Is there such thing as "active dry sourdough-variety yeast"?

No, I really don't think you can have "sourdough yeast".

If you want sourdough without the "fuss", you can look up sourdough flavor additive and see what works for you - one here, and here, just for examples.

The thing is, sourdough starter isn't just yeast, it is a complex community - including several strains of wild yeast and bacteria, and a complexity that comes from aging. Yeasts can be packaged up - though balancing several strains is tricky, especially if you want consistency - but the bacteria is a lot trickier, especially since conditions which support bacteria are easy to contaminate with the wrong strains, and you would want the product quick - so not taking the time for the bacteria to establish a strong culture, which leaves it more vulnerable to said contamination.

Bread yeast is, I think, basically what happened when sourdough yeast was cleaned up and regulated and made safe for storage.  I have heard of starters that began with commercial yeast - it apparently takes a while for the characteristic flavors to develop, but apparently they do. Also, I've heard extended proofing (cold proofing) gives more complex flavors somewhat similar to sourdough, so simple time is, in fact, a factor in how the taste forms - it gives time for the fermentation to work.

The fact that adding more time to yeast or dough makes a bread more complex and sour-dough like, makes me think that there's no way to build that flavor naturally and quickly - after all, there's no instant time on our shelves.


Lots of water coming out of chicken breasts when cooking in pan. Why?

Liquid naturally comes out of all meats as they cook. If you're using high heat and a frying pan, you don't really notice it because it evaporates quickly. That brown stuff you see in a frying pan after cooking meat on high heat are the evaporated juices.

If you're baking them at around 350 F, you'll also notice water being released. This is amplified if you overcrowd the cooking vessel. You don't see it in a whole roasted chicken or roast beef for example because the liquid coming out caramelizes and creates those lovely browned bits to make a sauce or gravy.

I doubt that WF is selling water and phosphate tumbled chicken breasts.


Generally if the cream separates, that means you've heated it too much -- either too hot, or too long.

Also, if you're making a cream-based pasta sauce, the standard method is to add the cream last to the other cooked ingredients in the sauce.  That way you're less likely to overcook the cream.  Most cream-based pasta sauces start with a base that has solids and oil, such as a white roux or a pesto, which further helps the cream hold together.


How to keep the fruit on an upside-down cake?

Instead of worrying about how well the pineapple is sticking to the cake, I'd try different pan preparations to make sure the pineapple doesn't fix itself to the pan.

Looking at the recipe that Holly linked to -- it says specifically not to stir the butter and sugar together, which I assume would give you a better separation as there's butter against the pan, and you're doing it in a pre-heated pan, which helps to prevent sticking (but normally isn't done for most other cakes, as it'll cause them to dome on top)

If you're not making the caramel in the same pan (and so you wouldn't have that layer of melted butter), I'd be inclined to use a parchment circle with another layer of fat over it, so after you invert, you'd then have to remove the parchment (which shouldn't be too bad if done quickly, before the caramel sets)


Why does whole leaf tea leave a residue in the cup?

This is normal. Even with whole leaf tea, it's a dried (and cooked) product. You're going to experience some "crumbling," and, in my experience, these grounds are more common with loose leafed tea than with dust-in-a-bag. Just pour out the last of your cup--or get used to the texture.


How often should I change oil if reusing daily?

Oil does not wear out.  Unless burnt.  Try this. Drain or pour the oil into a coffee filter holder with the fine screen. Warm oil. It will remove most crumbs from the oil. Into a large mouth jar. Put lid on jar.  To supper clean oil run threw the paper filter. But that is slow to do. I do not see in America oil cans. With the filters in them of fine screen like used in small motors. Pour out remaining oil in bottom of fryer last. Wipe clean. The more crumb build up in the bottom the faster your oil turns dark as it burns.  Oil should last 6 months if filtered after use. Crumbs removed. By just adding oil lost.  To remove taste fry potatoes in it last.


Can too hot water cause the mate gourd to break?

I don't think it's your fault. Mates don't break that often. Besides, I've seen a lot of people drink it hotter than me without any problems.

As for preparation, it was recommended to me the following:

Place the leaves in the mate
Add a little bit of cold water
Add hot water

When and how you put the straw is a whole other chapter!


How should I choose a BBQ sauce for root-beer-braised pulled pork?

A Southerner will probably tell you that there is no type of BBQ sauce to go with this type of pulled pork because it's not actually real pulled pork... or real BBQ. Authentic pulled pork is smoked, and that comes with a completely different set of pairings. This is technically just braised, shredded pork.

Which is not meant as a criticism, mind you - I often make a similar recipe in the winter time using a dutch oven. But terminology is important here because there's a huge difference in flavour between pulled pork and braised pork. I'll note for the record that any kind of slow-cooking will make a pork shoulder fall right apart; you do not need the root beer (which isn't that acidic anyway, and acid-tenderizing is somewhat of a myth) to tenderize the pork. The heat and moisture do that all by themselves, although root beer is as good a choice as any if you're braising.

Now onto the flavouring. Because the braise, unlike smoke, only minimally flavours the meat, you're going to need strong flavours from elsewhere. If you're really trying to mimic an authentic Southern-style pulled pork then you need to incorporate the smoky flavour somehow, which means using a smoky BBQ sauce (hickory is common) or better yet, incorporate this flavour at the very beginning of the cooking process by applying a dry rub containing smoked paprika or including a small amount of liquid smoke in the braise.

If you do use a rub then the other flavours are up to you - there are plenty of recipes out there - just don't use salt in it because pork already has plenty. As with any braise, stick to aromatics like garlic/onion powder, various chili powders/peppers, cinnamon, etc.

Once you've successfully incorporated the smoke (or what passes for smoke in indoor cooking) then a little sauce goes a long way. Definitely incorporate some of the leftover braising liquid so as not to waste those delicious drippings - I use about half of it but that's with a much milder braise. Ketchup and dijon mustard in a 50/50 to 60/40 ratio is very simple and surprisingly effective when mixed in with the juices.

If you still find this to be lacking punch, you can throw in some cider vinegar, which pairs well with both the pork shoulder and your root beer braise. I actually boil off the pan (after reserving some braising liquid) and use cider vinegar as a deglazer for the fond, but since you're using a crock pot (or equivalent), you probably won't have much/any fond and this would require an extra vessel, so... just throw a splash or two into the finished sauce, and reduce if that makes it a bit watery. Worcestershire sauce is also a good way to punch up any homemade sauce, and if it starts to get too intense or tangy from either that or the vinegar, tone it down with some brown sugar or molasses if you have any.

If you're dead-set on following the recipe to the letter, then, as above, I think I'd choose a hickory or mesquite sauce, something smoky and not overly thick. Some of the better brands/products will actually include a small amount of alcohol, like whisky or bourbon. Almost all will contain onion, garlic, paprika, sugar, molasses, and vinegar (often cider vinegar, as above) - not surprisingly, exactly the same kinds of ingredients as I'm suggesting in the dry rub and homemade sauce.


Yes, you can squeeze citrus too much.

That bitterness you sometimes taste in citrus fruit comes from limonin, a compound that most people can detect at concentrations as small as a few parts per million.  In many citrus fruits the limonin is created once the acids of the juice vesicles interact with LARL, a tasteless substance in the fruit's tissues (Hasegawa, 1991).   In the juice of a squeezed lime the reaction from LARL to limonin takes a few hours to complete, so if it is very fresh it will not be as bitter.

Over-squeezing, as in using a pestle, will expose more of the tissue (and therefore LARL) resulting in more bitterness later on.  If the peels are in the mix, it will also extract some of the oils (mainly limonene) from the peel, which is very bitter.  So bitter, that industrial squeezing machines are designed so that the juice extracts never touch the peel.

During summer, guests often ask for caipirinhas at our house.  I like to imagine that it is because I peel my limes, remove most of the white pith including stem, and try to mash the limes just before mixing the drink.  This way it requires less sugar allowing those great citrus flavors to stand out.


To really get an answer you should definitely do a test dish. Prepare 1 or 2 portions as you usually do at home. If you approve the result just multiple the  ingredient quantity. To me it is impossible to give you a better answer as your portioning has to depend on how filling the sauce is as well. Also doing a test of the recipe will be helpful for your peace of mind on the big day.
Hope this helps :)


If it hasn't sweated and doesn't have any mold spots on it you should be fine to eat it. Putting it in the fridge for a bit should firm it back up to the consistency you're used to.


Can I follow recipes for bread-machine breads without bread machine?

You can probably use the same recipes, but... hand kneading is more difficult than letting the machine do it. The wet dough can be very sticky. So, if the recipe has a high hydration (water:flour) you may want to reduce the water in the recipe.

So, if the recipe calls for 250ml water:500g flour, this is 50% hydration, and you should be able to knead that. But 300ml water, or 60% hydration is much harder...

It also depends on the flour you have, but try to be conservative about the water until you get a feel for it.


Galangal should keep equally as well in your freezer as ginger does. Some Asian markets even sell frozen galangal. However, galangal is usually harder than ginger so I'm not sure if your microplane will handle it.

Regarding substitution, one to one is correct. Keep in mind though that galangal has a different flavor than ginger. Whenever I use galangal I am specifically looking for that different flavor rather than the flavor I get from ginger.

I have seen several cooking shows that basically said that the flavors were pretty much the same. Based on my experience, I disagree and treat them as two different ingredients.

Hope this helps. I would be interested in your feedback as to your use and what you think about the flavor.


How cooking temperature and oven set up can help prevent cakes from becoming too brown or burnt on top?

You said that you're using deep pans to get the right shape for decorating. If you're using something deeper than the recipe calls for, you should expect to have trouble. It will take longer to bake through, while the top and bottom overcook, and if you've gone too far, the structure may not hold up as well during baking. You can probably get away with something 25-50% taller than the recipe is meant for, baking longer at a lower temperature, but in general, you should really try to use the correct size pan, and make multiple layers if you want something taller.

Wrong sized pans aside, reducing the temperature is definitely the best first thing to try. In pretty much all types of cooking, burning some parts before cooking others is a sign of too much heat. You should also check the temperature of your oven. Ovens thermostats can easily be significantly off. If you're having this problem with multiple recipes, it's plausible that yours is too hot. Depending on the source of your recipe, it's also possible that whoever wrote it was compensating for a too-cold oven.

