How long is sugar (mixed with minor ingredients) good for?

They're good pretty much forever. There is not enough available water for things to grow in there. Mind you, the more aromatic and subtle parts of the flavor will dissipate over time.

The sugar absorbs water, giving the combination a very low water activity, meaning there's little water available for microorganisms to use in growth.  As long as your flavoring pieces are small and well mixed with sugar they will not spoil.


Stainless steel in contact with molten plastics - useable after cleaning?

You should be OK.
If you want to be extra OK, just "cook" something in it that you will throw away and clean the pan again.


Honey changing into unusable, hardened clump

Honey is entirely useable after crystallization. This is a natural and spontaneous process and doesn't affect the honey negatively in terms of flavor or quality. It's dependent upon the sugar content of the particular honey, and in particular the crystallization speed is determined by:

the nectar source collected by bees (the sugar composition of honey),
the methods in which honey is handled (processed) and
the temperature in preservation.

To re-liquefy, gently heat it in a water bath in its container, up to 40°C (104 °F) - the temperature of a beehive in the summer. Beyond this will damage the honey.

Don't store honey in a cold area - the optimum temperature is 20-27 °C (70-80 °F). Ideal crystal formation occurs at 11-18 °C (52-64 °F), and storing in the refrigerator accelerates the process.

More information in the PDF at the bottom of this post.

Reference:

www.montcobeekeepers.org/Documents/Honey_Crystallization.pdf


I used to cook lamb (when I had to). I never cooked it with anything because the "lamby" flavor tended to transfer. Mutton, on the other hand, tastes a lot like mild beef, so I did cook those together. All I can suggest is that if you want to cook both in the same roaster, put one of the roasts into an oven bag to keep it separate from the other. There will be a modest transfer of aroma, but not of taste.


At what pressure is whipped cream stored in a can?

"... (50 bar of pressure) per charger."

according to http://creativewhip.com/isi-charging-system/


How to get Taiyaki crispy? Are they even supposed to be crispy?

They are supposed to be cripsy. I would give it a quick toast in the toaster oven or turn on the boiler for a moment. Usually the tai yaki pan is cast iron so it's a lot hotter.


What does it mean to broil 4 inches from the heat for x minutes?

I'm going to assume this is an American recipe, as broiling has a slightly different meaning in Australia & the UK.

With broiling, the oven only heats the top element in the oven, and you turn the element or burner up as hot as it can get.  It's not a specific temperature, as in most ovens, that would cause it to cycle on & off.  (in fact, when broiling, you typically leave the door open specifically so the oven won't heat up so far that it decides to cycle the burner off to cool down).

It's about extreme high heat, from a single side.  (top in the US, bottom in the UK and Australia)

You typically need to pay close attention to whatever's under the broiler, as it can go from golden brown to charred very, very quickly.


Can I continue to age store bought cheese?

Continuing to age a "nice" block of Parmesan is not going to do anything for you. It has already aged for over year and has changed pretty much all it's going to.

Similarly aging cheap, canned, Parmesan-like product that is aged only a month to cut costs will also not be good because it has too much surface area and will oxidize. It isn't very good to start with of course.

Where this will work very well is with cheap, young cheese. Buy an inexpensive block of young cheddar that doesn't have any crazy additives. Cover it and let it sit in the fridge for a month (or more). The bacteria in the cheese will continue to munch on available lactose and turn it into lactic acid. If you ever see mold wipe it off with a paper towel and a little vinegar.

At the end of that time you will have a much sharper and more valuable block of cheese. You've traded your time for money which is the trade-off cheese manufacturers always make.


Pectin vs Agar Agar vs Gelatin for Pate de Fruits

There are plenty of high-sugar-content sweets that use gelatine, so it would be a reasonable substitute, but won't match the texture that pectin would normally provide in a pate de fruit or jam.

I don't know of any recipes using agar-agar that are designed for long-term storage, it is more often used in desserts, and again has a very distinctive (slightly crunchy to me) texture


Reducing dried chestnuts to size of corn kernel

The issue with swinging a hammer is that you have to aim it at a nut that you're holding in your hand. It's not efficient because it requires concentration, and you're going to be doing it a lot. You will definitely smash your fingers some of the time. Instead of a tool that you aim and swing, you want something that hits the nut every time, ideally with little effort on your part. Here are some suggestions, arranged roughly in order from easiest/cheapest to most difficult/most expensive.

Drop the hammer onto the chestnut instead of swinging it. Hit the nut with the flat top of the hammer. This will work best with a heavy hammer, or even a sledge hammer.

Tamping tool, eg an asphalt tamper. Again, it's just a heavy tool that you can drop onto your nut without putting much effort into aiming it. Probably best to put a tea towel on top of the nut to keep the tamper from coming into direct contact with it (especially if you've previously used the tamper on asphalt).

Use a container to hold the chestnut in place instead of your hand. Of course, you don't want to use a dish that could be damaged by the hammer, which probably rules out most of the things in your kitchen. An old square metal baking pan (not glass or ceramic), 8x8 or 9x9 inches, would work well. Just make sure it's one you don't mind ruining, because you will hit the rim occasionally. If you don't have a spare pan, you can certainly get one for cheap at a second-hand store. Put a dishcloth or thin towel in the bottom of the pan to stop the chestnut from rolling. Another option is to arrange some books or boards in the right shape, then cover them with a clean tea towel. This will help with either the dropped hammer method, or just swinging a hammer like you were hitting a nail.

Large wooden mortar and pestle. The mortar is made from a section of a log, and the pestle is the length of a broom handle, but thicker. The pestle should be heavy enough that all you have to do is drop it onto the nut, rather than swing it. So the weight of the tool does most of the work. This is a DIY project, because mortars and pestles this size don't seem to be readily available for purchase. Here's a super labor intensive tutorial for making one yourself by burning out the middle of the log with hot coals. If you're handy, you could make one a lot faster using modern tools.

Another option is to put the chestnut between two boards, and hit the top board with the hammer. This will take a bit more force than hitting the chestnut alone, but it eliminates the risk of smashing your fingers, and the target is bigger so you don't have to aim as carefully. Put a towel on the bottom board, put the chestnut on the towel, fold the towel over it, and put the top board on. The towel should hold the chestnut in place before you smash it, and stops the pieces from escaping afterwards. Cutting a small divot in each board would help.

Put the chestnuts in a cloth sack, eg a pillowcase with a drawstring added. (This will probably ruin the pillowcase, so don't use the one that matches the good sheets.) Sandwich the sack between two pieces of plywood. Drive your car over it. (I have no idea if this will actually work, but if it does, it will save you a lot of labor, so it seems worth trying.)

Heavy duty nut cracker. This one is designed for black walnuts, which have a ridiculously thick shell.


Is it normal for potatoes to look like they are 'shedding'?

This is perfectly normal for waxy potatoes; their skins are soft and easily scraped off, especially if freshly harvested and handled roughly.   I saw it just the other day with a batch of new potatoes fresh from the CSA.  The potatoes were just fine.

If you see this with thick-skinned, starchy potatoes it may be a sign of fungus, especially if accompanied by dried out or roughened patches.  Green colors in the peel are also a problem, because they indicate exposure to light and an elevated level of the toxin solanine. Solanine can cause upset digestion and headaches if consumed in quantity.  Don't eat potatoes that are very green.


Recommendations: Food with Minimal Stovetop Time, No Oven Available

From my own personal experience, the following are easily made with only a stove top and proper utensils:

Stir fried rice (you can boil the rice, and then fry). Boiling takes minimal time. I'm not sure if this is specifically what you meant with stir-fry, but I thought I would add it here.
Grilled meats (easily cooked on a pan with some olive oil or other garnish). Your time would be spent thawing (if its frozen), otherwise its seasoning + pan.
Stock-based soups and stews. The only problem you'll have is reducing it; but this varies from the specific stew stock you are using.

I would suggest the following, but I am just a "cook by necessity":

Breakfast:

French toast
Eggs

Lunch:

Stir-fried rice
Side of soup

Dinner:

Grilled steak fillet
Roast potatoes (you can roast them by cutting + covering the pan with foil)


What is the difference between sautéing and stir frying?

It mostly depends on the heat used. If you are cooking at a high enough heat that vegetables and thinly-sliced meats (if using) are cooked through in only a few minutes then it matches with the term generally used as "stir-frying". In this heat, if you stop stirring even for a moment, pretty much, the food at the hottest part of the pan (at the base, near the flame) will start to burn. It needs to be in motion constantly.

That's the stir part of the stir-fry -- constant motion up the curved sides where it is cooler and letting other parts of the food go to the bottom to the heat and around and around. A full dish of meat, veg, noodles, etc can be completely cooked start to finish in just about 5 minutes.

This recipe demonstrates stir-frying baby bok choy in 2 1/2 minutes of cooking time for the veg, this one for 2 minutes, and an outlier at 3-5 minutes.

Sautéing should also be at a fairly high heat and generally with less oil (although stir-frying doesn't use a lot of oil either, usually). The heat is lower than what is implied by stir-fry. With sautéing you are still generally keeping things moving, but it doesn't need to be quite as frantic. You can let things stop a moment, and it can help to let them start to brown and caramelize.

To demonstrate, this recipe for sautéed baby bok choy cooks them for 7 minutes, this one for 9-11 minutes, this one is another outlier cooking it for 4 minutes. The fastest of these is twice as slow as most of the the stir-fry or about the same as the slowest stir-fry. The slowest of these sauté recipes is nearly 3-5 times as slow as the stir-fry with fairly similar ingredients, especially similar to the slowest of the stir-fry recipes.

But to be fair, in my comment on the other post I was, strictly speaking, abusing the term sautéing by conflating it with even more moderate temperatures (which are more properly simply called "pan frying").

