There are three considerations for deciding whether to skin them or not.

Do you like the texture/flavour with the skins on
Do you, or those eating the hummus have dietary reasons to avoid the
skins
How much do you want to make a culturally/regionally 'accurate'
dish.

I, for example, like the texture that the skins add to hummus, but I only mash my chickpeas very roughly with a fork and find the ultra smooth variants texturally unpleasant.

Some people use a food processor to make hummus, which allows for quite a smooth product with the skins still, in though not as silky smooth as with them removed, the flavour may be marginally different.

For some people there will be dietary reasons for using peeled chickpeas, for instance Crohn's' Disease sufferers may tolerate hummus without skins better than with.

More traditionally, a silky smooth texture is prized for hummus and that is achieved by using only the meat of the beans.

What most people get wrong about making hummus
By Maureen Abood

  The most important thing to note about chickpeas is that they have translucent skins. Those skins are the cause of grainy hummus, and they dampen flavor. They have to go.

So essentially, your hummus, your kitchen, your choice.


What is the difference between chocolate flavor cocoa powder and drinking chocolate?

Drinking Chocolate is whole chocolate which will often also contain sugar and milk Solids.
To make cocoa powder you could put the drinking chocolate in a hydrolic press. and the cocoa buter from the chocolate would separate out. and you would be left with what's called a "cake" which you could then smash and sift into cocoa powder.

although cocoa powder would usually be produced before sugar or milk solids were added to the chocolate making process. one would call the unsweetened chocolate mixture "liquor" with is effectively made in the same process nut butter is made.  in the case of chocolate if you let the nut butter like "liquor" fat mass sit to long it would set rock hard into unsweetened chocolate.

for cocoa powder you are simply removing the cocoa Butter and only leaving cocoa powder.
the Chocolate maker can then sell the cocoa Butter for much more than you payed for the powder as there is always a higher demand for cocoa butter, ether in expensive blocks of chocolate or in the case of cadburys they were selling there butter to the cometic industry and replacing it with palm oil for there own chocolate production


Why don't oyster crackers contain oysters?

Given that oyster crackers as we know them were first created in the northeastern United States, I think the most likely hypothesis is that they were intended to be served with oyster stews and clam chowder, which are traditional regional cuisines that would have been quite popular around the same time.  Their size and shape make them easy to add to soups, and that's how they're often served today.


Is there an easy, at-home method to separate the protein from sweet whey powder?

While it is not possible to conclusively say something cannot be done—and perhaps someone will come along who can offer additional insight—I don't think it is practical to separate the protein from sweet whey powder at home.

It is highly likely that the reason the concentrated protein is considerably more expensive per unit weight is because it is difficult and energy intensive to separate from the whey, and doing so requires expensive capital equipment that must be paid for.

In researching how this is done, I found the following sources:

See this transcript from NPR, which explains the industrial process required to separate the protein from the sugars in whey.  It involves industrial type filters, and considerable equipment.  Admittedly, some of that is due to the scale of the plant which would not apply at home, but the process is only feasible due to the scale of the plant.

According to NIH, a centrifuge is nearly always required, which is not typical home equipment:

  The first step in a typical protein-purification scheme is
  centrifugation. The principle behind centrifugation is that two
  particles in suspension (cells, organelles, or molecules), having
  different masses or densities will settle to the bottom of a tube at
  different rates. Remember, mass is the weight of a sample (measured in
  grams), whereas density is the ratio of its weight to volume
  (grams/liter). Proteins vary greatly in mass but not in density. The
  average density of a protein is 1.37 g/cm3. Unless a protein has an
  attached lipid or carbohydrate, its density will not vary by more than
  15 percent from this value.


Personally I find frozen or canned is usually much better quality taste and texture wise to the fresh cobs. Good quality canned/frozen sweet corn is picked and frozen/canned within hours of picking whereas cobs in the market could easily be over a week old by the time you get it home.

So yes, you can easily substitute canned/frozen for fresh.

Same goes for peas.


Sous-Vide shrimp, minimum time and temp for safety?

From Douglas Baldwin's sous vide guide :

  Fish intended for immune compromised individuals or for cold holding (i.e., cook-chill) should be pasteurized for at least the times in Table 3.1 (to achieve 6D reduction of Listeria monocytogenes). While such a pasteurization will reduce all non-spore forming pathogens and parasites to a safe level, it will not reduce the risk of HAV or norovirus infection from shellfish. Since a 4D reduction of HAV in molluscan shellfish requires holding at an internal temperature of 194°F (90°C) for 1.5 minutes, the risk of viral contamination is best controlled through proper sanitation and hygiene (National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Food, 2008). Since the spores of non-proteolytic C. botulinum are not inactivated by pasteurization, the fish should be stored at below 38°F (3.3°C) for no more than three to four weeks.

And then gives tables for pasteurization.  I'd assume it'd fall under 'lean fish' if we assume that shrimp and fish are similar (as only crabmeat is singled out in the FDA's Fish and Fishery Products
Hazards and Controls Guidance), and use the value for the temperature desired and the size of the shrimp at their widest point.


Contrary to what several folks have said, garlic is not crushed primarily to help peel the skin. For example, garlic can be peeled easily with the clove intact, by cutting the small hard circular bottom of the clove (the part that's attached to the base, opposite to the pointy end). This will help loosen the skin, which should then come off very easily or will separate if you gently slide the blade of your knife in and loosen it.
While it certainly is true that crushing helps separate the skin, making it easier to peel (perhaps some folks might do it for that reason at home), that isn't the reason why professional cooks do it or the reason why recipes suggest it.
Why crush garlic?
Garlic is primarily crushed to release its oils, which in turn infuses subtly different flavours to the dish than if you didn't crush. Joe's comment above explains the chemical reaction:

... within the garlic cells are alliin and alliinase, which when combined, form allicin, which is the 'strong' flavor ...

You might also find this article from the Washington Post, where the author talks about the art of cooking with crushed garlic in Italian restaurants, a really good read. Specifically, the author addresses some of these key points which are very relevant here.
1. Crushed vs. Minced
From basic physics, something that is broken up into several tiny bits has a much larger total surface area than the whole intact piece. Since the oils extrude from the cut surface, it stands to reason that minced garlic will release them sooner and readily, often leading to a more pungent taste than desired.
In addition, minced garlic can be quite temperamental and you might often end up over cooking/burning.  As the author notes:

In its customary minced or chopped form, garlic can impart a pungent flavor that is difficult to harness. Add it too early to a sauté or stew and garlic burns and becomes acrid. Add it in the latter stages of cooking and the garlic steams or boils, leaving it raw-tasting and unpleasant.

On the other hand, slightly crushed garlic is more versatile and heat tolerant.

Left whole and partially smashed (just enough to release its powerful oils), garlic adapts to a range of high-heat techniques, cooking steadily and lending a mellow richness to a dish.

2. Usage in dishes
Crushed garlic is pretty standard in several Italian dishes. The advantage of having one or two large crushed pieces (in addition to those mentioned above) is that you can easily remove them from the dish once you're satisfied with the aroma/taste of the dish. This can be extremely annoying to do with minced garlic.
Some of the dishes that are enhanced by using crushed garlic are:

In [roasts, stews, quick meals and stir-fries], smashed garlic cloves are remarkably flexible, absorbing high heat and in turn giving off subtle but substantial flavor.

What happens when you crush?
To answer why crushing garlic works, let me quote a bit from a good answer to the very popular question on chopping onions (since we all understand onions better):

The enzymes and amino acids involved in producing the Onion Lachrymatory Factor (seriously!) are normally contained in the cells, and only become a problem when released in volume. Using a sharper knife will avoid mangling cell walls, creating more clean separations between layers, and reducing the amount of enzymes released.

Garlic, along with onions, shallots and leeks belong to the group of plants (genus) called Allium and being very closely related, the above is more or less true.
Indeed, it makes sense that if you want large volumes of oils/enzymes, you'd do exactly the opposite of the above advice, which is to crush it and break all the cell walls! This also aids in the mixing of the chemicals per Joe's comment above. Note that although a large volume is "released" or ready to be released due to the crushed cell walls, they make their way to the dish slowly because of the smaller surface area.


The answer is yes, sugars (including glucose) will affect the crumb of your bread. It will diminish the gluten formation and make the bread softer, it will cause the yeast to be more active since the yeast eats sugar (so the bread may rise more and/or faster), it will help the crust brown (the Maillard reaction is the browning of sugar and proteins), and it will sweeten the bread.

Dry sugar vs syrup makes no difference in terms of the effect of the sugar, but keep in mind that with syrup you're also adding liquid. This small addition of liquid probably makes little or no difference as it won't substantially change the hydration. Also, syrup (depending on when and how added) will probably absorb more easily than granulated sugar, depending on the size of the sugar granules (e.g. table sugar vs caster sugar vs. confectioner's sugar).


In order:

No. It's possible, though not especially common, for a dead mussel to be stuck closed; they'll likely open with very little resistance.
Most likely yes. The main issue with eating dead mussels is that it's an indication they've been poorly cared for; you can't know how long they've been dead or how fresh they are. In your case, you know with reasonable certainty that they were alive until very recently so they're still fairly fresh.
No. Mussels open when cooked in order to "breathe"; the excessive heat overwhelms them and they're trying to vent a little bit (which cruelly just seals their fate, but we as cooks benefit). If they're dead, they won't have this reflex and they won't open on their own. As alluded to above, most of them will be partially open already.

I would still cook them, but do a couple things to be as safe as possible:

Cook them without further delay, within a few hours if possible. Any dead mussels will start to go south faster than live, since they're no longer respirating.
Discard any mussels that don't open after cooking. Chances are these were among the small contingent who stayed closed after death and you don't know exactly how long they've been toast. Better to play it safe and accept the loss; besides which, it's a bit of a chore getting them opened up when you've got plenty of their conveniently open brethren ready to eat.


It really shouldn't be a problem.  A thick-walled bowl is usually preferred to help maintain an even rising temperature.  As long as it is food-safe, you keep it in a draft-free area, and it remains at a consistent temperature, you should be fine.


Are you oiling them before roasting?  Also, you mention peeling, but not cutting it up vs. roasting it whole.

