How to prepare eggs in shape suited for bagel?

It's actually quite simple; you just use a circular cookie cutter like this one:

You can find these at any cookware store.  It's easier to work with the ones that don't have handles, for what I hope are obvious reasons.  If you buy a whole set then you can almost certainly find one that's exactly the right size for your bagel.

Just put the cookie cutter into your fry pan and crack the egg into them for a fried egg, or beat them separately and pour them in for scrambled.  Generally you won't actually want to scramble them because you're aiming for something that holds together, so just let it set on one side and then flip it, or make it like a granny omelette (lift up the set edges and tilt the pan to get the un-set egg over to the edge of the ring).

The whole microwaving thing you see at coffee shops is just because they have a hundred of them in storage and don't have time to actually cook them to order.  They're just heating an already-cooked egg, not actually cooking it in the microwave.  You shouldn't need to use the microwave at home.


There is moisture in the onions and chicken.  Yes it should cook fine.

I have put a roast in the slow cooker dry and it worked.


What causes curdling and how can you prevent it?

In most cases, curdling occurs because proteins in the sauce are denatured and bind up with each other forming clumps.

In cooking, proteins are denatured by excessive heat, acid, salt, or enzymes.

Heat and acid are the usual culprits for me. For example, when making a hollandaise sauce- the egg yolks are slowly cooked to allow them to set. In most recipes the lemon juice is added later. If the sauce is heated too abruptly or too high then the egg proteins will curdle.

To prevent curdling you have a few options-

Don't expose the sauce to as much heat.
Be careful to not overcook egg rich sauces. If possible add the protein rich ingredient later in the process- for example adding yogurt to a sauce just before serving.
Heat the sauce gently.
Heating too fast will also make proteins denature. Many sauces are cooked in a double boiler- not to keep the sauce from overheating but to ensure that it heats gently.
Don't expose the proteins to too much salt or acid.
Dropping a couple tablespoons of lemon juice into warm milk is a recipe for paneer not sauce.
Take out some insurance.
Proteins bind with each other after denaturing when there are a large quantity of similar molecules all together. One solution then is to introduce a lot of dissimilar molecules that will interfere with the protein's ability to bind to itself. Common candidates for this are starch or fat.

It is difficult (but not impossible) to curdle the milk protein in cream based sauces with just heat because the high concentration of milk fat gets in the way. This is why reduction sauces can add cream to a very hot liquid and let it reduce. However, adding acid and heat can still be enough to curdle so be careful if your reduction sauce is very acidic.

Many otherwise fragile sauce recipes will call for a little bit of corn starch as an insurance policy. In the related question that you posted- yogurt sauces are particularly susceptible to this because low-fat yogurt is very high in protein and low in fat, and starch.


Dehydrating Strawberries - Wax Paper or Parchment?

Instead of parchment or wax paper, why not aluminum foil? If you use the slider type of foil  (where one side is non-stick and food slides off easily), any juice released when dehydrated will also dry under the strawberries and stick to the dried berries, not the foil. I use it when dehydrating herbs in my oven. (I put a 100 watt incandescent bulb in the bulb socket and leave the light on. The temperature stays just under 120° F or about 50° C.)


Making patties from half-cooked ground beef

Ground beef is a perfect setting for bacterial growth anyway, Ground beef that has been partially cooked and refrozen multiple times is guaranteed to have a huge amount of bacterial contamination.


Is there an edible, vegetarian substitute for sausage casings?

If you are looking to smoke the sausage without a casing I would suggest forming your sausage into a leaf, grape or banana or into a corn husk. The banana or corn husk are not edible but the grape leaf would be good to go. I was going to suggest eggroll wraps or spring roll wrappers but I don't think that would be smoker friendly.


I have looked extensively and it seems that whether to boil or steam is determined by region and it is as subjective as the fillings used. See below from this  page .

  Other variations include using black instead of white glutinous rice, or precooking the rice and filling, or steaming instead of boiling, or even wrapping into a cylindrical shape or a flat paddle shape instead of a pyramidal one.

You may be able to make a decision based on certain factors of your recipe. For example:

Some recipes call for the rice to be soaked while others call for it to be cooked. If I was using soaked rice I would probably choose boiling as the zongzi may become too dry with steaming. Same idea for other ingredients.

Another consideration would be how well the zongzi are wrapped. If they are wrapped very skillfully, either way could work. However, if not, the filling could come out much easier with boiling.

So, in the end, I would say that there really isn't a really definitive answer. I think I would use the method called for in the recipe as there may be specific reasons the prescribed cooking method was chosen.


Onion soup: How to chop the onion and what kind of cheese to put in it?

When I make French Onion soup I slice my onions very thin. It also helps to use a small onion so the pieces aren't so wide.

For the cheese I use gruyere cheese. It should be grated.

In order for the cheese to cook properly you need to have some stale french bread. It should be toasted lightly on both sides and then sliced fairly thin. Then you place the bread on top of the soup and then the grated cheese on top of that. Next put the soup in the broiler so that it melts the cheese.


Recommendations for leak proof containers?

I hate storing food in plastic, so the best option I found and use myself is http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?sku=112870 which does have a plastic top and silicone gasket but is otherwise glass. Been using for 3-4 years and love them. No leaking problems.


Versus literally means "green juice" in French (I know there's a "te" in French, but it's not pronounced).
From Wikipedia:

Verjus is a highly acidic juice made by pressing unripe grapes, crab-apples or other sour fruit.

So versus is sour juice, nothing more, and we should treat it like so in our research for food safety.
From StillTasty:

If grape juice develops an off odor, flavor or appearance, or if mold appears, it should be discarded.

Pretty vague, but I stumbled upon this article from The Bulletin

Moldy or fermented juice is not particularly dangerous to drink, said pediatrician Dr. Kathleen Berchelmann of St. Louis Children’s Hospital. One concerned parent recently took a Juicy Juice box filled with mold to the St. Louis hospital; the juice was not past its expiration date, and the child who drank it had no symptoms.

There's more context in the link above that backs up how mold in juices might not be that dangerous.
Also, from Childrens MD:

If even a tiny bit of air gets into the container molds can grow. The good news for my patient is that moldy, fermented juice is usually not very dangerous to drink.

Though symptoms are possible, from Rainbow International:

But luckily, swallowing a few sips or bites of a moldy item typically isn't a big deal thanks to stomach acid, which is strong enough to kill most pathogens. Some may notice transient GI upset – nausea, cramping, and diarrhea - but most who've imbibed a moldy mélange will notice nothing.


Stirring honey in room temp. water vs. boiling honey water?

Honey has volatile flavor compounds like floral overtones or orange flavor which you likely want to keep. High heat will cause you to lose some of these, so I'd advise against boiling. Honey is already a sugar syrup so boiling is totally unnecessary anyway, some heat can help with getting the honey mixed in, but a blender would probably take care of that.


Heating part baked baguettes in lid-covered pyrex

I would expect the cooking time to increase significantly, and the texture to be very different (probably not very baguette-like. To mitigate this, you could preheat the pyrex container (put it in the cold oven, turn the oven on, and leave a few minutes after the oven claims to have heated up). I would also look for a way to ventilate the lid, like a wooden spoon sticking out.


If we go with the 2 hour rule, then you have about an hour to get it back up to a safe temperature.

So either turn the crockpot on high 'til you get it back over 140°F, or remove some of the broth and use another method to heat it and then re-combine the two.


What's the trick to seal sous vide foil if liquid contained

I would say that having lots of liquid makes your life easier, not more difficult, because you don't need the vacuum at all.

The purpose of the vacuum is to have heat conduction take place properly. If you were to put a piece of dry food in a plastic bag and close that, the air trapped in the bag would act as an insulator, preventing from the water bath to heat the food.

The good thing about marinades and other liquids used in cooking is that they are great heat conductors. So if you have a bag full of liquid, with pieces of solid food swimming in it, the sous vide process works as intended, without any vacuum.

The most practically convenient way to go about it is to use ziplock bags without a vacuum device. You place your food-with-liquid in the bag, submerge most of the bag, and manually press out the air, then seal by hand. A few air bubbles will be left inside, but they're not a problem.

From there, you can proceed the same way as with a heat-sealed voided bag.


What's the beef cut with solid, thick bone?

You're doing it wrong™.

Your question is, essentially, "What code-word should I use to tell my butcher to give me a cut of beef with properties X, Y and Z?" Don't do that. Just go to your butcher and describe what you want.

Quite apart from anything else, the cuts of meat that, say, a British butcher understands will be different to the ones that and American butcher understands and you haven't told us what language your butcher speaks.


Self-made fatty dough separates in refrigerator, how to prevent

I have had this problem before too, and the only solution I have encountered is to freeze the dough you want to store, this requires a bit more planning as you will want the dough to thaw completely before you use it. The best way I have found to thaw the dough is covered on the counter or placed somewhere it can rest without being touched or moved much. I hope this helps and you solve your problem:-)


Can you put polystyrene in the microwave oven

Well, I can tell you with absolute authority that polystyrene melts in the microwave.

Here's a chunk of polystyrene cut from a foam shipping container. I double checked with the website (Propak), and the stuff is polystyrene.

I placed a random chunk of chicken on the cube, and microwaved on high for 1 minute.

So yeah, it melts. Is it toxic if it melts into your food a few times? Probably not. Should you do it? Probably not.


From Ask An Expert:

These symptoms are characteristic of a physiological disorder called bitter pit, which is the result of a calcium deficiency. This may be the result of inadequate calcium in the soil.

Bitter pit does not necessarily indicate low soil calcium, although consistent bitter pit for several years certainly points in that direction. Anything that results in excessive foliar growth can cause bitter pit, because calicum gets diverted to the foliar growth. Heavy pruning, excessive nitrogen fertilizer, and excessive irrigation all can lead to bitter pit.


Should I leave the peel in citrus sugar?

