How did my Turkish Delights/lokum end up tasting like orange?

I strongly suspect that your food coloring may have had something to do with it if you were using liquid food coloring as these often have flavors you wouldn't expect. That plus the acidity from the coffee (yes, coffee is acidic) and the cream of tartar (powdered acid) could simulate an orange flavor.

Gel colorings are much better as they give much more color without flavors, I'd suggest those in the future, just remember a very little bit goes a long way.


What kind of cooling garnish is like ice cream but doesn't melt?

I'd avoid a coagulant if you can, it will likely keep this dense on whats already a rather dense sounding dish.

Personally, I'd beat loads of air into your sour cream/cream cheese mixture and serve a small whipped dollop of it.  It will keep it light and still offset your spiciness a little.  If the pork chili is the star, keep it complimented but not complicated.


Found a kind of worm in my rice bag, what should I do?

In all grains there are insect eggs. It takes moisture for them to hatch. Or a insect could have laid eggs in the rice after opened. This includes flour even after milled. As insect eggs are very elastic. Can go threw milling into flour. Even inalators that shake flour to separate the yolk. In a few weeks the yolk in a insect egg reforms. So such will happen more than once in your lifetime. Does the whole bag have larva in it? If so feed it to the pigs or dog is best. But just one. That happens in life. So many insect eggs are allowed in all grain products. By Government standards. Chocolate is the worse or use to be. In parts per. million for this.


Baking - Substitutions for a gingersnap crust

I suggest you look for a similar recipe that makes its crust from the crackers you have, then add ginger to that. The fat content (and therefore the fat you need to add) will vary, as will the sugar. I've done almost the opposite substitution on a chocolate cheesecake and could have been a bit more careful to get the texture right.

I'm told Graham crackers are very suitable for a crust, certainly the nearest equivalents over here are, so it it just a matter of getting the substitution right.


Margalo is missing a detail in their otherwise good answer:

Many bread recipes use two rises, one after mixing ("bulk rise"), one after shaping and before the bread goes into the oven.

For the first rise you just want to make sure the bowl is large enough, so at least double the volume of your unrisen dough. For very large and wide bowls, you just have to take extra care that the dough won't dry out.

But the final rise may need the right size of container:

A shaped loaf behaves differently depending on recipe and shaping. Soft doughs will be put to rise in the baking tin (matching the loaf size), very stable ones simply put on a floured board or on the counter.

But there is a middle-ground where the loaf has a tendency to "flow outwards" or to flatten, no matter how carefully you shape it or how much tension you create. For those loaves, a proofing basket ("banneton") is used to keep the dough contained - or a bowl, if the baker doesn't have any special equipment at hand. This bowl should be both large enough that the bread won't overflow, yet small enough that the dough is kept together and can't flatten. Using a too-large bowl here nixes the purpose.


Is the paste safe to use?

It's hard to say with any certainty -- we can't smell the paste, you haven't said specifically what the paste is (product name, brand, etc.), and there can be a lot of variation in how different people perceive the same odor. Asking for an opinion from one or more people around you could help.

That said, you're the one who is considering eating the product in question, so if it smells bad or unappetizing to you, toss it. In general, if there's a question about the safety of a food, it's better to be safe than sorry. And even if the food in question is safe, there's no reason to use a product that you're pretty sure you won't enjoy.

Keep in mind that there are some strong odors that are less than lovely by themselves, but which are still delicious in small amounts or when mixed with other ingredients. Onion and garlic can fall into that category, and fish sauce isn't great either.

You could call the manufacturer and see what they say about it -- they might send you a coupon for a new jar if you're willing to give the product another try. Or you could take it back to the store and ask for a refund or exchange.

Trust your instinct -- the nose knows.


What device should I use for pressing/fermenting

In Asian style ferments where the juices are discarded you can omit the weights completely. My kimchi process looks something like this:

Salt and massage cabbage in mixing bowl. Let sit for an hour.
Massage again and let sit for an hour or longer.
At this point the cabbage has pretty much given up all its juices and is ready to be drained and rinsed.
Rub the cabbage with your seasonings and stuff into hermetic jars.

A hermetic jar such as this, combined with the steps above provide a consistently vigorous and healthy fermentation, without the cost of the German stuff.
http://www.amazon.com/Pieces-Italian-Hermetic-Recycled-Canning/dp/B001QYMMSW

Weights serve a number of purposes, many of which are negated when using a hermetic or airlocked fermenter and pre-sweating your vegetables.


It's an egg slice - like a fish slice but more curved & wider.
It's for flipping/serving fried eggs… though tbh I just use a fish slice for anything like that.

Your only problem with searching it is 'egg slice' brings up a million hits for slicing eggs, so 'egg slice spatula' or 'egg fish slice spatula' might hone it down a bit. Lots of manufacturers have many things that vary in shape between the two profiles, egg or fish.

I always think half the issue with this is that no-one else knows it's properly called an egg slice either - so searching gets pretty tough.
You might get a better set of hits with 'egg turner spatula' as it seems many people call them an egg turner.
It does also look a bit like a slotted chuan, but if you search chuan, you don't get holes.


How long does doughnut dough need to chill? What is meant by "chill over night?"

"Overnight" is just a word, not a precise cooking term, so it would mean "during the time that typical people have retired for the night". I.e. 5 or 6 hours should do it. In cases where it is possible to over-do it (like yeast dough rising), I think the upper limit would be 10 or 12 hours.

"Overnight" is a pretty lax instruction. If the recipe requires something more precise than what laymen would assume from the word, then the time would have been specified in hours.


How much dry cake mix, water, oil and eggs to use for two 4in round cakes?

I'll assume you want your 4" round cakes to be the same height as the two 8" rounds the box would make.

The area of two 8" rounds is 2*pi*4^2 = 32pi. The area of two 4" rounds is 8pi, or 1/4 as much area. So you only need 1/4 of the box, and 1/4 of the ingredients you'd add to it.

So, if you have a scale, you could measure 3.8oz of the cake mix, and otherwise you'll need to measure the whole thing by volume and take a quarter of it. Then you'll need 1/4 cup of water, 1/8 cup of oil, and... 3/4 of an egg, which you can probably round up to an egg. If you really want to be careful, you can also just beat an egg in a small bowl or measuring cup, and then spoon out 1/4 of it to leave 3/4 to use.


What is the difference between Shao Xing and Shao Hisng Chinese cooking wines?

Shao hsing is just another romanization of mandarin Chinese (Wade Giles) for Shao xing :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Chinese_romanization_systems


Is it possible to make vegetarian 'prawn' toast?

This recipe seems to be something close to what you are looking for!
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=21443.0
Tofu seems to be a reasonable substitute.

However you can also find a vegetarian shrimp substitute through this company:
http://www.vegieworld.com/cart/product_pages.asp?id=667

One of their suggested preparation methods is for toast!


How to imitate commercial fried chicken?

160C sounds about right for cooking oil temp. I typically shallow fry on the stovetop for about 10-12 minutes for the thighs and then transfer them to a 175C oven to finish cooking (if needed) and then repeat with the breasts. I would stay away from "battering" if you are looking to replicate something like popeye's.

A few things I do to ensure a nice thick crunchy crust:

Put your flour (seasoning or not thats up to you) in a very large zip top bag or paper bag will work too so that when you put the chicken in you can "tumble" it around to be coated like in a dryer. I find that this is cleaner and more effective in creating a crust.
pull out the dredged chicken, redip it in the buttermilk and then throw it back in the bag to tumble.
let the chicken rest on an elevated rack for 15-20 minutes (up to an hour ideally) to allow the dredge to set and adhere to the chicken well. This helps prevent the dreaded "skin falling off the meat" phenomenon.


To further @Tetsujin's answer.

The Lysol product you have specified as Lysol Clean & Fresh Multi-Surface Cleaner is made of a number of active ingredients. The primary decontaminating component is Alkyl (50% C14, 40% C12, 10% C16) dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride. This is a member of what are known as Quaternary Ammonium Compounds or Quaternary Ammonium Cations (QACs). These are all very effective disinfectants against most bacterial pathogens and a wide range of viruses (including SARS-CoV-2 the cause of COVID-19 - see the list and concentrations here). There are a bunch of other things in there too, but most of it is ingredients that allow the QACs to work better, this includes the alcohols (surfactant), EDTA and Tetraborate (mineral sequestering - for hard water, which can inhibit QACs), or ways to make it smell nicer or look pretty.

QACs are generally irritants - they make your skin red and itchy, but they can also cause more severe damage on more sensitive tissues such as lungs, eyes and intestines if inhaled or swallowed. Generally these compounds are safe to use on hard surfaces like your microwave, but not on porous surfaces because the porous surfaces can absorb the disinfectant. Note that they are pretty common as bacteriostatics in contact storage solutions, eye-washes and nasal sprays (see Dermal section) - so the risks are relatively low.

Use of QACs on hard surfaces is fine - just wipe with water a couple of times after use will dilute it enough that it is no longer a problem for most people.

The vents on your microwave are not considered porous - porous surfaces are things with small holes that will absorb the ingredients and not allow them to be washed off easily. Examples of porous surfaces are unsealed wooden surfaces (e.g. chopping boards), sponges (you can use these for cleaning with though - just don't eat off them) and unglazed pottery/crockery. If you have used a QAC cleaner on these sorts of things, you should throw them out or re-purpose them so that you are not eating off them

Long story short - wipe with water a couple of times and you will be fine.


How do I make my roux taste less like flour?

Cook it longer, and watch your proportions. If it's too dry (not enough fat), it's hard to cook through without burning it. You want to get to a golden brown color throughout. You can cook it until it's darker and it'll add more caramel/nutty flavor (don't burn it), but it has to be at least a golden color before it's cooked enough to not taste of raw flour. When in doubt, taste it. If it tastes raw still, go a bit longer.

A good start for proportions is 1 part flour to one part fat--by weight, not by volume. Start with your fat in the pot, and get it nice and warm but not blazing hot, then add your flour a bit at a time, stirring (or better yet, whisking) for a couple of seconds to incorporate it smoothly before adding more. Stop adding (no matter how much flour you've used) when you get a slightly soft paste. Not too runny, but not as stiff as toothpaste either. I've yet to find a common thing people can agree on that has the right consistency to describe it, unfortunately. When you get the right consistency you need to keep stirring it over the heat until you get that golden brown color.