I cut mine into chunks (maybe 1"/2.5cm), a toss in oil, and roast in a fairly hot oven (375 to 425F / 190 to 220C) to try to get the outside to get some browning.


Why the overlap in peanut and tree nut allergies?

So from this - http://content.karger.com/produktedb/produkte.asp?typ=pdf&file=IAA2003131004234 - it sounds like they both share IgE-reactive (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immunoglobulin_E) epitopes.

  Both native and recombinant nut allergens have been identified and characterized and, for some, the IgE-reactive epitopes described. Some allergens, such as lipid transfer proteins, profilins, and members of the Bet v 1-related family, represent minor constituents in tree nuts. These allergens are frequently cross-reactive with other food and pollen homologues, and are considered panallergens. Others, such as legumins, vicilins, and 2S albumins, represent major seed storage protein constituents of the nuts.


cooked corned beef, "potted meats". preservation

Traditionally, meats preserved in this fashion were cooked with lots of fat, then the entire dish was cooled quickly to allow the fat to rise to the top and solidify, creating a seal that kept out pathogens.  The entire dish, pot and all were then buried in a hole in the yard.

Although it is certainly possible to do something similar today, I would recommend instead following modern food preparation practices.  Cook in small batches that are cooled in the fridge (small batches to allow the dish to chill quickly and not overwhelming the fridge's cooling ability).  Then keep the dish in the fridge.

In the end, this means keeping the dish in the fridge and not in a hole in the yard, which in my mind takes away a lot of the appeal of this method.  However, modern practice helps prevent food poisoning, so there's that.


Hello fellow cooker :) ,
by description

Butter:
Most frequently made from cow's milk, butter can also be manufactured from the milk of other mammals, including sheep, goats, buffalo, and yaks. Salt (such as dairy salt), flavorings (such as garlic) and preservatives are sometimes added to butter. Rendering butter, removing the water and milk solids, produces clarified butter or ghee, which is almost entirely butterfat. wiki
Margarine:
Whereas butter is made from the butterfat of milk, modern margarine is made mainly of refined vegetable oil and water, and may also contain milk. In some places in the United States, it is colloquially referred to as oleo, short for oleomargarine.2 In Britain it can be referred to colloquially as marge. wiki

So with margarine, brownies will be "lighter" and not so rich as with butter because it has not the same "fat" as butter.
That's also from personal experience as i make brownies with margarine.

Baking with butter has two major advantages over other fats:
1. Flavour. Shortenings are flavorless, but butter has a smoother and more desirable flavour, adding more taste to baking and pastries.
2. Melting qualities. Butter melts in the mouth. Shortenings or lards do not. After eating pastries or icings made with shortening, you might find and unpleasant film or coating in your mouth. searched

EDIT: i really forgot to answer the primary question "Is margarine necessary for my brownies?"... the Answer is yes and no. it's all about what you like the most! Except this consider that the cooking art is all about a try/failure duo and a little bit of "alchemy" (i like this terminology :D )


Is there a difference between chicken broth made with breast vs. leg meat and why?

It's also a matter of palate and preference. Some simply don't care for dark meat at all, much less boiled on the bone. For some it has a bitter, or even metallic aftertaste.

Breasts are lean cuts with a rather mild flavor. They don't contain nearly as much fat, and are far more susceptible to overcooking. Thus, a broth made with breast meat is going to be much milder in flavor (especially if you intend to eat the poached breast).

The more a muscle is actually used during the life of the animal, the more flavor it's generally going to have. This is because of enzymes and acids that maintained the muscle while the chicken was living and then started to break down the meat once the chicken was slaughtered. You also have bones, which have marrow, which holds quite a bit of flavor. Thighs are one of the fattiest parts of a chicken. So yes, the flavor is a bit more intense.

I don't use either in my stock, I buy our chickens whole and break them down to individual cuts (the price of the sum of the parts of a chicken sold individually is usually higher than the price of a whole chicken). This gives me the carcas, which is mostly skin, scraps, feet, neck, back, bones and cartilage. It creates something with a jello-like consistency due to the gelatin in the bones.

I boil then simmer them for several hours, skim any impurities off the top, chill the stock and then remove the layer of fat that rose to the surface and solidified. This becomes the base of my broth since it doesn't have the aftertaste some want to avoid. I then poach cubed breast meat if I want chicken soup, or use it as a braising liquid if I want to stew some legs and thighs.

So if you know everyone eating loves dark meat, use dark meat, it's delicious! If you want to have a sort of neutral base that you can go either way with, just use the carcass, including as a base for something made with just white meat.


Can vegetable juices stop bread from rising?

I wish that I knew whether you are trying to make a hokkaido milk bread, or an Ayurvedic-bread-bomb with a basic white bread recipe...like this :http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/white-bread-easy-white-bread/

I am going to answer this like you're making a more nutrient-dense plain white bread.

There are probably a combination of things going on in your veggie-slurry with respect to either pH or bioactive compound inhibition, and possibly with stability of bubbles formed(if any) in the dough.
 It would be useful to know if the dough or slurry exhibited any yeast activity...small bubbles...something? I am also assuming that you are using Saccharomyces cerevisiae for yeast.

A pH less than 4 can inhibit activity in bread yeast strains.  Get a pH reading of your veggie maceration prior to adding it to the yeast. ** consider using a sourdough starter yeast mix, if for no other reason than variety...yay bacillus!
Some of the bioactive compounds in your veggies could be impacting the yeasts function.
Evans et al notes in their research that linoleic acid hydroperoxide, a result of the linoleic acid in the plant fats undergoing free-radical oxidation (happens when exposed to light or heat) is toxic to Saccharomyces cerevisiae even in small amounts

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC106912/

Cauo et al found that in EtOH fermentation, carbonyl compounds like pyrogallol aldehyde and o-phthaldehyde inhibited the glucose to ethanol conversion activity.  My personal feeling is that some inhibition is occuring due to a larger presence of those active compounds from the veggies.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24401115

On that phenolic note...Marjorie Murphy Cowan in her review of plants as anti-microbial agents mentions that hydroxylated phenols are toxic to microbes(more hydroxylated the phenol is, the more toxic it is to microbes) through non-specific protein interactions and oxidized phenolic reactions with sulfhydryl groups.
http://cmr.asm.org/content/12/4/564.full
 All that said, look up phenolic compound distributions for each of the extra tasty veggies you used and see how many are hydroxylated and to what extent. Pubmed is your friend.
Sideline, the catechol and some of other hydroxylated phenols are thought to act as quarum sensing molecules which are detected by the yeast when there are peroxides being generated(like an overcrowding signal that the yeast use to "talk" to one another).  Because of that, I also wonder whether a huge load of those phenols might stop or "fake out" the yeast before they got going.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3716134/

Lastly, your dough may not be holding bubbles formed by the yeast.  If any of the little bugs are up and working, is there perchance an ungodly amount of fat in it to block their effective action?
Try treating your veggie slurry with some GS transglutaminase to see if the enzyme action will help with the bubble stability.  The enzyme is inhibited at low pH's, so watch out for that.


Tarragon, basil, oregano, thyme, savory, and sage are the ones that I'm most inclined to use in their dried form.  Generally the more resinous and strongly scented they are fresh, the better they'll be in dry form.

Rosemary will hold its flavor dry but unless you're going to grind the dry product it's like eating pine needles.  I prefer fresh rosemary instead.


If it's okay for it to be warm, just heat it a bit in the microwave. (You could also use a double boiler, or even just carefully use a pot, but it's extra effort.)

If you don't want it to be hot, you probably want to try to incrementally mix in some other ingredient from the recipe. If you do it all at once it's difficult to get it mixed evenly, but if you add a bit at a time, it'll slowly thin and you can keep mixing well.


What is the fastest way / highest temp you made duck confit?

If you're looking into cheats for duck confit, this might be the grandest:

Simply dousing the duck with oil after cooking is some shortcut that apparently some world class chefs couldn't tell the difference:

  Based on taste tests run by Nathan Myhrvold and his Modernist Cuisine
  team, this             appears to be the case: “We performed this
  experiment with duck confit and pork carnitas. In each case, we
  prepared one batch traditionally and made a second batch by cooking
  the meat sous-vide or steaming it. We then anointed it with oil (duck
  fat for duck, pork fat for pork).

Excerpt From: Ferriss, Timothy. “The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life.”

Tim has a fake-confit recipe to match the above.  Even if you don't use the recipe (i recommend the book), just knowing the above might help you in your quest.

The recursive quote within Tim's book is from page 129 of Vol.2 of Modernist Cuisine. While they actually do the opposite (Sous-vide for 48hrs) of your goal, what's important here is that frying the duck in oil doesn't impart flavour beyond the skin.  So once you have a cooked duck and then pan fry with oil, you're cheat is nearly complete.

a note about the skin if you've brined the duck with skin, the salt will make the skin hold more water and become chewy.  A trick is to inject the brine into the meat using syringes.