Also, make sure that the cake is centered in the oven. The top of the oven is hotter, and too high a rack can definitely cause overbrowning on the top. Of course, if you lower it too much, you may overcook the bottom.

Shielding the top with foil is also very effective. If it's just that this is a particularly sensitive cake, I'd definitely try loosely covering with foil. Protecting the pie crusts is such a common version of this that you can buy pie shields, rings of metal to cover just the outside edge.

I wouldn't try to turn your oven into a steam oven for this; steaming will affect the texture of the surface of the cake.


What should the consistency of the meat filling of moussaka be like?

From my travels in Greece I can say that it's 100% dependent upon taste.  I've had it many different ways.  In some restaurants it's so thick that the servings sit like a block on your plate and some that the filling was quite runny and there are staunch defenders and critics of both.

As with most traditional dishes there are as many variations as there are cooks who prepare it.

The traditional recipe calls for chopped tomatoes to be mixed with the aubergine(eggplant) and meat and spices and reduced to the desired consistency.


I left a non-stick pan on the stove for an hour

When heated to a high enough temperature (260C - 350C) Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene) degrades into fumes that can cause flu-like symptoms. If you haven't experienced these symptoms and have aired out the room you should be fine. Even if you had these symptoms, they should clear up by themselves fairly quickly.


If the seal is intact it's probably okay. Make sure you hear the "pop" when you open it. If there is no strange smell and it looks alright, then I think it will be fine.


What should I know about the peels of raw fruit and vegetables?

In my experience, whether or not you peel a fruit or vegetable has more to do with how easy it is to digest than any level of toxins. If you're going into the realm of herbs, however, then you need to be more careful, as some are quite potent. But as long as we're sticking to fruits and veggies, here's my advice, and it's pretty simple:

Clearly things like melons, and corn don't have edible peels, simply because their outer layer is too difficult for us to masticate, and then digest... Things like citrus peels can be digested, but not when they're raw. They need to be pickled, cooked (think of marmalade) or turned into a zest. When it comes to soft, thin peels, like apples, pears and kiwi, it's more of a personal preference. Some don't like the feel of a furry kiwi slice going down, but I don't mind it, so I slice it right into my cereal.

In the realm of veggies... Yes, stems are great for you. If it's really difficult to chew it, it's not going to be broken down enough for your stomach to handle it, and extract anything useful from it. Ex: Broccoli stems - they'll benefit even from some light steaming, and they're GREAT for you. But raw? Rather difficult. The florets however are a classic raw snack. That's my general guideline. Same with artichokes. They need some kind of cooking in order to be digested. But carrots? Kale? Celery? Simple chewing pulls them apart enough to make the extraction of nutrients easy for the body.

Hope that helps!

Mindy

P.S. A great tip for raw kale - not everyone likes the consistency of raw kale because you have to chew it for soooo long. BUT, if you massage it with a bit of lemon juice, and a touch of olive oil until it softens, and the color brightens (5 minutes or less), it's easier to chew, very tasty, and you haven't cooked any of the nutrients out of it!


Why does plastic never dry properly in a dishwasher?

In addition to the lower heat capacity (see other answer), a main reason, quite counterintuitive, why plastics don't dry well is that they're hydrophobic. That's right: they keep water sticking to them because they're water repellent (but not completely water repellent).

The reason for this strange behaviour is that any small amount of water on the surface of plastics immediately contracts to a compact droplet. This minimises contact with the plastic, but also with air, which is the problem: for efficient evaporation, you need a large air-to-liquid surface. You do get such a large surface on glass, ceramic and metal, because these are (at least when freshly cleaned) hydrophilic, so the water stretches out to a thin film coating a whole lot of the surface.

Not so with plastics. Only with some shaking will the droplets start running down the surface, and may combine with other drops and then drip off. With super-hydrophobic materials you'd be ok again because even tiny drops would immediately pour down, but most plastics are exactly at the sour spot: too hydrophobic for evaporation, but still not hydrophobic enough for a lotus effect.

Melamine resins tend to be among the better plastics in this regard, as they're still pretty hydrophilic. Still, they tend to dry only incompletely, probably because of the low heat capacity.


To much green pepper in my chili, can I fix it?

Add more of the other ingredients
Add dairy
Add acid
Add a sweetener
Serve with bland, starchy foods

Options 1 and 5 provide a solution which will not alter the flavor of your chili too much.

Source of ideas: The Kitchn


Clean your hands before you eat. Often, you will be given a hot towel for the purpose. Return the towel to the server neatly folded.

It is fine to eat sushi with your hand, as long as there is rice with each piece of fish. Sashimi (sliced fish not prepared with rice) should only be eaten with chopsticks.

If you sit at the sushi bar, feel free to converse with the itamae (sushi chef) if he's not too busy, and to order sushi from him. Do not order anything but sushi from him, order non-sushi items from your server. It is classy to ask the itamae to recommend a sushi item or even to ask him to surprise you. If there is something you know you don't like (uni is mine), let him know because it is very rude to not clean your plate. By that I mean don't even leave a grain of rice.

Mixing wasabi with the soy sauce is so common that you can get away with it, but it is considered kind of tacky, at least in a fine restaurant. So is eating ginger with a bite of sushi. You're correct that it is intended as a palate cleanser between sushi 'courses'. Again, if you want to, you're not going to get kicked out for it. In fine sushi restaurants, sushi is often not served with wasabi on the side. After all, the chef is an expert, he knows more about sushi than you! And presumably he knows how much wasabi should go on each piece of sushi. If you really want more, go ahead and add it if it's there, or let the itamae know your preferences in the matter.

Regarding dipping into the soy, try not to soak the rice of nigiri-zushi (shaped rice with a slice of fish on top). Just lightly dip the fish. Ideally, place the bite into your mouth fish down. Try to eat the whole piece in one bite. If you must, bite it in half but don't put the second half back on the plate. It's funny, but the video in @Mel's comment to the question shows tossing a big piece of sushi down pretty well :) Just know that the dunking it in soy sauce is a joke!

If you are in a part of the word where tipping is expected, tip the server and itamae separately. Often there will be a jar on the bar for tipping the chef. He would rather not touch money while he is working.

You can offer the itamae a sake if you're so inclined.

Finally, leave your chopsticks laying across the soya bowl between uses, or on the holder if there is one. Never leave them on your plate or (heaven forbid) sticking out of your rice.

Regarding your edit, not necessarily. It is completely optional to use chopsticks to eat rolls or nigiri. It is entirely up to you. It's like using the provided spoon to eat the usually provided miso soup. Drinking it from the bowl is totally acceptable.


What is the maximal thickness for choux pastry?

This is not necessarily under baked.

What you made is a perfect creme puff. The dough in the middle is not raw- it has just been steamed from the inside instead of being dried and crisped the way the exterior was. There is usually very little such dough on the inside and the filling hides it.

Many creme puff recipes call for scooping out the soft dough from the middle before filling.

I don't know that there is any size that can guarantee that there will be no un-crisped dough left in the middle. Even medium-sized eclairs can have a few threads of dough inside that stay soft.


Why boil mixture when soaking fruit in alcohol for churn-free ice cream

I see a couple of reasons for bringing the small amount of rum and the raisins to a boil.  First, this process will plump the raisins fairly quickly.  Secondly, much of the alcohol will evaporate.  Alcohol freezes at a much lower temperature than water.  So, alcohol additions to ice cream make the final product softer.  In this case, it would seem that given the no-churn technique, a little alcohol would be beneficial. So, you could leave them to soak without boiling, but it would take longer for your raisins to plump.  So, alcohol will change the final texture, but you might like the result.  It is possible to add too much alcohol.  Max Falkowitz of Serious Eats writes that adding more than 5-6 tablespoons in a quart of ice cream base would result in an ice cream that doesn't freeze enough to be scoopable. If you eliminate the boil step, you will want to make sure you don't over do it with the amount of rum.


Why did my ice cream turn out like this?

Why do you think it was one single thing you did? It turned out good because the whole process was within the parameters which produce a good ice cream. A single mistake can ruing an ice cream, but a single right thing cannot make an ice cream.

  so I can repeat this with recipes that aren't that one, not intentionally making 'mistakes'

If a good recipe is followed correctly, it will turn out this way without the need to do anything else. An ice cream which gives bad results means that either the recipe was not good enough, or that you made a (real) mistake somewhere while making it.

There are no magic tricks in making ice cream, some little thing which turns any strange mass into a fluffy wonder. There is expertise, and knowing why each step is done a certain way. Once you know this, you will be able to fix bad recipes by correcting whatever is missing. But this knowledge is too much to fit this paragraph. Basically, you need to internalize some simple ideas of food chemistry (such as fat globules getting in the way of proteins trying to coagulate), then learn the basics of egg chemistry and custards, and then learn about ice cream and freezing. Reading the chapters on eggs and dairy from McGee on Food and cooking should be sufficient. But we cannot write up these couple of hundred pages here in an answer.

You can also read our other questions on crystalizing ice cream, they have short guidelines. I found this one with a quick search, but there are more. The Perfect Scoop also starts with a chapter explaining some of the methodology behind ice cream, before starting with recipes. These are good ways to start, and may be sufficient for you. They won't be enough for learning how to create your own recipes, or even for recognizing problematic recipes before making them. But once a recipe has failed, they give you a few options of what to try with the hope that it can be made to work next time.


How can I cook an egg to win at egg tapping?

To keep this on topic, I'll focus on ingredient selection and preparation, any further hints are a physical aspect and have to do with where to hold and how to hit.

Your first goal is to find an egg with a very hard shell:

This means, find an egg from a rather young (max. 6 month old) chicken. The thickness of the shell decreases naturally during the 1-1.5 years a chicken is typically kept for egg production.
Chickens that have access to the outside and that pick up a lot of sand, grit and small stones and have a very diverse feed with a generous access to grains plus supplements like oyster shells, will produce the hardest shells.
And, little known, green eggs (from the so-called Easter Egger breeds) have a thicker and harder shell than white eggs. Bonus: you can skip the coloring step...