I would leave the peel in. It can continue to improve the flavor, and makes it look like citrus sugar instead of just plain sugar (important for a gift). Be sure to include a note that it should be used within a few weeks, though.


How to make vegetarian meat substitute that's more firm and browned on the outside?

In my experience, you will not get TVP nuggets by themselves to ever have a chewy, crispy, or meaty texture.  However, there are some other products you can use that allow you to have better texture.
One thing you can do is to mix rehydrated TVP with wheat gluten, and then knead it to develop texture.  Wheat gluten is the chewy part of bread, and when kneaded develops into long, tough strands, adding chew and texture to your meat substitute.  Many of the "vegetarian meat" items that you find in Asian grocery stores are primarily wheat gluten.  The ultimate form of of fermented and kneaded wheat gluten is seitan, and you can also buy this directly to make things from it.
The other product that has been very popular for a better texture is soy curls.  These are a soy protein product that has been processed differently, and they have a much denser texture than TVP.  They also fry up nicely, browning a lot better than TVP or tofu does.
My own experiments with making fake breakfast sausage show that a combination of products is generally necessary for best texture.  Currently I'm using TVP, wheat gluten, and dried and rehydrated mushrooms.  I may experiment with adding oats soon.  Good luck with your vegetarian experiments.


Can I make crackling from cured ham skin?

The short answer is yes, you most definitely can but with a few caveats. First, if the skin has any significant amount of sugar on/in it from a glaze or cure it will burn fairly quickly and likely impart a bitter flavor before you are going to achieve the proper crisp a crackling is known for. Also, with hams, there is likely going to be a ton of salt in the skin to begin with and this is likely going to be intensified when you fry it up so be aware of that.

I've never had good luck baking pork skin for crackling since the texture is never the same and it takes a lot longer. Deep frying is a much better/authentic way to go.


Substitute for Pastry Flour from Limited Traditional and Alternative Flours

You can sift the whole flour to make it white flour.

Originally, millers used stones to grind the grains. The whole grain was completely ground, and all of its parts were mixed in the process. Wealthier people could sift the flour to discard the husks. Poor people ate whole flour bread.

Nowadays, flour is gotten from roller mills, where first the husk is removed, then the germ, and then the endosperm is ground. When you get whole flour (unless the miller says it's stone milled), they've put together the outer part and the endosperm. You can sift it to separate them.

So, in both cases, sifting the whole wheat pastry flour will make you get white pastry flour.


If it's copper or brass you should be able to use solder used for drinking water plumbing (tin with a little copper, and no flux in it). This will probably work on tin or tin plate as well.

You'll probably need to use separate flux as well. Again get something used for potable water. Give it a very good wash and rinse afterwards.

For more advice you can probably look at what people do for brewing. This has actually been discussed on diy stack exchange before.


Why would dipping a cold item in chocolate "help" with tempering?

To answer your last question: yes.

Regarding the previous question, it's because the temperature at which the cocoa butter in the chocolate crystallizes affects the overall consistency of the chocolate. If you've ever eaten a chocolate bar that was left in a car on a hot day after it has cooled down again, and who hasn't, you'll know about this. Sometimes chocolate tastes fine but has a definite 'grittiness' to it: other things being equal, that's usually because the cocoa butter crystals are too large.

Cocoa butter has a number of different crystal forms, each of which will have a slightly different effect on texture and melting point. When melted chocolate sets, the cocoa butter crystallizes, and it will generally all crystallize with the structure that it starts to crystallize with. (This process where crystals start to grow is called nucleation.)

So you want to have control over the temperature at which crystallization starts. The optimum crystal form for nice chocolate will tend to predominate when crystallization starts somewhere between 18-25 degrees C (around 64-77F).

So if you think about it: when you add room temperature stuff (like a pretzel) to chocolate that is considerably hotter than room temperature, the resultant temperature on the surface of that pretzel will likely be way higher than 18-25 degrees. On the other hand, if you are dipping an item that is significantly below room temp, then your chances of hitting that window are much higher.

The surface structure of the thing being dipped can of course make a difference to crystallization as well, but for normal purposes that is marginal. To put it another way, it doesn't matter what ingredients you're dipping - temperature is key!


I'm going to post a very general answer to this, since the question is rather vague about the application.

Since this was originally tagged molecular-gastronomy it seems reasonable to assume that this has to do with the use of some hydrocolloid for either a foam or gel.  Unfortunately, it doesn't specify which one, and that's important information because they all have different pH ranges for hydration and gelling.

The following table of the most common pH ranges is taken from the Hydrocolloid Recipe Collection:

Substance              | pH Range
-----------------------+-----------
Agar                   | 2.5-10
Carrageenan            | 4-10
Gelatin                | 4-10
Gellan (Low Acyl)      | 4-10
Gellan (High Acyl)     | 3-10
Guar Gum               | 4-10
Methylcellulose        | 2-13
Pectin (Low Methoxyl)  | 2.5-5.5
Pectin (High Methoxyl) | 2.5-4
Sodium Alginate        | 2.8-10
Xanthan Gum            | 1-13

Looking up a bunch of different results for port wine, the pH seems to commonly be anywhere between 3.2 and 3.8, although every wine is different and the exact pH is going to depend on the exact wine (not just the source, but the individual bottle).  The only way to know for sure is to use a pH Meter or some other type of pH tester.

If your liquid is outside the range for whichever agent you're using, then you need to use a buffer.  If it's inside the range, you don't.  Keep in mind that if you're at the extreme end of any of the ranges then you may need to use more colloid than usual.  It's not necessary to be in the exact center but I believe it is best to be 1 pH unit or more above the minimum (or below the maximum in the case of an alkaline solution) for best results.  Otherwise you might have to experiment with the exact quantities.  (Note that it's possible that the HRC ranges above already include safety margins; I haven't done in-depth experiments so I can't be certain.)

Generally speaking, for many hydrocolloids the answer is yes, you will need a buffer for something as acidic as wine, assuming you're not diluting it with anything else.  But don't estimate when you can measure; when making foams or fluid gels you need to be reasonably precise.


Lemon is used as a flavoring, not as a cooking liquid, it's not going to keep the fish moist. The secret of having moist fish is the same as having moist beef, chicken or any meat or poultry: don't overcook it. Cooking releases moisture from the flesh, so cooking it well is all about timing - getting it cooked enough to have the internal temperature and consistency you want and no more as every extra second means more moisture lost. Fish is especially sensitive to timing, but with a bit of practice anyone can cook fish well.

Fish, meat or poultry will have a juicy mouth feel when there is enough moisture stored in the flesh after cooking. Overcooked fish in a pool of sauce will still have a dry mouth feel, whereas perfectly cooked fish with no sauce at all will have a moist mouth feel.

As for what to cook cod with as a replacement for lemon the answer is nothing. Fish has enough moisture to begin with, and when baking you don't need to assist heat transfer. Lemon is simply a flavoring, so replace it with flavoring you like. This could be browned butter (or just a bit of butter) if you want richness, or herbs if you like, or you could just season it with salt and pepper.

If you want to get more fancy you could seal it up in parchment paper or foil (oil the foil so it doesn't stick) with a tiny bit of water or butter and some herbs and bake it that way, it seals in the moisture and creates a sauce - delicious!


Do shrimp really have sex with their siblings before being served raw in sushi?

That's not really true in any meaningful way, and has nothing to do with sushi. It sounds like the author was just trying to make it sound scandalous to attract attention.

It's a really, really sensationalized version of something true about at least some species of shrimp. They're essentially all born male, so before they can reproduce, naturally, some of them have to turn into females. The bit about siblings is essentially made up; sure, each shrimp has a lot of offspring, so some probably do randomly reproduce with a "sibling", but it's not like they're seeking it out. The younger part is true in a sense, though, since they turn from male to female but not back, so naturally the males are younger than the females. See for example this page.

I don't think those species are the only ones used in sushi, though, so all in all, the statement is essentially false. Not all shrimp change sex, in the species which do that, not only older ones (which have changed sex) are caught, and not all of them mate with siblings. I'm sure someone has eaten sushi made with a female member of one of those species which did happen to have mated with a sibling, but that's nothing to write a book about.


10 liter fermentation crock... water getting sucked inside, advice needed

Is the crock kept in a place where the temperature is steady (such as a cellar/basement) or is it exposed to daily temperature swings? As a a rule the ferment should produce gas to some extent (which would push water out, if anything) but repeated temperature swings would tend to "pump" out when warm, in when colder. When the initial gas production slacks off, that could lead to water pumping in, particularly with a defectively non-tradtional design as you describe (I have looked at fermentation crocks a lot, and so far refused to spend money on them - but I soon grasped that the entire contents of the "moat" should not be able to rise above the inner lip in a "suck" situation, for precisely the reason you have experienced.)

One option would be to go back to a very basic airlock - a sheet of plastic wrap, or a (food grade) plastic bag, that covers the top of the crock, and a large rubber band holding it in place.

Another would be to NOT fill the moat - put just a bit of water in so it seals, but not so much that suck-back would pull it over the inner lip.


Can you season over some thin flash rust and get a usable pan as a result? What are the downsides of doing so?

An iron pan is one single piece of substance. It just stays the way it was cast.
A patch of rust is a brittle, powdery substance. It will crumble with time, pieces of it falling off, no matter if they have a bit of seasoning on top or not. So, you will end up with these spots being "naked" again.
Additional to that, in any kind of applying coatings (in the kitchen and outside), "hiding" pieces of other stuff under a coating (even if it is "just" an old patch of the same coating you are applying) is a hallmark of shoddy work. The integrity of your new layer is compromised, and you get quality problems over time. Any professional painter spends more time sanding away old paint than applying new one. It is just a physical property of coating layers that they require an even surface with known-good qualities. If you want a good coating on your pan, you will have to do the stripping work.


Is it safe to transport meat in a coolbox with ice?