A kadai is a good implement to use for stir-frying, but a kadai can also be used for cooking at a slightly lower temperature. Simply using a kadai does not 100% determine the end result will be either a stir-fry or a sauté or a gentle fry, or even deep-frying. It's a versatile vessel. :-)


I'm pretty sure it's the famous Sao Jorge cheese from the Azores although there are many cheeses from these islands:

There's some good information here:
http://www.culturecheesemag.com/Sao%20Jorge

The Azores have traditionally been home to a variety of cheeses. These range from fresher styles, designed to be eaten within a few days of production, to more robust, aged cheeses able to withstand the rigors of transportation - and consequently often sold to ships’ crews to sustain them for many months at sea.
Made from raw cow’s milk, São Jorge cheese falls into this second category. It is the largest of the Portuguese cheeses weighing between 8kg (16 lb) to 12kg (26lb) and is aged for between three and seven months before release.
To make the cheese, cows are milked twice a day and the evening milk gets delivered to the cheese plant about 8:30pm with cheesemaking commencing right away, continuing through the night from about 9 pm to 4 am. Then, after morning milking another round of cheese is made.
A cooked curd pressed cheese, São Jorge is made by three dairies on the island although just one produces cheese that has been awarded DOP (name protected) status. The DOP status is awarded to cheeses matured for a minimum of 90 days although usually wheels of São Jorge are released at three, four and seven months.


How to keep Indian curry made with condensed milk from separating

Try
1. adding the milk after the curry cools down or
2. Adding milk before adding salt


Which is better to use baking soda or baking powder for making cakes?

They are different ingredients and one does not replace the other. Baking soda is an alkali which can react with acidic ingredients in a recipe to produce carbon dioxide which helps baked goods rise. Baking powder includes baking soda (or similar) and an acidic ingredient, so it is more 'self-contained' rather than relying on something else in the recipe. (Self-raising flour is basically flour with baking powder mixed in, to be even more self-contained.)
But you should just follow whatever is in the recipe you are making or adapting. If you have found a recipe you are trying to follow which does not make it clear you could post it in your question and we could try to work it out from the other ingredients.


Heavy cream can vary in color depending on the feed given to cows and the breed of cow.  Where I am, it's rare to find heavy cream that's very yellow, so my whipped cream usually is white enough that it's not a problem.  (It's not generally bright white, but not noticeably yellow.)

If you can't find white cream, as Joe mentioned in a comment, try white food coloring.  I've usually seen it in paste or liquid form, but powdered versions exist too.  If you can't find it in a grocery store, it's available online (and your local bakery might be willing to sell you some).  I've never used it for whipped cream, but it's the common remedy for icings when you want them to be bright white rather than the off-white/light yellow you might get with a traditional buttercream made with a lot of (yellow) butter.


How to keep a green smoothie from getting 'frothy'?

As Catohound already mentioned, it's a symptom of using a high speed blender.  You may find this technique useful.

  Tcrn the blender to its lowest setting and then slowly ramp it up until the top of the liquid just starts to circulate (usually around speed 4 or 5 on a Vitamix). As you run it at this low speed, you will see bubbles coming out in the center.

My wife and I do this with our Vitamix and it generally gives good results.


It is basically salted meat, most often beef. The process is similar to how prosciutto is made, although traditionally biltong does not use nitrates. Steaks from the silverside portion is first salted to remove most of the moisture in the meat. A small vinegar bath is then used to remove the salt and pickle the steaks slightly.

Then the meat is then doused in a very specific type of biltong spice and left overnight in the fridge. The morning after the meat is hanged on hooks for two to six weeks to dry. Typically this is done in winter time when the northen parts of South Africa have dry winters with low humidity (perfect for curing meat). Health wise it is not more or less healthy than any other red meat, it is lean meat for the most part though.


The primary ingredient in the root beer flavor is traditionally sassafras root. However, modern root beer uses artificial sassafras flavoring because the US FDA banned safrole, the oil from sassafras root. It is considered a weak carcinogen as well as a List I chemical by the DEA (used in the manufacture of illicit substances).

Beyond sassafras the ingredients vary widely and drastically between manufacturers. The most common include vanilla, wintergreen, cherry/spruce bark, licorice, anise, and many more. A more complete list of root beer ingredients can be found on the wikipedia page.

If you're looking to make your own, I suggest finding a recipe and following it. Given the vast array of ingredients present, you'll have to do a ton of experimentation to stumble upon a suitable flavor without a recipe.


To store fats, you should always use glass as plastics react to fats by absorbing some and perhaps discoloring or transferring flavors to your fat.  Depending on use, I prefer to work with cold fat at the start as it has a much broader possible use and I don't like to wait when I make biscuits, so I keep mine in the fridge.  However, you gain very little extra life out of keeping it in the fridge and if you don't keep it in a sealed container you run a very real risk of flavor transference there to.  If you don't make pastry dough or other such, your counter top is a perfectly acceptable place to store, as long as you use it up before it goes rancid.  One thing to keep in mind is that fats can sometimes have very different shelf lives, so make sure you taste or smell before use, regardless of storage method.


Is there a term for the blending of different recipies of the same type?

Fusion is a great word for a thorough mixing of things, conveying the idea of almost welding them together. So I see what your friend means when she describes your fusing together of different recipes for a particular dish as fusion cooking.

But when people use the term fusion in relation to cooking they often mean the marrying together of different types of cuisine, like for example, an "Asian Fusion" style restaurant might serve dishes from a variety of different countries within Asia or dishes made with ingredients from a variety of different parts of Asia ... like maybe curry with tofu in it or, who knows, sushi with paneer? They can be as creative as they like, and it's called "Fusion".

So if your friend were to write a review of your restaurant and call it a "fusion restaurant", she might need to add a little extra explanation to avoid con-fusion.


I always do my steak in cast iron, but instead of oil I use salt. Yes, you read that right, no oil in the pan. At all. The salt provides seasoning and prevents the steak from 'sticking' to the skillet. You can preheat your skillet over a medium heat to cut down on the smoke, yes even without oil, there's still smoke. But what I found is that the hotter the cast iron, the smokier things get. So, I'll recap, omit the oil and heat the pan longer over a medium heat. (You won't miss out on the sizzle, and you won't have to open every window in the house.)

I'm adding a couple of recipes that recommend the opposite (searing hot pan that goes into a 500F oven!) but with a total cook time of 10minutes or less.
How to Cook the Perfect Steak in Cast Iron reccomends Avocado Oil.
Pan-Seared Rib-Eye uses Canola Oil.
oh! and... the Smoke Point of Oils lists Avocado oil heat/smoke point at 520F, Canola at 400F, and Coconut oil at 350F.


For what culinary reason would a bread recipe choose skim milk?

Skim milk contains less fat than whole milk. Fats limit the formation of gluten in bread dough to some extent, leading to a tighter, 'softer' crumb. As the milk is apparently the only source of water in your recipe, the recipe authors could have tried to limit the amount of fat.

That said, there is also a good chance the reason for skim milk is health-related.


There is a common misconception that you should absolutely never cook meat from frozen or near-frozen. This is incorrect. I would also not recommended putting any meat on a low heat to thaw it out - you are asking for tough meat at best and food poisoning at worst.
The aim when cooking meat is to bring the internal temperature up to a safe level for a sufficient amount of time that any pathogens are destroyed. When you're talking about a large roasting joint, then it is absolutely a good idea to fully thaw it (in the refrigerator), because it takes a relatively long time for the indirect heat of an oven to get to the centre of the meat.
However, with smaller cuts of meat you intend to cook with direct heat, cooking from frozen or near-frozen conditions is absolutely fine, provided you take extra care to ensure it is properly cooked. For example, there is no problem with slicing a chicken breast when it is still partially frozen (in fact it's easier to slice) and sauteeing it straight away. In fact, you can buy frozen, pre-sliced chicken that you fry straight from solid frozen.
With your ground beef, provided the centre was not so rock solid that you couldn't break it apart, you would have had no problem simply frying it as normal, though it may well have taken a little longer to get up to a sizzle. If it was rock solid, you could speed up the thaw by wrapping in plastic wrap and running it under cool water for a while.
Furthermore, there is virtually no benefit in bringing meat to room temperature. Even for small cuts like steak, the amount of time needed to bring it anywhere near room temperature will put it well in the zone where you should think about throwing it out, according to the USDA.
Serious Eats tested this:

I pulled a single 15-ounce New York strip steak out of the refrigerator, cut it in half, placed half back in the fridge, and the other half on a ceramic plate on the counter. The steak started at 38°F and the ambient air in my kitchen was at 70°F. I then took temperature readings of its core every ten minutes.
After the first 20 minutes—the time that many chefs and books will recommend you let a steak rest at room temperature—the center of the steak had risen to a whopping 39.8°F. Not even a full two degrees. So I let it go longer. 30 minutes. 50 minutes. 1 hour and 20 minutes. After 1 hour and 50 minutes, the steak was up to 49.6°F in the center. Still colder than the cold water comes out of my tap in the summer, and only about 13% closer to its target temperature of a medium-rare 130°F than the steak in the fridge.

and in terms of the effect on cooking:

So when searing a steak, the vast majority of energy that goes into it is used to evaporate moisture from its surface layers. Next to that energy requirement, a 20, 30, or even 40 degree difference in the temperature of the surface of the meat is a piddling affair.


Filleting a roundfish is really quite easy but is better explained in person or through pictures vs. text.  Here's a link that will provide step-by-step photos.


From UC Davis:

  Question: Why did my garlic turn blue?
  Answer: Garlic contains anthocyanins, water-soluble pigments that can turn blue or purple under acidic conditions. This is a variable phenomenon that is more pronounced for immature garlic but can differ among cloves within a single head of garlic. If you grow your own garlic, be sure to mature it at room temperature for a couple of weeks before using it.