I admit that it's a little imprecise, but it really is a thing I do by feel and experience, based on what I said above as my original starting point. I've learned how I like it over the years, but I started with that.


Differences between coffee made with french press or espresso machine?

To answer the second part of your question ('the pros and cons of an espressomachine'):

Pros:
 - Taste. If done right, you will capture much more of the coffeebean in your cup.
 - Milk foaming. Most espresso machines have the possibility to froth milk for cappuccinos or lattes. Look up 'latte art' on Google Images for some inspiration :-)
 - Process. The making of coffee becomes an enjoyable ritual with shiny machines, hot water and steam.
 - hobby: there is an enormous amount of ustensils, tools, cups, coffees, online forums etc. to discover for enhancing your espresso.

Cons:
 - Taste! as much more taste ends up in your espresso cup, you will also taste the defects much better (bad or stale coffee, badly grind, wrong water temperature etc.) will give you a sour or bitter cup.
 - Technique. It takes practice to prepare a good espresso (except if you opt for a machine that takes coffee pads - but your choice of coffees will be limited and often not fresh).
 - Cost. Espresso machines (good ones) are costly. And it doesn't stop there. To make really tasty espresso you might want to grind the beans yourself, so you'll need a grinder that can grind fine enough for espresso. After that you might start to suffer from upgraditis...
 - Room on the kitchencounter. An espresso machine can take up quite some space.

Hope this helps!


A technique that works for some car dents is to apply dry ice to the warp and this may cause sufficient contraction from the cold the remove a warp. I think this is a low probability of success...but it might be cheap enough to try.

Second, you might consult a local blacksmith (yep, they're still out there) who has the equipment to heat the metal to where he can 'flatten' it for you. I suspect this would cost more than replacing it.


The temperature is indeed the most likely reason behind it. In sourdough, you are creating a small new ecosystem niche, and depending on the environmental conditions, different strains of yeast and bacteria will "win" and outgrow the others. And for microorganisms, there is a huge difference between the 18-22 C when your successful colony established itself and the 32 C when you made the second try.
The air humidity is less important, since it is the humidity within the sourdough itself that drives the growth of the microorganisms. There may be a small effect in the initial seeding, with different microorganisms drifting in the air in the different climates. However, I am not sure how much that matters - there are all kinds of conflicting information out there on where your microflora comes from (air or not) and how much influence it has on the final outcome.
I don't think there is much you can do about the whole thing, if you cannot control the temperature. I am not aware of sourdough recipes developed for fermenting at 30 C. If you want to use this recipe, you will have to find a temperature-controlled environment at the right range. Assuming that you don't have that, but have a fridge, you might alternatively try a recipe intended for starting in the fridge. These will give you a different style of sourdough, you will have to decide if you like baking with it.


If it stays the right texture for the first day, I would say the problem is more with the way you store it than the recipe. Granola bars need to be stored in an airtight container, somewhere dry and cool to maintain their texture for as long as possible.


Substituting table salt or sea salt for kosher salt?

I don't know how well a substitution will work in this case, because I don't know how the salt is being used in the recipe.

If you're mixing the salt into something where it will dissolve, then go ahead and substitute, using the chart that @ManiacZX linked to.  If you're mixing it into cold things, and it doesn't sit for very long, I'd go with a finer salt if you have it.

If it's a recipe that calls for a salt rub, where you rub the bird down with salt, let it sit, then pat dry and roast, you're not going to have as good of results with a replacement.  The issue is the size and shape of the crystals; kosher salt specifically sticks well to moist surfaces to draw out the liquid, and as a result, some of the salt is taken into the meat.  You're not going to get the same behavior with other salts (or at least, not in the same amount of time).


How to reduce cracking and increase browning in sourdough loaves?

For the scoring, you didn't score deep enough. You need a lot more depth to allow for enough expansion.

For the browning, you cannot expect much from a sourdough in a home oven. Both the ingredients and the temperature are wrong for a dark crust. The best you can do is to work with washes, milk should brown well, yolk is also OK but not as usual on sourdough.


The mystery of heating up canned beans- What the tin says

Beans in the can are already well cooked--they are essentially pressure cooked as part of the canning process.

While only a speculation, it is highly likely that they are now fragile and bringing them to a full boil would mar their appearance--fewer whole beans--from the agitation.

There is nothing I am aware of from a safety aspect that would contraindicate boiling the beans again.


I can imagine a few ways of doing it based on the texture you're looking for, and what you have to work with.

Remove the meat from the casing and fry the meat in a pan.  You'll basically be cooking ground meat which will allow you to easily seasons it and also integrate it into other foods.  This method also allows you to season the actual meat if you want to.
Cut the sausages into disks and fry them in a pan.  This will leave you with more body than the first method, and also allow you to really get some good color on the flat parts of the cut sausage.
Leave them whole, poke holes in them, and cook them on anything.  I wouldn't do this for the application you're looking for.  You will eventually be cutting them up, and if you cut them after cooking, you won't have the browning that you could have had.


What causes steamed fish to become mushy?

Assuming that the fish is fresh to begin with...the answer is quite simple, overcooking! Fish cooks far faster than beef, chicken or pork. A great way to steam your fish is to wrap it in parchment paper
cut and paste the following web address to see how EASY it is to get perfectly steamed fish every time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52wYn99cL2I


The name of the snail in Hawaii Achatina fulica.  It's is edible but must be prepared properly according to Wikipedia. Here's a video on the subject of preparing them linked to in the Wiki article.


Does the biological classification of food have a relation to taste?

Yes, they are certainly connected. But as with many connections in the real world, it is not a perfect +1 correlation. So, just because tomatoes and potatoes are related and they don't taste similar, it doesn't mean that no two related plants taste similar, or that similar taste in related plants is due to random chance.

First, many people talk about "taste" as if it were one thing. In fact, there are lots of things which contribute to taste. It can be roughly divided into a combination of four factors: the combination of the basic five tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami), the texture, the aroma of the food, and the taster's internal psychological factors(1). Each food has the first three of them, as well as cues which trigger the fourth.

I won't discuss the psychological factor here, as I don't have enough data on it, and also because it is not intrinsic to the food itself, but to the combination of food and taster. So let's look at the other three.

Basic taste. This can be a hit and miss in related foods.

There are practically no plants which are consistently salty.
Umami is found in some (including the tomato you mentioned), but doesn't run in families.
Fungi will generally have an umami taste, but don't forget that we are talking about a whole kingdom here, not just a few related plants.
Sweet is also unlikely to depend on the plant family, it is more about the part of the plant. The most abundant source of sweetness in plants is fructose. From the point of view of the plant, it is a great way to store energy either for feeding a hungry seed or to seduce animals into eating its fruits(2) and spread the seeds. Besides, it is relatively easy to create if you are a plant. So plants from many families use it. But it tends to be produced in the fruits only, and only after they have received lots of sunlight. I suspect that there may be a chemical reason beside the evolutionary explanation (it is best for the plant when its seeds are only spread after they have matured). So, you can find sweetness in many plants with little relation.
Sourness is due to the presence of acids, and also the absence of sugars (sugar masks our perception of acids as sour). The amount of acids is more plant-family-dependent than the amount of fructose. Some plants, for example the melons/cucumbers/pumpkins family, have very little acid in general, while others are very high in it, like citrus. Beside the amount, the type and distribution of acid is also different. LeBeau mentions rhubarb and sorrel: these are of the same family, and there are only a few edible plants which contain the same acid (oxalic acid). Citruses are high in citric acid, apples in malic acid, and grapes in tartaric acid. Also note that while most plants will concentrate the acid in the fruit, in other plants such as the rhubarb it will be everywhere. We humans can taste the difference between these acids when we are paying attention. So, while you are likely to find a strong relation between the plant part (fruit/not fruit) and sourness level, you will also find a variation of level within different fruits differing within the family. And across all plants, you will find differences in the taste profile of this sourness.
Bitterness. This is the most family-dependent part of the five basic tastes. Alkaloids, a very common class of chemicals produced by plants, taste bitter. But each plant family tends to produce its own alkaloid (or other bitter substance), which have a slightly different type of bitterness. So, if one edible plant is bitter, then other plants of the same family have a high likelihood of being bitter too, and in a similar way (remember, this is different than the sweet situation - fructose equals fructose in all plants).

Texture. This is not related to family very much. The texture varies tremendously within a plant, depending on which part you take from the plant. Cherry tree wood has a texture more similar to pear tree wood than to a cherry fruit or a cherry leaf. Texture is caused by the macro-mechanical properties of the most abundant stuff in plants, such as the starch in grains, the fructose-in-water sticky fruit juice, or the sturdy hemicellulose in stems and leaves. These are roughly similar between plants - two starches may be slightly different, but when packed in a kernel, they feel similar to the tooth. And frequently, the same family can produce different types of starches (you can have mealy or non-mealy potatoes, mealy or non-mealy rice, etc.). So, expect to find similar texture in plant foods not between related families, but within related parts of the plant. And besides, expect the texture to change drastically in response to cooking.
Flavor. This is the area where relations are most apparent. Small differences in a molecule mean huge differences to the way it is perceived (I think that there were examples where it was not really the substance, but its racemic structure which mattered for how its flavor will be perceived). The aromatic substances in plants are family-specific and so flavor is highly related to the family tree of the plant. It is for example very obvious in taste that oregano and thyme are related more closely than, say, oregano and ginger. Similarly, the taste of pumpkins and melons can be surprisingly similar if you get a melon grown without sufficient sun (sun will produce lots of sweetness and aromatics in the melon, which will change its taste profile). Of course, there will be cases when just one plant from a given family evolved to contain a given chemical, which we consider signature for its flavor, and then people may start arguing that there is no relation. But if you take this one chemical from the mix, it will probably taste a lot like its cousins. There are also examples for plants without much relation containing the same substance and therefore exhibiting a similar flavor, but they are rarer. The chemical responsible for the flavor of anise is such an example, it is found in several plants without close relation.