As long as you have enough ice to keep them cold the whole time, that's the same as just putting them in your fridge for a couple days: they'll be chilled, stay chilled, then get served, whether warmed or just naturally brought toward room temperature.

So be sure you have enough ice, and as usual be sure not to let them sit out forever to serve, and you'll be fine.


From the  USDA :

Is it safe to use food from dented cans?
If a can containing food has a small dent, but is otherwise in good shape, the food should be safe to eat. Discard deeply dented cans. A deep dent is one that you can lay your finger into. Deep dents often have sharp points. A sharp dent on either the top or side seam can damage the seam and allow bacteria to enter the can. Discard any can with a deep dent on any seam.

I definitely would be hesitant to use any cans dented like the one in the picture. And as per my comment above, I would contact Amazon.


best way to infuse flavour into boiled potatoes

Soups and other dishes with a lot of liquid tend to infuse the potato with plenty of flavor to 'mask' the natural flavor of the potato. You could also try blanching the potatoes beforehand to get rid of some of the surface extractions that would leech into the food you're putting the potatoes in.

Edit:
The smaller pieces you cut the potato into, the less you will notice them on your palate. Also, strong spices like paprika, cumin, etc will often overwhelm the potatoes. Mix them with other veggies like Chayote and green/red bell peppers in a stir fry for a quick side dish.


When can I not substitute Romano for Parmesan?

It's a different flavor. Romano is sharper, more grassy; parmesan is nuttier and sweeter. I actually prefer romano where I have a lot of other strong flavors. If there's other sharp flavors in a dish, such as olives, chili pepper, or capers (e.g., puttanesca), I'll go with romano which seems to stand up better to the robust flavors. For something with a more subtle flavor such as a ragu bolognese, butter or cream-based sauces, risotto, etc. I feel that a good parmeggiano reggiano can stand up to the other flavors in the dish without overwhelming them.

If cost is your main concern, I've had some parms from Argentina that are actually pretty good. Reggiano is definitely better, but depending on what you're using it for, it might be an option. I wouldn't use it in something like a risotto or fettuchine alfredo where it plays a key role in the dish, but if you're just grating it on top it will work fine. An in-between option is Grana Padano, which is advertised as a "budget" substitute for reggiano. In my experience, it's pretty good, but where I live it's only a little cheaper.


Rescuing contaminated home made jam - possible?

One thing to remember with food safety is that questions like "is my food safe/contaminated/edible" can't be answered with a simple yes/no. There's no way to be certain if eating a given food will without question make you sick; even if you were to sample and test for bacteria and toxins, you could simply have missed a contaminated portion, or there might not be enough of a contaminant to make you ill. Conversely even food prepared as safely as possible can be contaminated immediately by bacteria in the air.

All you (or anyone) can do is determine how preparation affects the probability that food has a chance of making you ill. In commercial/professional settings, there are known-good, legally-enforced standards for practices that promote low levels of risk and avoid the potential for serious contamination (which still vary by country and setting!) At home, no such standards exist - there are guidelines, yes, but you as the person eating or serving the food have to determine whether a given level of risk is acceptable to you.

So - all that said, concerns around chicken usually center on salmonella or e. coli, two bacteria that are relatively common in chicken (due to factory farming practices) and which can make you seriously ill. Both are destroyed by sufficient heat, which is in part why we're instructed to thoroughly cook chicken; they can also spread easily, which is why cross-contact with raw chicken should be avoided. Once chicken has been cooked and the pathogens killed, it doesn't present the same level of risk. It sounds like that's the case here; a spoon used for basting would mainly come into contact with (very hot) basting liquid, and perhaps the (very hot) outer surface of the roast chicken. So there's not the same level of risk as if your partner had used, say, a pair of tongs used to handle the raw chicken.

A properly prepared jam is also not terribly susceptible to contamination. Even though it's largely sugar, there's so much sugar that it "locks up" most of the available water; there's not enough free moisture for bacteria to thrive. The exception for jam is if you're canning it for storage at room temperature. In this case a much higher standard must apply; long-term storage provides ample time (and the right temperature range) for even small amounts of contamination to grow to hazardous levels. For canning, just about any deviation from a known-good recipe must be regarded cautiously, including incidental cross-contamination.

Some other things to consider are possible high-risk individuals who might eat your jam. For people with compromised immune systems or other conditions, even generally harmless amounts of contamination present an elevated risk. If either you or your partner have an immune deficiency or are pregnant, exercise greater caution. The same applies if there are small children or elderly adults who will be eating your jam. You should also consider allergies; an adverse reaction to chicken itself isn't that common, but it is possible, and allergic response can be triggered by very small amounts of incidental allergen. Anything that was in your braising liquid could now be present in very small amounts in the jam.

Overall, I wouldn't say that this presents an egregious or unmanageable risk. If you don't have health reasons to be specially cautious, and if you keep the jam stored in the refrigerator, it probably presents a relatively low risk. I wouldn't advise canning with it, nor breaking up with your partner over an honest mistake. In the end, you must determine for yourself whether this is sufficiently safe to justify the small potential risk that the accidental cross-contact introduced.


Does reduced fat milk contain additives to mimic the taste of whole milk?

In most countries, ingredients have to be listed. Are there any additives listed where you are? There aren't in the UK.

The sweetness of milk (lactose) is soluble in water and not in fat, so removing the fat won't remove lactose. In fact it will slightly increase the concentration. Whole milk has 3.7 g fat and 4.7 g sugars per 100 ml; skimmed milk has <0.5 g fat and 5.0 g sugars. Replacing the lost fat. Within rounding error the extra sugar is accounted for by replacing the fat with more of the non-fat components of milk.

If the manufacturers were going to add stuff to make it more like whole milk, you'd think they'd do a better job of it. I normally have semi skimmed on cereal and to make hot chocolate, and the difference between that and either whole (rich) or skimmed (watery) is significant.

When you come to processed dairy products it's a different story, and this may be the source of someone's confusion. Fruit yoghurts take this to extremes, as fat-free versions are more likely to include thickeners (typically corn starch or pectin, so nothing unusual) and "light" versions have sweeteners, water, flavourings, and in this particular example gelatine.
This is also the case in the Guardian article you link - the relevant quote is

  Often, flavorings such as chocolate and strawberry and sugars are added to low-fat and skim milk to make up for the loss of taste when the fat is removed

which is pretty clearly referring to milk-based drinks and not to milk (it goes on to mention added sugar). So the article isn't (necessarily) wrong, but isn't particularly useful.

As for recipes, most specify, if they don't, use whatever you have anyway/prefer. Preferences vary with time and place; many years ago the only way to get skimmed milk was to skim it yourself, probably to use the cream for something.


How can I make a quick bread mix less sweet?

You can change the flavor profile of mixes by adding more flour to cut the sugar. In the case of quick breads, I would suggest using self rising so that your quick breads will still have enough leavening.

Another way to cut the sweet would be to add ingredients that are savory, such as nuts or vegetables.  Depending on the mix, additions could vastly change how sweet it tastes.  They also make mixes that have reduced sugar in them that you could try.  Some of the health food mixes and specialty diet mixes (things like gluten free and vegan) might be more up your alley.


This Serious Eats article explains it very clearly:

First he presents the "old school" understanding of what is happening:

  Old school pastry books will tell you that when you cut butter or some other solid fat (like shortening or lard) into flour, what's happening is that you are encasing pockets of flour inside a shell of fat. Add water, and the flour is moistened, whereupon gluten—the network of proteins that lend structure to baked goods—is formed. When you subsequently roll this dough out, these pockets of fat stretch and stretch, eventually forming sheet of fat that separate sheets of gluten-enforced flour. Then, as the pastry bakes, the fatty layers melt, allowing the floury layers to separate from each other, solidify, and form the layers you see in a great pie crust.

Then he points out that this doesn't really make sense:

  For starters, how could the action of cutting a solid fat into a relatively fluid mass of flour possibly cause it to coat pockets of flour in distinct bubbles? And even more importantly, if the fat is really coating these pockets of dry flour, then how would they get moist when you add water to the mix? Wouldn't the fat prevent any water from reaching the flour?

Then he states his understanding of what's actually happening:

  You see, it turns out that when it comes to pie dough, our existing model has it wrong. In fact, it's not the fat that's coating pockets of dry flour. It's the reverse. It's the flour that's coating pockets of pure fat. With this model, things make much more sense. You can easily and intuitively see how fat gets coated with flour (think about dropping a pat of butter into a pile of flour, but on a much smaller scale), and with this model, when you add water, you are indeed moistening dry flour so that it can form sheets of gluten.

From there, he goes on to present his method for getting great pie crusts by over-saturating the flour and then adding more flour to bring it back to the correct consistency.


Corrosion like that can be scrubbed off with copper polish (or, in a pinch, with salt and vinegar). The result will be bright copper, which will quickly tarnish and darken through regular use. The pan is absolutely not ruined. As with other solid metal cookware, if it isn’t literally broken in pieces then it can be scoured into a like-new state. That pan likely has centuries of use left in it.
Dunking the pan like that doesn’t sound like a problem. The upper surface of the pan comes into contact with food, after all; no reason the bottom surface can’t. I think it’s a clever technique.
The dishwasher is your real enemy here. It’ll strip away the patina and bring the surface into contact with some pretty harsh detergents, leading to that sort of corrosion. Copper should be hand-washed.


1.5 litres for 4 servings is 375ml per serving (plus some volume from the veg which I'll ignore) assuming no water boils off. That's a sensible portion. I reckon my soup bowls hold just a little less than that, but you'll leave some in the pan when serving . So I doubt you lose a lot of water when you normally cook it.

That said, I'd err on the side of caution and (i)  measure the bowls (both the normal ones and the ones you plan to serve it in if they're not the same); and (ii)  start with a little less water than you think you need - adding water is quick, boiling it off less so and you don't need the hassle of your soup taking too long.