There is no way to rescue your frosting. It is not just a mixture of ingredients, it used to have a very complicated internal structure, which is now gone. You will have to start a new batch.

I assume that the taste of the frosting hasn't changed much. It cannot be used for its original purpose, but you should be able to repurpose it in many ways, for example as a bread spread, or as a filling somewhere.


Bread dough experiences "oven spring". That is, the water in the dough turns to steam and gives some fast, extra lift when the dough is first placed in a hot oven.

For most breads oven spring is a very good thing. For thick, flat breads like focaccia and pizza it is not good thing. The spring, or any other rising, will make the dough no longer a flat bread.

Putting the dents in flat breads is simply to help keep them flat when they bake. Unlike in pastry dough, where the docking pierces the dough and lets steam escape, the docking in bread dough shouldn't cut through layers but simply leave indentations.

Pizza doesn't always need to be docked because the weight of the toppings is sufficient to keep it flat. I don't dock my pizza dough.

The indentations are also nice because they increase surface area for toasting and hold on to toppings, such as the olive oil on focaccia, but I don't believe that is their primary purpose.


Waffle iron with changeable plates for butter galettes

You should be able to use the waffle iron as is and just not close it, I would think.  Though I am also not able to find a replacement, except through alibaba.

Edit based on apparent flag and mod comment:

All a special galette plate will provide is the shape.  You can still make the batter, spoon a couple of tablespoons onto a hot waffle iron and yield exactly the same thing, albeit in a different shape.


Are there any features of cookers that make them rodent resistant?

The hose that supplies the gas is probably not part of the cooker itself, but a separate part which can be swapped by an armored one.

Manufacturers don't have a rodent-resistant label, what you need to know is whether chewable materials are part of the construction. The best way to tell this is to lift the lid and look at the supply to the burners. Generally these will be metal, not materials like rubber or flexible plastics.


Sage, Laurel and Rosemary can all be dried and retain a lot of their flavor. In fact, for laurel, the flavor is enhanced by drying. There is little to be gained from freezing these, and I suspect that chopping beforehand would decrease their flavor components significantly.

For Rosemary and (Bay) Laurel - washed sprigs (twigs with leaves attached) can be bundled and hung in a warm, dry environment (from the ceiling perhaps or in a hot-water closet/cupboard if you have one) until dried. You can then pull off the required amount and use, or pick out the stems and store the leaves as you would any dried herb.

For Sage, I would pluck the leaves, wash, then spread on an absorbent surface (paper towel, clean and dry towel etc.) and allow to dry in a warm, dry environment. The dried leaves can then be stored as-is, or crumbled and stored in a bottle. This also works for Oregano and Thyme, though the soft stems can also be included for each of these.


Why are baking measurements such nice round numbers?

Realistically, there's a lot of flexibility in baking, in spite of the cargo cult mantra that you have to follow pastry recipes exactly. There are simple, weight-based ratios that can be used as a foundation for plenty of variation. The "round numbers" are, in fact, approximations, and this is often why you'll see that a typical baked good recipe in a consumer-oriented cookbook isn't designed to scale exactly past, say, doubling or so.

When you diverge dramatically from a base ratio, you may get an unexpected outcome. But, for example, pate a choux can be converted from the basic cream puff shell to a gougere by simply adding a modest amount of cheese to the dough. Within a moderate range, the exact amount of cheese won't matter that much. When I make muffins, I follow a basic ratio, and add additional items like fruits and nuts without even measuring; given enough experience, you can eyeball how much a recipe can take.

You can see more evidence of this as you look at most cake or pastry cookbooks. If you reduce the components to their essential character (fat, flour, egg, sweetener, liquid, leavening, flavoring) you'll probably find that there are only about 6-12 archetypal recipes in most such cookbooks. Some of them are even up-front about it and tell you to start with the "basic yellow cake recipe" then add x, y, and z.

That's not to say you won't get different results when you use less or more of an ingredient than the base recipe requires, but you'll probably get very adequate results as long as you're close to the base ratio.

Most chefs aren't particularly scientific, and you should realize that many of our archetypal baking recipes are the serendipitous result of relatively haphazard experimentation. Supposedly, the original souffle was a "mistake" caused by using too many eggs in a cake recipe. Additionally, even with weight based measurements, most ingredients have quite a lot of natural variation, depending on seasonality and, even for things like refined flour, climate and varietal differences can change your results. I've started with some recipes that worked pretty well when I was a student in Germany and had very different (though often acceptable) results in the US with similar ingredients.

Ruhlman's book called Ratio is a good place to look at these kind of archetypal recipes, and includes a fair amount of references on baked goods, though it's not the focus of the book.


Fry onions and garlic before adding to the sauce?

Sauteing onions:

Softens them, most people prefer not to run into raw onions in their sauce. Onions will cook in a sauce, but very slowly, so frying them before makes sure they will be soft even if your sauce has a fast cooking time
Releases sugars, making them taste sweeter
Reduces the onion's harshness
Browning the onions creates flavor

Sauteing garlic: garlic needs very little sauteing, far less than onion

Softens the garlic although it will cook in the sauce much faster than onion
Releases the flavors
Reduces harsh notes. The more you saute it the mellower the flavor but the less garlic-y it becomes. I often add garlic to my saute in 2 stages so I get both the mellowness and the edginess in my dish. It does mean adding more garlic overall, but it's worth it

So you get more depth of flavor, better flavor and texture sauteing them.


It's usually safe to eat the skins of potatoes.

If there is a greenish tint under the skin, you'll want to peel down to below the greenish bit.  If you don't, it could lead to solanine poisoning.

See Is it safe to eat potatoes that have sprouted? and Are Green Potatoes OK?


Am I missing something with Beer Can chicken?

Beer Can Chicken has a few tricks to have it turn out amazing as opposed to just average.  I always take my thawed chicken and rub it all over inside and out with vegetable oil and pureed garlic (about one large clove). Then I coat the skin with seasonings like salt, pepper, seasoned salt or chicken/poultry seasoning like sage or an \Italian mix; you can use anything the you want. Cajun spice and lemon are also pretty good.  The beer has to have some flavour to it, don't use a light beer. Apple ciders (strong bow, perry's pear cider, black thorne) or a white wine/cooking cherry will also do the trick. I use a half a pop/beer can and then stuff the chicken and the bottom tray with onions, red peppers, garlic and celery. The key to crispy skin and moist chicken is low heat on the BBQ, turn one side onto medium heat and put the chicken on the off side with the lid closed for 20 minutes per pound of chicken.  Practice makes perfect....chicken.


up scaling cake recipe and increasing pan size

For 9x13 cakes, typically the batter is thicker. So you want to cook a little longer at a lower temperature to make sure that the inside gets cooked without burning the outside.

For a sheet pan, typically cooking is done at a higher temperature for a shorter period of time. If you cook too long at the lower temp it runs the risk of drying out.

If you were using the same amount of batter and just making a thinner cake, like I do, I would recommend increasing the temperature of the over by 25 to 50F (depending on the recipe you use), and start checking after about 15 minutes in the oven.

However, if the sheet pan batter ends up with the same thickness as the 9x13, don't change the temp or cooking time.

Time is tricky - since there can be hot/cold spots, I would cook 5-7 minutes, rotate the pan 180 degree, then cook another 5-7 and start checking. Make sure the cake springs back, and isn't doughy in the middle (no wiggling).

Best resource I have for cakes: Baking, by James Peterson


I have done this, and it seems to come out fine.

Note, though, usually I will cook a lasagna almost all the way without a layer of cheese on top, and just put the top cheese layer on to melt in the last little bit of oven time. For this reason I freeze the unbaked lasagna without the top layer of cheese. I just mention this in case the freezer might do some harm to a top cheese layer (don't know if it will, just that I didn't try that experiment).


What is "Food Grade" Stainless-Steel or Aluminum

Here's a description for Stainless Steel. It applies in Canada, but is likely similar elsewhere:

Grades of Stainless Steel that are Safe for Food
There are 150 grades of stainless steel, but your container, cup or plate should be made from one of these (check the label):
304
The most commonly used food-grade stainless steel; it is used in food, dairy, brewing, hospital and sanitation applications.
316
The second most commonly used food grade, it has the same uses as above, but has better corrosion resistance because it includes more nickel than 304.
430
Products made from this food grade generally have less nickel content and a lower resistance to corrosion and temperature. It’s best to dry these containers right after washing.
You may also notice that products will say 18/8, 18/10, 18/0 beside the grade. The first number is the percentage of chromium that is contained in the stainless steel. The second number is the amount of nickel. The higher the numbers, the more rust resistant the product will be. Nickel is safe in small quantities but can provoke a reaction in people with an allergy to it. The average adult consumes between 150 to 250 micrograms of nickel per day. Small doses of chromium, like iron, are good for your health, but can be harmful in higher amounts—50 to 200 micrograms per day is considered safe. One meal prepared with stainless steel equipment (such as stainless steel pots and pans) gives you about 45 micrograms of chromium, according to Health Canada.

And Aluminum is typically Alloy 1100:

Alloy 1100: This grade is commercially pure aluminum. It is soft and ductile and has excellent workability, making it ideal for applications with difficult forming. It can be welded using any method, but it is non heat-treatable. It has an excellent resistance to corrosion and is commonly used in the chemical and food processing industries.

Personal Opinion
It sounds like one of the biggest factors is corrosion resistance. My understanding of food grade materials is that they are mostly looking for material that is free of toxic materials (like lead, or nickel and chromium in higher quantities), and are resistant to harboring bacteria. By their nature, new aluminum and stainless steel meet these criteria, but the ones listed above provide more resistance over time.
I also couldn't find an official requirement, these seem more like guidelines that are followed by the food industry, possibly encouraged by a discerning public. Canadian Family, for example, recommends to check the label, suggesting some manufacturers don't follow these guidelines.