Note that your example is perfectly accounted for by this explanation. Tomatoes and potatoes are indeed part of the same family. But the potato is an underground tuber, while the tomato is a fruit, so totally different parts of the plant. None of them has a strong signature flavor - you can't smell a potato from far away. Tomato is better, but it still has other elements dominating its taste profile, including the interesting combination of sour and umami seldom found in other plants, and its juicy texture combining mealy-moist tissue with jellylike seed-studded substance which is also more acidic than the rest. We don't even eat the parts of the tomato which have most aroma (the stem and leaves). So, on the level where we'd expect most similarity - flavor - we have little contribution to the taste of either of them. On the other two levels, the fact that they are different plant parts dominates their level of difference.

Footnotes

(1) these work in unexpected ways: for example, I once read a study where people had to guess the taste of gummy bears. The bears were rigged, so that the flavor did not match the color. People basically guessed based on color, flavor - they declared that the yellow ones were lemon, even though they had been flavored with cherry, etc.

(2) In this post, I will be only speaking of botanical fruit and disregard the homonymous "fruit" as used in the kitchen. So, tomatoes are a fruit here.


How do I infuse fruit flavor in ganache?

There are four common ways to make fruit-flavored ganaches:

Use the zest of the fruit
Zest the fruit (works best for cirtus) and place the zest in the cream as it is brought to a simmer. Strain out the zest and use the cream.
Use reduced juice
Fruit juice from almost any fruit may be used as a liquid flavoring in ganache. The fruit juice should be heated until it is about half of its original weight. The reduced fruit juice can often be used as a 1:1 (depending on the type of juice you might want to increase the juice slightly) substitute in recipes that call for a liqueur. Like a liqueur, it is stirred in slowly (a little bit at a time) after the ganache has been mixed together.
Use a fruit-flavored liqueur
A third option is to find a liqueur with the correct flavor. It should be added slowly after the chocolate and cream have combined and formed a smooth ganache, but before the ganache has cooled.
Use an extract or flavoring oil
You can also use an extract or flavoring oil. Extracts should be treated like liqueurs. Flavoring oils (such as these) should be added in VERY small quantities after the ganache has become smooth.

The first option may be combined with the 2nd or 3rd. If you choose to combine the 2nd and 3rd options you would have to use half of each, because doubling the liquid in a ganache will either change the consistency or cause it to break.


...Ditch It! Why Risk getting Sick and having the "Trots" complete with Chills!


1. You miss out on nothing. You do risk overcooking in the Microwave, as all you need to do is reheat, so be careful with the timing

I use a glass bowl with lid, or reusable silicone lid instead of messy plastic wrap. Usually much nicer that way, as it can sweat in plastic wrap and go mushy

2.  Re-heating in the oven is not ideal for delicate food. OK for Pizza, but for food that can go tough quickly is tricky. Either use the nukelator or a medium hot skillet. The skillet will only work if there is plenty of sauce or oil


I suspect this idea comes from the fact that you can, without horrible results, sometimes substitute apple sauce for the butter or oil in some quick breads or muffins.  For an explanation on why this works with apple sauce, see Aaronut's excellent answer here:

Why can applesauce be used in place of oil?

Like apples, pumpkin is fairly high in pectin (and furthermore, it is variety of pectin with extremely good gelling qualities).  Therefore, pumpkin is likely to work as well as apple sauce for this type of substitution (which in my mind is not that well, but that is a decision for the baker....)

Unfortunately, as Aaronut points out in his answer, there isn't really any way to prescribe a precise substitution ratio.  It would require experimenting with the amount of liquid (perhaps reducing the milk) and the amount of pumpkin.  Trying to replace only part of the fat instead of all of it would likely be far more successful.

So, while with some effort, you are not likely to have a horrible result, but it won't have the same quality as making the mix according to its directions with butter or oil.  Of course, it also will taste strongly of pumpkin, which is a much more assertive flavor than apple.

Depending on why you want to reduce the butter, there are a couple of alternatives to consider, based on the fact that most muffin recipes (and mixes) are quite tolerant of changes in some of the ratios (which is also why the applesauce/pumpkin substitution is possible).

If you simply want to reduce the fat (and calories) in your muffins, try cutting the butter by 1/2 or so.  The muffins likely will not be quite as delicious, but should still turn out fairly okay.

If you are trying to avoid specifically the dairy fat, substituting a neutrally flavored vegetable oil of your choice 1:1 should work fairly well, although you lose the flavor of the butter.


What makes vacuum fried food retain and concentrate the food's flavor?

Because you are frying at a lower temperature, the food is closer to it's natural state (no browning) and is less cooked.  That coupled with the significant drop in moisture, you are concentrating the flavor of the food (just like syrup, only with solid food).  It's also typically done with food that is more susceptable to burning, foods with higher sugar contents, so you are often left with a sweeter product.


Can I substitute decaf coffee for espresso

Yes, probably.  I've substituted decaf coffee in a number of recipes that called for regular coffee or espresso, particularly when it might be served to kids.  (And frankly, also for myself, because I don't like to consume caffeine late in the day anymore either.)

Some substitution guides will tell you to brew the coffee a little stronger than usual, which might imitate the stronger flavor of espresso.  The problem with that is twofold: (1) the high-pressure espresso extraction process highlights different flavor components compared to just a normal strongly brewed coffee, and (2) decaf coffee often has unbalanced notes to begin with, given the processing necessary to remove the caffeine.  By brewing it stronger, you risk bringing out the unpleasant "stereotypical decaf coffee" flavors even more.

Of course, in many recipes the amount of coffee is minimal, so this may not matter.  But unless you're certain your decaf coffee is pleasant when brewed strong and will complement the other flavors in the recipe, I might just brew it as usual, rather than trying to "amp it up" to make it more like espresso.


What are alternative gelling agents to gelatine? And what are their properties?

For your application you may want to use agar.  It is easy to find, gels at room temperature, and will remain so to about 90C.  The acidity of the orange juice will slowly (a few days) break down the agar, but it should give you enough time for a dish.  Other agents include:

sodium alginate
carrageenan
xantham gum

A good description of the gelling agents from a cooking perspective can be found in the sites on molecular gastronomy such as tech blog of the French Culinary Institute or Martin Lersch's hydrocolloid recipe collection.


Can I use a meat grinder to grate cheese?

During my younger days working in restaurants I have grated many pounds of cheese using a 'meat grinder' (or rather the meat grinder attachment for a hobart stand mixer)...I have also used my home Kitchen Aid meat grinder for cheeses (cheddar, jack and mozzarella mostly). So, it depends on the grinder and the attachments you have but yes it can be done.

You want a fine grinder plate and cold cheese (so it stays together better). You probably also want to be doing a "serious quantity" as the set up/tear down/clean up will be an endeavor. If your having friends and family over for a Mexican Fiesta, perfect. If you are making a quick plate of nachos...OVERKILL.. For a few burgers, do it once and decide for yourself if you want to do it again.

It won't be bad for the grinder
It won't be bad for the cheese
Expect Leftovers...

(note: IMHO near frozen mozzarella for lasagna is a perfect place to use a grinder for cheese...)


help me identify the factors which make grass-fed beef tender or tough

Some breeds are more tender.

Aging beef for at least 2 weeks allows the protease enzyme naturally present in beef to relax rigor mortis.

The way the beef is chilled initially can cause something called "cold shortening" in which protein fibers contract, and so are more chewy.

The amount of exercise that the animal gets during life affects the toughness of its muscles. Sedentary animals are more tender.

Older animals are tougher but also more flavorful.

A calcium deficiency can prevent protease enzymes from working as well, and so there is less natural tenderization during aging.


Let's start with a definition of cooking.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines to cook as:

  To prepare or make ready (food); to make fit for eating by due application of heat, as by boiling, baking, roasting, broiling, etc.

However, from a chemical point of view, what happens when you are cooking meat is that you are using heat, amongst other things, to denature the proteins of the meat.
Denaturation can also be achieved by other means, such as marinating the meat in an acid, such as citric acid (contain in lemon juice) or acetic acid (contained in vinegar).

You can also use other agents to induce denaturation, but they are not always fit for eating.

However, it is important to understand that from a purely cooking perspective the two things are not the same: "cooking" with lemon (I guess it is fine to use the verb to cook as long as you put it in quotes), gives a completely different result than cooking with heat. This is because other chemical reactions happen during application of heat and because, obviously, you do not end up with an hot product!


How do I smoke on a propane grill that has a separate smoker attached?

Generally speaking you should soak the wood chips overnight, for at least a few hours, then place them over a flame in a metal container.

Basically there are 2 types of smoking. "Cold smoking" uses really low heat while keeping the food away from direct flames/heat. With the other, "hot smoking," you're cooking the food while you're smoking it.

You probably want to hot smoke brisket, but you still need to keep the flame low or else the outside will be done long before the inside.

In case it's not obvious, the wood chips need to go into a metal container without water. Wet wood chips smoke better then dry, but you don't want to boil the wood chips.


Yes, you can defrost and refreeze as long as the total time in the "danger zone" of 40-140 F / 4 - 60 C does not exceed 2 hours. This may not be great from a quality point of view, but it is safe.


It looks to be from the "Le Ryad" Baklava place at the Marché Jean Talon.
You could get in touch with them via instagram or facebook; the product is in one of the photo on instagram.
It simply might be an inhouse product with a "Random" name that sound exotic.


Ham and Pea Soup with whole dried peas instead of split peas?

Whole peas will take longer to cook than split peas, but they won't ruin the soup. Split peas will also break apart more to thicken the soup, while whole peas will remain mostly intact. If you want a similar effect, you could use a stick blender to partially liquefy the soup after it's cooked.


What changes should I make to accomodate vegan naked fatties?

So yesterday I tried out the experiment. I made the naked fatty per the normal recipe, and using the gimme lean breakfast sausage. The two primary concerns I had were (a) to ensure the sausage didn't come apart during the smoking process and (b) to ensure a good amount of smokiness was imparted.