All eggs are harder when hard-boiled (compared to raw):

Just avoid anything that weakens the shell, so no vinegar in the cooking water or the colouring liquid. Use natural dyes (as opposed to the commercial products where you dip a cooked egg in a vinegar-water-dye solution). Likewise, do not wash the eggs unless absolutely necessary, the natural protective layer should also prevent weakening the shell.
I would also avoid mechanical stress, so bring your eggs to room temperature and use the cooking method where you put the eggs in cool water, bring them gently to a (near) boil and let stand in the covered pot off the heat for fifteen minutes or so. In this case, I'd probably rather have the green ring around the yolk than a semi-soft egg.


To elaborate on Max's answer and provide missing items/detail:

Oatmeal raisin cookies
Gingerbread cookies
Milano cookies (Pepperidge Farm)
Peanut butter cookies
Macarons
Snowballs (or Mexican wedding cookies, or German pfeffernüsse, or Russian Tea Cakes...)
Chinese fortune cookie (Actually an American bastardization of a Japanese cookie)
either Chinese almond cookie or oatmeal almond cookie
Sugar cookies
Chocolate mint cookies (similar to Girl Scout Thin Mints or Keebler Grasshoppers)
Chocolate chip cookies
Biscotti


For crackling, should I give pork a blast of super heat at the start or end of roasting?

The heat should be applied at the end, if you covered the crackling with tinfoil and slow cook it will soften (not crispen!) due to the steam and the trapped fat.


I would actually recommend the opposite of what was said above. Since the meat is so thin you may have much better results pan searing it in an extremely hot pan from slightly frozen. This way the outermost layer will start to undergo the maillard reaction long before the inside of the steak reaches a medium-rare temp and will give you a better chance of preventing it from overcooking.

This link provides an overview of the process for a much larger piece of meat then your using but the searing process is what your concerned most with since your steaks are so thin. You will likely have to play with the timing a little bit with regards to how frozen the steak needs to start out but I figure erring on the side of too frozen is best since you can then heat them in the oven to the internal temp your looking for.

http://www.thekitchn.com/for-the-perfect-steak-first-freeze-it-solid-then-cook-for-an-hour-165793


Why does this entire carton of eggs have 2 yolks each?

Double yolking tends to happen more often in spring and with young or very old birds.  As commercial egg producers do not tend to let their birds get old, unless you are getting farm eggs, they are likely young birds.

Automatic candles may be set up to separate these as suspect so they had to be re-run to verify they were not bad, which will result in them being grouped.

When I raised birds, it seemed like brown egg varieties have this occur more often than white eggs, but that is just my experience.  Some people actually try to breed for this and it is more common in some birds.  It also makes young birds a bit more profitable as the eggs are large than they would normally be for new layers.  There are considerable downsides as well for the birds though.  The eggs are not viable, almost always if incubated the egg will fail as if both are fertile, the egg cannot support twins, and one failing in the shell will lead to the demise of the other.  Also, the eggs are larger, so a young bird is laying eggs larger than it is physically ready to lay, and for an old bird the eggs can become monstrous.  This causes a much higher mortality rate in birds.

I have very seldom had double yolks in commercial eggs, but there seems to be something in the water this year.  Just last week I had a dozen also that 10 of the 12 were double.  Just my luck, I was trying to make angel food cake and did not want them.  lol


Why are Parathas smeared with fat/oil within layers?

It's the same idea as puff pastry, when the layers of oil/fat heat up they expand and make air pockets in the dough which gives the flaky consistency.

The fat or oil needs to be layered and not amalgamated to get the flaky layers.  If it was spread throughout the dough randomly it would be a more spongy texture.

The other name for this is laminated dough.

In short the layering of dough and fat/oil are to generate texture.


Does using a larger slow cooker than called for by the recipe make a difference?

Size does matter in a slow cooker. In order for it to cook effectively a slow cooker has to be at least 2/3 full, other wise it cooks hot and will generally dry out faster. If you are cooking at less than 2/3 full you need to adjust your heat settings and/or depending on the recipe adjust the amount of liquid. Cooking meats becomes especially troublesome when underfilling because they tend to dry out and end up a lot tougher than expected. If you are cooking stews or chilis then simply adding more liquid to your recipe will generally work.


How to make my ice blend more slushy-like?

You are fighting against entropy here because the heat of your ingredients and the heat generated by the friction of the blender’s blade are spreading out into the ice, melting it and giving you a homogeneous liquid.
So you have two things you want to reduce here: the total heat and the heat transfer to the ice.
Reducing the heat transfer to the ice is hard with shaved ice because it has an incredibly large surface area: hotter liquid can get everywhere in between the little tiny shavings. This causes rapid equalization and I do not see how you could solve that other than adding ice cubes.
For the total heat problem, try getting everything as cold as possible. This means putting everything into the fridge/freezer (even the blender’s jar if necessary) beforehand and minimizing the time it spends on the counter. You should also try blending for only the bare minimum. If everything still melts too fast, you could try freezing the milk or condensed milk (in something which will not explode when the milk expands, providing extra ice.


According to the US Department of Agriculture's FoodData, there is 0.76 g of protein in 100 g of acid whey (whey from drained yoghurt; whey from cheese production is "sweet").

According to the same source, a quart of acid whey weighs 984 g, so 24 fl oz weighs 738 g, and therefore contains 5.6 g or 0.2 oz of protein total. Even if none of it passed through your cheesecloth, that might not be enough curds to see; in any case, you'll need a lot more whey before the process is worthwhile.

Sweet whey is not much better at 0.85 g / 100 g; usually when people talk about making ricotta at home they are actually making some other type of fresh cheese from whole milk rather than whey. Real ricotta is almost always a by-product of making other cheeses in far larger amounts.


Are there green tea variants that can be made with 100 °C?

I'm no expert in this, but some googling lead me here.

Excerpt:

  [...] the naturally farmed tea contains much more poly phenols as compared to the ordinary tea. In addition, the tealeaf of naturally farmed tea is not bitter, even if we chew the raw tealeaf we can hardly taste the bitterness. For the naturally farmed tea, it is highly recommended to use boiling water so as to extract more poly phenols. In order to maintain the freshness of the brewed leaf, we can brew tea at higher temperature for a shorter time, such as 100 degree C for 10 seconds instead of brewing at 60-80 degree C for 1 minute, unless you prefer less flavor and thin taste.

Also, there's another product on amazon which mentions the preparation temperature to be 100 °C.

That said, there's another resource, advocating for that 80:80 rule (80 second in 80 °C temperature), but it also mentions:

  [...]  If you still want to steep at 100 degrees, then just buy a cheap green tea.

Looks like you've just found that variant.


In the world of high-end chocolate, Valrhona isn't even the most expensive - in fact, it's practically entry level.  Amedei Signature retails at a whopping $40/lb in "bulk" (1 kg) quantities.

I don't think I've ever seen Valhrona in bulk quantities and/or at a significantly discounted price.  On the other hand, there are similar-quality brands that are way more affordably-priced.  On chocosphere you can buy 22 lbs of Callebaut callets for just over $6 per pound.  Or you can get one of Felchlin's Grand Cru chocolates for about $10 per pound.  You can even buy Guittard there for what appears to be $6.60/lb.  But you'll notice that they even though they also carry Valrhona, they don't have it in bulk.

I also see Candy Warehouse selling the Guittard wafers for, apparently, $3.10/lb if you buy the 25 lb bag.  Chocolate Man sells the Felchlin Maracaibo chocolate (not Grand Cru) for a measly $7.80/lb.  They've got a variety of other well-known brands as well, although their selection is limited, they don't have a lot of the crazy high-end stuff.

Chocovic chocolate also sells at around the $10 range at most stores.  If you can find it, they distribute 10 kg and 25 kg bags (that's 22 lbs and 55 lbs).  I'm not sure where, but if you go to their official site they explicitly mention that they make that size.

You should consider that the exorbitant prices may not be a result of where you're buying from, but of what you're buying.  Valrhona is just expensive.  You may say that is because it's better than all the others, and you may be right (although some would disagree - it's more than a little subjective) - but that is the price you pay for "premium" products.  They can get away with charging $13-$15/lb, so they do.

Do yourself a favour - try some of the lesser-known brands.  A lot of them really do make fantastic chocolate, they're just not as famous as Valrhona.


Do some breeds of chicken have particularly red meat when cooked?

Puffin meat is bright red. Duck meat can be rather red as well.

I have seen some cooking process that can make chicken red or pink, Jidori chickens for example cooked at low temperatures for long periods of time.


Can soap be put it in the water used for Sous Vide?

I'd be concerned with two things here.

First of all, I'd be concerned that some soap might contaminate the food product without you knowing about it.  If it's a low enough concentration of soap that it would not cause significant harm to ingest, this isn't a big concern; on the other hand, I might be inclined to use something other than actual soap that is able to accomplish the purpose here if that is possible - for example, a mild bleach solution (I've also seen "pool shock" suggested) might be safer.  Do some research on whatever you add to make sure it's actually okay for this purpose.  If your purpose is to remove bacteria, this is probably your best bet.

Second, I'd be concerned with odors from the soap affecting the food being cooked.  Even if the soap never contacts the food, the odors that make the soap smell good are much more likely to affect things in my experience. If you do use soap, use an odorless soap (something like original (blue) Dawn, no endoresement suggested).

If you can edit the question to provide more of an explanation as to why you're asking it (you mention Kosher laws, but not the specific issue you're trying to address) you may get a better answer.


With absolutely no citation or evidence to back up my claim ;-) I'm going to say that the reasoning is two- if not three-fold…. or maybe more...

It's cheaper. It adds bulk.
It helps the meatball stay whole; a binder. Similar reasoning as breadcrumbs &/or egg, but see 3.
The binder is needed because the EU allows the meat producer to add 10% water to the meat before it's even completed the initial butchery stage[1]. Therefore you need some 'soak-up' to prevent the water being squeezed out as soon as you start to heat the product.
It helps the texture; stops it becoming too chewy. A mouth-feel thing, same as you might make 50% beef/50% pork meatballs. 100% beef can be a bit heavy.

from comments

There's no chance of gluten intolerance issues with potato.