Vegetable mill versus using a food processor for vegetables

The advantage of a passaverdura (or passe-vite in French, also known as Foley Mill in the US) is that like you said it will, depending on the coarseness of the screen, keep back undesired matter, such as pips, skins and strings. Personally, I use it mostly for apple sauce and also mashed potatoes (they achieve a higher level of fluff and fineness than with a masher).

Assuming that by a vegetable mixer you mean a stick mixer for puréeing (among other things), using that implement will not remove the aforementioned unwanted matter, which can make the consistency deviate from what you want it to be.


How do you Tell if Home Made Pasta is Dry Enough to put through the Cutter?

The real answer is that you learn by feel. So what you do is, start feeding it and if it is a little sticky, dust some flour on it. Conversely, if it is too dry and starts to crack, spritz it with a little bit of water from a spray bottle. Soon you will learn when to make these adjustments.


Help me find a chinese recipe from "Green Tea" restaurant in Beijing

I'm afraid that it is neither of the above. According to what I know about this restaurant (a major restaurant chain in China, in fact), most of its dishes are Szechuanese-inspired. Thus, my guess that what you ate was dry pot cabbage (i.e. hand-teared cabbage).

There is usually some pork (usually belly) in this dish, but a large restaurant like Green Tea might totally leave out the meat (or use very little meat such that you didn't get any), in order to control costs. If you can't get pork belly easily, try bacon (IMO it works even better). The other ingredients are typical Szechuanese fare: dried chili peppers, garlic, ginger, and perhaps some Szechuan peppercorn (if you like it).

Now, here's how you make it (a bit oversimplified):

Chop the cabbage, thinly slice the pork belly (or chop the bacon). Chop the garlic, slice the ginger, and lightly crush the chili peppers.
Heat the oil (not too much if you use pork belly, more if you don't), add the pork belly and brown it. Then, add the chili peppers (and perhaps the Szechuan peppercorn), garlic and ginger, as well as some soy sauce (and perhaps some cooking rice wine/sake). Use the highest heat available on your stove.
After the spices are fragrant, add the cabbage and stir fry at high heat for a short while. Finally, season with salt and perhaps MSG (if you have no objections for using that).

...and you should be fine. But if your stove isn't hot enough, the dish would probably not taste as well as what you remember.


Does Lodge A-SPRAY provide any useful benefit over canola oil spray or bottled canola oil?

As you pointed out in your question, Lodge A-Spray is 100% canola oil. It is also in a non-aerosol container. Those two things mean that you have no added propellants or ingredients.

Most cooking sprays are not 100% oil. Most contain a additional ingredients, some of which would actually be a negative in trying to build your seasoning. Soy lecithin, for example, would create a quite tacky/sticky surface if allowed to build up. That would be quite the opposite of what you are trying to achieve.

As you note, there are many oils that work well in seasoning cast iron. Those sold in bottles work just as well as a 100% oil spray. And while typically the sprays are much more expensive, they are convenient.

Just remember that if you choose to use a spray, you always check the ingredient list to be sure it's 100% oil.


Does baking time increase when making multiple Pumpkin Bread Puddings?

It mostly depends on whether you're able to arrange them in the oven with plenty of space. If they all fit on one rack, with a few inches between the pans, it should be basically the same baking time. They're all still in an oven of the same temperature they'd be in if baked alone.

But if things get crowded, especially if you have to put them on the top and bottom rack, with one at least partially over another, then you may need increased baking time. They'll essentially shield each other, i.e. the air will end up a little bit cooler in the area between them. In that case you'd probably also want to rotate and shuffle them around once or twice during baking, to avoid them browning more on the exposed parts and less on the shielded parts.

The oven will also take slightly longer to come back up to temperature with more in it, but likely on the scale of a difference of a minute or two as long as it's a completely preheated full-size oven, so for something that's baked 30-40 minutes you don't really need to worry about. The most direct information I found about this was from BakeWise:

  Even if you have a well-preheated oven, if you open the oven door ... (the time that the oven was open can be over 1 minute) the drop in the oven temperature can be 175F/79C). Recovery time can be several minutes.

So having more bread puddings does extend that recovery time, not just by putting cold mass in the oven, but also by requiring the door to be open longer while you're loading them into the oven. But again in this case that's not the important factor; even if it adds a couple minutes to the baking time, you still need to worry more about the air circulation, and you were already checking in a 10 minute range anyway.


Soon-to-be cultured milk with fresh fruit safe for consumption?

Not only are "friendly" bacteria being cultured, those bacteria make an acidic environment which is hostile to "bad" bacteria.

Myself, I make plain yogurt and mix things into it at the time of eating, but things mixed in from the start essentially become "yogurt-pickled" and should be fine for a reasonable period under refrigeration. A standard part of preparing to culture yogurt is a high-heat treatment (scalding) of the milk, both to kill off unwanted bacteria and to cause structural changes in the milk proteins that are beneficial to forming the yogurt curd.


If you're making the dough by hand, you can substitute 1:1, expect the bread to rise a bit faster using rapid rise or instant. If you're using a bread machine, use 25% less (slightly over 1 3/4 tsp to substitute rapid rise or instant for one packet of active dry).

From King Arthur Flour:

  One time when you might not want to use instant and active dry yeasts interchangeably is when you're baking bread in a bread machine. Since bread machines use a higher temperature to raise dough, substituting instant for active dry yeast 1:1 may cause bread to over-rise, then collapse. When baking in the bread machine, and substituting instant yeast for active dry, reduce the amount of instant yeast by 25%.


Cakes cooked in same tin but come out different sizes

There are a few things that can affect the rise of the layers.

If you're baking multiple layers at once, even if your oven heats evenly, the cake on top will rise less than the one of the bottom.  The problem is that the top will crust, preventing the top layer from rising as high as the one underneath which is shielded from the radiant heat.
If you're mixing a large batch of batter, then dividing it between pans, the amount of batter in each pan might be slightly different from each other.  If you're beating it individually, the amount of time that you mix it can affect the rise -- too much mixing will develop gluten which can impede the rise.
If you're baking the layers individually, you run into the problem that the oven might have been different temperatures, or at least have absorbed a different amount of heat if the oven wasn't preheated for a sufficiently long time. The result is that the later layers tend to rise a little bit less, as the top sets a little bit earlier.
If you're baking the layers individually, but mixed the batter in one batch, then the leavening might not have quite the same strength as in the first batch, and reduce how well it rises ... which has the top set even faster, further reducing the rise.

One other possibility that I haven't tested is if you take things out of the fridge and leave them out while you're baking the other layers.  As the eggs and milk might now be between fridge temp and room temp, that slight change might affect the rise as well.


When should I add spinach to homemade pizza?

The moisture that you're talking about really has nothing to do with draining it or wringing it out. When it's heated, the cell structure breaks down and the water in the cells is released. Since it's predominately water, that means you have a lot of moisture on your pizza to make your crust soggy. At the restaurant I used to work at we had two methods. If there wasn't going to be a lot of spinach on the pizza, then we would just put it on raw. If there was going to be a lot of it, then we would give it a quick saute and then put it on the pizza. I would do the same thing with squash, eggplant, etc. Anything with a high moisture content. You could also roast it first. In both cases, I wouldn't cook it for long as the goal is to just get most of the water out and then let it finish on the pizza in the oven.


Why is my toffee grainy in cracker-toffee "Crack"?

Brown sugar can be used to good effect in candy making.

With the texture issue, something is crystallizing the sugar. Try using your ingredients with the more classic method.


Chocolate covered cookies stuck to cooling rack

Turn the rack upside down, suspend it so that there is about a quarter inch between the cookie and the surface it will fall onto when it detaches from the rack, then heat the chocolate underside of the cookie (which is now the top that you can see because the rack is upside down) with a hairdryer/low temp heat gun so that it melts enough for the rack metal to move through the chocolate and for the cookie to fall/push off the rack


At what stage should Dark Soy sauce be added while making noodles?

The soy sauce can be used alone or added with other sauces like fish sauce, tomato sauce or squid sauce to enhance the flavor n color of the noodles. and remember there are two kinds of soy sauce one dark and the other light. you need to add the amount according to the dish you are planning, say for two serves two spoons will do good. And as u said its generally added to the veggies before adding the noodles to get even color. Doing the other way wont hurt thou' .


Because a fluid ounce and a dry measure ounce (both volume measurements) are about 20% different, though "dry measures" (other than the measuring scoops and spoons in a USA kitchen) have become far less common as most product is now marketed by weight, not volume.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_measure

A US dry quart is 1101 cc, while a US liquid quart is 946.4 cc (and an imperial quart is 1137 cc either way, since they evidently didn't have the bifurcation.)

A fluid ounce (volume) of water weighs about an ounce (weight) - a jar that is 10 fl ounces is a volumetric measure and can weigh whatever it likes - more for mercury (or syrup, for a less toxic and more food example) and less for ethanol. The continued use of fl mostly helps to distinguish volume from weight in current labeling, practically speaking.


Genetics is actually the greatest affect on cholesterol.  Consumption of dietary cholesterol has very little correlation to serum cholesterol in your body and the amount of cholesterol you're going to save by leaving out the egg yolks vs. the impact it has on the resulting bread will hardly be worth it.

However, if you wish to proceed then I'd recommedn simply adding about a tablespoon of vegetable oil in replacement of the egg yolks that are being omitted.

The fat in the egg yolks is going to assist in minimizing gluten development.  Since you've omitted the fat there is probably a bit more gluten formation taking place and thus the fact that it doesn't rise as well.  Egg whites have a drying effect on baked goods so that is why the bread is drier than before.


There are two types of bread for stuffing.  If you're aiming for the dry type, a very low oven would be better.

If you have room in your freezer, that would be a good place to store the bread you're planning to use later to make stuffing.