With respect to (a), the heat I
worried might denature the exterior
sausage bits, so I rubbed my hands,
cutting board, grill grate, and the
sausage with some canola oil. The
hope was to try to have a protectant
layer on the outside that would be
hydrophobic, and reduce stickiness.
With respect to (b), I assumed the
smoke from the charcoal would
sufficiently suffuse the pork
sausage, but was concerned about the
vegan one. To create more smoke I
roasted peppers and tomatillos for
the latter half of the cooking
process.

Results: Both ended up smoky and nicely textured. Neither was on the verge of crumbly bits, but rather tender on the inside and nicely glazed on the outside. The "meats" were very smoky, very well flavored (the rub was great, but my vegan bbq sauce from scratch not so good). When I incorporated it into chili I quartered the chubs lengthwise and put a quick sear on each edge. They were good short term, not so good long-term and became pretty soft and the flavor dimished. Next time I may try rolling it flat and smoking it that way so it can just be crumbled.

Takeaway: Smoking vegan sausage pulls out some really good stuff. Obviously it's not pork sausage, but it is a tasty meat substitute and smoking it is worth the effort. It doesn't take well yet to stock; further searing/cooking might be required.


If you want less sour yogurt, you have to pick the right culture and right process.

First, choose a streptococcus culture, or maybe bifida. Lactobacilicus bulgaricus gives you more sour yogurt.
Second, go as low as your culture allows you. The manufacturer will have given you the range at which your culture can be incubated, choose something at the lower end. But of course make sure that whatever setup you are using can really hold the temperature in range - for example, if you have a culture that can go from 40 to 46 Celsius, but your apparatus has temperature swings of 1.5 degrees Celsius, don't set it to 40, set it to 42.
Third, time. Here, you have to see what is the shortest time you can incubate and have the yogurt set. It is a matter of trial and error with a given temperature and culture. Moscafj's answer suggests 5 hours as a starting point for experimentation.
Fourth, storage time. Your yogurt can keep going slightly more sour in the fridge. So don't make more than one week's worth ahead.
Fifth, make sure that your starting temperature is also correct. I have a relative who is too impatient to wait for the yogurt cool down properly before innoculating, and never uses a thermometer, she just adds the culture to the too hot milk. Her yogurt always reeks of acetic acid to levels I can't tolerate.

If you get your variables right as described above, your yogurt can be pretty mild.


What's a good vegetarian substitute for Worcestershire sauce?

I have found a few recipes on the web:

Vegan Worcestershire sauce
Vegetarian oyster sauce

There are also a few hard to find ready-made vegan Worcestershire sauces on the market, such as Annie's.

When I read these recipes (which I have never made) I can tell that their flavor profile is missing some key aromas present in the original Worcestershire sauce. As strange as it may sound these sauces could use some of the aromas found in Parmigiano-Reggiano and in broccoli.  Whichever recipe works out, someone should write a blog post on this topic.


How do I measure frozen herbs, like dried or fresh?

Definitely as fresh. And you might want to add a little more to compensate for the flavours lost in the freezing process.


When making gravlax, both the ratio between salt and sugar and the amount of dill or other herbs is more or less a matter of taste. Personally, I am not a big fan of dill and find that its strong, distinct flavour does not necessarily match gravlax very well.

I use the same amount of salt and sugar (which is common in Norway), and enough to cover the fish fillets. Cover the bottom of a pan or dish with salt/sugar, lay the fish fillet on top of it, sprinkle a generous amount of salt/sugar on the fish and repeat if you have more than one fillet. Don't be afraid to use too much salt or sugar, the fish will only absorb the right amount anyway.

What makes it important in your recipe to use kosher salt (and not any other type of salt)?


Is the milk spoiled when a thin layered textured appears in the bottom of pan?

This layer just means some milk proteins have cooked onto the bottom of the pan, and says nothing at all about the age or condition of the milk. It's more likely when you boil a smaller quantity due to the more rapid heating. During can help avoid this.

However repeated heating and cooling isn't generally a good idea. With milk you can get away with it but it would be a better idea to boil only what you need (which would also be quicker and use less energy).


Wikipedia says chia is a plant that belongs to the mint family. According to the wiki article the FDA generally recognizes mint as safe

  §182.10 Spices and other natural seasonings and flavorings, including
  mint, are generally regarded as safe (GRAS) for food uses in the
  United States.

but

the wiki article also enumerates two mint species in particular and I don't know why (Peppermint Mentha piperita L. and Spearmint Mentha spicata L.).
I just can't access the original website to check the original terms due to a server error.

Edit: The server works now. Only Peppermint (Mentha piperita L.) and Spearmint (Mentha spicata L.) are generally recognized as safe by the FDA (§182.10). The word "mint" in the cited paragraph from the wiki article doesn't mean the Mentha family but only the plants that are commonly called "mint". I have the impression that in the chia article this mint (Lamiaceae, a family) was mixed up with this mint (Mentha, a genus). As @rackandboneman pointed out, chia (Salvia hispanica) belongs to the family Lamiaceae (common name: mint) and belongs to the genus Salvia (common name: sage).

Edit 2: Sprouts are probably edible. The link directs to an online shop which sells chia seeds with growing instructions.

I leave this answer for the sake of completeness even it doesn't really answers the question.


How can I determine how powerful certain herbs and spices are? Is there a list?

I doubt you could even do this for different brands of hot chilli powder (for example). Never mind trying to come up with an equivalent between things that aren't equivalent. Fresh chillies are even more variable. Strong flavours like herbs and spices interact with the other flavours in a dish, so something you find equivalent in one dish won't be right in another. Example: cumin can overpower a mild curry if you're not careful, but a large batch of my slow cooked chilli could handle a huge amount, while too much cinnamon in either wouldn't taste right, and the curry could take a decent bit of ginger while the chilli would cease to taste like chilli.

Ginger, mustard and chilli are all hot spices, but the difference is one of kind, not just degree. You even feel the heat in different places (chilli more in the throat, mustard in the nose). Further, one person's perception of these different kinds of heat will be very different to another's - I could say that a sample of mustard is hotter than a sample of chilli sauce. You could say the opposite, and we could both be right.

The solution, to a large extent, is to test when making an unfamiliar dish or using unfamiliar ingredients. Accepting some variability is also necessary. Most herbs and many spices can be adjusted towards the end of cooking, sometimes by using a different form. Of course you need a rough idea of how much to start with, but you won't get that by replacing some amount of thyme with basil.


What is the purpose of oil or butter in bread?

Breads get their structure from glutens--a type of protein formed by the combination of glutenin with gliadin.  Kneading and resting the dough helps the formation of glutens--I assume by shifting glutenin and gliadin molecules around, this increases the odds of bindings occurring.
Oils can bind to glutenin and gliadin and inhibit these reactions, so fats--oils and butter--definitely play a role in the texture control.
It prevents the dough from getting too elastic, which controls texture.  This elasticity change would also change the maximum air bubble size.  Altering resting times and yeast quantity also change these, but trading off for a different flavor.  Oil may play other roles, but these are what I recall reading about off the top of my head.  Yes, it does contribute to flavor as well.


I'd like to start with an analogy. Look at what you said in comments that some vegetables are actually better purchased frozen than purchased fresh. Let's take frozen peas vs fresh.
Peas notoriously begin to lose flavor and their great texture as soon as they are picked. Quality manufacturers of frozen peas get those peas frozen at extremely low temperatures almost immediately after they are picked. From the time they are frozen until the time you use them, typically they have stayed frozen.

"Peas go into the freezer at one end at about 15C, and they come out six minutes later at the other end at around -18C."
The peas make it into the freezer to be flash-frozen in the two-and-a-half hour time limit.

-BBC
So, if you can buy fresh peas that were picked no more than 2 1/2 hours ago, they might be a tiny bit superior than peas you can buy frozen. Otherwise, you should buy your peas frozen. Frozen peas are "fresher" plus they haven't been banged around and damaged in transit.
Look at seafood that way
Can you get your hands on it within a few hours of it being caught? If not, purchase it frozen. Leave the freezing to the people who have the equipment to do it well, and will do it fast, sometimes while still on the boat.
In the US, most seafood arrives at the grocery store frozen. Then they thaw it out, put it on ice, and display it more attractively than it looks bagged in the freezer. It makes no sense to buy that. Buy exactly the same fish while it is still frozen, because it starts to lose freshness again as soon as you start to thaw it.
This basic rule is true of every variety of fish I know of plus shrimp, squid, scallops, lobster and octopus:
Buy it nearly off the boat, buy it live, or buy it frozen

"There really is no difference," said Gibbons. "The clock never moves backward when it comes to freshness. If a fish is caught, handled well and frozen immediately, you literally stop the clock. You freeze in the freshness." He adds that nutritionally, nothing is lost when fish is frozen.
These days, technology is such that fish are either frozen right at sea (most common with farmed fish, as freezers are incorporated into the farm sites) or immediately upon landing at port, said David Pilat, global seafood buyer for Whole Foods Market.
And the assumption that fattier varieties such as salmon and tuna fare better, texturally speaking, than leaner fish when frozen doesn't hold true, either. Our experts say it comes down to proper freezing and handling on the front end, and proper thawing—in the fridge, out of the package—on the back end.
"There is no downside to buying frozen fish," Gibbons said.

-Epicurious
If your store displays thawed fish on ice, look at it first and then the frozen package of the same item:

Commercially frozen fish is quickly frozen at its peak freshness. Consumers can now find a wide choice of top-quality and wholesome seafood in the freezer case. When properly thawed, frozen fish is comparable to fish that was never frozen. Both exhibit the qualities of freshness described previously. Frozen fish and shellfish should be packaged in a close-fitting, moisture-proof package. Select packages from below the load line of the freezer case. Look for packages that still have their original shape and the wrapping intact with little or no visible ice. Seafood should be frozen solid with no signs of freezer burn, such as discoloration or drying on the surface, and have no objectionable odor. The same guidelines apply for frozen prepared seafood, such as crab cakes, breaded shrimp, or fish sticks. Do not allow the package to defrost during transportation. When properly thawed, frozen fish can be comparable to fish that was never frozen.

-Seafoodhealthfacts.org


Is white cabbage that has turned rose-colored still safe to eat?

Are you trying to make Sauerkraut?