Let me try to at least start this one off…
Your recipe, as it stands, isn't bad for the finalisation stage of the curry, but what you are seriously missing is the base sauce.
The base sauce has all your depth, & a fair proportion of your texture & mouth-feel. Your 'tweaks' are just what is needed to get the chicken right at the end. It's just the add-on segment.
BTW, some of the 'sour' could be coming from your marinade - yoghurt & lemon.
BIR chicken curry is not marinated. The only marinated chicken is tikka.
You need to start 6 - 8 hours earlier.
Your actual ingredients are really the least important part of this, it's the method & time spent simmering that makes all the difference.
Start by par-boiling onions. Then puree them. Then get your bhuna or bhogar going [this is either wet or dry spices, depending on result required. Wet is easier to get right, but needs a good amount of oil, you can't skimp the oil/ghee - whenever you think you've got too much… add some more. Garlic/ginger purée can go in now, 2 mins, then, if you're going the tomato purée route, add now. If you're going with canned, wait til after your onions are at a simmer. Then fry your onion purée in your spice blend.
Once your onions start to go in, a bit at a time, whack the heat right up [watch out, they spit]. This is a bit of a 'be careful' moment. You don't want to burn your spice blend, but you need to caramelise the onions. Once you get a good bit of caramelisation going, drop the heat & simmer.
That is your absolute basic sauce starter. Give it at least 4 hours, preferably more. Think of it as a stock pot. Season to taste after maybe an hour, when it's settled enough to gauge accurately. You can tweak towards the end, so don't go overboard.
Done this way your onions & oil are your sauce base. You won't need to add any additional water. Can of tomatoes is as far as I'd go for additional liquid. I wouldn't dream of adding stock cubes to it. It doesn't need it.
If you want actual onion chunks for texture at the end, that's what your quick-cook does. What it doesn't do is give the sauce anything to stand on.
I'd probably get the Kashmiri chilli in at the initial sauce stage. tbh, I usually use pre-ground Kashmiri mirch, which is a fabulous colour-booster without adding much in the way of heat. It's a bit like paprika in that respect.
If you want the rehydrated chilli chunks/whole vibe [which certainly can work nicely] then save the whole ones until your later stage & use ground in the base.
...and leave out the passata & stock in your 'tweak' sauce. They're not helping. A tablespoon of purée, fried into your onion/spice blend, will give you the tomato addition that a 'Brit madras' needs.
When you get to the point you'd add your stock - that's when your base sauce goes in instead.
Your garam masala can go in twice - once to your base sauce, then again at the end. The long vs short cook on these aromatics will give you depth plus top notes.
Late notes after other answers & comments [includes some sweeping generalisations].
There's no colour on the chicken in a madras, other than what it picks up from the sauce. It's boiled, not fried. In a restaurant it's often pre-boiled in a simple spice blend, then cooled, so it can be dropped in the last 2 minutes to a take-away order. If you want pre-cooked/charred edge, you order tikka madras.
It's always chicken breast, skinned & off the bone, no dark meat. That's the way the Brits wanted it originally, that's what it became.
Unless you order tikka, it is not marinated at all, it's just boiled in spices from fresh.
Although I imagine it can happen in some takeaways, MSG is not needed to get a curry right.
Coconut is for Southern Indian dishes, not Northern Indian/Pakistani, which is where 'BIR' originated.
If you want a totally different experience, including coconut, pandan & curry leaves, try Sri Lankan. It's fabulous. That's actually my preferred home curry style, partly because it's the one I can do better than any restaurant I've ever eaten in. My madras is not quite as spectacular, but it's still pretty good ;)
Quick list of spices I'd envision in the sauce base
Cumin
Coriander
Turmeric
Garam Masala
Kashmiri mirch [if you can't find that, paprika will just about do instead]
Red chilli powder of any type, cayenne-like, depending on intensity required]
Fenugreek [ground seed]
… & then the ones missing from above
Cardamom
Cloves
Garlic powder - it's a BIR thing, different taste to fresh, which should be in too]
Asafoetida - gives a kind of sweet onion taste [smells revolting until it cooks in]
Black pepper - vital, different kind of hot to chilli
Methi - dried fenugreek leaves [totally different to seeds]
That's your basic - anything else will become dish-variant & go in your final cook.


Used too much lemon juice in Mediterranean salad

Might as well make this an official answer --

The easiest way to deal with too much of an acidic liquid, when there aren't any other liquids involved is to simply drain it, and see how it is.  If you don't have a suitably sized strainer or colander, you can use a slotted spoon to transfer the salad to another bowl while leaving the liquid behind.

If it's still too acidic after that, if it's in a colander or strainer you can try giving it a shake to get more liquid off ... although it might end up crushing the tomatoes.

You can also try rinsing the acid off -- you can use water, but it can mute the flavors and you may have to then drain it again and try adding back in some acid.  An easier approach is to use a lemon-lime (or other citrus) soda -- it has some acid, the citrus taste, but also some sugar to help balance out the acid.

... and failing all that, you can take Paparazzi's suggestion and add something with some fat in it -- olive oil or cheese can help to balance out the acidity.  (although we're usually working the other way -- acid to brighten up heavier fatty foods)


Your brisket was undercooked, not overcooked. At the temperatures you stated, rule of thumb for brisket cooking time is about 1.25-1.5 hours per pound. Convection may drop that down a tad. A 7.5 pound brisket should be cooked for at least 8 hours, and could be closer to 10 or so.

The cuts of meat that are designated as "barbecue" meats are generally full of connective tissue. You put it through a long, low-temperature cooking process to render down that tissue, which will both tenderize and moisturize the meat. Undercooked barbecue will often be mischaracterized as "dry," because the amount of chewing required on the meat robs the mouth of saliva. Properly-cooked brisket will slice easily, and a slice should easily pull apart when gently tugged with two hands. This is not a steak, so the sensibilities you would apply to cooking a steak go out the window. A brisket has only just BEGUN to break down its connective tissues when it reaches what would be regarded as "Well Done." It is not likely done from a quality perspective until the internal temperature of the meat has reached at least 190f.

Next time, budget a cooking time 1.5 hours per pound. If it is finished sooner, wrap it in foil and towels, and leave it to rest in a cooler. It will safely keep that way for up to four hours, and a long rest will result in a better product anyway. Start checking the internal temperature of the meat about halfway through your budgeted time. At around 165f, wrap the brisket in foil, pouring some beef broth into the wrap, and return it to your oven. Start checking for doneness at about 75% of the cooking timeline you have laid out. You should be able to slide a probe in and out of your brisket easily, with just a small amount of resistance. That is when you know it is done. Not by time, not by internal temperature, but in the tactile clues provided by the meat. You can optionally take the brisket back out of the foil when you think your are close to being done, in order to give yourself a better bark. When you are confident the meat is done, rest in a cooler (using the aforementioned foil/towel treatment) for at least an hour.

When you are ready to slice your brisket, be sure to SLICE ACROSS THE GRAIN. This will serve as another tenderness aid. You should also reserve the jus that is generated, and pour it over your brisket slices. This should enhance your success with making a brisket.


What can I use instead of cornstarch in Turkish Delight?

Both the corn starch and cream of tartar are used for thickening in this case. You could try potato or tapioca starch; from my own experience and experiments, however, potato starch creates a very unusual, stretchy consistency. Tapioca starch would most likely produce better results than potato starch.

As for the cream of tartar, you can substitute each teaspoon of cream of tartar for three teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice, according to this other Stack Exchange question.


What Tea leaves are used in Kashmiri Pink tea

Kashmiri tea leaves OR pure green tea leaves

克什米爾茶葉或純綠茶葉

克什米尔茶叶或纯绿茶叶


As you probably know, volkornbrot and similar breads are designed to bake at a lower temperature for a longer time.  240 C sounds way too high to me.  150-180 C should be about right, and leave the bread in for a long time (up to 3 hours), until the loaf starts to pull away from the sides of the pan.  Even after this baking process, because the bread batter is much wetter than a standard bread, you should not slice or eat the bread until it has had time to cool and "rest," about 24 hours.  If you slice it right away, the heat and moisture escape and the inside is still doughy/raw. If you wait, the moisture will have time to distribute throughout the loaf and the inside will firm up.  Just be patient!  The benefit is that the loaf should last for a very long time wrapped in plastic, especially if you put the unused portion in the fridge.


You can add a little bit of sugar to your onions while cooking them; this will help them get caramelized faster. (or at least get some caramel flavors).

But you will need to check them often in order not to burn the sugar too much.


Yes you can...by volume. You'll definitely need to pack the brown sugar. The taste will be different (obviously) and the weight will be slightly different as well, but it'll work. Mind you, brown sugar does not dissolve the way white sugar does, so you may get some crunching if you don't combine it with your wet ingredients first.

Don't substitute by weight. Brown sugar weighs more.


What is the secret to baking bread with a very fine crumb?

A couple of things will help give you smaller holes:

Keep the hydration reasonably low (say, 60% with American-style bread flour).
Use some oil or butter. Try 10% (baker's ratio).
Knead very well, something like 10–15 minutes in a stand mixer.
After the first rise, normally you try to be gentle, and not press out all the air. Don't. Instead, press it out.
Bake in a moderate (say, 350°F) oven. You don't particularly want much oven spring here.

For even finer texture, part way through the second rise, you can press it out again, and let it start a third rise (but not to double).

Also, adding some whole wheat or rye flour will give a denser crumb. With different flavor, too, of course.


Firm risotto using generic rice. Is it possible?

From my answer on another question (that justkt linked in the comments):

http://www.cooksillustrated.com/tastetests/overview.asp?docid=13283

  Arborio rice, the classic choice for risotto, contains roughly 19 to 21 percent amylose. However, that is not the only difference. The desirable "bite" in risotto is due to a defect in Arborio rice called chalk. During maturation, the starch structures at the grain's core deform, making for a firm, toothy center when cooked.

Sorry, but for the best risotto, you really need an appropriate rice.


Yeast does not feed on water, it feeds on carbohydrates, i.e. sugar and flour.

If you got the impression that it feeds on water, it might be because you used dried yeast, which is basically dormant yeast that gets reactivated by the water.

If you use lukewarm water alone to activate your yeast, it feeds on the food remains from the growing medium, if you add a pinch or two of sugar (not too much!), you will see more vigourous bubbling.

Yeast has two types of metabolism, aerobic (with oxygen present) and anaerobic (without oxygen). Both metabolize sugar and create CO2 (the bubbles), the aerobic one also produces water, the anaerobic alcohol (think about wine, for example). The latter is also the predominant process in baking.

For a more kid-friendly explanation, which mine loved:

  Yeast eats sugar and burps CO2. Those bubbles get trapped in the dough and make it fluffy.

A few links with kid-oriented material and experiments:

http://sciencewithme.com/what-is-yeast/
http://redstaryeast.com/science-yeast/what-is-yeast/
http://redstaryeast.com/science-yeast/yeast-experiments/
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/watch-yeast-live-breathe/
http://www.kidsdiscover.com/teacherresources/science-of-yeast-for-kids/


What is this leafy green with a sharp taste, and how do I safely use/cook it?

From the photo & description of the leave look & feel, these sound like green wave mustard--a variety of mustard greens with curly leaves.
Mustard greens have a "spicy" or peppery taste, which also seems to align with your experience.
Mustard greens can be safely eaten raw or cooked. It can be a raw salad ingredient, or be sauteed, braised, grilled, etc. Because of the assertive flavor, some people find it best when mixed with other leafy greens to balance out that spiciness you describe.


