

Any standard gas hob can be "re-jetted" to take bottled gas rather than mains gas; they often come supplied with a conversion kit for this purpose.

The normal thing to do is have an outside wire enclosure containing two large gas bottles and an auto-switching regulator (so when one bottle runs out, it switches over to the other bottle). The two bottles system means you can use the second while the first is being refilled / replaced.

You'd normally use propane for this rather than butane; butane becomes unuseable around 0C so can't be stored outside.


What is the 'best' flour to use for brownies?

Short and sweet... Use cake / pastry flour. At 5-7 % protein vs. 11% for AP vs. 13% + for bread flour, that means a lot less gluten formation. This protein, when mixed with water and subjected to mechanical working is what produces gluten. The higher the protein percentage, the 'tougher' (due to the gluten) the final product. Always use cake or pastry flour when making any type of cake, even brownies. And a little extra egg won't hurt, either.


Cooking Dry noodles without them being soggy

Soak in boiling water while cooking the rest of the stir fry, drain and lob 'em in for the the last 30 seconds so they get coated with sauce and don't get too soggy.


Vegan Alternative for Pecorino Romano in Pesto

I've used vegan shredded cheese products manufactured by a company named Daiya and have had quite a bit of success. You can find them on Amazon, but products with similar ingredients and labeling might work.

I would recommend a mixture of their parmesan and mozzarella products to get something sort of close to the creamy consistency of pecorino, then add a tiny bit of porcini powder to give it a bit more subtle flavor (a good aged pecorino has a slight tartness to it).

You'll need to experiment, but I've used their 'cheeses' and they melt / blitz rather well.

In a pesto where everything is shredded and blitzed, texture is actually less of an issue. I know you could use the above two types to get the taste; you could probably make something that most people wouldn't even think to question.

But, as with all substitutions, some experimentation will be needed.


How long Pasteurized Eggs can be refrigerated?

The lower bound seems to be at 2 to 4 days in the fridge. The upper bound is probably at 7 to 10 days in the fridge at less than 4°C (32 F) 1

1 Source: Swiss journal about poultry farming. This information refers to the storage of whole eggs. Two sentences before, the text says that cracked eggs stored at 4°C must be cooked within 48 hours to be conformable to Swiss law. I am not sure whether the information about pasteurized eggs is coverd by Swiss law or is just a recommendation of the article's author.


Since the roaster oven is so much smaller and has a fairly tight fitting lid, you are left with an environment that more steams than roasts in a nice dry heat.  Because of that, you will be left with a not so pretty bird.  Roasting it in the oven first might give you the color, but the slow moist cooking of a roaster oven will soften the skin to a less than pleasant texture.  Your best bet is to cook the turkey in the roaster oven first, THEN roast it in a high heat in the oven to brown it up and crisp up the skin.

I would suggest doing the last half hour in the oven.  Lightly butter the skin and turn the oven to 400°F to finish it off.  The best part is, all the drippings will already be in the roaster, so you can pour that off and make the gravy while the turkey is finishing up.  And if you have a large enough roaster, you can set it to low, throw in some of your side dishes and use it as a little hot box to keep everything nice and toasty.


Why shouldn't I bake on scratched silicone mats?

Silpats and Exopats have a glass fibers (regionally called fiberglass or glass wool, but not candy floss) embedded in them for strength.

The warning not to use them when scratched is because fiber glass does nothing good for a person when ingested, and a scratch may expose it.

Some types of silicone based cookware do not have the fiberglass reinforcement, and so do not have the same issue.  These are mostly the flexible baking dishes or muffin cups, but you should read the label information for the product you have.