Either way for the pink colour you have a non-desirable bacteria growing. While most Sauerkraut has some of this, it is not always safe to eat. Time to throw it away?

If you salt cabbage, you need to ensure not too much salt is used (1% to 2% max), and make sure it is packed down very firmly, so only anaerobic bacteria will grow in any numbers

It doesn't need to be in a closed container, but it should have a firm fitting lid, without an air gap on the top

Also, once it goes past 20°C (70°F) you run the risk of getting other undesirable bacteria and yeasts, and general food rot


Domestic, fresh taste-alike for an Italian coffee

I'd suggest buying it from someone who knows a thing or two about coffee, like http://www.wholelattelove.com/Lavazza/lava_oro.cfm.

Also, have you tried contacting Lavazza Qualita Oro with questions? If they don't know the best distributors, no one will.

A recommendation: http://www.tonyscoffee.com/shop/blend/cafe-carmelita/

I think you'll like this one as much or more than than the Lavazza Qualita Oro. It's quite wonderful, if not cheap.

It has an Agtron rating of 65. The Lavazza Qualita Oro is about 55, so this roast is lighter.

  The Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) has developed a
  points system to classify the degree - the colour - of different roast
  types. The system consists of eight numbered colour disks against
  which one matches a sample of finely ground, roasted coffee, usually
  pressed into a laboratory petri dish. In this way one assigns the
  roast an approximate number on what is commonly called the Agtron
  Gourmet Scale, ranging from #95 (lightest roast) at intervals of 10
  down to #25 (the darkest common roast).


What part of beef is used in beef chow mein?

Chow mein is a Chinese dish of stir fried noodles.  While popular throughout Chinese cuisine, I am guessing that you are referring to the dish found at Chinese restaurants throughout India, the UK, or the US.  In these restaurants, a protein such as chicken, beef, or seafood is often added.  Remember, these are high heat, fast-cooked dishes, most often cooked in a wok.  So, the proteins must be cut small enough to cook quickly, and lean enough to result in a tasty and tender bite.  There is not time to render fat or break down collagen when stir frying.  So when considering beef, pork, or lamb specifically, cuts that lend themselves to quick cooking are chosen.  For beef, I would say sirloin or flank are two good options.  In the end, this ingredient choice is mostly about cooking method.


This bugged me for a long time, and I assumed that there were better ways.  And there are!  Mostly notably you want to introduce the coals to more of your friend, Mr. Oxygen!
Plight of firefighters everywhere and friend of blacksmiths, increased oxygen will start the coals much much faster.  Three easy ways to accomplish this:

Hairdryer!  Just hook up your hairdryer and blow it on the coals. Beware the ash and cinders that get blown about!  You'll still need the paper to light though.

Vacumm cleaner in reverse! My shopvac, for example, can be a blower and will put the hairdryer to shame in terms of volume.  Beware the ash and cinders that get blown about!  You'll still need the paper to light though.
Specialized bbq tools like this one.  They have that advantage of being heat proof and also starting the coals with super hot air, but the long term reliability and price have always kept me from purchasing.

Personally, the hairdryer is the easiest and shaves the time down to just a few minutes.


Can Chick Peas take over two hours to cook?

They sound like they've been around too long.  Check use by date on bag to be safe.


Heart shaped fruit cake: how to prevent uneven baking

Okay, there's a couple options I can think of.

One possibility is simply, to cool down your oven.  You're increasing the baking time anyway, a cooler oven will let the cake cook more slowly but more evenly - it is a classic way of not overcooking the outside of a large dish before the inside is done.

Another possibility is, you watch your cake a little more closely, and interfere when you notice any problems - for example, tenting foil over parts that are browning too soon, or adding moisture by the eyedropperfuls if the surface (or edges) are looking a bit too dry.  You can also turn down the heat more, or turn the heat off and let it finish in residual heat if nearly done, if the outside is browning faster than the inside is cooking.  This will take a bit more time, effort, and mindfulness, since you have to be there and paying attention for a fair chunk of the cooking time - but it is also the most generalizable advice for baking in odd-shaped pans.

Last possibility is, you can pad your pan before baking, focusing on any trouble spots.  You mentioned double lining the pan, and while it might have helped - it clearly didn't prevent the problem, so why not try doing more next time?  One historical technique was to wrap the outside of the pan with paper - newspaper, brown paper, or parchment paper, a few layers (and the air trapped between them) would slow down browning on the outside and give the interior a bit more time to come up to temperature.  Or you can use cardboard for the same purpose.

Or else you can use a more durable equivalent and try a silicon mat (plus or minus strips for targeted protection), or make up something using cheesecloth, or repurpose an oven-safe ceramic or glass lid or pan to shield known trouble spots, or something of the sort.  You could also make something similar to a crust shield, like is used on pies - which would use strips of foil along the edges to prevent them from overbaking while the center finishes cooking.  You wouldn't find pre-made ones like there are for pie, but you can use the same principles to position a few strips of foil over the tops of trouble spots to let them cook slower.

You would want extra padding where you expect problems (in this case, a few extra layers around the top curves).  This setup would shield the outer layers from radiant heat a bit more, and let the batter warm and cook a bit more slowly but also more evenly.  You might not want newspaper if you're putting any layers over the top of the cake pan, or where it might touch the cake, but it should work for just padding the pan with.

Clearly, this third option works best if you know, or can guess, the trouble spots beforehand.  Perhaps the first time baking in an oddly-shaped pan, it would be wiser to watch over it and meddle in person, and subsequently you can know where trouble is likely to develop, and can preemptively pad the pan or shield the cake to compensate.


Tricks to ensure Mailliard/Browning reaction?

I've added some baking soda (specifically to onions while making French Onion Soup) to accelerate the Maillard reaction in the past and it seems to work rather well.

A few more general steps can be taken to encourage this reaction:

  add protein (egg, milk), reducing sugar (glucose, fructose or lactose), remove water,
  increase temperature/pH

I read this article a while back on accelerating the Maillard Reaction and found it very interesting; I think it may be helpful to you as well! http://blog.khymos.org/2008/09/26/speeding-up-the-maillard-reaction/


Cooking peanut butter cookies, is there any adjustment using crunchy vs. creamy?

Absolutely no difference.  The small volume that the nuts take up is not enough to change the consistency of the product.

Around here they sell extra-crunchy.


How does repeatetly moving food from freezer to fridge and back every day affect it?

I assume you have no food that needs to be kept frozen. If you do that's your greatest concern.
If, as suggested by your measurements, the fresh food never gets above the recommended maximum fridge temperature, the quality is going to suffer, possibly quite a lot, but the safety shouldn't, within the use by dates.
You may be able to keep the quality better by leaving the food in the fridge, but transferring a lot of ice from the freezer. I'd freeze several large plastic bottles, about 3/4 full of water, when the freezer is running, and move those into the fridge when you turn it off, leaving the food in there. Refreeze the next day. This is the approach used in many camping coolers, and it sounds like you have the ability to ensure the temperature doesn't get too high.
If it's so noisy that it's keeping you awake through earplugs, even if it's right next to your bed, that is quite likely to mean it's on its way to failing completely. The fact that your freezer is warming so fast is probably partly the unfrozen food going in and partly that it's empty of frozen stuff. It may also be a further sign of imminent failure.


I would use a pizza stone (preferred) or preheated baking sheet underneath the quiche, similar to the method sometimes used to make the bottom of pie crusts crisper. Put the stone or baking sheet in the cold oven and preheat the oven for at least 30 minutes before adding the quiche. This probably won't completely solve your problem, though. Unless the quiche is whole, I'm sure you'll still have weeping/leaking.


Is there an official comprehensive list of E-numbers?

http://www.ukfoodguide.net/enumeric.htm

The E numbers are standardized across all EU nations.  I'm not even aware if non EU nations use them?


How does a typical electric rice cooker work?

Inside the rice cooker, there's a thermostat monitoring the bowl's temperature (and kept in firm contact with the bowl via the spring).  As long as the temperature doesn't go above the boiling point of water, the rice cooker keeps cooking.  Once it goes slightly above that point, the water must have all boiled off or been absorbed, and that means the rice is done, so the cooker switches to a much lower "keep warm" setting.  This approach works only for foods that start wet and are done once the standing water is gone, which is why automatic rice cookers are common but there's no comparably simple way to automatically cook pasta.

Fancy rice cookers can be far more elaborate (with microprocessors and whatnot), but simple rice cookers are very simple indeed, with no timing mechanism at all.  This means they rely on putting in an appropriate amount of water for how much rice you are cooking.  If you put in too little water, the rice cooker will stop when it's gone but the rice won't be done.  If you put in too much, you'll get overcooked rice.  Fortunately, rice is not super sensitive and you don't have to measure carefully, but you need to get it approximately right.

For different amounts of rice, you just have to scale the water accordingly.  For lentils or beans, you'll have to use a different water ratio, and you should look it up for the beans you have in mind (and to make sure they can be cooked reasonably in a rice cooker in the first place); I don't know how to predict it from first principles.


How can I make and store multiple pizzas before a potluck?

If you really want to blow them away, the best option is to cook them on-site, at least partially. If you can prepare and partially bake the crusts in advance, the rest of the process won't take as long to cook and the results will be better.

If that isn't practical, 2 hours is a long time for the pizza to sit out before you transport it to a party where it will sit out even more, especially the one with chicken on it. Refrigeration would be a good idea.

You may also want to try your recipes in advance and see how well they hold up to reheating.

I've had reason to make large quantities of personal pizzas in the past and found that making the crusts in advance, freezing them, then at the time of the party baking with the toppings to heat it and cook the toppings worked well.

As for the transportation question, if you don't use pizza boxes to transport them, do you have some other way to keep the pizzas from getting smashed up and sticking to each other? This is another thing that will probably be easier to manage if you assemble and bake the pizzas at the party instead of transporting them fully prepared.


Curing bacon with a wet brine, without nitrates

Nitrate, through the action of lactobacillus in meat, breaks down into nitrite.  Nitrite then rapidly breaks down releasing nitric oxide, which combines with myoglobin present in muscle tissue, 'curing' the meat.  When this process is complete, and if the correct amount of nitrates/nitrates were used in the cure, almost* all of the nitrate/nitrites will be broken down, and very little residual nitrates or nitrites will remain in the bacon.