Is it okay to put baking powder in Yorkshire Pudding batter?

Yorkshire puddings rise because of the eggs in them. This means that the mixture for you Yorkshire puddings needs heat to rise So if your oven is not hot enough, they won't rise as much as you want. So here are some tips:

-make sure your oven is hot before putting your puddings in

-Don't open the oven while cooking your puddings

-I always pre heat the muffin trays before I use them.

So you put your mixture in a hot muffin tray (or something els you use), put the hot muffin tray in a hot oven, and don't open the oven anymore before the cooking time is over. So I won't use baking powder, I first try it by making sure the heat is there.

Note that of course every oven is different and so you might need a couple of time before have the right temperature. Also I recommend this site for more information about Yorkshire puds: http://www.hub-uk.com/tallyrecip03/recipe0124.htm


Is my pan too hot for brown sauce / gravy?

The solution is very simple.

Fry steak
Saute onions
Remove from stove, wait a minute or two
Melt butter, add flour
Season with heat insensitive stuff (e.g. salt)
Add stock
Return to stove
Let simmer for a couple of minutes
Season with heat sensitive stuff (e.g. fresh tarragon)

Assuming that you are frying your steak below the carb charring temp of ~190°C, the minutes spent away from the heat and the heat spent to warm the butter and the flour will change the mixture's temperature to something much more maneageble, below the smoking point of butter (roughly 150°C). It will still stay above 100°C, but the steam building won't be too terrible. It is normal to prepare roux at above 100°C.

As for the damage, I don't think that we know it. I asked about it once, but no answer was complete enough to accept. See How does thermal shock affect pans made of different materials? for details. Still, I don't use coated pans (PTFE or this "diamond" stuff) for deglazing. The 400° proof ceramic coated ones could be safer, but I still find steel better for this application.


Why is there a sheet of paper in packages of minced meat?

The paper isn't for you. It's for the robots.
Packaged ground meat like that is ground, portioned, and packaged automatically. The blocks of ground meat are formed by extruding them into an endless strip which is chopped into blocks and moved around on conveyor belts. To prevent the meat from adhering to the belts or falling between them, the strip is formed on a roll of waxed paper, which is sliced with the rest of the meat and remains on the bottom of the blocks through the remainder of the processing. It's not important to remove the paper, so they don't bother.
You can see an example of the technique at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPRea1f8sg4 .


Yogurt whey cannot be used to make ricotta.

With most cheeses, including mozzarella, the milk isn't boiled. The casein proteins are bound up with some of the lactose and almost all the fat to make the curd. The whey for such cheeses contains the rest of the lactose, tons of vitamin B, and almost all the albumin.

The albumin proteins are water soluble when they haven't been denatured. They also denature at a higher temperature than the casein does. Therefore, they almost all wash out of the curd with the whey. Bringing mozzarella whey to a (almost) boil denatures the albumin which precipitates out and can be strained to make ricotta.

When making yogurt the milk is heated to 190 or higher and then cooled. This is precisely to denature the albumin. The extra protein gives the yogurt a lot more structure.

However it means that there is no protein left in the whey- mostly lactose, lactic acid, and vitamin B.


Differences/Similarities between cinnamon and nutmeg

Try to remember where you read that. And then don't read them anymore.

If you find your nutmeg and cinnamon tasting at all similar, they've both turned to dust and should be discarded.

And next time, buy whole nutmeg - it tastes much better freshly-grated, and keeps much longer without turning into vaguely-spicy-bitter dust.


Unless you've made a typo, you should brown at least part of the bacon.  Browned bacon will add a great flavor that goes great with both beans and chicken.  Keep the bacon fat and just stir it in as well.  Just the beans and bacon is good.  If you're going for more of a baked beans type flavor, add some brown sugar and ketchup as well.

If the chicken is the star and this is supposed to be a whole meal, you need some kind of starch.  Given the chicken marinade and the beans, it sounds like it needs some rice or corn.  You could make a little rice pilaf, or put the rice in with the beans.  Creamed corn would also taste good with this, but the texture may not contrast with the beans enough.  Maybe a cornbread.


How to protect roasted coffee powder from degrading during daily use?

In all truthfulness, the fact that you buy coffee grounds instead of whole coffee beans is the biggest culprit.

Here's a list of things to consider:

By whole beans
Grind immediately before use, not the night before, not an hour before, but immediately before brewing.
Keep in air tight container, and store in a dark place. Do not put them in the freezer, as they are subject to freezer burn, and long exposure to cool temperatures can effect the flavor.
By from a roaster. Roasters roast daily, and you'll likely get a batch that's no older than 2-3 days, often times you'll get beans roasted that day or the day before.

You can see how fresh your beans are when you initially add hot water to the grounds. Fresh beans will produce lots of foam, as they still have lots of CO2 left in them from the roasting process.

Some things to note when grinding beans at home are the type of grinder you use. Blade grinders will not provide a consistent grind, the grounds will be a varying sizes, and this affects extraction more than you'd think. For the record, no coffeeshop(not even the dinner down the street) use a blade grinder. Make sure to have a Burr Grinder, or a Hand Mill grinder. These will provide you with a consistent grind.

A few burr grinders that I've known to work well:

Hario Ceramic Coffee Mill Skerton

The first burr grinder that I owned. I used to brew single cups and didn't want to spend the $100+ to get an automatic burr grinder. It works really well, but I got sick of grinding coffee by hand every morning for 2 years.

Capresso Infinity Conical Burr Grinder

Pretty standard automatic burr grinder. Its in the lower price range, but it works well.

Baratza Encore

This one gets lots of hype in the coffee community, mostly because its relatively cheap, and it has a wide range of grind settings.

Baratza Virtuoso

A set up from the Encore model.

It depends on what you're willing to spend for a grinder. If you really want to get into coffee I'd start with the Baratza Encore. If you just want a automatic grinder the Capresso Infinity might be for you. If all the other options are too expensive the Hario Coffee Mill works great.


It is a joke. Coconut curry tapenade with toast points is ridiculous to begin with, and it is intended to be funny that a big burly man craves something that is supposed to sound dainty? or elegant?

I'm sure you can quite possibly make a dish and call it this. However, I can't imagine olives, coconut milk, and curry tasting very good.


Achieving perfection via manual drip-brew coffee method

Background
The manual drip technique (AKA "filtercone brewing") and an automatic drip-brewer are very similar; both involve pouring water through a conical filter into a vessel.  The difference is that an automatic drip-brewer maintains consistent and hopefully ideal conditions, so when you drip-brew manually, you are essentially trying to recreate the environment inside an automatic drip-brewer.
Much of the following is derived from sweetmarias.com - my constant source for coffee information.
Customizing your coffee
The most important variables in terms of how much they affect the end result also happen to be easily isolated variables that you can control simply with tools.  They are:

Temperature of the water
The best temperature is when the water is just coming to a boil, around 200° F or 93.3° C.  An automatic drip-brewer will generally maintain a temperature of between 195° F and 205° F.
Water that is too cold won't extract enough of the oils and will give you flat, flavorless coffee.  Water that is too hot will extract a lot of the proteins and give you very bitter coffee.
This is simple to control for; just use a thermometer, or learn how to recognize when the water is just about to boil.

Coarseness of the coffee
The grind (obviously, a fresh grind especially) is important here, as it is with any distillation method. What you need to remember is that you are matching the temperature and pressure of extraction.
For high pressure extraction (espresso), uniformly fine grind is preferred to ensure that the water does not shoot past the puck too quickly. For lower pressure methods (i.e. manual drip), you want a medium grind to ensure that the water passes easily but not too quickly.
Again, this is simple to control for; just use a good, reliable coffee grinder.

Ratio of water to coffee grounds
This is mainly a matter of personal preference.  Figure out what you like, but ensure that this is the final variable you are isolating. Use a measuring spoon, start at 8 grams (about 1 rounded tablespoon) per 5 oz water, and start experimenting from there.

Improving your consistency
Once you've dealt with the obvious factors above, proper technique becomes essential to improving on the consistency of your brewing process.  You'll want to watch out for:

Steady heat during the pour
Depending on the material your filter cone is made of, it may take a while to heat up, which means that initially the water will lose heat to the cone and become too cold before it passes through the coffee.
You can compensate for this by pre-heating the cone.  Use hot water for this; don't use the microwave, especially if it's a plastic cone.
Ceramic cones are more heat-stable than plastic, but will take longer to heat up, so it's more important to pre-heat them.  You probably don't need this stability because the water shouldn't be in the cone for too long - unless you're brewing a full pot. Most pour-overs should really only be for about 20 ounces of coffee.

Pour Time
The best automatic coffee makers have a sprinkle head and pour out over a deliberately extended period of time, as opposed to shoving the coffee through in a rush. This is because you are trying to extract flavor as thoroughly as possible, and quick is not thorough.
Maintain a slow, steady pour.  Trickling is less effective since it will cause an uneven leaching from the grinds, so be wary of this.  Submerging is even less effective because you will lose heat from your water as it sits there.  This is probably the most important part of a good brewing technique.
It should take 4-5 minutes, pouring evenly over all the grinds, to extract a full 10 cup pot. Hopefully your arm is strong or you're only doing 1 cup.
More practically, you will want to refer to this chart on specific infusion times: For example, for a #4 filter, and 20 ounces of coffee, you will want to spend 2 minutes and 30 seconds on the infusion (they recommend 32g or ~4 rounded Tbsp of coffee).

Wetting the filter
This applies when your filter falls down (as wetting it keeps it up) - not a big problem with conical filters. That said, in some cases rinsing off your filter is preferred in the event that your filter gives an off-flavor. I personally have never encountered this with unbleached filters.

Wetting the grounds
There are two schools of thought on this.  Some say to do it, others say not to do it because it locks up the oils or stales the coffee when done too far in advance.
In the case of a straight pour over filter, non-vacuum, sweetmarias.com recommends "blooming the coffee 15-30 seconds" by sprinkling with a pre-pour. (I assume that's what 'wetting the grounds' meant. In my experience, premature moisture is less of a problem for beans with more sugar, i.e. lighter roasts.)
As for time between wetting filter/grounds, you should minimize wetness of coffee in the interest of freshness by thermal conservation, or refrain from either step.