…and a late

It's very probably traditional. Burgers get breadcrumbs, meatballs get potato. Why or why not; because it's always been done that way, which sometimes defies all reason.

[1] I personally consider this a cardinal sin & were I ever to miraculously become 'President of Europe' this practise would become a capital offence ;)


Which rack level of oven is suitable for baking choco lava cakes?

When a recipe doesn't specify a rack level, try to place whatever you are baking in the middle. So, with 4 levels, you place it on the second (counted from bottom to top). It is the default for most things. Generally, a recipe will tell you if another level is needed.


I was told by a cheese merchant who sold me the culture and rennet, to store the culture in the freezer, and the rennet in the fridge.

I hadn't used it in more than two years and it's still alive and working. (as tested a few weeks ago)


Should I stir my sourdough starter before measuring?

Rather than worrying about whether you 'stir down' the starter before measuring by volume, you should really be measuring by weight. Kitchen scales are cheap and incredibly helpful, especially for any kind of baking.
Regarding feeding: there are almost as many different feeding ratios as there are sourdough starters. None of these are set in stone. A common  ratio is 1:1:1 starter:flour:water, again by weight. Thus, if you keep more starter, you feed it more.


Is there a way to make jam or chutney without Gelatin / Pectin?

I'm not sure if you can with all fruits, but some fruits, like fruits like apples, blackberries, gooseberries, crab apples, cranberries, and grapes are naturally high in pectin and might produce the desired effect without extra help.


I think, as mentioned above, it really depends on how the rest of the recipe goes. If the only source of air youre getting in the cake is from whipping the egg whites then foregoing that may result in very dense cake. However, if there is a step for example that asks you to whisk butter and sugar together until light and fluffy then I think it should be fine to skip it but either way skipping would result in a denser cake.


Biscotti with chocolate drizzle in batter

You'd have to do it at the time you form the loaf for the first bake.

One way would be to use a layer or two of chocolate sticks (as used in pain au chocolat but seemingly sold as "croissant sticks"). This would be very suitable chocolate as even melted it's not too runny. You could probably split them to get more, thinner sticks.  You could melt chocolate and allow it to cool in strips to make your own, which could be longer, thinner and less even. You'd need to have the dough mixed and then mix in whatever chocolate you use as little as possible.

A different approach would be to make a half batch of normal dough and a half batch of chocolate dough then combine those without mixing, as if making a marble cake. But this may not be what you're looking for.


How to substitute oranges in a mango mousse recipe?

You might take a strategy from a orange olive oil cake that I make.  Cut about 1/2 inch off the ends of oranges.  Then quarter the oranges.  Place them in a pot of water, then bring to the boil.  Drain and repeat 3 to 4 times.  This reduces the bitterness of the pith.  Now, add 4 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar to the pot.  Add the oranges and bring to a simmer.  Cook until they are tender, 30 to 40 minutes, then drain (you can reserve the light syrup for another use).  Blend the cooked oranges in a food processor or blender.  Use 450 grams in your recipe (strained), eliminate the lemon.  Let us know (with a comment, or an answer to your own question if you choose a different approach) if it worked.


I have a questions about Pasta sauce spoilage

Here are some points to look at:

Was the air seal broken prior to use?
What is the printed shelf-life (or best-by date) in comparison to the date of use?
Are there any detectable (organoleptic) signs of spoilage?
Has the product been stored accordingly as instructed on the label?

Pasta sauce is typically high-acidity, which makes it less prone to spoilage, especially when still within shelf-life / BBD.  This doesn't rule spoilage out completely, and as others have pointed out, more details would definitely help make a more accurate determination.  Strictly speaking, most food packaging do not have zero air permeability, so it wouldn't be unusual to see change in water activity.  If this were for a commercial/industrial application, you could always send it out for lab sampling (or do so in-house), but i'm presuming that isn't likely the case here?


Separating the eggs and whipping the egg whites before folding into the batter could assist in this.  At home it's not a problem, but if it's a very busy that you had them in they're not likely to be doing this due to the fact that this will need to be done in batches.

Adding a bit of baking soda in addition to the baking powder could assist as well, but only if you're using buttermilk.  If you're using regular milk the baking soda is going to create a soapy taste. In the case of buttermilk and baking soda, the primary leavening would be coming from the baking powder and then the acidity of the buttermilk would provide the reaction for the soda to give that extra "oomph".  If you're using baking soda then you'll have to use the batter right away otherwise those bubble will rise to the surface and pop, releasing their CO2 to the air. Same goes with adding seltzer water...add just before cooking the pancakes.

As for replacing milk with seltzer water...this will add bubbles to the batter but having less fat in the batter (presuming you're using whole milk) will increase the gluten development.  If you're using low-fat or nonfat buttermilk or regular milk it may not be as much of a difference.  The benefit of buttermilk (besides flavor) is the acidity that it provides.  Acidic doughs don't allow gluten to develop as easily and therefore create a more tender texture.

Overmixing pancake batter is a MAJOR issue with most people.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, add the liquid ingredients which have already been beaten together and then carefuly fold just until combined so there aren't major pockets of dry ingredients but by no means should the batter be smooth.  Mixing to a smooth consistency will develop gluten and create tough pancakes.  A few lumps are fine as they will hydrate upon sitting.

If you're not using baking soda and seltzer water you can improve tenderness by letting your pancake batter sit after mixing for 30-60 minutes.  This is the idea behind chilling pastry crusts.  It not only allows gluten to relax but mainly it allows the starch granules of the flour to absorb moisture, hydrate, and expand (bloom).  This is could likely be part of what contributed to the pancakes you enjoyed at the restaurant.  If it's a very busy place, most likely they produce their pancake batter in large batches a day ahead for the next day's service.  This extended resting time would allow for maximum hydration of the starch which will make a thicker batter.  The thicker the batter the less spread you'll have on the griddle.  Obviously this provides limitations if you wake up with an appetite for pancakes!


Substituting white flour for maida in making Indian samosas

There has been quite a bit of confusion here concerning maida (which can be labeled all-purpose, especially in India). The top answer on the question that you linked to was actually incorrect. It has been fixed. Maida is actually a very low protein flour, much like what would be called cake flour in the US. I suspect and would appreciate if you can confirm that your use of the term "all-purpose flour" stems from the Indian use of the term, not that your recipes call for what Americans would call "all-purpose flour".

In answer to your question, yes, you can substitute what you know as white flour and what I know as all-purpose flour (`10.5% protein) for maida by replacing some of the white flour with cornstarch or potato starch. The best reference I could could find for the percentage of protein in maida was The Fresh Loaf, they say that, on average, maida contains 7.5% protein. To get from 10.5% protein to 7.5% protein, you would need to "lose" 3 grams of protein per every 100 grams of flour. By replacing 28.6 grams of white flour with potato starch or cornstarch, your mixture would have the the 7.5% protein content of maida. That looks good on paper, but my gut says to split the difference. I'd first try a mixture of 15 grams of potato or corn starch and 85 grams of white flour as a substitute for 100 grams of maida. The use of cornstarch in that way is commonly done in the US with our all purpose flour to emulate our low protein cake flour. cake flour with corn starch

In case the international flour terms aren't complicated enough, I understand that in Israel what is generally called cake flour has added leavening agents, it's like what I would call self-rising flour. Confused yet? I'll repeat here what I said in comments above:

  "It's confusing. In India (and therefore also on its exports) maida is sometimes labeled "all-purpose", but it is more like what Americans call cake flour. Israel has its all-purpose, which is less processed than the all-purpose in the US. What is called cake flour in Isreal would be called self-rising flour in the US. What Isreal has that is the closest to what Americans call all-purpose is called white flour."


Roasting multiple turkeys (cooking time estimation)

This looks like an excellent answer to almost exactly the same question, found here.

Tuxman
Nov. 26, 2013 11:01 am

  I am trying to get a clear answer on cooking 2-15 lbs birds in
  different pans/same oven. what would the cooking time, same 20 min per
  lb on 325 degrees? for convection oven?

dae
Nov. 27, 2013 12:43 pm

  @Tuxman: Each bird cooks separately. So it is like cooking one 15 lb
  bird. Start at same time. If one is bigger, it will take longer than
  the other. Allow max space between them. Put a digital probe deep in
  the thigh of the smaller one (avoid contact with bone), and take out
  when it gets to 165 take it out. Put probe in larger one, into thigh,
  take out when it gets to 165.


Since when have eggs in the UK said "at home, refrigerate" (and why)?

Storing eggs in the fridge avoids temperature fluctuations, and ensures they are kept below 20°C.

I am happy to report that there exists the British Egg Information Service, who state:

  For optimum freshness and food safety, eggs should be kept at a constant temperature below 20°C. To avoid the typical temperature fluctuations in a domestic kitchen, we recommend that eggs are stored in their box in the fridge.

As for supermarkets storing eggs at room temperature:

  Most modern supermarkets are kept below 20°C so it is not necessary for retailers to store them in a fridge. This also prevents significant temperature fluctuations (for example eggs being moved from a fridge to a hot car after purchase).

Indeed, the British Lion code of practice - a scheme for ensuring the safety of eggs with the Lion mark in the UK - recommends that retailers store eggs at a consistent temperature below 20°C. It also looks like eggs won't usually be in the shop very long, as they say the display cabinets should ideally be cleared completely twice a week.

Personally, I've always thought that keeping eggs in the cupboard is fine but that they last longer if you put them in the fridge. Remember that passing the best before date only means that flavour and texture might not be as good; food can be past its absolute best but still be acceptable.

It's worth pointing out that eggs really must be kept in the fridge in some countries, for example the US. See the answer by Cos Callis.


How do I preserve a tomato's freshness after it is cut?

I peel and seed the leftovers, freeze them, and use them the next time I make tomato sauce or marinara.


Good Eats actually had something on this many years ago, as effectively turkeys aren't just water, so it doesn't freeze at the same point at water.

Copying/reformatting from the Good Eats Fan Page transcript of Romancing the Bird:

  Chuck: Just look at this. The USDA recognizes three distinctive market varieties of turkeys. The first is frozen.

  Alton: Meaning below 32 degrees?