How long can coconut liquid/cream last (open) in the fridge?

Coconut cream, being generally oily, will give out rancidity in taste and smell once it rots. When extracted fresh as done in asia, coconut cream typically expires in a matter of hours. Since yours is canned, it's likely to have been reconstituted from coconut powder, ridding it from the spoiling enzymes in fresh coconut.

As long as you open your cans cold and keep its leftovers cold thereafter, it's easy to beat the printed expiry. The thing with coconut cream and liquid, it rots so suddenly, as soon as you turn your back. So its manufacturers are wary of users who aren't familiar with how sudden these things rot, which is why asians press and cook them within the same few hours.


How to make fluffy rice and which type of type of rice to use?

As is mentioned in this question (and this one), one of the keys to keeping your rice from clumping is to rinse the uncooked rice with cold water until the water runs clear. This rinses off the starch on the surface of the rice. The starch can cause your rice to stick together.

Some types of rice are fluffier than others. The longer grain rices tend to have lower starch (and, of course, Arborio rice has so much starch that it makes for the characteristic texture of risotto). So even if it's not Jasmine or Basmati, they're probably using at least a medium grain, rather than short.

A quick Google search for Greek rice yields a lot of recipes that suggest sauteing the rice in oil before boiling it. This is a common technique for pilaf, and adds a nutty sort of taste. I'm not sure it'd have any effect on stickiness, but it might help with flavor. And you can also saute onions and other vegetables to add flavor.


How long can I keep beef warm in a roaster oven?

It will be safe if the temperature is consistently above 140 F / 63 C, but it is almost certainly a very poor idea from a quality perspective.

If the temperature does not stay above 140 F, then you are incubating the hamburgers, inviting pathogens to grow:  that is dangerous and a very bad idea.

Hamburgers are one of those items that are best served immediately upon being cooked; there is no really good way to hold them or reheat them and have the same experience.

If you have to have them cooked in advance, I would refrigerate them and then reheat with the method of your choice, such as in a moderate oven (for a large quantity).


Food mills versus food strainer/sauce makers

Both types force food through a perforated screen and what makes a difference (for the food) is the size of the holes.
The conical version (bottom picture) can process more food before the screen is fully clogged (more screen surface), and usually you can just pop out the cone and empty the skins and seed.  Whereas with the traditional food mill you have to disassemble.  With some foods (whole tomatoes) you may have to pass them a couple of times through the mill to get everything.
Why you might choose one over the other:
If you are processing bushels of stuff, I wouldn't even think of the traditional food mill.  We use a 1/2 horse power belt driven spiral sauce maker and it already takes us hours to make ~200 jars.  I'd become a zenist if someone handed me a traditional mill with bushels of tomato.
For home use and cooking for under 20 people the traditional mill is great since you can just place it over the pot, go, and throw in the DW.  No mounting fuss, and fits into a normal cupboard.  You CAN find decent Italian made ones for $20 in North America.


First off, "Keto King's" bread recipe is basically an (unchanged) ripoff of Diedra's Ultimate Keto Bread version 1.0. Since version 1.0, she developed a much improved Ultimate Keto Bread v2.0. I've made that recipe probably a hundred times and have also tried tweaking many of the ingredients in order to better understand their overall effect. I can offer the recipe I now use, including how the ingredients work together, and also troubleshooting tips if you're still having issues.
Ultimate Keto Bread 2.x
86 g finely ground golden flaxseed meal
94 g oat fiber
164 g vital wheat gluten
6.4 g Kosher salt (or any salt)
16 g instant dry yeast
1 Tbsp non-nutritive sweetener (more or less as desired)

8 g honey
1 cup (237 g) warm water (100º - 120º F)
2 eggs (room temp, lightly beaten)
2 Tbsp butter (room temp)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Mix all the dry ingredients (including the yeast) together thoroughly. You want these ingredients to be room temperature. Since flaxseed meal should be refrigerated (and I also refrigerate vital wheat gluten), you may need to warm them slightly. This helps them hydrate more quickly and evenly.

Warm the eggs to room temperature, break and beat them slightly.

Heat the water to 100º - 120º F and then add to the honey and stir to dissolve it completely.

Add the water/honey mixture to the eggs slowly, tempering to make sure the eggs don't scramble.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix.

Begin kneading the dough and then add the butter. Continue kneading the dough in a stand mixer, by hand, or in a bread machine for 7 - 13 minutes.

Some notes on changes I made to this recipe compared to Keto King's recipe: I've omitted the xanthan gum, as it's basically a cheat in order to try to trap the gasses produced by fermentation. These gasses are normally trapped by the gluten network, provided it is strong enough and sufficiently developed. The problem with xanthan gum is that the network it creates competes with the vital wheat gluten for water, and can actually prevent the gluten network from developing sufficiently.
Another change I've made is to specify instant dry yeast instead of active dry yeast, and to include the yeast in the dry ingredients. Proofing the yeast separately is a hassle and isn't really necessary.
Okay, onto troubleshooting.
Failure to rise could be caused by a couple things. First, make sure your yeast is good if you're unsure. (Add some instant dry yeast to warm water and add sugar or honey; it should foam if the yeast is good).
If the yeast is good, then the main culprit is insufficient gluten development. Despite having a massive amount of vital wheat gluten (probably 50% of the total flour weight), sufficient gluten development is not easily guaranteed. To understand why, you need to understand how the flaxseed meal interacts with the VWG. When you add warm water to flaxseed meal, the soluble fiber creates a mucilage network that competes with the gluten network. Unlike with the xanthan gum, this milder competition is a good thing: it prevents the loaf from becoming one big rubbery mass from all the VWG. It takes me a good 10 - 13 minutes of kneading by hand to sufficiently intertwine these 2 different networks to create a matrix that's capable of trapping fermentation gasses.
If you were to use too much flaxseed meal and not enough VWG, it's possible that the gluten network wouldn't be strong enough to contain the gasses, and they'd simply escape out of the loaf and into the air.
Another issue with the flaxseed meal is that if it's too coarse a grind, the large seed shell fragments can slice through the gluten strands thereby weakening it and preventing sufficient development. Bob's Red Mill is a notoriously coarse grind. If you have a blender, or food processor, you can try grinding it a bit finer (freeze the flaxseed meal first before grinding, to counteract the heat generated during grinding -- too high of heat can accelerate the fats in flaxseed meal turning rancid). I also filter mine through a fine window screen to help weed out large fragments which I then regrind. If you must use a coarse grind, you might experiment with using a slightly lower amount (say, 10 g - 15 g less).
The other possible issue is the amount of variance possible if you're using volumetric measurements. That's why I've specified grams for most ingredients. While the amount of insoluble oat fiber can probably be varied quite a bit (say, 50 g - 110 g) without having much effect on the end result, the amounts and ratios of flaxseed meal to vital wheat gluten are quite important.
I've never used a bread machine, so I'm not sure how you might do something comparable to this: After placing the loaf in a prepared loaf pan, I'd spray the top with non-stick spray and cover with plastic wrap. When gluten development is insufficient and the overall rise is poor, when I peel back the plastic wrap, I can usually hear air bubbles escaping the top of the loaf.
With sufficient gluten development, you can get a good rise and good oven spring.


Baking wheat and dairy-free bread with only dry yeast

Yes, you can use dry yeast.  Fresh or cake yeast, active dry yeast, and instant dry yeast are all interchangeable, although differing amounts may be required, and they have different requirements for proofing or activation.

If you are using traditional active dry yeast you will want to proof it.

According to the Fresh Loaf, you can substitute dry yeast for fresh yeast at a ratio of 1:3 by weight:

  Professional bakers often use fresh yeast. If you encounter a recipe
  that uses fresh yeast, divide the weight by 3 to calculate the proper
  amount of instant yeast to use.


If I understand your situation correctly, your frosting is not homogeneous. It sounds like the microwave fix that you have tried is aimed at softening pieces of too cold/hard butter that refuse to mix into the soft texture of the frosting. If you have already tried this pretty thoroughly, it's hard to believe the butter lumps wouldn't have softened enough by now.

So I wonder if your graininess is because the liquid (milk) and the butter are refusing to emulsify well. I was taught (the gist of) this recipe by my mother, and we are too lazy in my family to measure stuff, so this happens to my frosting all the time when I just put in too much liquid. Our fix is add more powdered sugar ...little by little of course, and sift it so as not to introduce sugar-lumps into the problem. Keep stirring it up, and pretty soon you will have a frosting with a teeny bit too much powdered sugar. It will be a little too dry. But now it should be easy to get it all blended into a smooth mixture just by mashing it against the side of the bowl as you stir. It might be a little bit too pasty for frosting, but at this point you gradually start to add in tiny amounts more of your liquid, stirring all the while, until you get your spreadable rich consistency back.

Yes, the proportions are now a little off since you have deviated from the recipe, but honestly, frosting is frosting. It's really just spreadable buttery sugar. If it works, and looks pretty, it's all good.


How long will a Thai dressing keep in the fridge?

This particular dressing, unlike others that carry a botulism risk, only contains water soluble components. Oxygen will always be able to dissolve in here and prevent the botulism conditions, unless there is a TON of garlic at the bottom.

Garlic botulism risk comes from creating an anaerobic environment, where the bacteria can act under a protective blanket of oil, without oxygen from interfering.

The components you mention all are used in other instances to retard bacterial growth. Low pH for acid, sugar, and no oil. I do not have good data on whether capsaicin is a preservative, but it is certainly not a big risk.

Over time, since these components are exposed to Oxygen, there will be degradation of the flavors due to oxidation, but there is very little food safety hazard. The 60 mL fish sauce is so salty that bacteria don't stand a chance.

I keep, and have an Indonesian friend who has a similar jar out at room temp all the time. Lime rinds and garlic peels and odds and ends in that category go in it all the time and it is a staple.