Nitrosamine formation in bacon is the result of cooking it with high heat, but this is not limited to bacon - grilled hamburgers or steaks contain equally high levels of nitrosamines.
To greatly reduce or eliminate nitrosamine formation in bacon, simply fry it at a low temperature.  It will take longer to cook this way, but will cook more evenly and spatter less.

But if you're really worried about nitrosamine consumption, give up grilled meat.  And just to be safe, better give up green leafy vegetables too.  Spinach, for example, and celery (which contains 800 times more nitrate than cured bacon) produce nitrosamines in the stomach and digestive tract.
Ascorbic acid is added to accelerate the curing process and has no effect on botulism prevention.

to prevent the production of botulism toxins, it is generally considered safer to err on the side of a little too much nitrate/nitrite than to little.


Does the chinese method of throwing minced meat really make a difference?

Yes, there is a definite difference in the texture when the meat is prepared in this way.  I have heard that the proteins in the meat are separated by the beating process, which gives the resulting meat a very bouncy, chewy or even rubbery texture when eaten.  Most other meatballs do not have this type of texture, and are more apt to fall apart, say Spanish/Mexican Albondigas, Swedish or Italian meatballs have quite a different texture.

If you have Netflix there is a series of short documentaries called Flavorful Origins, on Chaoshan food, in two of the films they made mention to these techniques.  Season 1, episode 13 is titled, Beef Meatballs.  The other is episode 17, Fish Ball and wrapped fish.  The beef meatballs, are beaten with an iron bar for 30 minutes.  While the fishballs are slammed down into a bowl. Hope this helps.


how to remove cover on risen bread dough?

Is this a second rise in the bowl?  Make sure the bowl is tall enough so the risen dough won't reach the rim.  You have to punch it down before shaping anyway...  If this is the rise after shaping, you don't need to cover the dough.


Can I tenderize conch meat with baking soda

While you might get a tiny bit of tenderizing from a baking soda soak, it won't do much to transform the physical structures that make conch tough.  Mechanical tenderizing is the way to go - together with (typically) a very long and slow cooking time, or possibly cooking with a pressure cooker.

If you decide you want to try a baking soda "brine" I would recommend soaking briefly AFTER you pound the conch and making sure to wash the conch thoroughly afterwards to make sure you don't retain a soapy taste of baking soda that would ruin the subtle flavor of conch.

If you are interested in a chemical tenderizer for conch, you might consider some form of acid-based marinade - although, again, a marinade is going to transform the delicate flavors that characterize conch.

Basically, if you want to enjoy the conch-y taste of conch, I would go for tenderizing with a mallet and judicious cooking only.

See also:  How should baking soda be used to tenderize meat?


Eating raw fish: what are parasite infection risks really: how big?

As I explained in another question recently, there is no meaningful answer to this. There is no way to make the prediction "you have a X percent chance of infection per parasite infested meal". Instead of predicting it mathematically, we could feed people infected fish and measure it, but as far as I am aware, no ethical board will approve that experiment.

Also note that beside the type of study you found (listing every single type of infection), there are also studies which take a more epidemiological point of view. They still don't attempt to give the kind of number you requested. That's another good sign that this answer does not exist - if it did, I'd expect these experts to have found it and incorporated it in their articles.

The best you can have is circumstantial data. For example, Phan et al. 1 sampled the incidence of trematodes in fish from a certain river. You can try extrapolating a chance that a parasite is present in your fish, although of course this depends on region where the fish was caught and on treatments applied during raising (e.g. preventive medicine or food type in fish farms) and after catching (freezing the fish). I am not aware of a resource which covers parasite incidence in all types of fish, but single studies can give you a starting point. The fish investigated in Phan's study for example had trematode infestation rates between 50% and 80% for the different species (and they did not look for other types of parasite).

Another statistic you can use: the prevalence of fish transmitted infections in countries where raw fish consumption is common. That's again not a reflection of your own personal risk, just a data point. One such statistic is for example:

  An estimated 20% of immigrants from southeast Asia to Europe or North America have fish borne trematode infections. In highly  endemic  areas,  such  as  northeast  Thailand,  the prevalence  of O.  viverrini may  reach  90% 2

A source which won't give you a numeric answer, but classifies risk as "significant" or "not" is published by the FDA. But as a consumer, you will probably not have the information needed to find out if you fall into the "not significant" category, or the equipment to do the processing recommended for unsafe fish. It is a government regulation, Fish and fishery products hazards and control guidance, chapter 53. Still, if you're looking for actual cooking practices beside the exact information you requested, it's probably interesting for you.

1 Phan VT, Ersbøll AK, Bui TQ, Nguyen HT, Murrell D, Dalsgaard A. Fish-Borne Zoonotic Trematodes in Cultured and Wild-Caught Freshwater Fish from the Red River Delta, Vietnam. Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases. 2010;10(9):861-866. doi:10.1089/vbz.2009.0134.

2 Deardorff, Thomas L. "Epidemiology of marine fish-borne parasitic zoonoses." Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health 22.suppl (1991): 146-149.

3 FDA. Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guidance. Gainesville 2011.


How long is garlic butter safe, and why is it not a botulism risk like garlic in oil?

There's no reason to believe it's safer.

Garlic in oil is "unsafe" by FDA standards.  Which means that roughly one in 100,000 bottles of homemade garlic oil kills someone.  Before reading about the botulism risk, my friends and I used to make garlic oil at home and hand it out; I'd say we distributed probably 100 bottles, some of which stayed on the shelf for years before being used.  In that time, nobody got sick from it (most bottles went to friends, so we'd have heard).

So the fact that your garlic butter hasn't killed anyone yet just means that you're playing the odds.  Chances are, unless you get really sloppy, you could go on making garlic butter for the rest of your life and never get botulism poisoning.  But not everyone is comfortable with that risk.

EDITED PER BELOW:  You can improve your odds of avoiding botulism by straining the oil/butter through cheesecloth (to eliminate solids which would hide spores), and heat-treating it to 160F or more for 45 minutes.  This will not eliminate all risk of botulism, but will improve your odds.


Which containers should I use for souffles?

Out of each of these I would say the tea cups although I really think you would be better to purchase/borrow a souffle dish. The souffle needs to rise and a vertical makes this far easier.

I wouldn't use anything metal is it may get too hot too quickly and overcook the outside of the souffle.

Something else you might want to try is to use a casserole dish but make sides from heavy duty aluminium foil (about 6 inches high should do) or use a deep baking tin.


How do i improve my hot and spicy chicken breast recipes so that the heat isn't an after taste?

You need chili. Most of your heat comes from black pepper, which is different from the heat in chili, and isn't as strong or long lasting. Chili heat is immediate, persistent, lasts and builds up as you eat more so that's where you want to go. The thing is to control the heat by modifying the strength and amount of the chili you use. There's so much variation in chilis, from mild to tonsil-destruction, you just need to find a one you like and add the right amount. Some experimentation is in order.

One easy step would be to add some chili powder to your marinade and see how you like it. A more immediate chili may come from fresh chili in a salsa or barbecue sauce that goes on the side. Marinades only penetrate a little way, all the flavor is on the outside, a sauce would give you heat throughout, and fresh chili tends to be a more immediate flavor. There are plenty of mild varieties to try.


How long can you keep chocolate in the freezer?

My wife is obsessed with Milka, and last time we were in Germany, she threw out all my clothes in order to fill an entire suitcase with it. When we got it home, it got piled in the freezer (not the freezer-in-the-garage-which-is-seldom-opened, but the regular one where we keep ice cream and frosty beer mugs). Took us more than 4 years to finish it. The last bit was effectively identical to the first. No noticeable change in the product.

Given that quality chocolate has no water (which is the primary freezer-spoilage agent), I'd say it would keep effectively indefinitely. If you're talking about candy bars which contain other ingredients, it may vary.

Generally though, things don't go "bad" in the freezer. They can get brutally freezer burned and disgusting, but there is no safety issue, as long as the food remains frozen. I once made a pie out of a quart of blackberries I found buried in the ice in an old-style freezer chest. Estimated age was on the order of twenty years, but they'd been preserved by the encroaching frost. Pie was delicious.


I would measure a splash by the second - that is, holding the container (usually bottle) about a foot above the pan, and pour about a second or two's worth of liquid.  Or to put it another way, stop pouring about when the stream of liquid hits the pan and consider that mid-air-stream a (medium) "splash".

I would usually get a couple tablespoons of liquid pouring this way.  Of course, stronger liquids usually come in smaller mouthed bottles so less gets poured - for soy sauce, I'd get a few teaspoons, for water (from a cup) a few tablespoons, for something like liquid smoke - a few drops since the bottle's opening is very small.

More generally speaking, I've always considered "splash", "dash", "sprinkle" and other such measurements to be an equivalent for, like oft cited for salt and pepper, "to taste".  Or perhaps "to texture", depending on the what-where-when that's being added.  The recipe doesn't have a measurement because it isn't recipe-critical how much is actually added, it's just to the preference of whoever is cooking.


Melting carob is a bit different from chocolate.  The sugar crystal formation is not the same for tempering chocolate.  One suggestion is to add paramount crystals (which is a combination of palm kernel oil and soy lecithin) to help start/control the process.  I would also recommend not keeping the double boiler actually on the double boiler for the entire time.

Heat it up until some of the carob melts.  Remove from heat and stir.  Add it back to the heat and continue removing to stir as each bit melts a little more.  It takes longer but it allows you to control the heating and crystallization process.

End the end, you should have a smoother and more even end result.


Bagels: Flat, no rise, gummy inside. Over kneading?

It is essential to allow the bagels to cool completely before slicing. The recipe says at least 30 minutes, but my experience suggests longer might be needed: if you slice too early you'll get a gummy inside, since it's still saturated with water vapour, rather than the chewy texture you want.


What cheeses work well for pizza that will be refrigerated and reheated?