I don't know how you would describe the flavor of bay--I would call it a subtle savoriness, with a complex aroma.

Bay is very tough--almost sharp.   It is generally not eaten directly.  Instead, the whole leaf (or several whole leaves) are put into a dish or sauce to cook with it, then removed prior to service.

The shortest recipe I have for using bay is in a rice pilaf while it cooks, which is 15-30 minutes depending.   I am not aware of an upper time limit.

Here is a Miami Herald article offering some other perspectives on using bay leaves:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/30/2823923/cooking-with-bay-leaves.html

As they Herald points out, many folks prefer Turkish bay rather than California bay, because it has a more complex, subtle flavor.

. . .

I believe custard in Britain had bay as a traditional ingredient--you might make a custard with a single bay leaf to get some sense of what it tastes like without lots of competing strong flavors.

. . .

Update:  Serious Eats Food Lab has just published an article, What is the point of bay leaves? with lots of good information that may be of interest.


How do I know when yellow split peas are cooked?

You probably haven't added enough water. Split peas are dried, cooking re-hydrates them, but only if there's enough to for them to absorb.  You need to add at least double the water as peas, a bit like rice in that respect. It's also possible you have old peas, or they are a variety that simply needs a longer cooking time. Hard water can also slow down cooking.

Try using softened water if you can, and more of it. An overnight soak can also work wonders.


Why breadcrumb is necessary for deep-frying?

The nature of deep frying, contrary to expectation, is that it is a dry cooking method.

The heat from the oil vaporizes water at the surface of the food.  The steam coming of the food pushes the oil away from the food, and keeps oil from soaking in during the main frying process.  This is also what causes the bubbling.

The consequence of this is that by its very nature, deep frying rapidly dries out the surface of whatever is being cooked.

From some foods, including some meats, this would leave the outside of the meat dry, tough, and rubbery.   A coating of breading prevents this by providing a barrier between the hot frying oil and the meat.

The breading itself also browns, which adds flavor and crunchiness that can greatly enhance the appeal of the food item.  It may also have spices or other flavors or seasonings in the breading to compliment the food.

Still, not all meats have to be breaded before deep frying.  For example, chicken wings are often deep fried plain.  The skin browns and bubbles and gets very crispy.

So, the main reasons for breading are:

Protect the food product
Add brown, delicious crunch
Add flavor through other seasonings


Can I use flour to make a carrot soup more thick?

How much flavor the flour adds will depend largely on how long it fries with the veggies.

The longer it fries the nuttier it will taste- until it starts to burn of course. If it doesn't cook for long enough (it doesn't take long) it will taste raw which is not pleasant.

You should cook your veggies until they are done and then add your flour and cook just until it starts to smell nutty. I assume this is similar to what you do with your goulash.

Overall- I think that the flavor of even a fairly dark roux would work well with an onion and carrot soup. You could even use this to salvage your already watery soup by making a roux separately and wisking it in.


Corned Beef, Cabbage vs. Reuben - Multipurpose?

Canned corned beef is sort of Spam, but with different meat and flavoring. It's also more like hash, and doesn't always cleanly slice the same way Spam does. I definitely wouldn't put it on a Reuben sandwich, but it could work with cabbage. (Not great with cabbage, but that's an opinion issue -- I'm not a big fan of canned meat in general.)

In contrast, a cooked corned beef brisket can be used either in Reuben sandwiches or on a plate of corned beef & cabbage. The only particular difference is the thickness of the slices. In a sandwich, one generally wants thin-sliced meat that is easier to bite through. Thicker slices work well next to cabbage, when eating the dish with a knife and fork.


well, for starters, sushi should be eaten fresh, but if needs must:

1) the cucumber has some alkaloids that we usually take out when preparing (my mom call it the "evil" of the cucumber). I cut the "tops" of the cucumber and use a circular motion to friction the sliced tops on the main cucumber "body" and let capillary action do the rest;
2) also for freshness and crunchiness, after you slice the cucumber, sprinkle it with some salt and let osmosis work for ~15 minutes. Squeeze the water out and roll your sushi. If you do this, the sushi rice (which is seasoned) won't draw out the water in the cucumber and take with it the coloring

I've never had this discoloration problem, and this are the 2 main things that I know that both me and my mom do that are not exactly common when preparing sushi.


Is there a Welsh recipe called cacan menyn?

I've had a whole lot of Welsh desserts based largely on butter :-), but never anything approaching a kouign amann.  Never anything approaching it anywhere else than in Brittany in fact, or made by Bretons.  Your problem may be a lot greater than a linguistic translation.  There's a reason there's not an equivalent in French for instance.


I am assuming that you have actual goat ribs, like pork ribs, and not a rack of goat chops.  I had a full goat breast that I just cooked them the other day.  If you just broil them as you describe they will be tasty...and tough...and greasy.

You want to treat these like pork ribs, needing a slow cook.  I first smoke my ribs, then braise them, then finish them under the broiler with a thinned sauce.  Here's the whole process in great detail at cookloose.com

Unless you are saying broil as a means of describing putting them on a grill, note that wrapping the ribs in foil before broiling defeats the purpose.  Broiling is directional heat...heatfrom a direction.  Wrapping them in foil reflects the direct heat away.

However, your method is, almost, correct.  You DO want to wrap the ribs in foil with a little liquid (beer?), maybe some garlic and a bay leaf, or do a full rub, and then put them in the oven at low heat for a braise.  This will cause the meat and connective tissue to get soft and yummy.  THEN pour off the liquid, open the foil and slip under the broiler to give them a crusty finish.  Brush with a sauce or not, as you wish.

So...slow cook in liquid...broil to finish, but not wrapped in foil for the broil.


Is there such a thing as a dish being bland from too many flavors?

I think the description you're looking for is what is often described as "muddy flavors" or "fighting flavors" or "muddled flavors" (though the latter is also a term used for a specific technique, so searching the internet will give lots of results for that).
This doesn't mean that it tastes like a mix of dirt & water--but rather that the flavors are no longer distinct, and possibly fighting with each other.
When you create recipes, the goal is to get all the individual pieces to come together to "sing" like a harmonious chorus. Each element comes together to do it's individual small role so that when it comes together it create a beautiful song. If you use too many strong flavors, they fight with each other--like trying to build a choral group out of egotistical soloists who all want to shine as the center of attention.
That "group of egotistical soloists," in food, creates "fighting" or "muddy" flavors.


What is the correct order to both marinate and velvet the meat?

Be sure to look at this related question too: How does velveting work?

Serious Eats just kind of took this on. They added some nice flavor to the velveting marinade, and then sauced the chunks after cooking. Some kind of adaptation of that concept would probably work well for you.

I have done some small experimentation with adding flavors to the egg/cornstarch marinade, and so far I haven't had any problem. As long as you've got enough egg white and cornstarch to make a light batter, you can add other things for flavor. BTW, the flavor of the velveting recipe in the question I linked to is lovely.


How far ahead can I prepare this coleslaw recipe?

That looks to me to be a lot of 'wet' to 'dry', so without really having a definitive answer I'd have 2 considerations.

How far you want your fresh garlic to 'mellow' [I really don't know the correct term for leaving crushed garlic so the sharpness goes off a bit.]
How much water is going to be pulled from the apple.

1 could be affected by simply making up the dressing part early, then leaving it to mellow.
2 might be a bit trial & error, but that's the one I can't think of a way round other than 'leave it out til late.' Better crunchy than soggy with a runny dressing.

Carrot [& most other things in regular coleslaw - cabbage, onion etc] I'd give one to three hours in the dressing before serving, but even that may come down to personal preference. The standard coleslaw I'm right now going off to make will be eaten in about 3 hours ;)


Freezer burn is just the food being dehydrated.  Most meat will change color, and it becomes very obvious if you defrost it.  It's not unsafe:  just yucky.


What can I bake with only flour, water and sugar?

With flour, water, and salt you could make sourdough bread. The idea is to encourage wild yeast to grow in a mix of flour and water, which you then use to leaven your bread. It will take a few days to get a culture/starter going in the first place, but once you've done so you can use it to raise all sorts of breads.


Anyone knows how this seed/fruit is called? (bush)

This might be brier you're talking about.
It's hard to tell based on only that picture... it may be a type of cherry, but when I saw the post, I instantly pictured it to be a type of brier.


The biggest indicator I've found of quality dried pasta is how rough it feels when you rub it between your fingers.  Compare Barilla and De Cecco spaghetti to see what I mean.  The best brands use copper dies when extruding their pasta and this lends a rougher texture that will hold sauce better than plastic or teflon extruded pastas.


How to grill portabello mushrooms properly

I have found marinating in some sort of olive oil/vinegar type of liquid for about an hour ahead works well.  They feel a little soggy/slippery when you put them on the grill but firm up right away and taste pretty good.

Key is to make sure your fire is hot and direct (don't "smoke" them) - I'd say 350 degrees or so - and pause a moment to ensure the grate is hot as well.  Then I would take them off as soon as you start seeing the grill marks on both sides.  Like 1 minute per side. I personally use equal parts Olive Oil and Red Balsamic.  Sometimes I have also used Worcestershire and it makes them taste even more like a "burger".


There's a replacement, but it's not an ingredient most people have sitting around -- flax seed.

I use it when I'm cooking for a few of my friends who are vegans.  Grind up some flax seed in a coffee grinder.  For each egg, take 1 TB of flax seed meal, and 3 TB of water.  Stir it up and let it sit for a while -- it'll get kinda slimy.  Use that in place of the eggs.

Obviously, this won't work for anything where the whites and yolks are used separately, but I've used it for years for Christmas cookies -- the only problem is that the dough doesn't hold together quite as well when you're dealing with refrigerator cookies.

update: it's also a good idea to make friends with your neighbors.  I've known the folks living in one of the houses behind me since high school ... we've been known to call each other up when we're short on sugar / flower / eggs / milk / vanilla, etc.