Height of pour
This matters mainly because you don't want to splash water or grinds everywhere, but more importantly you don't want the water to lose heat on its way down by pouring too far.

Rotation of pour
Pick one, do it evenly across all grinds.  The important thing here is consistency.

Miscellaneous tips and tricks

According to sweetmarias on the quantity of coffee:

Simply using more coffee grinds cannot fix other brew problems: If you use 20 grams coffee and 350 ML of water and 4 minutes steep time to achieve 20% extraction (it should), using 40 grams coffee with a contact time of 1 minute to compensate will not result in a better cup.

Consider removing the drip before the final drops go through.  According to Voilley et al., Eval., 287:

Perceived coffee bitterness is lower when coffee is brewed hot than when cooler water is used. This is hypothesized to be due to the heightened aromatics released in hot coffee, which counteract the bitterness.

So watch out for those last few drops, because they will tend to have lost some heat and will thus leach more solids with fewer aromatics, resulting in more bitterness.

Now go enjoy some hand cranked coffee consistently.


Why don't we need to ice-bathe all leftovers before refrigeration?

First off, I assume this may partly be out of caution since many (probably most) people don't take cooling leftovers seriously.  Yes, spores do survive cooking, and yes, they can very well make you sick, particularly if food is left at room temperature to cool for hours before refrigeration.  Classic example is in many cases of "leftover Chinese" food poisoning.  Most people assume that it was something in the food they ate when it was still hot, or perhaps due to some seemingly "more dangerous" food like meats, etc.  But frequently it's rice that has set on the counter in a take-out box for a few hours.  In that time, the spores can reactivate and grow significant toxins that will not be destroyed even if the rice is reheated to boiling.  (Moreover, for almost all leftovers, official food safety organizations generally recommend reheating to ~165F, just to kill off most things that grow during cooling.  Again, many people who munch on leftovers directly from the fridge don't follow this advice, and in some cases, it can lead to food poisoning.)

All of that said, usually for small quantities of food, just getting the food into the fridge reasonably quickly is enough.  Why the ice bath here (which is usually only recommended for large quantities, like a big pot of chili)?

One thing is that he's not only talking about "leftovers," per se.  From other things said in the guide, I think he also wants to cover stuff like the fairly common practice of sous vide in restaurants these days where you do the cooking for basically the full sous vide time in advance, then chill, and then merely reheat until at serving temperature.

Related to that, I think one thing is clear from his table, where he lists thicknesses.  Many people sous vide things like roasts or large poultry parts or whatever.  In those cases, it can take many hours for the center of a thick piece of meat to come down to refrigeration temperatures, even with the ice bath (see his table).  Normally people cut up a roast or whatever before they have "leftovers," so cooling down a very thick hunk of meat is less commonly encountered than it might be in sous vide where you precook the meat in advance.

Beyond that, though, there are some specific concerns raised by the sous vide procedure.  As emphasized in the linked guide, it's best to think of sous vide times as "pasteurization," NOT sterilization.

Say you're doing sous vide on a think hunk of beef, which you like relatively rare, so your water bath is only 132F.  It takes a couple hours to "pasteurize" at that temperature, and that's after you hit that temperature in the center -- which for a think hunk of meat could take a couple hours in the water bath to get there.  Moreover, the temperature rise of the center of a thick piece of meat will get more and more slow as is gets closer to the water bath temperature.  That means that the meat may spend more time in the ~100F temperature range (which happens to be around the ideal growth temperature for many bacteria) than the same hunk of meat might in an oven at a much higher temperature.

So, you'll likely grow more bacteria, which may form more spores once you get to 130F or so than you'd have in a more traditional cooking method.

But that's not all -- by not going to a higher final temperature, you're not going to denature some of the toxins that might form and even kill off some spores of weaker bacteria.  Cooking poultry to 165F may not be necessary if eaten immediately, but if you only cook to 135F or whatever, you're likely to have a lot more bad stuff left over to start growing as the stuff cools.

But wait, there's more -- the linked guide mentions that food-service technique I mentioned above (see the section "Chilling for Later Use").  In that case, you're going to repeat this heating up process, slowly re-pasteurizing the meat.  (Obviously heating it up higher than the original water bath temperature would defeat the whole purpose of sous vide in the first place.)  For situations like that, you're looking at THREE trips "through the danger zone," and that last trip will be with all the activated spores that "came to life" during cooling, now ready to produce toxins.  And they won't be competing against the more harmless bacteria and things that are around during an initial cooking phase, since those harmless bacteria were almost all killed off.

And again, since your final temperature for reheating is likely fairly low, you're not going to hit thresholds necessary to denature many toxins, which you might if you were more aggressive in reheating leftovers to 165F or higher.

I'm guessing that this latter "three trips through the danger zone and never heated to normal high cooking temperatures" thing that the author is specifically worried about -- after all, in the section you reference, he mentions to chill the food "still sealed in its pouch."  That doesn't sound like typical leftovers to me left on the plate or whatever -- he's specifically worried about people who have entire leftover "pouches" of food, or those who may deliberately plan to do a sous vide reheat later.

If you have small leftover bits of food that chill relatively quickly and/or you plan to reheat them until they're actually steaming hot, his advice may not apply.  If you have a largish piece of meat in a sealed pouch that was merely "pasteurized" via sous vide at a very low temperature and plan to reheat it via sous vide again, I'd strongly recommend following his advice.


This depends on the time you need to bring it to boil (water evaporates long before it starts boiling), the surface area of the water, and your definition of "negligible". Best test it with your own kettle.

My kettle needed 2.5 minutes for boiling it, and lost 11 g out of 560, not quite half an ounce. It will probably lose some more while cooling. If you use an open kettle, a very wide kettle, or heat the kettle slowly, you will lose more.


How can you safely remove 9x13 pans/dishes from a hot water bath?

This can be tricky, as you are trying to remove the pan with the hot pudding before it cools completely, without sloshing water into the inner pan.

There are wire rack arrangements with handles that extend on the narrow ends of the pan, but these are an extra expense and require extra height in the oven rack.

A home solution for this is to string some butchers twine criss-crossed under the pan you are using, and extend this over the sides of the bain marie pan. The problem here is that this will wick some water out and it will drip, but does not cause a big problem for me when making bread pudding using a similar method.

When you remove the bain and pudding at end of cook time, you can lift the pan out using the string, but make sure it is very steady. Make sure you use enough string to support the pan.

String:

NOTE: I have big hands, and can do this. THIS CAN BE DANGEROUS if it slips and plunges into the hot water !!

Finally, just lift it out an inch or so, then rotate 90 degrees and rest it on the outer pan. You can now dry the side handles and move it with dry potholders from there.


Saliva breaks down sugars and starches. That is why candies dissolve so well, and it's why bread or crackers taste sweeter the longer you chew them. What saliva does not break down are acids, which are tart or sour. The longer you chew the fruit, the more sugars and starches are broken down and swallowed, leaving the tangier acids intact.


What forms the pocket in Arabic/Pita bread?

The crucial ingredient is water - which turns into steam in a very hot oven.

Let me explain based on a standard pita bread process. A comparatively simple dough (flour, water, salt, yeast) is kneaded, shaped into balls and left to rise. Before baking, the balls are rolled out in thin circles or ovals and baked on a hot surface, either a baking stone in an oven or even near an open fire.

The pocket is physics: the high heat causes the outside of the dough to become firm almost immediately, while the water in the dough turns into steam. The steam needs a lot more room than water, but the vapor is contained by the outer surface. The only way the expansion can happen is by swelling up like a balloon - and the upper and lower dough portions are separated, forming the pocket. Of course the pita isn’t fully airtight, so it will deflate again after baking as it cools, but the pocket remains.

For other flatbreads or flattish breads, baking temperature is significantly lower, so that the bread gets an overall texture of holes. An example is focaccia, where a good baker will be super careful to preserve the larger bubbles created by the yeast in a comparatively soft dough. Large bubbles in pita are purposely destroyed by rolling them out immediately before baking. If you look really closely, you will probably see that some pitas have more than one major cavity, often ripped up at a later stage. And of course there are lots of ways how a baker can influence the texture (large holes, uniform small holes, one pocket) by the raising, shaping and baking techniques they choose.


There are two questions here:

Is aluminum foil porous (particularly the types of foil sold for household cooking)?
Is foil's porosity responsible for the liquid that sometimes appears on the other side in cooking/baking applications?

I'd say the brief answers to these questions are (1) sometimes a bit, especially when not using "heavy duty" foil, and (2) perhaps responsible for a small part of the effect in some situations, though how much likely depends on the foil type/quality and how it is used.  More details below.

First, aluminum foil can be porous when it is sufficiently thin.  This is usually due to small holes left in the manufacturing process.  According to Gordon Robinson's Food Packaging: Principles and Practice (3rd ed.):

  Aluminum foil is essentially impermeable to gases and water vapor when
  it is thicker than 15 µm, but it is permeable at lower thicknesses due
  to the presence of minute pinholes.  For example 12 µm thick foil has
  a WVTR [water vapor transmission rate] of ≤0.01 g m-2 day -1, and 8-9 µm thick
  generally of 0.07-0.1 g m-2 day -1 (Lamberti and
  Escher, 2007).  These values are still far below those of most plastic
  films used for food packaging....

Other sources give slightly different numbers.  The Wiley Encyclopedia of Packaging Technology lists:

  0.001 in. (25.4 µm) and thicker is impermeable; 0.00035 in. (8.9 µm) has a WVTR of 0.02g/100in.2 (0.065m2); 24 h at
  100°F (37.8°C)

How thick is common household aluminum foil?  According to this link:

"Standard Duty" usually is between 0.0004" and 0.0007" thick.
Most foil labeled "Heavy Duty" is between .0008" and .001" thick.
Most foil labeled "Extra Heavy Duty" is between .0011" thick and .0016" thick.

The first source above lists the minimum thickness for impermeability to be about 0.0006" (15 µm, though this may only be for gases, not liquids), while the second source says 0.001".  Other sources seem to indicate liquid impermeability requires a minimum thickness of around 0.001".  Regardless, it seems likely the "standard duty" foil has some permeability in most cases.  On the other hand, "heavy duty" foil is likely completely impermeable (or very nearly so).