  Chuck: Only turkeys cooled to zero degrees or lower can be labeled frozen.

  Alton: Well, uh, set me straight here, Chuck, but I thought 32 was the freezing point.

  Chuck: For water, sure. But the moisture in meat isn't just water. It's full of all manner of dissolved solids that effectively reduce its freezing point.

  Alton: You don't say. Okay. Thanks.

  Chuck: Oh, next at 1 to 26 degrees—although most manufacturers shoot for 24 to 26—are refrigerated birds.

  Alton: But frozen are so great, why bother?

  Chuck: Because refrigerated birds aren't as rock hard as frozen so they don't require as much thawing time. And grocers don't need as much freezer space.

  Alton: Is that it?

  Chuck: Oh, no, no, no. Fresh turkeys are a whole other thing. Fresh turkeys can never go below 26 degrees.

  Alton: But that's still below freezing.

  Chuck: Not in turkey.


Why are fermented dairy products pasteurised?

Probiotic products are generally pasteurised, then the desirable cultures are introduced, in a similar way to yoghurt. There may be exceptions but those you can find in the supermarket are all made this way.

There are several reasons. Shelf life is a fairly minor one, but a batch contaminated with a disease-causing species would be a problem not just for health but for the manufacturers profits. Another is consistency. Even a benign bacterial/yeast culture can produce off flavours, or even just different flavours from different strains of the same species.


Bring it back to the old school, which is place a covered plate in a 125-200 degree oven until just warmed through.  It was the option of choice pre microwave, and still the best way for roasts and pastas IMO. It should come out steaming after about 20 minutes, depending on temp.  You lose less moisture the lower you go, but it takes longer so you get to choose the median point between those that's good for you.


Bagels tend to flatten when you remove them from the water if the dough is overproofed or you boiled them for too long. Next time, let them proof for shorter time in the fridge (I find that doughs get overproofed in the refrigerator after about 12 hours, so 24 hours is a very long cold proof) and possibly boil them slightly shorter.


How much lemon extract to substitute anise extract?

As I cook mostly only for two, I'll make a smaller batch than a recipe is intended. 3 tsp anise seems a lot, or the recipe will make a large number of cookies. Cut the recipe way down, make as small a batch as is resonable (even if you must mix by hand) taste then decide. Joe's suggestion to try 1:1 seems reasonable


How to tell when water reaches 100 degrees Fahrenheit without a candy thermometer for the purposes of disolving gelatin?

Gelatin is quite tolerant, but with a few restrictions:

Never boil gelatine, because it looses it's binding/gelling properties.
Liquifying gelatine requires temperatures that feel "warm" to the touch, but not all recipes handle warm additions well - e.g. whipped cream.
Cooling liquid gelatine for heat sensitive recipes should happen fairly quick, and so should incorporating the coolish gelatine to the other ingredients : Stir well or you end up with "gummy bear"- like lumps.

So without knowing the details of your recipe I suggest using fairly warm water in the range of "warm bath water" or "comfortable for washing hands" but not at all "hot". (Note that I don't give a precise temperature range on purpose.)  Hot tap water should suffice, but heating it on the stove is fine, too. Just use gentle heat and don't let the gelatine rest on the bottom of the pot to avoid overheating.
Depending on your next steps, you might want to stir the liquid  gelatine until it's barely warm to the touch or add a few spoonfulls of whatever cool mixture you are planning to bind, stir, then add to the rest. For warm other ingredients, extra cooling is not required, just mix and let set.


Duck generally has a considerable amount of fat, so there will probably be a good deal of fat in the pan drippings.

That's not going to be a problem if you just blend the plums themselves; they're already full of water (i.e. juice), so they're not going to actually absorb a significant amount of the fat, they just might have a little fat film on the part that was touching the pan, which you can brush or wipe off.  I personally wouldn't bother, just toss 'em right in.

Just don't throw the pan drippings in the blender with the plums, because those will be chock-full of fat and you'll end up with a very cloudy and greasy sauce.  Instead, very carefully pour off the fat (but not the juices!) from the pan, or better yet, while you're blending the plums, pass the drippings through a fat separator (AKA gravy separator).  Also be sure to deglaze the pan if you see any burned-on bits, because those will add a ton of flavour.

Then combine the blended plums and the fond (meat juices and deglazed bits) and reduce it.  You can and should reduce it to thicken it - that's how most pan sauces are made.

As for keeping the meat hot - you should be able to reduce the sauce fairly quickly since there isn't much in it that will burn at higher temperatures, but if that's still not quick enough, then I would just cover the meat and pan with foil and keep it in a warm (150° F / 65° C) oven.  Leave the lid to your oven open while you start preparing the sauce so that the temperature can come down to "warm" quicker.


Salt is added at the beginning, because it takes long time to dissolve. Also, it's maybe less important for bolognese, but you want your veggies to get infused with salty water, the taste is different from bland vegetables swimming in water salted late. Last but not least, salt's chemical properties are important for the cooking of some dishes.

The stuff which depends on volatile aroma molecules (practically all fresh herbs) is added at the end, after the sauce (or stew) is removed from the heat, because lots of the compounds are destroyed by heat, and while the flavour is still discernible, it is diminished.

On the other hand, if you are using dried herbs, their most fragile molecules have long since disappeared in the air. The flavours which remain in the dried leaves are sturdier and not easily loosened from the plant matter. So by adding dried herbs early enough to allow for some simmering, you can leach more of these out of the leaf (you are practically steeping it in the sauce). But if you cook them for too long, even these molecules can get damaged. Plus, there were some herbs which release unpleasantly bitter alkaloids after too long a steeping (I don't remember if your three are among those, but I would suspect the basil may be, as it is prone to producing off-tastes). So add them ~5 minutes before turning the heat off.

Spices are a bit of a boundary case. Although dried spices don't taste the same as fresh ones, grinding them still releases volatile molecules. So I tend to add them at the end, like fresh herbs, and I'll advise you to do so too (using peppercorns in a grinder). If I use spices which were bought pre-powdered, I throw them in earlier or together with the dried herbs.


To par-boil or not to par-boil root vegetables before roasting?

I think this depends on how big the pieces are, and of course which ingredients. Some veg cook faster than others.

If you are using 1 inch or smaller pieces, you may not need to parboil, but if you are using larger pieces you may wish to par boil for longer as the pieces get bigger.

This lets you cook the interior without burning the exterior when you roast.

Of course if you add things like squash or broccoli to the veg roast, add those last and they don't need par boiling.


Making brownies but don't have a hand whisk? Can i substitute with electric mixer?

Brownies don't need whisking. Whisks are handy tools that make it easier to blend the ingredients in together but a fork to beat the eggs and a spoon to mix everything will do just fine. You won't get any real benefit from using a mixer, you'll just make more dishes dirty.


I do trim them, but not as rigorously as you do. I really just take off the tips.

There is an exception to this though. The ones you show in the picture have been harvested quite young, but this is not always the case. You can have situations where the end that holds the little peas has a tough fibrery texture. In those cases I still take off just a little on both ends, but also try to pull the fibers from the side.


Cooking classes aren't the only way to learn cooking - in fact, they're a relatively expensive way to go about it, especially as it's hard to introduce all the various techniques in one lesson.

There are any number of beginner's cook books out there that introduce basic concepts and techniques extremely well. There are masses of videos on YouTube covering just about every cooking topic and recipe*. Food blogs abound online. Check them all out, start with basic things like sauteeing onions, boiling eggs etc, and take it from there. I know this works, because it's pretty much what I did (though I started before I had the benefit of YouTube).

Another good way of learning is to find a friend who does cook and help them out chopping veg etc, and have them talk you through a basic recipe (like spaghetti bolognese) as they go. And of course, you can always ask the wizened sages of Seasoned Advice.

If you do decide to go for cooking classes, don't discount those focusing on a specific cuisine; food has to come from somewhere, and they all use the same basic set of techniques. There's only so many ways you can chop and heat foodstuffs after all. I started cooking by learning how to make a decent Chinese stir fry, for example.

*I realise I recommended YouTube in my answer to your other question, but it is a great resource. I don't work for them :)


Why didn't my 100% whole wheat bread proof?

You said that the dough rose but then didn't proof.

Lightly textured whole wheat bread is difficult for two reasons-
1- There isn't as much gluten.
2- The gluten that is there tends to get cut up by sharp wheat fragments.

The result is, as with all poor gluten development, that the loaves have trouble maintaining their structure, don't rise as well, and the result is the dense, tough, or doughy bread that most people think of with horror when they think of whole wheat.

There are a couple ways to deal with this problem-
1- Use very very finely ground wheat flour. If you can feel gritty shards then it will have trouble rising.
2- Add vital wheat gluten. This may be seen as cheating and is similar to the transitional recipes that you said you had success with. Many whole wheat recipes call for extra gluten.

If you don't add more gluten in some form you can make a successful boule but don't expect it to be as light and open as one made with white flour.
What you might lose in delicateness you will more than make up for in flavor and nutrition.


Per the FDA, you can hold the ground beef, refrigerated, for one to two days.

Assuming you have:

Bought the meat from a reputable source (you seem to have if you watched them wrap it)
Have kept it well refrigerated since buying it, and will do so until cooking it

I would just cook and eat it as normal at dinner time tomorrow, since it has been refrigerated the entire time.  24 hours is not a magic number.  26 or 28 hours is not that different.

Now, several days extra time before cooking would be a big difference compared to several hours.


Can steam from my rice cooker's steam vent sanitize sponges?

If boiling, microwaving or washing sponges in the dishwasher or cloth washer does not disinfect them, steaming them will not, especially in a rice cooker vent where the steam quickly loses temperature.
Throw them away and replace them regularly or, if feeling ecologically conscious, don't use sponges.


What is the importance of letting pizza dough sit?

Kenji over at Serious Eats gives some of the best "pizza science" lessons on the Internet.  Here's a good article on the role of yeast and fermentation in pizza dough:
http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/09/the-pizza-lab-how-long-should-i-let-my-dough-cold-ferment.html

In short, time and kneading cause proteins in dough to form an elastic network of fibers called gluten.  Yeast consumes starch and emits carbon dioxide.  Gluten traps the carbon dioxide which causes the dough to expand or "rise".