Can clarified butter be used for beurre noir?

@Chris:  Does the recipe from the Nero Wolfe cookbook say anything about dumping the milky/watery portion out of the pan before returning the butter to it to brown?

Clarified butter WILL NOT brown, that is the purpose for clarifying it.  The milk solids are what brown.  The portion that usually goes to the bottom will be the whey and the milk solids initially tend to form the "scum" on the top.  To me it sounds like he's trying to suggest that you should pour the butter & solids off, dump out any whey, and then return the butter to the pan so you can heat it to the point of a dark brown without it splattering (which is caused by the water in the whey).  4 tablespoons of butter isn't going to have much whey in the first place so just cook the whole butter to the beurre noir point.


Cookie dough between batches - Refrigerate? Or no?

Two hours is on the borderline, so you will have to assess your risk tolerance.

No harm will come to your cookies by refrigerating the dough; in fact, the later trays may actually be superior due to the additional time hydrating the starches.  Baking cold dough will only trivially change the baking time.

I would probably err on the side of caution and put the dough in the refrigerator.

One thing that can speed up your tray recycle time is to cool the tray with running water on the back side, so that you can reuse it right away without waiting for it to cool.

You can also pre-scoop cookies onto a plate, which makes moving them on to the tray much faster.  You can even refrigerate or freeze these pre-scooped cookies.


Can cast iron with non-metal components be seasoned?

Le Creuset say 450°F/230°C is the maximum temperature their enamelled cast-ironware will take. Other manufacturers seem to be sometimes lower, though that could be a handle/lid requirement rather than the enamel itself - see Why are most enameled cast iron dutch oven's only rated up to 400-450 F?

Your problem, assuming you season the mortar with a low-smoke-point oil is that your pestle is going to have to be carefully done over a flame. That handle is not going to survive in the oven. If it's silicone, then about 180°C is about all it can take… that's if you're certain it's silicone.

 I'm gonna have to edit that apostrophe out of the linked question, it's burning a hole in my OCD ;)


Can I use aluminum foil instead of parchment paper for resting candied fruit?

Aluminum foil is not non-stick, except for those specially silicone or otherwise coated foils that are explicitly marketed as such. (And which are probably even more of an environmental nightmare than regular foil, but I digress.)

If you see aluminum foil used in a candy making context, you will notice that they recommend greasing or oiling the foil before pouring or placing the sugary food on it. Personally, I’ve had mixed results, you really have to grease the foil well. If a bit of fat or oil is ok for you, you can use aluminum foil, otherwise I recommend either a shopping trip or checking your household for alternatives.

For your special case of candied fruit, you want the sugar syrup to drip off, not the fruit to sit in a puddle. Have you got a cooling rack at hand? Use it, ideally with a tray underneath to catch the drippings and make cleaning easy. The significantly smaller area of contact will reduce sticking, especially if you move the fruit a few times before they dry fully.


How can I quickly save an unflavorful curry?

Indian curry traditionally has - in addition to the ginger, turmeric, cumin and chili (I assume you mean chili powder) that you used - a generous amount of garam masala, coriander powder, and garlic.

Sometimes you'll see "curry powder" used in recipes instead of garam masala; they are similar but not exactly the same.

Either one of these would be fine, and arguably the most important missing ingredient here. I'm not even sure you could legitimately call it a curry without one of the above.

Depending on your spice tolerance, you might need to add more chili powder as well.

Note that most spices in a curry will need to be heated before they'll really release their aromas (and therefore flavour), so you can't just add them cold, and I definitely don't think you'd want the taste of raw garlic/ginger in your curry, even if it is presently tasteless. Give it a good simmer after adding some garlic (powder is fine) and garam masala or curry powder and you might be able to salvage it.

Or you could try heating the new spices dry, for a very short time, to give them a bit of a head start aroma-wise; just be very careful not to burn them.


How to make a Lamb Seekh Kebab more juicy and soft?

There are no "secret ingredients" in making soft and juicy kebab. Much like sausage, meatballs, or meatloaf, this ground meat based food relies on salt, fat, and proper cooking to remain juicy. I recommend Chapter 5 of J. Kenji Lopez-Alt's The Food Lab for an explanation of how these elements interact (though I do not believe the book has a kebab recipe).

With this in mind, find a recipe and follow it! Make sure to include the proper amount of salt (preferably measuring by weight) and to use a sufficiently fatty cut of lamb. Then take care to not overcook the kebab, using a thermometer to check the internal temperature.


Cheesemaking produces strange bicolored whey

Neither batch looks like the color would, in and of itself, look worrisome for the whey pressed from farmer cheese.  If there are no other worrisome factors (like an off smell, or unsafe handling), then I would probably assume that the whey, and the cheese, is safe to eat - though your risk tolerance may vary.

As for why the batches look different - it looks like one batch still contains some milk proteins emulsified in it.  I've seen very milky looking whey (it happens when the curd didn't set cleanly), so again, by itself it wouldn't make me hesitate.  I notice that that batch also looks bigger - which might just mean your batches were unevenly split, but could also indicate you got a little less of the milk proteins out of that batch, more remained to color the whey, and you perhaps got less curd out of that batch.

As for why the batches came out differently, I can only speculate.  It could be one batch had a bit longer to cure than the other (while you were processing the other batch, perhaps), so the curds with a bit more time separated from the whey a bit more cleanly.  It could be that the milky proteins were kind of hovering more at the top, or else settling down at the bottom of the curds-and-whey mixture, and so when you were pouring it into the two strainers, one poured clearer and one got all the extra milky coloration.  It could be that one strainer had a better filter to catch the milky proteins, or one strainer pressed harder and wrung out more of the whey - including those extra proteins.

If I'm right, then the whey on the right (whiter and more volume) should be able to be curdled again into some kind of whey cheese, to get the rest of the milky proteins out of it, while the one on the left would produce much less (if any) if re-curdled.

Again, you should be wary, and discard if there's off smells, tastes or textures, or if you have reason to believe the milk, cheese, or whey was unsafely handled.  But if the only difference is the color and proportion of leftover milk proteins, then both batches should be safe to use.


I would guess that (a) the water content of tomatoes would be higher, for which you would have to compensate, and (b) they won't color your dough as dramatically as beetroot, but they might impact the flavor more.


Why does caffeine taste bitter when added to tea?

Caffeine is bitter, tea isn't too bitter because as you mentioned it's only got 40mg of caffeine. If you then triple the amount in there it's going to taste that way. Try adding 3 tea bags to your cup and I'm certain it'll taste just as bitter.

Energy drinks have copious amounts of sweeteners added hence why they don't taste like caffeine.

If you are hell bent on more caffeine without the associated bitterness but not adding sugar maybe a sweetener like stevia would be the way forward...


How do I quickly get okra to stop being goopy?

When I cook an okra, I've found that adding tomato suppresses the slime. For about one or two cups of okra, I add one small ripe tomato. I do that whenever I cook an okra curry.

Deep frying okra in some kind of batter also works well and is delicious.


Can I make chicken pot pie with mashed potatoes inside?

Generally such a concoction (topped with mashed potatoes) is called a Shepherds Pie, but adding a crust... I have no idea what to call that ;-)

When cooking a pot pie everything is already cooked prior to putting it in the baking dish, except the crust.

So all you really need to do is make sure your crust is cooked to your desired done-ness. The mashed potatoes might keep the bottom of the crust a little wetter but really it should not require much more than you usually would bake it for, if any. It depends on how hot you bake your pot-pies.

I usually cook them at 425F so I get a nice brown on my crust and it is about 15 - 20 minutes, but that will depend on your crust recipe. I would follow the crust recipe baking instructions and add maybe 5 minutes.

You can then try the pot pie and adjust the backing duration according to your personal preference.


Tomatoes contain high levels of glutamic acid and its sodium salt (mono sodium glutimate or MSG). In fact, the pulp contains over 4 times as much as the flesh of the tomato.  In a tomato paste, the concentration of glutimates is even higher.  The "unique" flavor is not only concentrated tomato, but the umami that comes with it.  Tomato paste packs a very high umami punch that distinguishes it from fresh or canned tomatoes.

By the way, next time someone suggests that they want to avoid MSG, ask them if they also avoid tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, soy sauce, and many other ingredients where it is naturally occurring.  Lot's of good info here.


Just to summarise the comments into an answer:

To lighten the icing, you can add air to it by whipping, either by hand or with an electric mixer. It will probably be easier to do that if you loosen it a little with some milk or cream.


How to dry Eucalyptus leaves (to later on make herbal tea from)?

You can dry herbs, chillies etc. in an oven, if your oven goes low enough. A dough proving setting is good though you can go just a little warmer. If the door makes a tight seal the moisture can't get out, so it's worth opening the door just a little once it's up to temperature.

If you find you're making a habit of drying food, a food dehydrator is a good idea. This is especially true for strong smelling foods as you can put the dehydrator somewhere well ventilated - if you dry chillies in the oven they will make your eyes water every time you go in the kitchen, and it wouldn't surprise me if eucalyptus was similar.


Japanese Cotton Sponge Cake - How to stop collapsing?