It isn't a perfect match for the flavor and texture of regular pizza cheese, but soy cheese (Daiya mozzarella shreds, specifically) reheats beautifully and is even good cold. We switched cheeses because of a dairy intolerance, but found the storage properties to be a great side benefit.

It does end up being a noticeable change to a pizza's flavor profile, but may be less of an impact if there are lots of other toppings on your pizza. If you find the flavor and texture of the Daiya cheese acceptable when the pizza is fresh, it will still taste the same when reheated.


This is either mold or bacteria-caused rot. Don't eat it - the microorganisms which feed on raw plants are rarely pathogenic for humans, but will frequently create toxic metabolic byproducts. I would throw out the whole onion, molds can be toxic in very low doses, just from contamination between layers.


A quote from the below link;

  "Do not thaw frozen seafood at room temperature. Thaw in the
  refrigerator or defrost in the microwave oven. If thawing in the
  refrigerator, allow one to two hours per pound of seafood".

http://www.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/publications/PDF/fsfcs100.pdf

&

Another quote from the link below;

  "... If food is allowed to remain at room temperature for two hours or
  longer, bacteria can multiply and cause food poisoning. - Even a tiny
  amount of contaminated food can cause severe illness. If you have any
  doubt about the safety of the food, throw it out!"

http://www.calpoison.com/public/food.html


Do these fish have bones, and are they dangerous?

All fish have bones, some have more complicated bone structures than others. Generally the ones which you will find in the store are ones which are easier to deal with as that's what people want.

Preparation of them varies widely depending on whether they are smooth skinned, scaly, whether the skin is edible, and bone structure. Some fish like mackerel and trout can be cooked whole (just gutted and cleaned), without any scaling or filleting. Mackerel can be de-boned using your fingers.

Cooking and eating fish is not complicated or dangerous. It will be a better experience if you learn the skills to do the preparation work, youtube is your friend here as there's loads of videos on how to prepare and cook fish available.


Why use an acid when doing a scallops dish?

Shellfish is usually somewhat sweet in flavour. Acidity is the natural balance to sweetness.


Hi i have the same problem and the only way to cut this smell is by adding lemon and orange zest to the batter. Also you can try a table spoon of whiskey or cognac.


How do you properly drain the grease after browning ground beef?

I have always found a glass bowl and a metal colander works best. I pour it in the sink to handle any splashes that occur.


Citric acid in canned goods is just a preservative, nothing to do with "ripening in the can" as far as I know.

As you've noticed, it's plenty common in storebought canned food, but it's especially useful in homemade canned food. It keeps canned vegetables from darkening/browning over time, and can be used to make them acidic enough to avoid worries about botulism and spoilage. (Other things like ascorbic acid can also be used to keep colors bright.)

If it's really a problem, you may be able to find canned tomatoes without it, most likely more expensive ones from brands that want to be able to have the ingredient label just say "tomatoes", perhaps organic tomatoes. You might also just try different brands even if they do contain citric acid; some of them might be more to your tastes.

But the acidity shouldn't be that strong, so it's quite likely that just a little bit of sugar will cover it up, and as a bonus it'll tend to enhance your perception of the tomato flavor too.

As for spiciness of jarred sauces... well, some are spicy, some aren't. It's just about making flavors to suit all tastes. Pick one you like!


What's the biggest reuseable filter with smallest pore size?

They can't be using these teeny filters, because customers can't wait
that long.

Specialty coffee shops that offer 'pour-over' (drip) coffee definitely make coffee to order using small filters like the one you show (although in my area, they usually use paper filters). Customers are fine waiting the 2-4 minutes this takes.
For larger quantities, what a coffee shop might call 'batch brewing', larger filters such as these are commonly used:

These come in sizes ranging up to 12 cups, but might be tricky to find. Alternatively, you could experiment using one or more layers of cheesecloth, which is perhaps more easily available and scalable, although it might not filter as well as you'd like.
As a final note, I think your demand for pore sizes <10 micrometers might be a little too stringent. The filter you link to lists a .2mm mesh (i.e., 200 micrometers). I found this page with an analysis of the pore sizes in various coffee filtering products, if you're interested.


How is Botan (the Japanese rice candy) made?

Do you mean this one?botan rice candy.

If so, in Japan it is actually known as Bontan Ame  (meaning pomelo candy) as shown in this description.

Here is a link to how a similar milk version is made (I think you would use mandarin/pomelo (bontan) juice in there somewhere for what you want), but it is in Japanese...Perhaps the pictures will help but...sorry, I don't know if it's ok to translate this...but it says: milk 500ml, sweet glutinous rice 500g, sugar 500g, mizuame (maltose; could use corn syrup instead) 600g, potato starch 200g, and a tray 31cmx24cmx3.5cm. Briefly, it says to soak the rice for half a day, then drain, and blend with the milk for 2-3 mins. Transfer to a pot and simmer on medium heat for 20-30 mins. Add sugar in a few lots, mix until dissolved. Drop to low heat, add mizuame and stir/knead very well - the firmness of the final candy will depend on how long you do this. Dredge tray with a thick layer of potato starch then pour the mixture in. To harden, refrigerate when cool.


What qualifies to be an "all purpose flour"?

Of those two, Maida flour is the closest to 'Western' all-purpose flour (which is an American term. It is called plain flour in Britain). Atta flour is made from durum wheat, which is used for things like pasta (and of course Indian breads like chapatis).

Maida flour is made with 'regular' wheat, but it also has a lower protein content than all-purpose flour (8-10% as opposed to 9-12%). The impact of this lower protein level will depend on what you're cooking. Maida flour should be good for making cakes, for example.


In Spain, the traditional way is using something like this:

Or a pan with holes. The big day to do it is called Magosto and it's celebrated on 11/11, but it varies from town to town. It's one of the closest things to a barbecue, you first roast chorizos, then you roast chestnuts.

If you don't have access to those tools, your best option is to put them close to the fire. Make a small cut in almost each chestnut (to release moisture). The ones without the cut will pop and tell you when they start to be done. Start checking for doneness at that point.

Maybe you already knew about the cut, but I know some people don't roast at home because they don't know it can be done in a regular oven if the cuts are in place to avoid the chestnuts popping wildly.


If it is firm tofu: Don't use not much oil to cook it. If you want to get by with using very little oil, bake it - but cover it in either SOME oil or marinade.

For frying, shallow or deep frying (warning: press the water out well before deep frying!) simply yields better results than sauteeing, unless the tofu is crumbled or cut very finely (which gives more of a minced meat texture).

If it is soft tofu, consider boiling it in a sauce (like in mapo dofu), or even serving it steamed/raw with a sauce (check if you variety is safe to consume raw) as is not infrequently done as a japanese style desert.

If you are looking for recipes that work well with firm tofu, check indian recipes that involve paneer cheese - most of them can be easily adapted to make great tofu dishes.


The flavor and aroma of spices deteriorates over time, particularly when exposed to air and light.  How much time? ...hard to say...but buying whole spices and grinding them yourself when needed lengthens shelf life...as does storing them in airtight containers and in a dark, cool place.  Health and safety is not a concern here.  Flavor and aroma is. We are talking shelf life in terms of months, not years.  So, your containers (clearly not airtight) will be fine, but the quicker you cycle through your spice inventory, the better.


I see no reason not to.

You may notice slight flavor changes over time, but that’s also true if you are storing the shrub in the fridge or preserved sugary fruit preparations at room temperature. The high sugar content will influence the freezing behavior, for example it may not solidify completely, but if you use the appropriate containers, this won’t matter at all. For food safety, freezing is an excellent choice.


Emeril's Raspberry Filling uses a combination of fresh raspberries, simple syrup, and cornstarch. Seems almost foolproof and you could probably substitute frozen raspberries when fresh aren't available.


How can I approximate a Starbucks latte at home?

Espresso, steamed milk.

It isn't a complicated recipe at all, but it does require some equipment and technique.

Espresso:
You need to use an espresso roast coffee that is finely ground.  If you like Starbucks, then buy a pound from them.

Milk:
There are a whole bunch of beverages made out of coffee and steamed milk.  My joke about Italians is that every time they make one tiny little change in the preparation of something, they give it a brand new name.

You need to steam the milk to introduce air and to warm it up, subtly changing the flavour.  If you watch the barristas at starbucks, you'll see that they end up with a steel pitcher of warm milk with a thick foam on top.

I'll define a cappuccino as the base beverage.

A Cappuccino is 1 measure of Espresso, 1 measure of the warm milk from the bottom of the pitcter (Use a spoon to stop the foam from pouring out) and then one measure of the dry foam spooned on top.

A Macchiato is a DRY cappuccino.  Omit the milk.  Just spoon the dry foam on top.

A Latte is a WET cappuccino. Omit the foam.  You can spoon a little on top for appearances.

I've used the terms wet and dry.  If you were to actually order a wet cappuccino, you'd get something between the Latte and Cappucino.  If you were to order it dry, you'd get something between the Cappuccino and the Macchiato.

The French Cafe Au Lait is strong coffee (brewed, not expressed), with almost boiled milk.  If you don't have a steamer available, this might be the route to take. It's similar to a Latte, but without the equipment.


Are calcium and magnesium lost by soaking beans?

See Common Bean Myths from Captious for a survey of several bean related issues.  They report that Cook's Illustrated has indicated (emphasis added):

  [...] during soaking many nutrients leach out of the beans, more so with a quick
  soak (presumably due to the brief heat) than with a long cold soak.
  Apparently heat breaks down cell membranes within the beans, and
  increases the solubility of water-soluble nutrients, such as calcium,
  magnesium, thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin. As a result, quick
  soaking tends to leach somewhat more of the nutrients out of the beans
  than do slow soaking methods.


Slice bean in half.  Use knife blade to scrape seeds out of bean.  Scrape seeds from blade into milk as you are heating.  Added bonus: toss scraped vanilla pods into a bowl of sugar to create vanilla sugar.  Best flavor release of vanilla into a fat-based mixture is achieved during heating.


Buying European flours in the United States?

Many European flours are made from grain imported from North America, chances are if you buy European flour in the states you are paying for it to go across the ocean twice! In the mean time it will be absorbing moisture and losing freshness. It's not worth it, especially since you can find flours that are almost exactly the same at most grocery stores.