The amount of yeast and time may vary based on the intent of the cook.  More time allows the cook to use less yeast (the yeast organisms will multiply) and allows for a greater development of the proteins in the wheat flour.

A longer, slower rise will allow for the greatest flavor to be developed.  In his tests, Kenji found the optimum rise time to be 2-3 days in a refrigerator.  However, this must be balanced against the cook's desire for an expedient dinner :-)

In my personal pizza cooking, I usually use 1 packet of yeast (2.25 tsp) for approximately 13 cups of flour.  I will typically allow this to rise for around 24 hours on my kitchen counter-top (my house says cold at around 55-60degF).  If the dough will not be used right away, I will put it in the fridge but will allow it to warm to room temperature for several hours before cooking it.

Good luck with your pies!


Mushroom soy sauce, brand identification or substitution

I think this is what you're looking for.


Chocolate baking bars vs. chocolate chips?

I would say that if you're melting chocolate, it's fine to substitute chocolate bars - maybe even preferred. Chocolate chips are a much lower quality chocolate than real chocolate bars. (I've read that chocolate chips contain less cocoa butter, so that they hold their shape better in cookies - which also makes them harder to melt.) In general, I've found that when baking with chocolate, the higher the quality of the chocolate, the better the end product.


Nitrous oxide gas leak when charging ISI whipping cream dispenser

Is it clean? it does not take much pressure to properly seal an iSi. Either it is dirty or it is defective. I have had the issue you describe, the issue was not actually in the gasket around the top of the container, but instead in the gasket around the nozzle. It must be completely clean to hold pressure.


Accidental fermentation is never safe. You have bacteria growing in your food, and you don't know which bacteria they are. Fermentation is only safe if you use a process which has been tested to only allow the growth of benign bacteria.

  The containers were all sterilized with bleach, produce was washed and water was boiled

This is irrelevant. It is only good to ensure that you won't be starting with an unusually high load of random bacteria - because if you had such a contamination, the food could start spoiling before its usual storage lifetime has been reached. But once you either 1) reach the end of the storage lifetime (which is 4 hours on the counter, as for any prepared food) or have visible signs of spoiling (and fermentation is one of them), hygiene precautions stop mattering and your food is unsafe.


Where to place the oven thermometer in an oven?

I tend to just stick it close to where the food cooks. From the two options you name that would mean  putting it on the rack, not hanging under it.

I checked a couple of sources and found this one quite a nice read.


Some of the main concerns with storage and consumption of raw nuts are (in no particular order)

The presence of Salmonella
The oil in the nuts becomes rancid
The presence of insects

According to a food safety pamphlet put out by UC Davis,

  Because of their association with two raw almond outbreaks, California almonds sold in retail stores must be treated in some way to eliminate Salmonella. Commercial blanching and roasting processes are examples. Almonds that are not roasted or blanched may be treated with a lighter steam or heat treatment or may be treated with the gas propylene oxide or other approved process.

  http://ucfoodsafety.ucdavis.edu/files/44384.pdf

They also note that dry foods like nuts are not a common source of harmful bacteria. I'm not sure of how much of a concern this should be. Further research may be required. Also note that "Refrigeration and freezing do not destroy this bacteria. The presence of harmful bacteria cannot be determined by sight, smell, taste, or texture."

The oil in nuts tends to start to go off after a few months at room temperature. This won't make the nuts dangerous to eat, but they won't taste good. Things like temperature and humidity will affect the speed at which the nuts go off. Unshelled nuts will last longer at room temperature (and in general) than shelled nuts.

Nuts in the refrigerator should be good for up to one year.  In the freezer, for two years.

The other benefit of freezing nuts is that it will kill insects and their eggs.

  If you want to store nuts obtained from a backyard orchard at room temperature, you will need to first freeze the nuts at 0°F (-18°C) for 48 hours to kill insect pests and their eggs and prevent them from destroying your harvest. Freezing the nuts is not necessary if you intend to store the nuts in the refrigerator. You can also use dry ice ( frozen carbon dioxide) to destroy insect pests prior to storage.

  http://ucfoodsafety.ucdavis.edu/files/44384.pdf

It's possible that the farmers will have treated the nuts with one of these methods before selling them. Ideally, you'd be able to find this out from the farmer. Laws in your area may demand such procedures anyway.


Why does my dumpling /dimsum/momos turn dark brown while steaming?

Based on the color, it looks like your dumplings might be exposed to too high a heat on a surface that could actually sear them (that metal pan for example). It also looks like those dumplings might be overcrowded and being handled too much so that they'd break.
If it's possible, I'd see what your clients are doing to prepare the dumplings you send them and make sure it's not an issue with their technique.


First of all, like Max said you should definitely be cooking your pizzas at a higher temperature. In any case, this doesn't sound like an oven problem. If the more toppings you put then the more watery your pizzas get, it would only makes sense that your toppings are releasing water. Even if you strain canned mushrooms they will still retain a lot of water. Some cheeses have a lot of water in them, but this mostly happens with fresh mozzarellas. In general I'd say experiment by cooking pizzas with only one topping to see which are releasing water, then make the necessary adjustments.


How do I get my home-popped popcorn to be as dry as bagged popcorn?

The problem is not water content but mouth feel, smartfood and skinny pop are coated with a fine powder which has a dry mouth feel. You can dry your popcorn as long as you like but you'll never get to the same place with it.

You can replicate smartfood cheddar popcorn by tossing your corn with mac and cheese powder, I'd give it a try and see if you get where you want to go, if it still seems wet in comparison then some extra drying may be good.


Apricots (Prunus armeniaca and peaches (Prunus persica) are botanically speaking “close cousins” and have a quite similar flavor profile. Fresh apricot tends to be both sweeter and tarter, peach is a bit milder overall. The difference is less pronounced with preserves.

For your sauce, apricot alone (i.e. using more apricot to get the same amount as the original apricot + peach) should be perfectly fine, assuming that you will adjust the sweet and sour other ingredients and seasonings to your liking anyway.

If you find that apricot alone is too intense (unlikely, but of course there is no accounting for taste), I suggest some very mild fruit, e.g. pear or a sweet apple.


Working with sticky dough for pizza making

A super sticky dough is exactly what you want for pan pizza. Take a look at what Kenji from Serious Eats has to say about pan pizza dough. He uses a super-sticky, no-knead dough, but I bet yours would be fine for this application.

I followed Kenji's advice to make this pizza, it was the best pan pizza I've ever had.

Using the pan made dealing with the sticky dough a breeze.


What is a good way to cook a pork tenderloin without searing?

Think "Beef Wellington" and substitute the pork tenderloin. Roll the tenderloin in puff pastry and bake. See Alton Brown's Pork Wellington recipe for some ideas. Obviously you already have a rub on, but AB's recipe's cooking instructions should still apply.


This is protein that is coagulating in the water simmer environment.

Most beef stew and braises in general start with a high heat sear of the meat, often dusted with flour or starch to begin a thickener.

Simmering any animal protein in water will produce this curd like gunk. If you continue, and add other ingredients, and reduce the liquid, it will eventually incorporate,more or less, bt will look like that for a while.

Wondering what recipe or, more importantly, technique you are trying to use.

If you provide more details about timeline and technique, more can be said, but simmering meat in water makes this curdy mess.


A crisp crepe is less about the recipe and more about the cooking technique. You simply need to leave it a little longer before flipping it, allowing the edges to crisp. A little more oil than usual will help, but it should still only be a thin coating wiped on with a paper towel.

To make a thicker crepe, simply use less liquid. You can also look at using alternative flours like buckwheat which alter the texture.


Optimal Cheese Melting Bagel Baking Temp/Time

To do this you want to apply heat to the cheese (to melt it) and not to the bagel (so it doesn't dry).

This is probably best achieved by grilling (broiling in the US) the bagel, rather than putting it in an oven, so the direct heat on the cheese melts it, but the bagel is not warmed so it doesn't crisp or dry.

This assumes you have an open bagel obviously.  if you are have a closed bagel, with a top and a bottom, then I would melt the cheese on one half under the grill and the put the top piece on.

If you have to oven cook it then it's a trade off between high temp, which will crisp the bagel whilst the cheese is melting and the melting of the cheese should take a short time, or lower temp where the bagel is more likely to dry out as you need to leave it in for longer to get the melted cheese you want.


Are there any health risks when making vegetable stock from kitchen leftovers?

Simple washing (for carrots, or veg. you might peel) is fine, if you don't want to peel.  There is no problem using root vegetables without peeling either.  Stocks are typically brought to a simmer.  So, you easily mitigate any bacterial concerns.  Botulism toxins form in an anaerobic environment.  So, you don't really have to worry about using fresh, even unpeeled, root vegetables.   Of course, you need to adhere to general food safety, and have an awareness of "the danger zone."  So your stock needs to at least cook above 140F (60C), and then be cooled below 40F (4C) with two hours of completion.


The shops are likely going out of their way not to get sued by sticking to safety guidelines rigidly. The packet instructions usually result in a dry and overcooked bird. The various other times and temperatures are all attempts to get a safely cooked, attractively browned bird without overcooking.

However, roasting meat based on oven temperature and the weight of the joint is the wrong way to go about things, because ovens are rarely calibrated correctly (the temperature is often wildly at variance to that set on the dial) and the weight of the meat is rarely nicely rounded.

If you really want to cook any meat (and many other foods) properly, you'll invest in a digital probe thermometer. Then you can simply cook the meat until it reaches a safe internal temperature and no more. They aren't expensive, you can get them from Amazon, and once you've got one you won't know how you did without it.


Rice gruel or congee is made with whole grain rice like Megha said. Chinese congee has already cooked rice added to a meat broth and cooked long enough so the grains start breaking apart and becomes thickened.

If you attempt to cook glutinous (sticky) rice flour with water, you're making something more like mochi, although the traditional way is to pound cooked rice into mochi. Most home recipes for mochi use the microwave to cook the rice flour and water. If you want rice gruel, I'd advise you to use cooked rice. It's how I do it.


Here is some great background to the Tonka bean .  Try a few shavings in ice cream.


How can I reduce the amount of hooch my sourdough starter is making?