Try using the actual recipe without substitutions or additions.
I've not made this type of cake, so I cannot answer with 100% certainty.  However, in general I would recommend not tinkering with ingredients the first time you make a recipe, especially when baking.  There are structural reasons for a lot of baking ingredients, and messing with them is a dangerous game.
In particular, fat content and raising agents are pretty important for cake structure, and it sounds like you've altered those right off the bat before making the cake once with its actual recipe.
Half and half has at least 3 times the fat of milk.  This could be having an impact on the cake's ability to rise.
I suspect the main culprit is the baking soda, though.  You've added baking soda and acid to a recipe that has neither, which can cause bubbles to expand and pop rather just staying put, which in turn causes cakes to collapse soon after they come out of the oven. (see this article for details)
The need for cream of tarter when whipping egg whites can be overstated.  Its main functions are to prevent overbeating and stop the foam from collapsing if it is sitting around after being beaten. It is pretty difficult to overbeat egg whites if you are whisking by hand.  If you're using an electric mixer, just keep an eye on it. Because you're only beating to medium-stiff peaks in this recipe and are then using the whites right away, the cream of tarter can be left out of the egg-beating process.
In conclusion, try the recipe as it is written.  Definitely remove the added baking soda and cream of tarter.  If you really have no access to milk, water is a better substitution when cake-baking than half-and-half is. If you really want some dairy in there, I might recommend 25 ml half-and-half + 55 ml water as a better substitution for 80 ml of milk than all half-and-half (this will have a much closer fat content to 80 ml of milk than 90 ml of half-and-half will).
Side note: if you ever do want to add cream of tarter to egg white to help with the beating, you do not have to then add baking soda or another base to balance out this tiny addition of acid.  Leave baking soda out of recipes that don't call for it.


Is the stainless steel pot pitted by salt water a food safety problem?

Chemically the pits etched in your pot are the absence of the stainless steel material that makes up the pot. In other words the white spots you're seeing are where a small amount of the stainless steel has been removed from the surface of the pot, much like it had been scraped off. So the pits are completely harmless because they're not actually any kind of chemical substance.
Chemically what causes the etched pits to appear is that the chlorine from the salt attacks the passive film of chromium oxide that normally protects the surface of stainless steel. Stainless steel gets its corrosion resistant properties through the addition of chromium. When exposed to oxygen the chromium in the steel oxidizes and forms a very thin layer of chromium oxide on the surface the metal. This layer prevents oxygen from going further into the steel preventing it from further oxidation (rusting).
Normally stainless steel isn't harmed by salt dissolved in water or by the chlorine found in tap water. However things are different when a grain of salt sits at the bottom of a pot. It will dissolve into chloride ions (along with sodium ions) that are concentrated against a small spot on the surface of the pot. What exactly happens then isn't entirely clear, I've read conflicting descriptions, but the reaction seems to reinforce itself causing the chromium oxide layer at that spot to be removed. This exposes the steel underneath to damage by both chloride from the salt and oxygen dissolved in the water.
(The Chemistry Stack Exchange has a question on how chlorine attacks stainless steel if you want a more scientific explanation.)
There's really nothing you can do or need to do fix the spots at the bottom of your pot. You can't remove something that's not there. A new chromium oxide layer has already formed over the pits and your pots is as corrosion resistant as before.


Why does Mexican food taste dissonant with balsamic vinegar?

This is the same question, in essence as why any of these combinations are dissonant or unexpected:

Marina sauce on soba noodles
Cheese on Chinese stir fry
Haggis jambalaya

Every cuisine is a part of a culture, and there are cultural expectations for what is normal or not normal.

A deeper question would be how and why such cultural expectations develop.

Note that this is a speculation, but an informed anthropological speculation:

Every cuisine is associated with a geographic region, where certain agricultural products are prominent.   The people in the area, quite naturally, learned to cook with the resources they had available.  So it would be odd for a mountainous culture like Tibetans to have seafood dishes, just as it would be odd for the inhabitants of modern day Shanghai to have Yakk milk dishes.

Over time, the culture adapts and finds flavor combinations and techniques that are applicable to its resources (stir frying in china, for minimal fuel use, for example).  These traditions form the backbone of the cuisine, and are how we recognize what is or is not part of that cuisine.

This allows us to make an educated guess as to why balsamic vingegar seems odd in Mexican food.

Mexico has not historically been a land of the grape, so they do not have a wine making or vinegar making tradition.  Therefore, a product like balsamic vinegar is not a part of their tradition.

Balsamic is also well identified with the part of Italy now called Modena, where it would have evolved because grapes were available, and there was a wine making industry already.

Putting the two together confounds cultural expectations.

Nonetheless, there are many chef's who enjoy and practice combining foods and technique across cultural and cuisine boundaries, and thus we have the modern practice of fusion cuisine.


Seasoning skillet: What am I doing wrong?

It simply takes some time and experience to learn to do a seasoning well. Yours was too soft to work. The good part is that you can repeat it on the same pan until you got better results, the pan is not going to suffer from it.

First, there is the oil. Modern oils are engineered to be higher in unsaturated acids. This is done for health reasons, and some sources suggest them for seasoning specifically because they polymerise more easily, for example recommending flaxen oil for seasoning. In my experience, while it is much easier to create a good looking layer with them, this layer is way too sticky and soft for use. Personally, I prefer to use a sticky oil as the base layer, and put a few layers of lard on it.

Second, there is thickness. If a layer was too thick, it will peel off. A good seasoning is built up from many layers, each as thin as possible, and hardened separately, with full cooling down in between. If you can see thickness in your layer (the thickness of a standard office paper sheet), it's already dangerously thick. Wipe each layer before hardening, you don't want to see it pooling.

Third, there is temperature control. If this is your first iron pan, you might not have learned it yet. A new seasoning tends to be more damageable than an old, baked-on one. If the first few foods stick, they may "take off" some seasoning with them. I guess that, if you're good at frying precisely, you can start doing more adventurous stuff in the pan right away. But if you are not, better start with the kind of food which you know how to fry without it sticking. For example, this picture looks like you put lean burgers at too low a temperature and they cooked onto the seasoning instead of crusting right after hitting the pan. If you have a food you know you can crust well, use it (I do new pans best with crepes and scrambled eggs, but it needs the correct recipe, Ruhlman's crepes work). If not, start with greasy types of food with sufficient protein content and work from there. Introduce watery foods later, when the seasoning is doing well. Also leave starchy foods for later - although they work well enough if there is enough protein and some fat in them, see the crepes point above.

In the beginning, you might also want to not wash the pan. Simply wipe off excess fat with paper without introducing water. Of course, this is somewhat dependent on the success of the last point - if you have pieces of food stuck to the pan, it becomes harder to deal with them (a salt scrub can work better than water though). In the ideal case, the food peels off your seasoning without leaving anything to clean.

I also failed my first tries to get a pan well seasoned. But I also noticed that, the closer you get to a good seasoned state, the easier it gets, simply because each of the points is easier to follow through when you have less sticking. The beginning may be hard, but once you get in the positive feedback part of the process, it's worth it.


1/3c Sugar is never going to dissolve in the ~one tsp liquid from the extracts, and sugar simply does not dissolve in fats - so your cocoa butter won't dissolve it either.

This is a known problem in chocolate making, both white and not... commercially sugar and/or milk powder is mixed in by a process known as conching, where the sugar is mixed into the chocolate by grinding, often for days, to the result is smooth to the tongue.  Many "homemade" confections either start with premade chocolate, or add liquid to dissolve the sugar... which ends up making a fudgelike confection (you have to add other ingredients to prevent the chocolate from seizing, and end with the confection not only softer but with other flavors), some try using butter for its water content.

If the cocoa butter is just melted to or cooled to sludgy, before adding the sugar, the powdered sugar might be folded rather than mixed in and the result cool quickly enough not to settle.  It still may have texture issues, though.

As for the alcohol-based aftertaste, it may be the extracts were too much for the amount of chocolate, or that your particular extracts had a heavier alcoholic taste.  I believe extracts intended for candy making are different from those intended for baking, for this reason among others - they have less liquid, they are rated to higher temperatures, they balanced differently since they are less likely to be mixed into larger volumes to dilute tastes.

Many recipes start with chocolate melting discs, etc, for this reason.  If you really want to make your own, or you want a flavor profile with a higher % cocoa butter and/or less sugar, you might have some success with adding cocoa butter, milk powder, and flavorings to lesser amounts of white chocolate (essentially, you'd just be using it for the amt sugar needed for the larger batch, the cocoa butter and milk powder already there would be "extras").


Garlic peel isn't dangerous to eat. Most people wouldn't want to eat it, since it's pretty papery and can sometimes be a bit tough and fibrous, but I guess if you don't mind, go for it.

There's not really any difference between the outer and inner layers of the peel. The color is just an attribute of certain varieties of garlic; some garlic has that red/purple peel, while other garlic just has white (or off-white/pale brown) peel the whole way through.

If it's only about spending effort to peel, see How do you peel garlic easily? - it's never going to be instant, but it shouldn't be terribly time-consuming either. If it seems like it's adding a significant amount to your cooking prep time, there's probably room for improvement.


Is it possible to make pan roasted garbanzo beans creamy in the center?

I usually serve these as an appetizer, they're so good with a smoky seasoning blend.
Using canned beans is where your process is falling down. Use fresh beans that you soaked and cooked. The age of the beans are the deciding factor between chalk and cream. I like to use a crock pot and all manner of seasonings.
Other things I've found:

Slightly overcook the beans. It makes them softer, and therefore creamier.
Let them drain completely, while still wet dredge with garbanzo flour (or some flour).
Thoroughly dry them on a flat surface.
Fry on pretty high heat using as little oil as possible, and not for very long, either.

Another note:
I usually make two or three large batches of beans every couple of months. I separate the yield out into 1-2 cup servings and freeze them. I have found that beans which were frozen, but not for very long have that delightful creamy center when fried, but not as crisp an exterior.


What's the correct way to garnish with greens?

The key is how you expect the person to eat it.

Some garnishes are not for eating at all - the sprig of mint or entire stalk of rosemary that the eater is expected to just remove and set aside. I don't do this - and plenty of judges on plenty of cooking shows have intoned "never put anything on the plate that I am not supposed to eat" - but if you do, make it as large as possible and just one piece so it's easy to remove.