That all being said, every precautionary guideline will say to follow temperature danger zone recommendations, so we also have to understand our bodies and immune systems.


After cooking, I drain the barley in a colander then boil the kettle and "rinse" the cooked barley with boiling water as if I was rinsing the starch off cooked pasta. This makes sure that my cooked barley is less clumpy.


How can I make a vanilla ganache which does not taste of white chocolate?

Use a soy and vegetable-fat based white chocolate like Oppenheimer Kosher white chocolate chips. They are quite sweet, but lag behind on the chocolate-y taste. They temper well and behave in most ways I've used them like regular chocolate chips, except that for white chocolate taste they are a bit bland. These would make a good vehicle for a lighter but still sugary vehicle for vanilla.


Here's a couple of hints:

Learn to judge doneness by feel. See this answer for a good guide to temp by feel.
Learn to judge grill temp by hand. Hold your hand palm down about 3-4 inches above the grill. If you can hold it there for a second or two, it's hot; 3-4 seconds is medium; 5-6 seconds is low.
Sear first. Start with a very hot grill. You want about two minutes per side. Do not move the steak while it is searing. Make sure you've given the grill grate at least 5 mins to heat up.
Use a two level fire. Once you've seared your steak, you want to finish cooking over a lower heat. Build a two level fire by putting the coals on one side of the grill rather than the whole thing. Then sear over the coals. Then move it to the other side to finish. If the grill isn't wide enough for a two level fire, you could try quenching the fire by cutting off air flow. That will cool it quickly.
Finish with the lid on. This helps cook by heating the air rather than just using direct heat.
Change your fuel. Stop using lighter fluid. Use a chimney instead. Hard lump charcoal is better than briquettes. It's easier to light, creates less left over, and burns hotter.
Rest your meat for a few minutes before eating. Be aware that it will continue to cook during this time, so you want to pull it off a little early.
Read up on cooking steak. There are a bunch of good questions on this site!


How much powdered milk and water would you need to make exactly 5 tablespoons of Milk?

Five tablespoons is a smidge under 1/3 of a cup. There are four tablespoons in a quarter cup.

You don't say what the reconstitution percentages are for your powdered milk but if you do whichever conversion is for 1/3 of a cup, you should be fine. Most recipes don't need it to be absolutely exact. A little extra milk isn't going to harm anything.

One website says to use 1 tablespoon of powdered milk and 1/3 cup of water but this other one says 2 tablespoons and a teaspoon with 1/3 cup of water... so it may depend on the brand.

Please note, depending on what you're using this for, you may need to add fat of some sort unless you have whole milk powder, as many powdered milk products are non-fat. Most recipes that call for "milk" mean "whole milk" substituting fat free milk (skim) can be detrimental to the final flavor of the milk.


Uncooked chicken burgers in the oven, thawed, then put into the fridge

They are probably safe to eat, although it's difficult to tell for sure.

The basic rule is that food should spend no longer than 2 hours in the danger zone between 4 and 60 Celsius. Assuming that it took them less than 2 hours to go from "warm and unfrozen" to fridge temperature (which is below 4 Celsius), they are officially safe to eat. With small food items like burgers, this shouldn't be a problem. It is large pots of food such as soup which may take too long to cool down from just-cooked to fridge temperature, but a hamburger has much less volume.


Is it possible for a foreign object to be embedded in a piece of pork?

Even if a pig ate something like that a piece of jewellery wouldn't end up in the muscle (meat). It would pass through and out the other end; if it didn't have time to do that it would still be in the digestive system, which is removed before the meat is cut into portions (if you'd said dog food it might be another matter).

I suspect that it entered the dish sandwiched between two strips,or pinned into a side of a piece that you didn't see. If you cut across the strips to dice it, it could still get in. I know from experience with diced game that you can deliberately feel for shot and miss bits. That of course would be embedded, but you weren't looking for metal in your meat.

On the other hand, what liquids did you add? Passata/creamed/chopped tomatoes from a can could introduce something without you noticing it.

In either of these cases it was probably removed at the start of a shift in a food factory and transferred via clothing, as it had the back on it. In some liquid foods it could have come from the farm like that but most pass through a sieve at some point.

I assume you've checked that no one who spends time in your kitchen has lost an earring? Is hard to see how it could get into the dish that way, but not completely impossible.


It seems likely that there was some form of residue left behind in the container; whether this was actual soap or just the scent is difficult to determine.  I have found that soap scents do tend to cling a bit more stubbornly to plastic than they do to other materials, but that's just my experience.

Next time you might try rinsing the container and drying it out with a clean towel after washing.

Alternatively, you might simply discontinue using this particular soap.  It may be particularly clingy or perhaps you're just sensitive to its scent.


Minestrone from cold rather than hot water

Looking at the Giallo Zafferano recipe (video below), this does seem to be the case.

According to the Farmers Almanac, root vegetables (potatoes, carrots, anything that grows underground) benefit from the cold water technique as the cell wall gradually stiffens and it helps the vegetables become more resistant to overcooking. Adding directly to boiling water could (in theory) affect the consistency and flavour of the broth. In a similar way, if you pre-soak vegetables some starch and proteins are released into the water beforehand, and if you don't use that soaking water, there will be less starch and foam when the stock comes to a boil.

In reality though, the difference would probably be fairly negligible, especially if you are in the habit of removing any scum that forms when the liquid comes to a boil.

Farmers Almanac: https://lifehacker.com/when-to-start-cooking-vegetables-in-cold-or-hot-water-1737922352

Giallo Zafferano: https://youtu.be/JEtJz-_oBVk


Is it easy to make my own Vanilla Sugar?

The best advice I can give is to use Alton Brown's recipe to get your timeline.

Vanilla sugar is very easy to make, and I hesitate to answer with a link, but my advice would be the same thing as he wrote, because this is what I was taught.

Basically, you want to cut the pod in half, and scrape the beans from the seed into an airtight container.  Then drop the scraped pods in the container, give it a shake, and let it sit for at least a week.  AB recommends 1-2 weeks; I tend to just let it go indefinitely until I need it.

A lot of people don't scrape the pod but I find that it adds a lot more flavor if you do it that way.


How to prevent the crockpot burning my soups

A crockpot's keep warm setting is not designed to keep food safe and fresh for days, it's really only good for an hour or two at most. What's happening in your case is that the water is evaporating from your food and then drying out inside the pot. Adding water periodically is not an answer as the temperature of the food is not high enough to prevent foodborne illnesses, you don't want to keep it on warm for long periods of time even if you can keep it from burning.

If you want to save your soup for later put it in containers and store it in the refrigerator or freezer, re-heating when you want to eat it.


The biggest practical differences are going to be:

Nothing sticks to a well-seasoned cast iron pan.  Everything sticks to cast aluminum, even the brands that call themselves non-stick.  (I know because I've tried a few of them.)
While it's true the cast iron can crack, rust or chip if not properly cared for, aluminum is reactive and scratches easily, and even if you get one of the newer anodized ones, you lose the benefits of that as soon as the surface starts to chip and peel (which it will).  Cast iron will last much longer when properly maintained; I've seen some that are decades old and heard about some that are more than a century old.
Aluminum has better conductivity and will, in theory, provide more even heat than cast iron.  However, every cast aluminum vessel I've ever used has had major problems with hot spots.  Basically, both are poor choices in this respect, except in the oven, where hot spots are essentially a non-issue; if your oven is like mine and the element turns on and off to maintain temperature, you'll get much better results with a cast iron dutch oven because it will hold its temperature while the element is off.
Cast iron also works great with induction cooktops, aluminum doesn't work at all.  [Cast] Aluminum really works best on standard metal cooktop stoves, although it's okay for glass as well.  I say okay because most glass cooktops tend to have elements that go on and off, so depending on your particular stove, this might lead to uneven heat when using any kind of aluminum.
Cast iron is heat-resistant.  You mention the melting point, but it's more complicated than that; make sure you check the specifications on whatever cast aluminum you're thinking of buying, because a lot of it isn't even oven-safe (and if it is, it's only safe up to 400° F or so).  The term "dutch oven" can be quite a misnomer for those pieces as they can easily warp or crack at high temperatures.  Spun aluminum is obviously much worse but cast aluminum is only marginally better.
On the plus side, cast aluminum is obviously much lighter than cast iron and requires less care.  Enameled cast iron is also easy to care for but is obviously much more expensive than both regular cast iron and cast aluminum.

In your case, it would seem that your two primary requirements (caramelizing sugar and roasting meat) are at odds with each other.  For roasting, you want a very steady, even heat.  For caramelizing sugar you need precise control, you need to be able to reduce the heat very quickly when you hit the melting point.  Cast iron would be absolutely terrible for caramelization, but is a far better choice for roasting.

Personally, I use a regular (non-enameled) seasoned cast iron pot as a dutch oven and just use a small light stainless steel saucepan when I need to do something like caramelize sugar.  I'd suggest you do the same, unless you're really low on space and genuinely need one piece of cookware to do it all.

Honestly, the only thing that cast aluminum really has going for it is its price.  The ease of maintenance is overshadowed by the fact that the pieces don't tend to last that long, and everything else it's good at is handled equally well or better by stainless steel with an aluminum or copper core.  The few pieces of aluminum (or cast aluminum) cookware I still own tend to sit at the bottom shelf at the very back and gather dust, but YMMV.


I would make a stock syrup including some liquid glucose to discourage crystallisation, then flavour it with rose water and give it some colour with red/pink gel food colouring. You should then be able to fold it through to make a Turkish Delight Ripple ice cream.


How to make coffee that closely resembles early 16-17th century coffees?

I can't answer for the 17th century, but Townsend's has a nice (but long) video on how they prepared coffee in 18th century America.  That'll bring you closer to the year you're looking for.

Also, note that, in Europe at least, imitation coffee was quite common. Both deliberate imitation, and fraudlent sales of not-really-coffee.