But how much is this permeability?  At room temperature, it would only allow something like a hundredth of a gram through per day in a pan, probably less.  At baking temperatures, permeability would increase, but you still would likely only see a fraction of a gram of liquid getting through during a typical baking period.  And for heavy duty foil, the amount should be zero or negligible... at least theoretically.

To move on to the second question, so where does this liquid come from?  I myself have seen such liquid even with a double layer of foil or with heavy duty foil.

Other answers have suggested one likely culprit, which is condensation.  Ovens often tend to be humid places when uncovered foods are cooking, and food that is in contact with the bottom surface of a pan (and the foil) is generally still cooler than the oven (often the coolest part of the food is on the bottom), which means that humidity will condense on the surface of the pan/foil.  It's usually a lot faster for molecules (even larger ones, which often "piggyback" on evaporating water) to move this way in a hot oven than through microscopic pores in the foil.

The other likely issue is imperfections created during the handling of the foil.  A perfectly smooth layer of foil removed carefully from the roll may theoretically be impermeable, but bending, crumpling, and otherwise shaping the foil may expand or fracture some tiny pinholes (or other thin sections).  All it takes is a few tiny holes (which may not even be visible) to significantly increase the permeability.

Actual leaking may be due to poor manufacture in modern foils or to the severe crumpling done in experiments like this one. (EDIT: See discussion in this thread, which responded to that link with several other experiments.  The conclusion was that is was likely design that caused the leak, and some brands of heavy duty foil do seem impermeable to water.)

In any case, it's clear that aluminum foil -- when used practically in home culinary applications -- can sometimes allow some liquid to flow through at a greater rate than the theoretical porosity would suggest.


Improve flavor of Sorbet made in Magic Bullet?

Almost any normal sorbet recipe will contain a decent amount of sugar, and strawberries are no exception. I'd guess probably 1/2-2/3 cup per pound of strawberries. Use a substitute if you have an aversion - honey, agave, raw cane sugar, whatever you prefer. (Of course, anything liquid is going to contain some water, and cause a bit of ice, but it's still doable.) A sorbet without any extra sugar, even when frozen normally in an ice cream maker, is going to end up with a very icy texture, which will probably keep you from  experiencing the flavor as much. The sugar helps soften it.

The other common way to soften a sorbet is alcohol. Rosé wine (thank you, David Lebovitz) works quite well in a strawberry sorbet. Vodka can be your go-to liquor for any impromptu sorbet with other fruits, since it'll add alcohol without any flavors that clash. Beyond that, either look for recipes, or look for mixed drinks containing the fruit you're using.

You might also be having problems simply because your strawberries aren't that great. Did you freeze them, or were they storebought? If you bought the strawberries yourself, you'd know they were decent before freezing, while not all storebought frozen fruit is as flavorful.

Finally, it's possible that your frozen strawberries collected some extra water in the form of frost, which then makes your sorbet icier. If there are obvious big chunks you could scrape them off.


What's the difference between natural honey and supermarket honey?

Both are natural honey - the difference is that commercial honey is often pasteurized to prevent growth of yeasts and the like. These growths are generally not nasty for you - it's how mead (alcoholic drink) is made, but honey can contain botulinum spores, which are bad for infants.

Honey comes in two forms - creamed and liquid. The difference is that creamed has had some water removed and microcrystallization initiated to form a semi-solid. Liquid may or may not have had water removed and may crystallize if left for long enough in the cupboard.

There is no difference chemically between commercial and that straight from the beehive so no difference in GI.


Cuisinart 12 cup coffee maker - How many grams of ground coffee to make a full strong drip pot?

Normally retailers estimate between 7g and 8g per cup for normal coffee. Try 8g and work your way up. So 12*8=96g for starters.

You might find this article by Harold McGee interesting.

  When I dropped the strength close to Mr. Hoffmann’s preferred 1.5 percent by using a third less ground coffee (about 12 grams of coffee to 180 grams, or 6 fluid ounces, of water), the fruity aroma was much more evident, and the flavor generally brighter and more lively. Clarity is a good word for the overall impression.

Edit: Note that I'm talking about espresso cups that are 60ml as opposed to McGee's 180ml cups. Multiply the amount of coffee for the amount of water you are actually using.


Is there such a thing as a bone cleaver?

Absolutely.

I have this one here: J.A. Henckels International Classic 6-inch Cleaver   ... it is billed as being designed "for chopping through joints and bones". These cleavers tend to have good, solid weight and a short blade bevel to give it endurance and power. You would not slice things with this. This is a momentum tool to crash through the target tissues with a confident swing. The hacksaw that you mention offers better control, in general.

The opposite of this is an Asian style cleaver that is used primarily for vegetables. Lighter, faster blade with a deeper bevel which makes it sharper for slicing but it would wear down faster under the impact of bones/joints.


Can I utilise a baking stone to make crepes?

I think it's a bad idea...

Crepes are made with a batter (as opposed to a dough) spread thin over a hot metal plate (seasoned or oiled).

A baking stone has a porous surface and I suppose the batter would just get stuck to your stone. It doesn't happen with a dough because it has enough structure to not fill every pore of the stone on contact.

On the other hand, if you had a baking steel instead... that might work, they usually have enough mass to hold heat for some time (and they don't crack).

(disclaimer: I'm not associated with the brand, but I do have one of these and it's awesome)

Pre-heat it, brush oil over it and spread your batter. I'm not sure how many crepes you can do before having to send the steel back to the oven, and then it will take a while to have it hot again, so it might not be practical.


Are there any differences in large or small pieces of root ginger?

Quite the opposite, large ginger rhizomes are more potent both in flavour and aroma, because those compounds take time in the ground to develop and accumulate...

There's a Chinese proverb: "It's the older ginger that's got the punch /heat", referring to wisdom of the elders / the experienced...

The younger rhizomes have a milder flavour, and a smoother texture (the older ones are more fibrous) so are used for pickling in both Chinese and Japanese cuisines...


How to achieve a crispy skin when roasting a chicken?

The issue in achieving crispy skin is managing the moisture content. At least one day (but as many as 3) before you plan to roast the chicken, salt the exterior and interior with kosher salt.  Place in the refrigerator uncovered.  This will draw out moisture.

I also prefer roasting at much higher temperatures, in the 425F to 450F range. This will help as well.

Finally, try to use chickens that were not frozen first...or, if they were, plan ahead so they thaw very slowly in the refrigerator.  Quick thawing pf chicken causes the release of an excessive amount of liquid when cooking.


Baked goods are generally considered to be a 'low risk' food when you're dealing with health codes.  That is to say, you don't typically need to worry if they've been kept in the 'food danger zone' for too long on a period.

In fact, I'd say that some of the best cookies I've had in the past decade were chocolate chip cookies that had spent an hour or two in a hot car shortly before eating.  (the chocolate was just to the point where it melted in your mouth as you ate it, without being so warm that it was melting all over your fingers).

So, is there increased risk?  Yes, especially if they had been contaminated with something before being put in the car.  But for breads and cookies, I wouldn't personally worry about a couple of hours at a warmer temperature.

I'd be more cautious with baked goods more hospitable to microbial growth -- wet pie fillings, meat pies, etc.  Although pepperoni rolls are generally okay, as the pepperoni itself is something that's shelf stable for multiple weeks.  (and they're really good when they're slightly warmed, like having been in a warm car)

If you wanted to be really paranoid about the whole situation, you could've put most of the cookies in the fridge, but have left out a couple at room temperature in a sealed container.  This would serve like a petri dish to attempt to determine if there is significant microbial contamination to worry about.  If they don't go all strange on you after a couple of days, the ones in the fridge should be fine to eat.


What precautions should be taken while cleaning silver utensils?

Dish soap will not damage silverware. To remove tarnish you can get special silverware cleaning solutions like tarn-x. Note that the tarnish itself is a form if damage caused by the oxidized metal, so by removing it you are essentially scraping of a tiny layer of silver every time.

Edit - A good tip I forgot to mention: tarnish is self-limiting (meaning that only the surface of silver can get tarnished). This means that the best way to prevent tarnish is by leaving on the existing layer of tarnish. If you leave silver for 100 years and remove the tarnish the silverware will lose one layer of silver, then it will be good as new. But if silver is de-tarnished every month for 100 years, you'd have to remove 1200 layers of silver. So it's not good practice to de-tarnish too frequently; only do it when you need to.


What do the numbers on my deep fryer dial mean?

I am pretty certain these are degrees in Celsius. They cannot be degrees in Fahrenheit, that wouldn't deepfry a thing if they were. Similarly, unless you have a fryer which can only fry a single nugget at a time, they can't be watts, they're an order of magnitude too low for that.

I have no idea what the settings "Temp" and "Min" could mean. Had they been on two different dials, I would have assumed that one sets the temperature and the other the times of heating in minutes (but the second makes only little sense since you can't leave deep frying stuff alone and come to it later after it has turned itself off). A guess would be that "Temp" is not a setting, but the label of the whole scale, and the designer erroneously added a dot like in the scale positions. Then "Min" would be keeping the oil barely warm.

The degrees you choose will depend not just on the type of food, but on the exact recipe. The starting temperature of the food, the size of the food, the batter type etc. all make a difference in the choice. If your recipe doesn't tell you, you are stuck experimenting. I would suggest starting from 190 and changing from there.

If you do find temperature suggestions, be sure to check with a thermometer if the setting is accurate. Most appliances outside of the sous vide niche are wildly wrong about their temperature.


Standard weight conversions for converting cups of flour to grams of flour?

There is no official standard.  The USDA uses 125g/cup, but labels on packages claim different weights for one cup:

Gold Medal brand: 130g
King Arthur brand: 120g (updated 2016)
wolframalpha: 137g
superpacked: 165g

I always convert my recipes to weights using 140g/cup.


Is regular unsweetened cocoa powder safe uncooked?

Yes, it is perfectly safe uncooked, although it may be unpalatable without being sweetened.

For example, you can make your own chocolate milk mix with cocoa powder and powdered sugar.  Simply mix it into milk, without cooking, and enjoy.