Assuming I'm supposed to eat it, am I supposed to get a little in each bite? Cut it up small. Am I supposed to get rather a lot in each bite? Leave it bigger. Is it a herb that tastes different chopped than whole? If so, which way do you want it to taste?

If the item is picked up to eat (eg an hors d'oeuvre) then typically you leave the pieces larger so they're less likely to cascade off. Search for images of chive garnish and you'll see tons of teeny little pieces on a tomato salad, and single or double 2" pieces draped across a devilled egg.

Above all, practice and confidence. If you know why you're putting parsley, mint, cilantro or chives on the plate at the last minute, you'll also know what size, how many, and whether they are in one little pile or all over. And when you know all that you'll bring out the plate with confidence.


Does adding turmeric to meat marinade negate the bacterial buildup at room temperature?

From the description in your question it looks like you're from India and Indian cuisine uses its native spices optimally and turmeric is proven to be antibacterial, however:

  How it works is still something of a mystery. The researchers know that curcumin tends to hang out within the bilayer more than in the vesicle’s central space. They suspect that when the sugar on the vesicle surface sticks to the cell wall of a passing bacterium, curcumin migrates into the cell and kills it from the inside.

Now onto the question what you should do: will the marinade be as tasty if you put it in the fridge?  Yes, of course, so both granny and you are correct:

Turmeric is antibacterial (though not a total disinfectant)
Putting the marinade straight into the fridge and leave it to marinade for 2 hours at 5°C will work nearly as well as leaving it out in 20-30°C from a pure taste perspective.

So use the best of both worlds: use granny's herb mix and refrigerate!

P.S. I leave my marinades for 2-24 hours in my fridge and I'm from a much cooler climate than you...
P.P.S. Don't freeze as -21°C will slow down the marination process too much and −273.15°C (absolute zero) will stop it completely!  ;-)


is electricity smell from microwave after metal was put in it mean the microwave is ruined?

No. If the microwave still heats, it's not ruined.
Here's a nice video of the aluminum coating of a CD being burned off by a microwave.
Notice the plasma balls rising to the top of the oven. They'll produce ozone, which has an electrical burning sort of smell.
You can get the same plasma balls using a match or candle. That doesn't wreck the microwave either; makes a heck of a scary sound though.
You can also smelt aluminum, or even silver and iron in your home microwave without damaging the device.
If you make a habit of doing things like this, it's best to have a dedicated oven for the job, as melted plastics, heavy metals, and metal oxides do not mix well with food.

Washing out the microwave's insides should take care of any residual smell for you.


You'll run into another problem when you take the cake out of the fridge -- condensation.

Air will cool when it's near the cake, and the moisture in it will condense on the cake, possibly causing odd dots when you try to blot it dry.  (possibly smearing the icing, or the water could cause problems on decorated cakes with any variations in color)

You have a few options:

Chill the cake unfrosted, and then find another way to get the fluff spreadable.  You might try warming it up in a double boiler.  (note that it might adhere differently to a warm vs. cold cake, though)
Wrap the cake after frosting.  If it's a hard frosting, this isn't too much of a problem.  With your cake, I'd most likely frost it with the fluff, then let that cool.  Before putting it in the fridge, then use a bunch of toothpicks with a blunt end, and put them in every few inches, so you can wrap it in plastic wrap (aka cling film) without the wrap touching the icing.  If you can't find the blunt-end toothpicks, use ones with points on both ends, but cover exposed end with a marshmallow.  As you'll be putting on a second frosting, that will cover up the toothpick holes.  (normally you have to plan the toothpick placement so you can place flowers or other decorations to cover them).  On the day of, take the cake out of the fridge but do not unwrap it until the outside has come back up to near room temperature.

As you're making smaller cakes, if you have a suitably sized cake carrier or other storage container (or find a cake supply store to buy cake boxes), that might be easier than wrapping for #2.


How long can I keep a dough made with powdered skim milk outside the refrigerator at room temp. before it goes bad because of bacteria?

The ingredients (milk) don't matter. You are not storing milk, you are storing dough. So it behaves like dough, not like milk.

Dough is full of yeast (obviously). It fills the ecological niche which would be taken up by pathogenic bacteria in other foods. So, no bacteria can take residence there, regardless of the presence of milk. Treat it like any other dough - you can keep it on the counter as long as you like.

And in general, the shelf life of food is not calculated by the shelf life of its most perishable ingredient.


How to stop sea bass fillets from sticking to foil

Skin side down will work best, as for how to prevent sticking more oil is the way to go. In my experience wax paper (baking paper or baking parchment to some) works better and sticks less. If you really need the foil (say you are cooking over a fire) then using wax paper inside the foil will give you the result you need.


Why do you  slice whole ducks in half when roasting but not for other poultry?

I agree with Jay's answer that one of the reasons is because of keeping the skin crispy, but I don't agree about the difference with other types of poultry and have a bit more background info.

The root difference between duck and other poultry is that duck is much fattier, and most of that fat is stored under the skin. If you don't do anything about the fat, you'll get a bird that will be too greasy to enjoy; and also the skin won't crisp as nicely as, say, chicken skin would with similar preparation, because the skin will be soggy with the fat that's rendering underneath. There are more ways than one to get rid of the fat; a popular one is to steam the duck before you roast it, usually after sticking a fork into the skin a few times so that the rendered fat can get out easily. This seems to be a different solution to the same problem: if you cut the duck in half and put the cut side down (which is the same as putting the skin side up), the fat will have a much easier way out than if you cooked the duck whole.


This is a very crude estimate:

If you have a 1kg chicken cooked straight out of the fridge at 2C to 65C, and assume that the chicken has thermal properties of water (near enough given that it is 70% water give or take), you need roughly 265kJ.

Heat transfer is limited by surface area and thickness of the chicken. If we approximate the chicken as a cylinder with say 150cm length and 10cm diameter, with a total surface area of 628 sq-cm, the average heat transfer rate for the temperature range is around 24W. So, it would take 11,141 seconds (or 186 min or just over 3 hours) to move 265kJ from the water into the chicken to bring it up to 65C.

If the chicken were fully immersed in water without a bag, heat transfer would be much quicker since the cavity will also be filled with hot water and the path length is roughly 1/4 of the bagged chicken. So, expect cooking time to roughly fall by 3/4.

thermal properties assumed: Cp 4.2 J/g/K, conductivity 0.6 J/s/m/K


The leftover yogurt must contain live and active cultures. It does not matter whether the leftover yogurt is sweetened or not.


Google returns some links saying that it is around 7 ounces.
I'd say a big handful of chopped kale would be about it.
But in the case of Kale Chips, you can make as much or as little as you want.


Using baking powder versus self rising flours and corn meal

Baking powder is a mix of a powdered acid and base. It's stable when dry and cool, but in the presence of heat and moisture they will react with each other, creating gas. This gas gets trapped in the structure of a dough or batter as it is baked, causing it to rise.

Self-raising flour has baking powder mixed in it, so when you use self-raising flour you are using baking powder. I suspect your problem comes from one of two things, you either have bad baking powder, or you are using way too much. I would buy fresh baking powder of a different brand, and check to make sure you are using the right amount for your recipes. Check to make sure you have the right measuring equipment. 1 teaspoon (tsp) is 5ml volume, and 1 tablespoon (tbsp) is 15ml. If you added 1 tablespoon instead of 1 teaspoon of baking powder you would get a result exactly as you describe.


Boiled Ribs left in water overnight, parents say its fine to eat

Well, your parents are largely right and also quite wrong on two different things.

Boiling is fairly effective at killing most of the bacteria and all the viruses that can cause "food poisoning", but will not denature some of the toxins produced by some bacteria that can cause illness after consuming. Clostridium species spores are not inactivated by boiling, but are not waterborne and only found in anaerobic conditions such as in the gut of animals. If your dad had spilled gut contents over the the meat before cooking, I would be a little worried, otherwise, not so much.

Assuming that the meat and other ingredients were not contaminated with these bacteria to a significant level before cooking, boiled stocks should be fine on the counter for a overnight after cooking if they are left undisturbed and covered. Depending on the volume in which they were boiled and the ambient temperature, I would be surprised if the boiled meats were below 60 C (generally considered the temperature at which waterborne enteric pathogens are killed) after 2 hours, and as such would be too hot to place in the fridge.

However, they are wrong about the air exposure bit - if the meat/water was exposed (i.e. not in a covered container) to the air overnight, there is a good chance that there will now be some bacteria and yeasts happily growing in the stock produced by boiling meat. Most of these bacteria will not cause illness, but many can cause "food poisoning" and should be treated with caution.


How to prevent minced chicken from sticking and forming a single lump?

The water method works (it keeps the pan from getting above 100°C), but the more generic solution is just to cook it over lower heat, and keep it moving around as it's cooking. (and this works for any ground meat product).

If you let one lump brown too much and form a crust, it'll fuse that bit together.  You then need to break up that bit (I like a spatulas, so just flip over the lump so the browned side is up, and then either squish it or chop at it 'til it's broken down to a smaller size.  Reducing the heat while you're cooking will give you more time to break up lumps before they've fused together.

I generally turn the stove to medium heat, and then add the meat before it's fully pre-heated.  I give it a couple of seconds to brown, then flip the whole blob over and break it up so it's spread throughout the pan ... wait a bit for the bottom to brown again, and then continue flipping and breaking it up.

If you're going to be standing right over the dish, you can use a higher heat, but I generally tend to be doing something else nearby (eg, chopping vegetables) while this is going on, so adjust the heat so it's cooking at a rate where I can get back to it easily.

If you're going to be adding some other chunky item to the minced meat (eg, chopped onion) that won't be impacted from extra cooking time, go ahead and add it after the meat's only partially cooked, as the meat won't stick as well to it as it would to other meat, making it less likely to clump up (or at least easier to break apart should it clump up)