This may guide you a bit.

Tl;dr - It recommends reusing brines only for fridge pickles.  Since you have already heated up yours to make your original batch, heating it again (and processing it) may change the acidity and make it not shelf-stable.  Since there were no vegetables placed in it, it may not have changed the acidity that much, but better safe than sorry.  FWIW, I made a batch of fridge pickles with leftover/misshapen scraps, and I liked them better than the pantry pickles.

I can't imagine it has enough sugar in it to counter the acidity/salinity, but if you aren't sure, toss it.


Why does whipped cream use nitrous oxide instead of nitrogen gas?

To aerosolize the cream to make whipped cream requires the gas be able to be dissolved in the cream.  Nitrogen just does not dissolve in cream that well.  It could be done with O2.  But that would cause it to spoil almost as soon as it was made.  For these reasons Nitrous Oxide is used instead of just Nitrogen or Oxygen.


The slime is called mucilage. It is around the seeds on the inside of the pod. It is made of protein and carbohydrates including fiber.

The mucilage is (as you alluded in your question) used for thickening gumbos and similar stews. Besides this, I've only ever seen it referred to as an annoyance and avoided by leaving the pod whole or dry cooking like frying.

I imagine there could be some creative halloween uses of mucilage but those would be off topic for this site. :)

EDIT

I was embarrassed that this answer was the accepted answer. I don't like answers that are (as mine was) "no that isn't possible because I've never heard of it." I was hoping someone else would shatter my world with some amazing new use of okra slime.

My curiosity piqued I used some of my copious free time while code compiled to do some more research.

I was able to find a couple of non traditional okra recipes that seemed interesting- such as candied okra slices or using the seeds from pickled okra as a caviar-like dish. But none of them took advantage of the mucilage- they all avoided it.

Carbohydrate based mucilage is used in ice cream and for other reasons. I found the following study about food health that did experiments with replacing milk fat with specifically okra mucilage (they refer to it as "okra gum")

Okra gum is acceptable milk-fat ingredient substitute in dessert

Two pertinent quotes:

"Although not currently produced by food manufacturers, previous studies produced fat-free chocolate bar cookies with acceptable sensory characteristics using okra gum as a fat ingredient substitute."

"Specifically, color and smell of frozen dairy desserts containing okra gum replacement for milk fat did not significantly differ from the control product. Texture, flavor, aftertaste, and overall acceptability ratings also averaged five or higher (neutral to like) for all products."

The study was about replacing milk fat where I think it would be more interesting as an enhancer as you asked in your question.

It seems perfectly reasonable that okra mucilage could find a place in more modern recipes.

But I couldn't find anyone doing it.


Combining chicken and vegetables in sous vide

Cook the vegetables, chill and refrigerate.  Cook the chicken, toss in the vegetables to reheat...or, use two circulators.


If I made chocolates filled with a shop-bought fruit preserve or jam, how long will it last?

The use by date on the jar assumes that it is refrigerated after opening. So you have to keep them in the fridge, or eat them soon.


How much of the clove should I use when using big garlic heads?

I think that might be elephant garlic, which isn't really garlic at all. It's in the same family, but is actually a kind of leek so it has a flavor that's a cross between garlic and onion, but milder than garlic. Because it's not very strong you'll probably want to add the whole thing. Just chop it and use it as normal.


Parmesan rind:  should I use it, or trash it?

Yes, you can save it and add it to soups such as Minestrone for additional flavor.  Once the soup is done, remove and discard the rind.  For extended storage, keep it in a bag in the freezer until you have need for it.


The difference between "fluffy and fall-apart crumbly" and "thinner, chewy, and sort of dense" is precisely governed by baking powder/soda.  Baking powder/soda creates the fluffiness.  If you want thin and chewy, omit the baking powder.  This should get you 90% of the way to the texture you want.  The next variable to experiment with would probably be the water/flour ratio (more water = thinner pancake).  This should get you 95% of the way to what you want.  The next 5% comes down to more subtle things (whole milk vs 2% vs skim, bread flour or cake flour, etc.), but the key point is baking powder/soda.


I've always popped my popcorn on an electric stove, and the kernels turn out fully-popped and delicious. Here is my technique:

I heat a deep pot on high heat and melt coconut oil inside.
I throw one kernel in, cover the pot, and wait for the kernel to pop. This indicates the oil is hot enough so that when the remaining kernels are poured in, they will pop in a relatively short time.
I then pour in all the kernels at once and cover the pot, while keeping it on high heat.
I wait for the rapid popping to slow down and take the pot off the heat and set it on a cool eye, where the remaining popping will come to a stop.


Shelf life of commercial jams with no preservatives?

There'll be a lot of variation depending on temperature, humidity, the exact nature of the jam, and pure dumb luck, but I wouldn't be surprised if it started growing mold within a week, if not within a day or two. When things say to refrigerate after opening, they tend to mean it.


How to reduce the time and cost for making a cheesecake?

Time is a critical component of cheesecake making, as you need to bake it a low temperature so that the middle of the cheesecake gets cooked before the outside gets overcooked.

It doesn't necessarily need to be attended time, however, as there are plenty of recipes that call for shutting off the oven after a few minutes, and leaving it overnight.

The time to mix the filling mostly depends on both preparation ahead of time (making sure that you have the cream cheese at room temperature) and what equipment you have (you can just leave a stand mixer to run for the most part, whereas a hand mixer requires you standing there for a while ... and if you have neither ... well, then it's a whole lot of work).  It might be possible to work it in a food processor, but I've never tried.

So ...

Yes, you can use animal crackers.  Or whatever other hard cookie you have (ginger snaps, chocolate wafers, biscotti), although I'd avoid ones with chocolate chips, raisins, or other 'mix-ins' or coatings (eg, dipped in chocolate).
Make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature before you start -- take it out of the fridge about an hour before you're going to use it.
Find a recipe that calls for unattended baking.
Get a stand mixer, if you don't already have one.
Get a membership to one of the 'warehouse clubs' (eg, Costco, Sam's Club, BJs) for cheaper ingredients ... but it's only cheaper if you manage to use up the larger sizes before it spoils.
Watch for sales on the more expensive ingredients (eg, cream cheese) and stock up when it's on sale (and the 'best buy' date is still a ways off).

And you might also consider that there are other styles of cheesecake that don't use cream cheese, but they're quite different.  Italian cheesecake uses ricotta, and isn't nearly as sweet or smooth as Jewish or New York cheesecakes.  And if silken tofu is inexpensive in your area, you might be able to substitute for some of the cream cheese (although you generally need to add some lemon zest or similar so you don't lose the slight tang); you can find recipes on the internet.


How should I keep the vegetables from flying off the board when I cut them?

Use a sharp knife, dull knives don't slice, they split the same way an axe splits logs and that will generate that sideways force that throws carrot bits.

Also learn to practice your slicing and chopping technique. You shouldn't be dropping the blade straight down like a axe or guillotine. You should be moving the blade in a orbital movement, so that you are slicing in a forward direction while the blade is on its way down to and through the carrot. By slicing properly much less of your veg will have that energy buildup because they won't "snap" apart but will be sliced apart neatly.

Search YouTube for Basic Knife Skills and watch several videos, then practice, and start slowly. You will get faster with time and time only, don't rush it or you'll get sloppy and may hurt yourself.


Can you cook a digorno's pizza after its been thawed for 1 day

Yes, it should be.

That is - if it has been thawed, and safely stored (refrigerated, or in safe temperatures in whatever way), then it should still be safe to eat.  If it has been left out on a counter, or in otherwise unsafe conditions for more than a few hours - then it is as unsafe as the conditions have made it, and it is your decision what you will risk.  But safety-wise, while being frozen is safe, not being frozen doesn't automatically make it unsafe - not any more than any other kind of food that might be defrosted before cooking.

You might notice some changes in texture, and you will have to alter your cooking times, if you're cooking from thawed instead of frozen.  Your baking time will be shorter, for one, since the pizza doesn't have to come up to temperature.  You might want a lower temp and slower cooking method, so it is easier to keep checking when it's done (I usually do 350 and keep checking, while some frozen ask for 400 and specific times).  It might be easy to over-bake, since the instructions are expecting the pizza to be thawing.  It might come out a little differently - if it was intended to be baked in the bare rack, but now must have a baking sheet underneath because it's floppy, or perhaps if it was self-rising, and spent a little of that rise in the thawing - but I would expect changes to be relatively minor, or directly related to the change in baking method (crisper/softer crust from baking sheet or moister/dryer cheese from temp and time change).

I believe many manufacturers include instructions not to thaw the pizza because the results are more consistent if the process is, it is one less variable for them to worry about - and so thawing the pizza means it is one more for you to worry about.

If it helps, I've done this - thawed and baked a frozen pizza (it was thawed so it could be divided and baked over a couple days, and so was 'fresh baked' each time instead of dried from reheating).  I didn't have any particular issues with it, beyond having to change the cooking method to one suited to a non-frozen pizza.  Then again, I planned to do this - so you might have more issues with a rising pizza or if you're pickier about the outcome being precise or predictable.


Typically, the longer tomatoes cook down, the more tart they become. You can add sugar to counter this. Add a small pinch at a time, tasting after each addition, until you have the taste you want. Remember, you can always add more but you can't take it out.


enamelled pot with a chip on the outside on the bottom

It should not be a big problem.

Just be careful not let the exposed area rust,

Clean and dry thoroughly.


I've never made pancakes with this exact kind of recipe before (though I have made some that were similar, with eggs, no other leavening, etc.).  My limited experience with similar recipes is that I ended up with a rather spongy result, not really a "light" pancake.  Thus, it might not be possible to get a very light result without modifying the recipe a bit.

Nevertheless, here are a few thoughts:

Is the egg enough to keep the structure once the air cools down, or the missing sugar or gluten would have a role in it, so their absence is important, so I have to add some?