Hooch formation is a sign of a starving sourdough starter. I've never actually had hooch forming on a regularly fed sourdough mother. So this is the short answer.

I've sometimes spotted something similar to hooch, but it's just a false sign; Twice a day I feed my sourdough starter (it's at room temperature), and I clean my glass jar each feeding. Sometimes a small amount of water is left in the jar, and when I pour in my sourdough it doesn't incorporate the water. This water over time moves on top of the sourdough and looks like hooch, but isn't. This might or might not be the problem. Remember, a room temperature sourdough should be fed twice a day. I don't have much experience with cold-storage sourdough, but once every second day should be good.


Why doesn't a microwave heat the air around food, in addition to the food itself?

With all electromagnetic radiation, including visible light and microwaves, absorption depends on the molecules doing the absorption.  Air is mainly oxygen and nitrogen, and these don't absorb very well at the 2.4GHz frequency used in microwaves, while foods do.  A lot of this is down to the very efficient absorption by water, and almost all foodstuffs contain a fair amount of water.
Note that the air does warm up with heat from the food.  For short cooking times this isn't a big effect, but for things that cook longer it's significant


If you freeze and later melt egg whites would they still be suitable to whip

Yes, quite well -- I have personally made successful angel food cakes with frozen whites -- but if volume matters, they will not quite reach the maximal height of fresh whites (say, loss of 5-10%), and achieving peaks will take a little longer whipping time than normal.


How to replace Bouillon cubes without making them on my own

The examples you gave - pasta and rice - are presumably using boullion cubes and water. The cubes are basically supposed to be dehydrated broth, so you can just use whatever kind of stock or you prefer instead of the water. Often boullion cubes are saltier and have more umami than the stock they'd replace, so you may find you want to add back in some salt and some other source of umami (MSG or a more substantial ingredient), especially if you're using vegetable broth.

Depending on what your objection to bouillon cubes is, you might also like a vegetable stock base (Better Than Bouillon is a common brand). It's basically the same thing as the cubes, except in paste form.

But in any case, the bouillon is basically stock (minus water) so you should look to stocks for your substitutions. The primary two concerns will be salt and umami, but you probably are benefiting from some more subtle flavors too - and even if the bouillon cubes are lacking in that department, a good flavorful stock will be a welcome improvement.


Is it safe to cook chicken soup if the water doesn't quite cover it?

You will be fine.  As the chicken softens, and with a bit of a stir, it will all get cooked.  the steam and conductive heat will cook and keep safe even the minuscule portion above the water line.


What can make a radish lose its flavour in a dish?

I don't think anything reacted, just that you smothered them in other stuff.

Some of your additional ingredients (the cream cheese and the miracle whip) will soak up any taste present and dilute it. If you just made cream cheese with radishes, it will still taste a bit like a radish, but much weaker.

But you didn't just dilute it, you combined it with other, very strong tasting food. Mustard, pickle and liquid "seasoning" are all little taste "bombs" which will easily overpower lots of other stuff (and tuna isn't so weak either). Especially the mustard has a taste and aroma which is very similar to radish, but much stronger - it will probably mask the radish. The actual radish taste (beyond the hotness) is very delicate and easily covered up. The hotness itself is the same as mustard hotness, only weaker, so it disappears into the mustard taste.

With this mix of concentrated tastes and dilutants, it's no wonder if your radish taste just went under.

If you want your salad to taste of radishes, you should remove most of the stronger seasonings. Or just replace the miracle whip with radish paste.

I doubt that adding an acid or a base will have much effect, or that you'll be adding any bases at all. Basic food doesn't taste too good, especially in combination with fat.


What provides the acid for leavening in this banana bread recipe?

Most of the ingredients in this recipe are acidic.

ph values:

flour 5.5-6.5
brown sugar slightly acidic
bananas 4.5-5.2
butter 6.1-6.4

The salt is neutral and the eggs are not acidic, ph 7.1-7.9

The combination of these ingredients is acidic enough to interact with the baking soda to leaven the bread.

Even without the bananas, there would be some leavening. Consider the standard ingredients in chocolate chip cookies: flour, sugar, butter, eggs, salt, baking soda and chocolate chips. Though they don't raise nearly as much as banana bread, they do poof up a bit.


I've been drinking loose-leaf tea at work for many years now, and have gone through most of these.

cup with a ceramic or glass strainer.

I've tried both the ceramic type with holes and the glass type with slots. The mesh is never fine enough for me. In addition the holes or slots invariably get packed with leaves and are a pain to clean.

steel strainers.

If you mean the tea-ball type, I can't comment. But a steel mesh strainer is my absolute favorite. I've been using the same one (pictured below) for years now and have never noticed any off flavors. Easy to clean: just dump out the leaves and give a good rinse, picking or sponging out the occasional stuck leaf.

Not microwaveable, but you don't want to microwave the leaves, anyway. Microwave the cup with water in it (put a stirrer in to avoid superheating the water. Yes, it can happen, and has happened to me), then put the strainer in when it's the right temperature.

cotton strainers.

I have never used one, so I can't comment authoritatively, but it seems like at the least they'd be harder to clean.

fillable disposable tea bags.

I hate disposable anything. I tried the type of bag pictured below and they were a pain. They tend to wick tea out of the cup and onto your table.

As for the other gizmos, I think for tea, simpler is better. The above are the only methods I've used, and I find the mesh basket is far and away the most convenient and best solution.


What are the black spots on the lid of my expensive oil bottle?

Notice that this is in a silvery patch that differs in color from the rest of the cap, and that there are similar small silver spots on the interior ridges of the cap screw closure (visible in your first picture). To me it looks like the cap was inexpertly coated with some kind of gold-colored treatment, probably to prevent corrosion, but part of the treatment was missed or rubbed away. The black spots are most likely corrosion of the underlying, exposed metal, possibly caused by contact with tiny amounts of moisture on the spout of the bottle at some point when it was sealed. It doesn't appear to show up anywhere on the gold-colored treatment, and the spots appear to be quite small.

If there is no evidence of mold within the oil (such as clouding of the oil or exposed glass, other black spots on the lip of the oil container, etc.) then most likely this is metal corrosion that is unlikely to cause a problem unless you're planning to store this oil for months or years. I probably wouldn't reuse this cap if you're recycling the oil container for another purpose - it looks to be cheaply made, and already showing it.


Is there a good, clean way to pit black olives?

Two Options which work for both olives and cherries:

Use a drinking straw and push through one end until you hit the pit and keep pushing until the pit comes out.
Use a large paper clip partially opened so that the end can be used for inserting and pushing the pit through.


In the book Advanced Bread and Pastry, Michael Suas outlines three methods that he recommends to professional bakers (but also applicable at home) for freezing bread at various stages, roughly in decreasing order of quality:

Par-baked process.  The bread or rolls are prepared normally and baked normally, but for a shorter amount of time (just until the structure is set).  For best results, Suas recommends a relatively high temperature at first to maximize oven spring, then decrease to a much lower oven for the rest of the baking time.
Bread should be pulled from the oven before most substantial browning, with just the basic structure intact so the bread doesn't collapse.  Loaves or rolls are cooled to about room temperature and then frozen quickly.  They may then be removed directly from the freezer and baked immediately, usually at a relatively high temperature.  The biggest challenge for a home baker here is potential moisture loss and slight staling during cooling and freezing (as commercial bakeries tend to use a blast chiller).  But if done well, the results are basically the same as normally baked bread.
Frozen dough process.  The dough is mixed/kneaded, divided, shaped, and frozen immediately to minimize fermentation and gas activity.  Generally the only modifications are to use cold ingredients and to mix/knead more thoroughly, as the lack of a shaping step after defrosting means that the the gluten must be thoroughly developed during the initial mix.  High-gluten flour or added gluten may also help with the final rise.  (Gas production and fermentation is then limited to avoid more damage to the gluten structure during the freezing process.
It also makes it easier to wrap the dough tightly without much dough expansion during the freezing process.)  When frozen dough is to be held longer, a higher yeast content may be used as the yeast activity will gradually die off with prolonged freezing.  The best thawing method is slow and in the fridge.  This also allows the possibility of reshaping (if necessary) before the final proof at room temperature.  Final quality is usually okay but lower than parbaked results, either due to insufficient yeast activity/dough structure after freezing or excessive "yeasty" flavor if more yeast is added to the inital mix offset this.  This method is usually best for enriched doughs that can distract from the lack of good flavor development.
Preproof frozen process.  Here the dough is mixed in the usual fashion, then shaped and allowed to undergo a single proof to about 75% of the usual final size.  The dough is quickly frozen.  It can then be removed from the freezer and placed directly in the oven to complete its rise and bake.  This process is the most temperamental and least likely to produce bread of high quality.  Suas only recommends this method be used for things like breakfast pastries with a high butter content -- to distract from poor flavor development and texture -- that will be consumed relatively quickly after baking.  But it is very convenient to get a warm "fresh-baked" product quickly with little effort at the end.  Still, Suas strongly recommends par-baking over this process for most baked goods.  (And the frozen dough process at least allows the possibility for reshaping and controlling the final rise to get a better product.)

I've tried the first two processes myself at times, and they've both produced reasonably good results.  Like the information I summarized above, I wouldn't recommend letting the dough rise before freezing though, unless you're going to parbake.  More gas bubbles mean more ice crystals that will potentially damage the bread structure during freezing.

Other answers and comments have mentioned the possibility of doing a complete normal bake and freezing the final loaf.  That's also a reasonable possibility, but if I'm to that stage and I know I'm going to freeze some bread, I often pull out some of the loaves a few minutes early, so I can defrost/finish baking them in the oven.

The one concern to that is that parbaked bread (in my experience) tends to stale a little faster after it is defrosted and baked, partly due to moisture loss during two stages of baking and two stages of cooling.  If you don't plan on eating most of the bread right away after baking, I'd probably tend to either freeze fully baked bread (and defrost at room temperature), though the "frozen dough" method may be acceptable for richer bread doughs or doughs that don't depend on a high rise (e.g., pizza).  The choice of method really depends on how much work you want to do at various stages, the type of dough/bread, and how quickly you plan to eat the finished bread.