The main differences between flours of the same grain are the milling and the protein content. Flours that are milled finer will give different results from ones that are coarser. Gluten is protein, so the higher the protein content the higher the gluten level. Gluten is good for bread but bad for cakes and pastry. So if you want to get something similar find out how fine or coarse the target flour is and how much protein it has and shop for that.

Or you can simply buy appropriate locally produced flour that is made for what you want to bake. If you want to bake bread, use bread flour or flour with a higher protein level, typically medium to coarsely milled. If you want to bake cakes get cake or pastry flour, which is a finer milled and lower protein flour.

You'll be better off spending your money on quality flour made closer to you than buying something imported.


Can one use SOS pad on Gotham frying pan?

SOS pads are steel wool with a ton of soap. That means they are an abrasive cleaner, and except on the very hardest surfaces, will scratch away the surface. This makes them very effective so removing a microscopic portion of a stainless steel pan or a slightly less microscopic portion of an aluminum pan (or cookie sheet) is sometimes worth it.

I believe those pans are coated with some form of porcelain, which is a very hard surface. So you're probably removing very little of that surface, but if that's the way you clean it every time — you will eventually destroy the pan.

You may want to consider plain stainless, high-carbon steel, or cast iron. The later two are seasoned with oil and become non-stick. Also... minor stains (on any type of pan) can often just be ignored.


If you are talking about dried uncooked green lentils, then they are probably good for another 4 or 5 months depending on the condition they were stored in and how they look now.

Dried lentils are safe to use after the "expiration" date on the package, provided it is properly stored and the package is undamaged - commercially packaged dried lentils will typically carry a " Best By," "Best if Used By," "Best Before", or "Best When Used By" date but this is not a safety date, it is the manufacturer's estimate of how long the dried lentils will remain at peak quality.

If there are no Weevils or any srot of bugs and you do not see any spoilage you are good to eat them.


If you are paranoid about under-cooking meat, then use a digital probe thermometer and cook it to its safe temperature. No amount of timings or looking at the colour will give you the same level of certainty. They are available online for very little and are extremely handy; not only will you not under-cook your meat, but you will also avoid over-cooking it as well.


Can you get food poisoning from calamari rings?

You can get food poisoning from every kind of food.

The thing with Calamari is that if you cook them too long they become rubbery.

Nailing the proper cooking time is something that can be learned by experience.

See this thread: How do you cook calamari / squid and avoid making it tough?


Why does garam masala powder taste bland?

I think we’re up against this mis-interpretation of the word ‘sweet’ again.

Garam masala is a blend of aromatics you add towards the end of cooking. Many of the ingredients are the same as a generic curry powder, but emphasis on aromatics, so you get some elements of those spices in a long cook plus a quick burst of new aroma.

Its shelf life is relatively short, maybe a year, max, once opened.
It’s a simple smell test when you open the jar, the aroma should be huge. As it gets old, the last smell to go will probably be the cloves, the rest just fades to a generic ‘musty’.


Is there a specific name for the mise en place containers used in professional kitchens?

Around here, they're called 'deli containers'.  Those are specifically the heavier weight ones that can deal with hot foods.  I don't see delis using them much anymore (they've switched to thinner, less expensive ones), but all of the restaurants near me that sell soup as takeout use them.

They generally go for $0.08 to $0.20 in bulk, depending on how many you're buying and if they have lids.  (eg, a case of 1000 without lids is about $80 for the 16oz ones; maybe $100 to $120 for the taller (32oz ones))

You might be able to ask your local Chinese restaurants if they'll sell you some -- I can also get lighter weight ones in smaller lots (25) at most of the hispanic & asian grocery stores near me, as many of them have an aisle with goods that people running food trucks would need.


You should check out America's Test Kitchen. It airs on PBS, but you can stream episodes from their site.

I think it's very similar to Alton Brown. They take a few dishes per episode and figure out very methodically how to make it the best it can be. It's very educational.


Is there a name for the mushy sludge that forms around/beneath meat as it cooks?

The sludge you speak of is actually proteins called myosin (denatures at 120f) and actin (denatures at 150f) going through the stages of denaturing, coagulation and ultimately gelantization.  Protein coagulates when it is denatured, that is destroyed.  Gelatization is a follow on the process of breakdown in connective tissue.


Gravy with Scrambled Eggs :: What went wrong?

Instant gravy packets are not known for their subtle flavor. They contain boullion, tons of salt, and some modified starch. If you don't like the flavor of a lot of that gravy then don't use it.

The scrambled egg recipe that you linked to is of a particular variety. They are just barely set. This gives them a very delicate flavor and even more delicate texture. They are also as moist as scrambled eggs can be.

Such a preparation of eggs would not be well served by a gravy.

My suggestions are these:
1- Use a different recipe for your eggs that will cook them much more. If you insist on a gravy then your eggs will need to have the structure enough to support it.

2- Make your own gravy and don't ever use those packets again- even if you are starving to death I think they would only hasten your demise. Instead find a recipe for a quick white sauce- (just fat, flour, and milk). If you would like you can add a little shredded cheese for flavor. I think you will find this will be more satisfying and possibly even less expensive than your gravy-packet-crimes-against-humanity.


My whipped cream can has run out of nitrous. I want what's inside anyway. What's the least destructive method of doing so?

Circular saw will fill it with metal filings - not great for the mouthfeel, I'd think.
Pliers aren't sharp enough to puncture.
Can opener will have no lip to grab.
Your first issue will be the container skidding out of your control - with potential for finger-loss & furniture damage. You're not going to easily find any implement you can squeeze slowly to make the first cut, you're going to have to hit it with something sharp.
Your second will be how much gas is actually left in the container & what that results in.
Messy but possible, grip it in a vice & puncture with a hammer & fine wood chisel. Then use something like aluminium sheet cutters (they're like big, tough scissors) to finish cutting around the perimeter.
Cons:-

Spray/spatter on your first puncture, assuming you can hit it hard enough to penetrate the top face without going straight through & pouring the rest on the floor.
Sanitising the tools.

I'd just bin it.


How to make 1/2 inch thick porkchop brown but tender?

Double cook them. Have your flat iron on over 2 burners. Lightly oiled. Near smoke point. Sear both sides. for color. Move to second skillet iron with lid. slow fry there. Also every 3/4 inch cut threw the outer fat & just threw the outer inner gristle just under the fat. This helps them to lay flat in cooking. Salt & pepper in skillet once seared. 45 seconds a side to sear at proper heat.     This works like cooking on charcoal in the Philippines. Have your coconut charcoal glowing hot. Sear pork chops. Move to next iron plate. That is hot to cook threw on. Move to next iron plate that is warm to store them on with covers. Just like down town cooking. On a long grill. Some pork in the Philippines comes from older hogs & is ground raised. That I do not know how to cure. Unless you buy your pork from a farm. Or in the city know were a pork house is were you pick out your pig to butcher. Best to go behind the wet markets. Buy a live pig & have butchered there for tender pork.


Looking for Chicken & Dumplings pointers

I'm not sure about the texture (looseness), especially since those are two different methods. My best guess would be that it's just a flour measurement thing - moisture content in flour can vary, so the best thing to do is look for hints in the recipe about the desired texture (like "It should tear slightly as it falls from the beater"), and increase or decrease the flour to match.

The primary flavors here are salt and chicken, so first just check the amount of salt in both dumplings and broth. For the chicken, you're getting all the flavor out of it by making broth. So make sure you used enough chicken (and not too much water), and that you cooked it long enough. Those recipes use a pressure cooker - if you don't have one, it takes way longer to cook, of course.


How to prevent flies sticking to hood fan lightbulb guard?

It might be helpful (but not a complete solution) to leave a fly trap (as in explained here: How can I keep flies out of my kitchen?) on your stove when not in use. Use several around your stove when they seem to be bad.


Too much water in cake mix but it’s already baking! What should I do?

At that stage, there is nothing you can do but just bake until the cake is through. Baking by time is not advisable anyway, no matter if you followed the recipe exactly or not.

If you made your dough wetter than intended, the texture of the baked cake can be somewhat different than expected, it is impossible ot say how much different without knowing the type of cake and the amount of extra water (but even then, it would be a very rough guess). But you have nothing to lose by just baking it and using it. If it is a simple poundcake or the like and it turns out too dry because of the extra water, consider a light syrup soak, or glazing it with something nonpermeable (chocolate-fat coatings are good here).


My advice if you want long shelf life hummus, would be to make a dehydrated product which comes to life when a little water is stirred in.

I wouldn't add any other preservatives unless your food scientist thought it was necessary.


When soaking chickpeas (garbanzo beans), do I discard floaters?

Boy is THAT ever controversial. It seems that everybody has a theory as to why some beans float while most do not. The most common answer is that the "floaters" are older, and less hydrated to begin with. Some people insist that some beans float because worms have gotten into them. Hogwash, ignore those comments. The bottom line is that "floaters" are perfectly safe, and there is nothing "icky" about them, although they may take longer to fully cook. So, it becomes a matter of personal choice. If it's important to you that all of your chickpeas cook to exactly the same degree of tenderness, throw them out. If you don't mind a slightly (and I do mean slightly) chewier bean here and there, keep them. Personally, I keep them.

Welcome to Seasoned Advice by the way, great first question!


According to the nutritional information posted on their website Domino's uses a blend of Mozzarella, American, Cheddar, Feta, Parmesan, and Provolone Cheeses.

Somebody, apparently, with similar concerns asked Domino's and received this response:

excerpt from letter, emphasis added:

  Domino's Pizza Diced Cheese for Pizza is a specially produced cheese
  made exclusively for our use. It is a natural dairy product, produced
  from cultured, pasteurized milk, rennet; and salts of calcium and/or
  sodium. The type of rennet used in the production of this cheese is
  restricted to a microbial-based rennet or a genetically-engineered
  rennet. Animal derived rennets will not be allowed.

  As far as the other cheeses (Cheddar, Parmesan, Provolone, etc.),
  Domino's does not specify the source of rennet used in these products.
  They may or may not contain animal rennet. This depends on the
  supplier's current source and is always subject to change without
  notification to Domino's Pizza.