You are certainly correct to cut against the grain.
Certainly slicing meat would be difficult with a dull knife, but I have no way of knowing how sharp your knife is from reading your question. While "sharpening" a knife with a ceramic mug may be a neat trick in a pinch, you should look into a better solution. Using a whetstone is often recommended, or you could pay someone else to sharpen your knife occasionally. Having a reliably sharp knife is essential for precision and safety in the kitchen, and will make a lot of tasks easier.
Once you get your knife sorted, the usual trick to slicing meat thinly is to partially freeze it before cutting. These instructions from Japanese cooking website Just One Cookbook go into more detail about slicing meat thinly, but are primary aimed at large pieces of beef or pork. But the basic idea still works. Chicken thighs are on the thin side, so about 15-20 minutes before slicing, place them, flattened and wrapped, in the freezer. Once removed, they will be just firm enough to cut precisely. If they are too firm, let thaw briefly; too soft, freeze further.
Now, this is a matter of person preference, but for oyakodon specifically, I do not like the chicken cut too thinly. Paper-thin chicken overcooks easily, turning mealy and sometimes even breaking up in the broth. I cut my chicken to between 1/4 and 1/3 of an inch (0.6 to 0.8 cm) thick, cutting at a bias for more surface area. At this thickness, I can often get good slices without freezing.


What's the difference between fresh and frozen blueberries for baking?

When you are making blueberry muffins, frozen and fresh blueberries will give different end results. Frozen blueberries will almost "melt" when you bake the muffins, because the skin becomes more fragile after freezing. If you use fresh blueberries, they will be more intact after baking and will sometimes still "burst" when you bite into them. Which of these outcomes you prefer is entirely subjective (though obviously frozen are better).

As for the taste, some blueberries will have more taste than others. If they are grown out of season, they will most likely be flavourless. This goes for both fresh and frozen blueberries. I've found a brand of frozen blueberries that I use for muffins that give a have a nice taste year around: others may be terrible.

For the remark your wife made about frozen blueberries being rotten: I don't know where you live, but that is most certainly forbidden in the US and Europe, and probably most places where frozen blueberries are available. That is the only part of her argument that was most definitely wrong. Everything else is subjective or depends on the specific brand of blueberries or even the time of year.


Quick pressure release vs natural pressure release

The main reason for using the quick release is to prevent overcooking, think about what would happen to white rice if you left the cooker to de-pressurise naturally: it would be mush. Of course, you could factor the time taken to come back to normal pressure into the original cooking time but that's fraught with difficulty because it's dependent on what temperature it is in your kitchen and probably a multitude of other factors we're not aware of.


How do I pound chicken (or other meat) without making a mess?

Clingwrap works fine for me -- but I don't use a meat tenderizer -- I just use a small but fairly heavy pan (but not my cast iron, as it's not smooth on the bottom).

When I was in college, I tried a few things.  I can get pretty decent results just hitting it with my cutting board.  (with it between saran wrap).

Part of it might be technique -- if I'm doing chicken breast I first slice is sort of following the taper of the breast, so it's neither with or across the grain, but kinda of diagonal.  You also don't want to hit straight down -- you want to angle the blows, so you're actually pushing the meat out, and not just trying to force it through the counter.

And I should mention that I've only ever pounded out poultry and pork -- I assume beef would be the same, but I have no experience to confirm or deny it.


Is it mold?

It definitely is. Whatever happened to it, it is bad.

  Are the batch and mother salvageable?

I wouldn't think of that for a second. The mold is everywhere. Just get rid of it.


Cooking is as a rule of thumb more forgiving when you tinker with the ratios than e.g. baking. That said, if you have a recipe that works and you want to increase the number of servings, the first step is to increase all ingredients by the same factor, keeping the ratios consistent. This should bring you at least into the vicinity of the desired results.
Unfortunately, this can still be somewhat off target, as recipes depend not only on ingredients, but on basic physics (and chemistry), e.g. evaporating a percentage of liquid, or heat transfer to and from a body of food, may it be a roast or a pot with a given volume. A shallow layer of something in a wide pan will cook differently than the same amount in a tall and narrow pot. Whenever you scale up or down, you need to take these factors into account. And yes, this can influence not only the cooking time, but also the flavor profile. Just think of frying a small amount vs a large amount in the same pan - there’s a reason some recipes recommend searing some ingredients in batches.
It’s almost impossible to give a generic answer, but if you follow the principles of

scale proportionally
determine cooking time by doneness or desired intermediate states, not time alone
optionally, adjust liquids according to surface area

you shouldn’t be too far off and only need minor tweaks. Everything beyond that would need looking into the specific recipe.