Ribs burned to a crisp following directions. What does "medium high" mean?

Ribs should not be cooked with direct heat, generally. The directions on the meat are VERY defective. You should turn the left burner on, and put the ribs in the right side of the grill. You should cook at a temperature between 250-300F, typically for 4-5 hours. They're done when the meat pulls back from the bone and when you can easily tear the meat between bones, not when they hit a certain temperature.

Check out amazingribs.com, and also get your money back. The instructions on the packaging border on fraud.


What is the best method of storage for condiments?

To a certain extent, it depends on the condiment.

For things like oil or vinegar, where germs generally can't really survive anyway, there is no need for refrigeration. On the other hand, things like ketchup, mayonnaise, or any other emulsions (tahini for instance) should be kept in the fridge.
It also depends on whether the pack is sealed or has come into contact with air already. For example, sealed packs of mayonnaise can be kept at room temperature, though an open jar must be refrigerated.

Aside from that, it's always a good idea to keep things in sealed containers, and away from direct sunlight.


Can I use “All-Purpose flour” instead of “cake flour”?

This can depend on the specific recipe and the goal, but in general know that cake flour has a lower resulting gluten content than all-purpose flour, thereby resulting in the cake having a "lighter" texture. Experimentation with the specific recipe can tell you whether it matters, but in general I would caution substituting if any of the following conditions are called out by the recipe;

a very specific kneading/mixing time, i.e. with breads
a specific attention is called to the temperature, i.e. with pie crusts
the cake should have a very fluffy, spongy, or otherwise specific texture (as opposed to a more loose end result as with cake brownies or other hybrids where some flex either way could yield a nice result)

In some recipes, and especially mediated by the type of fat you use*, it may not matter if you use cake flour. However, if you want to make a spongier or fluffier loaf of cake, it will be detrimental to have all-purpose flour as the main building block. Some recipes can be specifically cut with cake flour to reduce gluten in the end result. The inverse obtains as well.

*If a recipe with a higher gluten flour calls for a room-temperature liquid fat (canola oil), and you substitute it with a lower gluten flour and a room-temperature solid fat (i.e. coconut oil, shortening) you can tweak to approximate a similar end result with pleasant nuances. I do this with otherwise oatmeal and whole-wheat cookies relying on a puree (i.e. pumpkin, sweet potato) for flavor, and cut in some APF with coconut oil instead of vegetable oil, thus resulting in a crisp cookie with a pleasant toothiness.


Is it possible to make pork belly very soft with a pressure cooker?

...a pressure cooker can't really speed up the process for breaking down the fat in the pork belly...

Nope - this isn't really true, nor is it a complete description of what's going on. Pork belly doesn't just contain a large amount of fat, it contains a large amount of connective tissue (which is why it's so tough when not properly slow-cooked). The goal with such cuts (ribs and pork shoulder are other good examples) is largely to break down tough, chewy collagen into gelatin, which provides a deliciously viscous texture. It's sometimes described as "mouth-coating", which sounds... less desirable than it is.

Both the process of melting fat and the process of converting collagen to gelatin are temperature-dependent and will speed up with increased temperature. This is the advantage that your pressure cooker provides. However, the latter process is a lot more complicated; it requires the presence of sufficient water, and it doesn't scale linearly (e.g. it won't get 10% faster by applying 10% more energy).

There seems to be an upper bound with how quickly you can get collagen to convert to gelatin, and with pork belly there's so much collagen that a typical cooking time might extend into 12+ hours. And that effort is necessary, unless you want a chewy pork belly after all that work. With a pressure cooker, you might be able to get the cooking time down to 9 or 10 hours, but the reduction won't be as drastic as with other foods.

Additionally, gelatin itself is temperature-sensitive, and pure gelatin will break down if boiled; what seems to happen is that the long, flexible strands that give gelatin its elasticity get "cut" at high enough temperatures, such as the higher temperatures in your pressure cooker, and it loses some of that lip-smacking goodness. I've observed this myself when making stock in a pressure cooker. It's faster and more convenient than letting a pot simmer on the stove all day (and the endless skimming, and topping off with water, etc.) but it never has quite the texture of a stock made the "proper" way. Don't get me wrong: it's still quite good, and pork belly has so much collagen that you might not notice a difference in the end, but there's an argument to be made for accepting the additional couple of hours for a traditional slow braise.

So, the TL;DR: a pressure cooker will indeed speed up the cooking of pork belly, but not as much as it speeds up other cooking.


Your typical Tamari is, to my understanding, going to be closer to dark than light soy sauce. So you'd want light as a second soy sauce.

Inside Japan, there are five kinds of soy sauce:

Koikuchi, which is your most typical soy sauce
Usukuchi, which is lighter because it has fermented rice in it
Tamari, which has more soy than wheat and thus is a bit darker
Shiro, which has more wheat than soy and thus is a bit lighter
Saishikomi, which is "twice-brewed" and thus twice as dark

In China, you have two: regular "light" soy sauce, and "dark", which is the light stuff processed further and aged. Therefore, "sashikomi" is the Japanese equivalent to dark soy sauce, if you want to stick with Japanese classifications.

If your recipes are aimed at english-speaking audiences, however, the terms are likely to be used a lot looser and less precisely than in Japan or China. Kikkoman, which is the biggest name brand I've seen in the US, brews a regular, a Tamari, and a gluten-free (Tamari can have some gluten in it). Therefore, I would normally assume that to an American chef, "dark soy sauce" is Tamari. "Light soy sauce" might mean the low-sodium stuff, or it might mean Shiro or Usukuchi. Your basic unqualified "soy sauce" is Koikuchi.


Ought I refrigerate an Inner Pot with stew inside?

No, refrigeration will not damage your inner pot. Some materials (such as ceramic) can be damaged by rapid temperature changes but the one you picture appears to be stainless steel or similar alloy and will handle temperature changes very well. Note: refrigeration is not bad for ceramic but rather going from one extreme to the other.

Please Don't leave it to sit on your counter to cool. You need to bring the temperature down for safe storage. See this answer on more about safe cooling and storage practices.

I will add a note based on the comment thread. You should not put the pot directly into the fridge immediately after removing it from the heat. This is bad for all the items in the fridge (not the pot) as pointed out by @Chris H in the comments. The solution to this is NOT to let it sit but rather to cool it off. Traditional methods are either an ice-bath or an ice wand.


When a recipe asks to add spices to the oil, can you add the spices directly to the sauce for the same effect?

The effect will be different for a few reasons.

When you add spices to hot oil, they cook at a considerably higher temperature (up to around 200°C) than in a simmering sauce (100°C as it's likely to be mostly water).  Important cooking chemistry happens at this higher temperature, so the flavour is actually changed (just as with onions and garlic).
Whole or coarse spices sometimes pop and break up (I often add whole or lightly crushed cumin seeds to hot oil and fry,  but if you add them after adding watery liquids they get stuck in your teeth).  This can be mitigated by using finely crushed/ground spices.
Even if the oil is cold, many major flavour compounds are much more soluble in oil than water, capsaicin being a significant example.  The flavour extraction will be affected.  Taking chilli flakes as an example, you can add them later, even at the table, but the heat will be concentrated in the flakes; adding them at the beginning of cooking allows the flavour to infuse the whole dish.  Again finer spices can help here by dispersing in the sauce.

On the other hand it's perfectly sensible to add black pepper to a simmering sauce, to taste.  Turmeric is also often added towards the end of cooking as too much cooking removes some of the best elements of the flavour.  Paprika is also sometimes added late (or even to the oil and at the end).

Bearing this in mind, experimenting is a good thing.  If you put a baseline level of spice in the oil, you can get away with topping up the flavour, with a little care.


Can I make sweetened coconut from dried coconut?

According to this step-by-step set of instructions from Livestrong, you can definitely make sweetened coconut from dried coconut.

Things You'll Need:

1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1 tbsp. powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp. canola oil
2 tsp. water

Instructions:

Blend dried coconut and powdered sugar with a whisk in a medium-sized bowl until the mixture is uniform.

Combine the canola oil and water in a small bowl, stirring until the ingredients are well blended.

Pour the liquid ingredients over the sugared coconut. Stir them to thoroughly coat the coconut.

Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes, or until the coconut absorbs all the liquid. Stir the mixture once or twice to turn it over.

Use the moistened, sweetened coconut immediately for best results. Alternatively, place it in a plastic freezer bag for short-term
storage in the refrigerator or long-term storage in the freezer. While
sealing the bag, press out as much air as possible.

Tips and Warnings:
The vegetable oil moistens the coconut and helps the powdered sugar
adhere better. If desired, increase the amount of water in the recipe
to 4 tsp. and eliminate the oil. Likewise, substitute the canola oil
for safflower or sunflower oil. Don't use olive oil, however, as its
saltier flavor will mask or diminish the sugar's sweetness. The recipe
calls for a small amount of coconut because it's best to use homemade,
sweetened coconut as you make it. You can easily double or triple the
quantities of each ingredient to make larger batches. Sweetened,
shredded coconut will stay fresh for about a month in an airtight
container stored in a cool, dry place or the refrigerator.

If the instructions don't work out for you, I'd suggest re-hydrating your coconut in a bowl of room temp water, draining the water out of the bowl, blotting the coconut until damp, and then adding the sugar.


I've found when hot-packing jam into jars that have just come out of the oven at 160°C, the jam that is in contact with the glass keeps cooking and thickens. You can tell because it sizzles as it goes in, despite being over 100°C when poured (I use a jam thermometer so can be fairly sure). Letting it cool then packing for rapid consumption always leads to thick jam for me, as it carries on cooking while the rest is packed. But this tends to be the last bits that aren't worth packing properly, so gives me an early taste test portion, if a poor indication of texture.

Letting the jars cool a little would reduce this, in fact if I take several jars out of the oven in one go then fill them the sizzling is reduced by the last jar.

After hot packing into sterilised jars you don't (according to the UK food standards agency) need to carry out a further step, so I don't. Even pressure canning would have a limited effect on the water content of the jam overall, but bay cause some further cooking against the glass. Simply boiling the jars (as advised in old books for preserves with lower sugar content) should have no effect, as the jam was already hotter than that.