It is also dusted uncooked as a garnish or accent on some pastries or cakes.


Smoke first, then sous vide.

There are a few reasons as to why you could smoke first:

(i) It has been shown that cold food/meat will take on smoke flavor better than warm meat (Source: AmazingRibs)

(ii) If you do sous vide and then smoke, you might risk overcooking the meat since the temperature in your smoker can run higher than your sous vide. Doing sous vide last helps ensure that you have a meat that is at optimum temperature throughout.

(iii) You'll smoke early and while the meat is cooked sous vide, you can prepare other dishes for the meal. Could be quite messy if its the other way round!

p.s the brisket sounds delicious! Have fun! :)


Curing fresh ham with limited ingredients

General information on brining and smoking a ham can be found in many online sources.  Here's a good one with illustrations.  I would draw particular attention to the injection step.  If you don't inject a large piece of meat like a whole ham, it will not cure evenly (or will take a ridiculously long amount of time to cure).  If the ham is particularly large and you don't have a syringe or brine pump, the other option can sometimes be to cut up the ham into smaller pieces and brine them together to allow greater penetration of the cure.

Since you don't have the Prague Powder, you should make the brine using only water and Morton's Tender Quick.  You substitute that for the salt and Prague Powder, following the directions on the package.  I've never used Morton's Tender Quick for brining personally, but online sources seem to imply that the package indicates 1 cup per 4 cups of water.  That seems like it would make a rather strong brine, but when curing meat, you should follow the cure manufacturer's recommendations to ensure safe preservation.  (If the meat is too salty after curing, you can soak the ham in fresh water for a short time to release some of the salt.)

UPDATE: Here's a link to what appears to be the text of Morton's own detailed pamphlet on home curing.  Morton's own website mentions to refer to this when curing large pieces of meat like ham.  Proportions for brine are given on a later page.  Here they recommend for injection brine strength:

  2 lbs. of Tender-Quick per gallon of water for meat that is to be
  kept for only 3 to 6 months.

And they recommend injection:

  The amount of Tender-Quick pumping pickle to use is 1 to 1 1/2 oz. of
  pickle per pound of meat.

While this describes the injection step, the rest of the information in this book describe methods for dry curing or wet curing with Morton's sugar cure mixtures, rather than Tender Quick.  (However, I will note that early on the book clearly states that Tender Quick can be used instead for all curing processes; it just doesn't seem to give proportions.)

I should also note this Morton's method is designed for true long-term meat preservation, rather than a quick curing method to make something that will be ready for Christmas.  (They say that hams should be brined for 3 days per pound, which if you have a 20 lb. ham will take 60 days.)  Since you're presumably just curing the ham for flavor, not for long-term preservation, a couple weeks using their suggested method followed by smoking should still give you a good product in time for Christmas.


Silty bottom (precipitate) in ginger ale

That silty precipitate is just a thing that happens when fermenting - it's the yeasts dying off and settling out of the solution.  I've seen it with mead, yeast-based soda recipes, and other fermented drinks (like fermented lemonade etc) - your ginger ale would be yeast based soda, by the way, if you drink while fairly young and carbonated, like with a day or two of fermentation (you can have longer storage if not actively fermenting, ie in the fridge where yeasts are nearly dormant or having killed the yeasties off somehow)  while it will likely grow increasingly alcoholic if you leave it an extended amount of time.

This precipitate isn't a problem, it might be off-putting to see or taste (if you get a whole mouthful) but it isn't harmful and I at least will often drink it because I don't care enough to avoid it, but if you don't like it you can rack the beverage - that is, let it sit still to settle, and gently pour or siphon from the (clearer) top, and stop pouring when just the settled, cloudy yeasty dregs are left.  If you're fermenting for an extended period of time (ie, alcohol) these may be racked several times while aging to keep the yeast from building up and possibly introducing off flavors - though its usually a few months between racking, so I wouldn't expect off flavors to develop quickly.


Trying sous vide techniques with an induction cooker

Make sure to clip the bags away from the bottom of the cooker, where it heats from. If a bag ends up flat against the heating surface, without water between, then it could heat up far past the water temperature and melt the bag.

Beyond that, if you're willing to stir reasonably frequently and it really does maintain the water temperature well, then you'll end up with a good replica of what happens in a normal sous vide bath.

That said, 10 degree increments are really large, especially for steak. See for example The Food Lab's sous vide steak guide - rare 120°F, medium-rare 129°F, medium 135°F, medium-well 145°F. You won't really have any ability to tune for exactly where you like it, though you'll be able to avoid overcooking.

So... does this work? Well, it depends. A few of the big benefits of sous vide:

Precise temperatures: avoiding overcooking, and getting it just right
No drying out: the food stays with whatever liquid it releases.
Hands-off: just put it in and forget about it til it's done.
Flexible timing: leave it longer? No problem.

You're getting some of the temperature precision, and the avoiding drying out, but it's not hands-off and the timing isn't really flexible since you're not going to want to keep stirring longer than you have to. To me, this sounds like a good idea to try sous vide, and see how you like the results. But it doesn't sound like a replacement. The convenience is a huge deal.


Is there such thing as letting bread rest for too long?

If you take a “fast” recipe and let it rest overnight, you will get overproofed dough. After what’s effectively eight times or more the expected time, you will have a rather yeasty tasting dough that has lost its inner structure - think of the way foam collapses after a while. It may or may not be able to do a comeback when re-kneaded, that will depend on the type of yeast you used and a few other parameters, especially the actual timing.

But an overnight rest is nothing unheard of in baking - if you prepare your dough as usual but use cool ingredients instead of warm ones and significantly reduce the amount of yeast, you can let your dough rest in a cool place for hours, even longer in the fridge. If you have a very buttery dough, don’t cool it too much, or it won’t rise due to the hardened fat, choose “cool” (8-10 C) over “cold” (2-5 C)1. For an overnight rest, the flavor will stay pretty much the same, possibly less yeasty, which is desirable in my opinion. It’s the two-to-three-day (or even longer) rest that contributes to the flavor of baguette or the famous “Artisan bread in five minutes a day”.

Have fun!

1Yes, that means you will be storing it slightly in the danger zone, but it’s up to you whether you want to take the risk. Overnight on the counter is way worse, the way yeast grows faster in warm conditions is the same as for bad bacteria. Personally, I am fine with that, but for the sake of completeness, it’s worth mentioning.


How to get rids of flies and ants after you put cooked meals on the table?

Another option for covering plates to keep flies away is a mesh net: here's one example I found by using Google to search for flycover food. This won't come into contact with the food, unlike the plate you currently use or the newspaper @AnishaKaul suggests.


Gnats were in my bag of potatoes; can I still cook and eat the potatoes?

Opinion answer, no authority here, just going by what to me is common practice.

Potatoes are grown in the ground with dirt and bugs around all the time.  In general, not a big deal.  Gnats or small fruit flies are not an issue for a relatively hard and skinned item. As long as there is no soft spots or rot, just scrub then and you should be rid of any eggs they may have laid.

However, if the potatoes themselves were doing the attracting, that is a sign you may have rotting potaties. Those potatoes involved I would consider not only contaminated, but in danger of contaminating the remainder of the bag, drawing more unwanted visitors, and ready to smell up your world. I would remove any that show such signs.

If it is more than one or two, well, potatoes are relatively cheap in most places, so time for a new supply.


Sodium bicarbonate, the chemical name of baking soda, has always been manufactured using industrial processes at an industrial scale. I can't see how it could be practical to make at home. You'd need specialized equipment and you might well find that the materials you need aren't any easier to acquire.

Baking soda is known by different names, in addition to sodium bicarbonate according to Wikipedia it's also known as bread soda, cooking soda, and bicarbonate of soda. So it's possible it's available in your area on under one of these other names. If you live in area where a language other than English is used then you might find other alternative names in that language's version of the Wikipedia page. If you still can't find any you'll either have to pay to have it shipped to you or find a substitute recipe that uses some other leavening agent.


Should beef jerky be cut with or across the grain?

For me it very much depends on what meat I am making jerky out of.

With the grain is much more solid than against. Just as you might expect.

If you are using relatively tender meat then cutting across the grain will result in a batch of jerky crumbs. Cutting with the grain will be good.

If you are using very tough meat then cutting with the grain will be absolutely impossible to chew.

I often make jerky out of brisket which is very tough. I compromise and cut at a 45deg angle. This results in very tough, jerky but it separates into smaller, more manageable chunks when it is chewed.


I've found Kale to be less bitter in the traditional sense, and more like a Leafy broccoli.


I don't know that there's anything magical going on here.  The batter is initially more dense (and thus sits on the bottom), but it contains baking powder.  Baking powder generates gas, and the gas output increases as the temperature rises in the batter -- so gas output will become greatest once the batter is already beginning to solidify a bit.  Gas bubbles in the batter then cause it to become less dense, so the batter floats to the top of the liquid.

It's the same sort of thing that causes cakes to rise normally.  The only difference here is that you add some liquid and deliberately don't mix it in.  But thick batter will absorb external liquid very slowly.  (Think of what happens if you have a pancake batter that's too thick and try to correct it by adding liquid; you need to mix it in because gluten and protein networks hold the batter together.  And as batter begins to cook, the starches swell, making it even harder for more liquid to penetrate.  Think of trying to add flour to hot gravy and getting "clumps.")  Cocoa powder also repels water (because it contains fat, which, like oil, doesn't mix well with water), and having that on top of the mixture before pouring in the water may also have some effects in maintaining separation.

So, you have a liquid and a thick batter that don't mix well.  As the batter bakes, it simultaneously becomes lighter (due to gas bubbles forming from the baking powder) and harder for the added liquid to penetrate.  Thus, the denser liquid settles to the bottom, and the baked "cake" ends up on top.  The liquid may also begin to simmer during baking, which would serve as further agitation to push up any remaining bits of solid batter to the top.  The liquid obviously does absorb some cocoa powder, sugar, as well as starch from the flour over time from the outer layer of the batter, which thickens it enough to form a sauce or even a custard-like bottom.  The thickening of the liquid on the bottom is likely enough to maintain separation and prevent the liquid from gradually soaking into the top layer even after baking.


What can I do to make wood dust for cold smoking?