I don't think you're going to be able to get a very light textured pancake just using eggs, oat flour, and water.  Even when whipping the whites, at best you'll get something with the texture of a souffle omelet (that is, an omelet made by whipping the egg whites separately first), but it will be weighed down a bit by the oat flour.

Eggs can provide structure, but my guess is that the fine bubbles in the egg whites are simply not providing enough lift, probably because they aren't being trapped sufficiently in the structure of the pancake.  Yes, gluten and/or sugar could help reinforce the structure (as in angel food cake, for example), but I'd try leavening first.

Maybe should I try to cook it in the oven?

You could try this.  Puffy pancakes, puffy omelets, souffles, etc. can work better when made in the oven.  The bubbles have more time to expand as the batter bakes, and you don't have to do a flip, which may squash the structure.

I know the starting temperature of eggs has a role in whipping, but can it make the pancake deflating?

I doubt that's a significant issue here.  If you're whipping up the egg whites well, you will have incorporated a significant amount of air.  Having the eggs not too cold may help with that a bit, but there's only so much the egg whites can do.  Once they are mixed with yolks and oats, they will be weighed down a bit.

As it inflates correctly as is, would baking powder help? How much should I use?

If the problem you are having is that it seems to rise properly but then deflates when flipped, baking powder could indeed help.  "Normal" pancakes (with flour, etc.) tend to have an excess amount of baking powder in their batter to produce excess air.  Baking powder could continue to produce gas as the second side cooks and keep lifting the batter up.  I would start with a very small amount -- you'd probably only need a 1-2 teaspoons for a cup of oat flour, so if you're only using two tablespoons of flour, perhaps start with 1/8 teaspoon and see if it makes a difference.  If not, try 1/4 teaspoon or something in between.

In comments, you also mention that bubbles are appearing and popping on the surface -- keep in mind that you don't want to wait until a significant number of them pop before flipping, or you will lose the lift provided by the existing air bubbles from the egg whites.  I'd try to adjust that first -- usually, taking so long to cook pancakes will cause too much gas to bubble out before they are flipped.

But since you've already tried cooking them faster and have not seen better results, I'd recommend trying the oven baking technique or try adding a tiny bit of baking powder and see if it makes a difference first.  I know I haven't narrowed down your options much, but it's tough to figure out how to make these better without seeing exactly how they are already coming out and trying a few experiments.

Perhaps others have better ideas.  Do let us know if you come up with something that works.


During blending, air is put into the milk mixture. Once you switch it off, not all air is kept inside the milk but makes it's way to the surface. These are the bubbles that make you think your milk is fizzy.

Without being a chemist I assume full fat milk has more fat, therefore the emulsion is somewhat "thicker" and thus can hold the air better. There are also bubbles with full fat milk, but less than with skimmed milk. Sort of.


Smoking a brisket until it hits around 160F and then finishing it in the oven is a common way to cook brisket. Meat doesn't benefit much from further smoking after it hits 160F or so, and the oven is much less finicky than a grill or meat smoker. For reference, here is a good description of smoking brisket in a charcoal smoker and then finishing in the oven.

When it's time to take the meat out of the smoker, normal practice is to wrap it thoroughly in foil and then move it to the oven right away. Once the meat hits the final temperature (205F or so), you can hold it for hours before serving it, as long as you keep it warm. So, what you want to do is to stretch out the oven portion of the process so that you can go to sleep.

I'd do something like this:

Smoke the brisket to an internal temperature of 160F or so.
Wrap it thoroughly in heavy-duty foil. You want to prevent any liquid from being able to leak out.
Transfer the roast to an oven set to 225F or even 210F-215F if the oven will go that low.
Go to sleep.

With the oven set so low, the meat will take a long time to reach its final temperature. This is a good thing because brisket benefits from being cooked low & slow. And in the worst case, the meat won't be able to get any hotter than the oven temperature.

The next morning, you can check the meat temperature and make any final adjustments. If the meat isn't cooking fast enough, you can turn up the oven. Once the meat reaches temperature, you have a couple of options:

Remove the roast from the oven, and (leaving it in foil) wrap it in towels and put it into a small insulated cooler. It will lose very little heat this way, and it'll have even more time for collagen to melt.
Turn the oven down to its "keep warm setting" (hopefully 170F-180F) and hold the meat that way.

However you keep it warm, pull it out at some point to let the meat get proper resting period. When you finally open that foil, you'll probably find the meat is resting in a pool of wonderful smokey beefy smelling liquid. You can pour that back over the sliced meat, or incorporate it into a finishing sauce of some kind.


Will 93% lean ground beef stick in a non-stick skillet without oil?

There isn't a way to predict this. Non stick pans are produced in different quality and can be anywhere from "water pearls off the surface" to "as bad as enamel". And all of them lose their non stick properties over time, at wildly different rates depending on quality and usage patterns.

If you want to know it for your case, you'll have to try it. Worst case, you'll have to thoroughly clean a pan from clingy residue. If it burns onto a white ceramic coating, it can also leave a permanent discoloration, but this is a purely cosmetic problem.

Update: You can certainly save your meat even if it starts to stick. Use Joe's method from his comment, or simply stir it constantly with a flat edged spatula (I don't know which method is better). If it is patties, loosen them again and again using a spatula, maybe turning them often.


Adding raw chicken to a meal that is being reheated

If a dish, any dish, leftovers or otherwise, has raw chicken added to it, then is cooked until said chicken is fully cooked, it is then safe to eat. There is nothing from what you describe that justifies assuming that the way the dish is handled would be unsafe.


Can I cook pasta without heating it up... ever?

Pasta (by which I infer you mean dried, Italian-style semolina pasta) is edible raw, right out of the package.  It is not, however, palatable.

If you soak it in water, it will hydrate and soften over time, but that is not the same as cooking it.

True cooking also cooks the proteins and takes away that raw starchy taste.  There is no way to achieve that without the application of some heat above about 180 F for at least a few minutes.

See also:

Preparing spaghetti without boiling water

Note that in one of the answers to that question, Rumtscho points out that supermarket ramen noodles are precooked (they are generally par-fried, sometimes par-baked) and are much more palatable eaten straight from the package, or simply soaked.


Raspberries aren't just seeds and juice, though they're certainly not as fleshy as some fruits. The difference between apple puree (apple sauce) and apple juice is much more obvious. In any case, you should be fine forcing them through a sieve as you suggest.


Regulation and balancing of readymade packed mayonnaise and other sauces

Yes, being able to use good quality processed mayonaise would be nice....well, calcium regulates acidity. I have experimented with this using dairy, and it does help a bit. I never went as far as adding pure calcium, but that would probaby work better and have less impact of the taste of, say, mayonaise. It makes sauces feel and look more creamy too, and apparently this works with pure calcium as well:

http://www.foodmanufacturing.com/news/2014/04/adjusting-calcium-acidity-levels-may-improve-dressings-and-sauces


Cooking ground beef without the fat rendering off

Counterintuitively enough, cooking it at a higher temperature will help. The longer you spend cooking it, the more fat will render out. Cooking it faster means more fat will still be in the meat, even if the temperature in the oven is higher.


Is it possible to extract the allergens from shellfish?

Allergic reaction to shellfish is typically caused by the protein tropomyosin. Since it is present in basically all of the muscle tissue of shellfish, extraction is not possible outside of a chemistry lab. Said lab extraction would destroy the food and likely render it inedible.

Update

Just found this recent article which indicates that myosin and sarcoplasmic calcium-binding protein (SCP) are also responsible for some allergic reactions.


How do I use a French Press to make coffee?

Buy whole bean coffee (preferably freshly roasted, maybe even from a local roaster).

Start with a rough grind. Use a burr grinder to achieve a more consistent grind. If the grinder has a french press or coarse setting use that, else experiment with it to find a consistency that produces coffee you like.

Take out your plunger and place 1 T of grounds per 4 oz (115 g) of coffee that you are making. Again you can experiment with the amount of coffee you put in to get something that suits you taste.

Use 4 oz of water per T of grounds that you put in the press. Fill your press with water no more than about 1" (25 mm) below the spout (if you have a smaller press you go a bit higher, but not too much or you'll spill). The water temp recommended is ~200°F (95°C) (just short of boiling. Stir gently, if you have a large pot use a chopstick. If you have a small pot a plastic spoon or coffee stirrer will work.

Put the plunger in the coffee and press down slightly so all of the grounds are below the water level, this will press out some of the air in the grounds and also ensure even wetting.

Wait ~4 minutes (again, experiment here to determine best flavour).

Press your pot slowly and gently. If you encounter too much resistance wait a moment (or even pull back on the press a bit) and then continue (too much resistance can indicate too fine a grind, try a larger grind next time).

When your plunger is all the way down wait a few moments and then pour. Waiting a bit allows some of the sediment to settle out of the coffee so you get less in your coffee cup. Some sediment is normal and provides body, but too much can be a turnoff. If you will not be drinking all of the coffee you made, decant it into a different pot so that it does not continue to steep in the grounds.

While there is some exact science here. A lot of what you do is informed by your own tastes and preferences. Experiment with it and see what you like. Spend some time deciding what kind of coffee, how long it steeps, how fine a grind you need and even how much sediment you like.


Is it possible to make your own DIY cookie mix?

Freezing the portioned dough is more effective as a timesaver if you make a lot of dough but only a few cookies at a time. And as Catija notes, if you need to cream the butter and sugar a complete dry mix would not be practical.


What utensil (material) to use in Convection + Grill mode of Microwave Oven?

Preheat should be done with an empty oven, afaik. And indeed, a grill isn't nice to plastic; and I avoid plastic also when using the convection mode (alone or with microwave): where the plastic touches the food, the temperature will be limited by the water in the food, but if the plastic is not in contact with the food, it'll go to the temperature of the oven.