It is okay to use wood, you need to ensure that there is not pine or especially MDF dust in the sawdust that you are using. Approach with caution, unless you can absolutely guarantee the source of wood shaving/sawdust is what they say it is then leave it well alone. There are a lot of joiners using MDF and pine and to have a batch of oak or cherry contaminated with either of these products will render any food you smoke as inedible at best and actually quite dangerous.

If you'd rather enjoy a more DIY approach you can harvest wood after fresh autumn or spring winds. The best time for collecting wood is in the winter or very early spring before the sap rises. The sap will add moisture and a slightly bitter taste to your wood shavings due mainly to the higher resin and sap content of the wood. This can be avoided by choosing when to collect. I wouldn’t hold onto this rule, but if I had a choice, I would go for the winter harvested wood.


How to safely grill meat/fruit/veggie skewers

Honestly, while your typical "combination" skewer looks more impressive, I find it's much better to grill them in separate skewers.  One for beef, one for chicken, one for peppers, one for onions, etc.  That way, you can cook each to their preferred temperature and not have to worry about the exact problem you're running into.

As far as cross contamination, you'll definitely minimize any risk grilling them as separate skewers, but since you didn't have chicken in the mix you should be relatively safe anyway.  Once you sear the outside of the beef, you should be safe.

I picked this method up from an Alton Brown recommendation on a Good Eats episode (Scene 10), and found that I get considerably better results when I do it this way.


Try searching for shaker lemon pie. You can also find a couple recipes for "shaker orange pie" but the lemon version is the more common one.

It definitely works well with lemon. If the recipes specifically with orange don't work out, you could also try starting with a shaker lemon pie recipe, replacing the lemons with oranges, then adding lemon juice and reducing the sugar to rebalance the sour and sweet. (I don't think you can just cut the sugar really drastically; there's generally enough of it to contribute to the texture, not just sweetness.)


My sourdough starter is going wrong in every possible way

If it has mold on it then it needs to be thrown away, you are unlikely to salvage it. Once a sourdough starter goes wrong it's generally not worth your time to try and save it, just start over.


Will avocado stay fresh longer if stored in the refrigerator?

Ripening of the avocado is slowed down greatly by refrigeration, so it is usually a good idea to let the avocado ripen fully at room temperature. Once it is ripe, it can be stored in the refrigerator for at least a week. This way, it is ready to use whenever you want it. Fortunately, there is a day or two when the avocado is ripe, but not too ripe, so if you check on it everyday when ripening, you will be able to save it at the correct ripeness without worrying about it too much.

Putting an unripened avocado in the refrigerator may prevent it from ever ripening completely. Once cooled to near freezing (40F in most refrigerators), it seems that some avocados (maybe it depends on the type) don't ripen anymore, even when removed to room temperature.


When broths and stocks can't be used interchangeably?

From WIKI they seem to be the same thing.

  Stock versus broth

  Many cooks and food writers use the terms broth and stock
  interchangeably. In 1974, James Beard wrote emphatically that stock,
  broth, and bouillon "are all the same thing".

  While many draw a distinction between stock and broth, the details of
  the distinction often differ. One possibility is that stocks are made
  primarily from animal bones, as opposed to meat, and therefore contain
  more gelatin, giving them a thicker texture.[3] Another distinction
  that is sometimes made is that stock is cooked longer than broth and
  therefore has a more intense flavor. A third possible distinction is
  that stock is left unseasoned for use in other recipes, while broth is
  salted and otherwise seasoned and can be eaten alone.

  In Britain, "broth" can refer to a soup which includes solid pieces of
  meat, fish, or vegetables, whereas "stock" would refer to the purely
  liquid base. Traditionally, according to this definition, broth
  contained some form of meat or fish; however, nowadays it is
  acceptable to refer to a strictly vegetable soup as a broth.

A possible difference a broth is a byproduct of cooking and you make a stock.


When any meat is sliced thinly you know it is done when it is seared on the outside, that's really it. The 6 minutes in the recipe sounds like too long to me depending on how thinly you've sliced your lamb, I'd halve the time myself. 30 seconds with the lamb, then add the garlic, stir fry for 1 minute and thirty seconds, then add the herbs until wilted, then out.

That's assuming you've got a really hot burner which can do genuine wok cooking. If all you have is a wimpy medium-size burner then the 6 minutes is realistic. In that case I'd slice the lamb a bit thicker and add a bit of the reserved marinade and a bit of water to keep things moist after frying off the garlic for a minute.


As long as your vegetables are submerged, you will be fine and there really is no difference.  You will likely need to place something on top to keep the vegetables under the brine.  Often a "pickling crock" will come with weights that fit inside, but anything will work. By way of example, I simply use one of these containers for my vegetables and brine.  Then I fill a second with water, and place it on top. That keeps the vegetables from floating, and limits the formation of mold on top of the ferment.


Do I have to change the baking time when I convert fahrenheit to Celsius?

No. 350F is exactly the same as 176.66...C

Follow the recipe in exactly the same way


What is the reason my veggies cook unevenly?

Let's see how to GUARANTEE this undesired effect happening (if you do/have all or most of the things on the list):

-Unevenly cut onions

-Onions from different varieties mixed

-Pan very hot

-Not frequently stirring (or saute throwing)

-Thin bottomed pan on a hob plate with low thermal mass and weak heat coupling (glass ceramic or electric coil would be best, induction or gas in the middle since they couple harder, massive electric might make it hard)

-Bent bottomed pan on a massive electric hob plate

-Too little oil, leading to part of the onion being waterlogged and thus kept cool, part lying straight on the pan

-Stovetop is out of balance, leading to oil pooling on one side and being unavailable on the other

-Sugar in the pan

-Underestimating how much salt changes water evaporation and accelerates browning

If a couple of these conditions match, try making less of them match.


Active dry yeast and instant yeast are pretty much interchangeable in recipes (although instant may have somewhat more activity that an equal amount of active dry)

However, your recipe calls for fresh yeast.  The general rule of thumb (referenced here) is to divide the amount of fresh yeast by 3 to convert to active dry or instant yeast.  Your recipe would therefore call for a little more than 1/2 oz of dry.  That would be about 2 packets (or 4 1/2 teaspoons) of active dry or instant.


What are the acceptable methods to thaw food items?

There are four methods for thawing frozen foods which are recognized as safe:

In a refrigerator
In the microwave
Under cool running water
As part of the cooking process

These four methods all meet the criteria that they minimize the amount of time the food spends in the danger zone (40-140 F, 4-60 C) where bacteria can grow.

The pros and cons of the following often-recommended methods are also reviewed:

Leaving food on the counter overnight
Thawing in a bowl (or sink) of water
On a metal pan or with a "miracle thaw" device

In the refrigerator

Thawing food in the refrigerator is slow; it can take a day to thaw several pounds (a kilogram or two), and even more time for larger foods like a whole frozen turkey.

The advantage is that the refrigerator is at a safe temperature, and bacterial growth is already inhibited, so there is little risk.

This is probably the preferred method for many foods, if you have the time.

In the microwave

Thawing in the microwave is fast, but it has several disadvantages:

It requires a lot of attention, turning or rotating the food to get even coverage from the microwaves; for items like ground beef, you might even need to scrape off the thawed portions and continue defrosting the frozen portion.
It is easy to accidently go to far and start cooking the food, especially if it has an odd shape or small pointier parts sticking out (like wings on a chicken).

For this reason, microwave thawing is best done only for foods like soup or stew, where you can stir them and if one part boils a small amount while another part is frozen, no harm is done.

Under cool running water

This one is most surprising, but it is true:  the fastest way to thaw food safely is under cool running water (at or below 70 F / 21 C), like the cold water from your tap.

The reason is that that water has an extremely high capacity for carrying heat, and the forced convection from running water ensures that it transfers heat from the food item as rapidly as possible.  In the Good Eats episode What's Up Duck, Alton Brown thawed several frozen ice duck sculptures by various methods.   The one under cool running water was almost completely melted, even when the one in the oven at 200 F was still fairly recognizably bird shaped.

It is important that the water be running, to ensure strong convection.  You can do this by setting the food in the sink under a very small stream of water.

If the food should not get wet, you can put it in a zip-type bag or similar to keep it dry.  Try to remove as much air as possible, to get the best contact between the water and the food (through the bag).

This is the best method for forced, rapid thawing (at least when microwaving is not appropriate or inconvenient), but it is probably less convenient that the refrigerator method.   You also have to monitor the food, and remove it when it is thawed, or it will come to the ambient temperature of the water, which is probably in the danger zone.

As part of the cooking process

Some foods can be cooked starting from the frozen state, thawing and then cooking in one operation.

Among the ones most suitable for this are are smaller or thinner items, such as:

Cookie dough lumps
Hamburgers
Chicken parts
Pizza
Stew meat
Frozen, chopped vegetables
Frozen stock (at least in smaller quantities)

Bad idea: on the Counter overnight

This is a bad idea, especially for meats and other highly perishable items.   You have no control over the temperature the surface of the food will reach, and it may begin to spoil at the surface before the center is thawed.

Bad idea: In a bowl (or sink) of cold water

Again, a bad idea.  Without the convection, the thawing speed is reduced.  There is also no source of newer, cooler water, so the temperature of the water itself will rise.

Some parts of the food may reach dangerous temperatures before it is fully thawed.  Also, if you don't check the food frequently, the temperature can get into dangerous territories, facilitating spoilage.

Risky: On a cast iron, stainless steel or other metal pan, or a "miracle thaw" device

This method is most often used with thin foods like steaks or frozen hamburgers.

Physics are with you, as the specific heat capacity and conductivity of the metal are very high (higher even than water).  The large surface area of the metal acts like a radiator or heat sink in reverse, conducting heat away from the food more rapidly than air alone would.

This method is not approved by health codes for commercial use, and carries some risks.  You need to monitor the food closely, and cook it or move it into the refrigerator as soon as it is thawed.  Failure to do so will allow the food to spoil, and the conductivity of your metal will become your enemy, more quickly bringing the food to ambient temperature.

While this method is not officially sanctioned, you may choose to assess its risks for yourself.

See also:

USDA Food Safety Fact Sheet
How do I know if food left at room temperature is still safe to eat?