Convection heating is through air circulation, so IR plays only a very limited role there. Borosilicate glass is however a poor conductor of heat, compared to metal. That means that a borosilicate tray will show more browning on top when the interior is cooked. But it is perfectly usuable in a convection/microwave oven. And you can always give it a few minutes with just the grill to brown the top a bit more.

As for the use of metal in yor microwave oven, check the manual. It might be possible with limitations.


Can thawing meat too quickly affect its quality?

I'd be more concerned about the meat's safety than taste/texture. "Warm" thawing creates the perfect environment for bacteria growth.

That having been said, my experience mainly involves the use of a microwave to thaw meat. When microwaving meat to thaw, try to avoid the meat having corners or protrusions. This adversely affects taste/texture because they usually start to cook before the rest of the meat thaws.

Freeze ground meat, in a circular shape with a hole in the middle for quickest microwave thawing time. When thawing meat 'parts' place them in a circle, thickest side outward.

So long as no noticeable cooking has started, the taste/texture should be fine. Cook immediately.


I've had this issue with crappy supermarket scallops before. Alton Brown covered this. From http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/Season9/scallops/scallop_trans.htm (section 5):

  dry scallops are usually ivory, or
  slightly pink, or even orange in
  color, not white. Of course, they
  don't actually look dry. The term
  refers to the fact that these lovely
  lozenges have not been soaked in any
  kind of chemical, say, sodium
  tripolyphosphate. This solution is
  used to help scallops retain moisture
  when frozen. Now there's nothing wrong
  with that per se, unless the scallop
  in question is not going to be frozen.
  You see, treating fresh scallops with
  S.T.P. causes them to gain moisture,
  making them heavier, which could be a
  good thing for a retailer, but it's
  never good for a cook. Because once
  this stuff is inside the scallop, they
  become very difficult to cook
  properly, and they are impossible to
  sear properly.

Diver scallops are probably good. Look for a bit of color when buying. The good news is that you probably aren't doing anything wrong, the scallops just aren't going to sear.

When you buy for searing, get scallops that haven't been treated with chemicals. Diver scallops are almost always untreated. Look for a bit of color, which is usually a sign of quality. Don't buy them if they are in a pool of milky liquid (as they usually are in the fish section of the supermarket). Buying diver scallops is also much more sustainable and eco-friendly, since large ships that freeze their stock at sea dredge the floor to get scallops. Divers are much more selective and do negligible damage to the ocean floor.


When cooking for for a crispy exterior you want to cook fast and hot. Most dumpling recipes I have seen call for similar ingredients and just about all of them say to boil for about 15 minutes in a broth or soup.
If you are already doing this try mixing up the different ratio of ingredients.
Cooking it longer will not make it harder with this cooking method.


I would wrap the meat and keep it warm. Otherwise its likely to dry out in the oven at 7 hours, even at low heat.


I think there is no reason except tradition. Cinnamon rolled buns just happen to be a common food in Central Europe, and they were exported to the USA.

While I have no source to back this, I have frequently made breads where the cinnamon is kneaded into the dough. One common example is Peter Reinhart's Greek recipe from the book Bread Baker's Apprentice. The bread is enriched with honey, olive oil and a good amount of cinnamon, and it rises and bakes just like any other bread with similar hydration.


What method can be used to peel an Avocado without damaging it?

In my experience, the most important part of peeling an avocado without damaging it is to first select an avocado that is perfectly ripe.  A perfectly ripe avocado will yield to gentle pressure in the palm of your hand.  Once you've selected appropriately, halve it lengthwise and whack the pit with a heavy, sharp knife and lift it out.  Then use your fingers to gently remove the peel. If the peel does not separate cleanly, try it again with a less ripe avocado.


How much oil is necessary to fry/cook eggs?

Technically, an egg is not "fried" unless there is at least some oil involved.  So even though you could cook an egg in a very well-seasoned cast iron pan with no oil, it wouldn't technically be a fried egg.
The primary reason you use oil, though, is to keep the eggs from sticking.  So in a pan like yours -- a worn-out nonstick pan that's not really nonstick -- you're going to need oil, and probably a fair amount.
The exact amount is going to vary according to three factors:

How large your pan is
How many eggs you are making
How "sticky" the pan is

So if that nonstick pan is only 6"/15cm, just a tiny bit scratched, and you're making two eggs, you can use just 2 tsp of oil.  But if you're cooking 8-10 eggs in a 14"/35cm nonstick pan that's completely scratched up, then you'd need more like 4oz/100ml of oil.
Which brings us to the other reason to use oil: flavor and texture. Some ways of making fried eggs use even more oil.  For example, the standard Thai fried egg is cooked in a pool of oil 1/2"/1cm deep or more, in order to get lacy, crispy whites.


Where do I buy food additives (not in bulk)?

Hey guys, since the question was posted they opened up Modernist Pantry, which specifically caters to this need. They supply chemicals for molecular gastronomy in consumer-sized portions.

For $10 or less apiece, you can order small amounts of emulsifiers, gelling agents, foaming agents, etc. They also have spherification kits, the Texturas products, and Molecule-R's lineup.


Do I thaw frozen sea food before cooking?

If this is just raw seafood, and not already prepared, heat and serve meals, keep frozen until use.  Thaw (ideally in the refrigerator), then cook. If they are meals already prepared (with other ingredients), simply follow the package directions.  Many of these items are cooked from frozen.


Cake not rising - too many wet ingredients?

I would suggest viewing it a different way: the recipe did not fail. It is most likely performing exactly as expected by its author.
First, there is the matter of the different pan. You might intuitively think that 1 inch is not much of a difference, but you have to remember that the height of the cake will vary proportionally to the pan area, not to the pan diameter, which means a quadratic relationship. At typical cake sizes (if you went from 8 to 9, or from 9 to 10) you will have ~25% more height if you use the smaller pan. The exact area numbers from 8 to 11 inches are: 50/63/78/95 square inches.
Second, you are correct that a cake of this type, with milk and oil, and additional egg yolks, is going to rise less than other cake types. This doesn't mean that the cake is rising improperly, it means that you have chosen a cake which doesn't fit your needs (assuming you have a reason for creating a high cake). This doesn't mean that there is a simple way to get this cake recipe to rise more though; the amount of work you would have to invest is the same as in creating a new recipe from scratch. And if you succeed, the taste and texture will not be the same as the cake from which you started. So, the typical thing to do is to choose a recipe which produces higher cakes, and stick with it.


Is there a way to neutralize or override coconut flavour in a vegan dish?

Definitely not if you're getting the fat from coconut milk. Using refined coconut oil would definitely help, but getting it to blend and stay emulsified might be a challenge. Lecithin from a soy product might keep things together– I use it in place of egg to make vegan mayonnaise. All of that saturated fat is pretty tough to emulsify though. Maybe a combination of your coconut milk fat and refined coconut oil? Good luck!


I think opening the oven door every 15-20 minutes is causing the oven to loose a lot of heat very frequently, therefore the process becomes even more prolonged. Try these steps:

1) Make minimum of 3 slits diagonally.

2) Cover the chickens with foil in the first 15-20 minutes of its cooking time to creat and retain steam inside the meat and then uncover and continue with your process.

3) Baste less frequently to maintain the oven heat.


How long do peanut butter sandwiches last at room temperature?

I've done it before without problems.  Even if they're peanut butter & jelly (something that's typically stored in the fridge), it has so much sugar in it that it's inhospitable to microbes.

If you want to play it extra safe, and the sandiwiches won't be easten shortly after you leave, you could place them in the freezer and then let them thaw in your bag.

... all that being said, if you're in the US, the TSA considers peanut butter to be a gel, so won't let you fly with a container of it.  I have no idea what their rules are in sandwich form.  (I've never tried it, as I typically fly w/ cold cut sandwiches, and just take them straight from the fridge before I go).

update from Erica : "I have flown with peanut butter sandwiches in our carryons. New TSA rules mean pulling it out of bags to send through the scanners, but they had no objections."


The reason it tastes sweet is the presence of sugar, ie because it is sweet. Cinnamon is thin tree bark, and it is not uncommon for tree bark, or the layer near the bark to be sweet because of sap. Birch is another example of a tree that is sweet, you can suck on a peeled birch branch for the same reasons as stated in your question.


Enzymatic reactions that happen when water and wheat flour is mixed?

Yes, flour contains enzymes, and they get activated when you mix the flour and water.
The enzymes in flour are diastase, amylase, and protease. The diastase breaks down starch into maltose, amylase produces other types of sugars from starch, and the protease breaks down the proteins in the flour.
Commercial flours are typically balanced for optimal fermentation with yeast, because these reactions are less important in other types of baking. But note that yeast brings in its own enzymes, which complicate the picture, and then, for some breads, enzymes are added from outside to get specific effects, such as using malted barley for dark breads.
This has nothing to do with sprouting, the parts of the seed which would sprout are removed when making flour. Unless you have real whole grain flour, but there the embryo is also already killed, and the producer has made sure that the enzymes are at the right level.


I cannot speak to price; I haven't comparison-shopped with this feature in mind.  However, I have used various home gas ranges with either type of broiler.  I'll go ahead and sum it up:

tl;dr: I greatly prefer an in-oven broiler.

Here's why.

First, positioning.  Broiler drawers are typically located at the very bottom of the range, underneath the actual oven.  This means that in order to place food in or take it out, you've got to bend all the way down to the floor.  I hope the ergonomic challenge here is obvious, but I have safety concerns as well.  If you have never tried to cook 10 pounds of flank steak in a broiler drawer, then learn from my experience: it's less than optimal.  You will wind up bent over at the waist when pulling your finished steaks, end up tilting your pan and spilling meat juice on the way to the top of the range, and just barely manage to kick the drawer closed before your dog licks the exposed cooking tray.  An in-oven broiler presents no additional challenges than you'd have with regular oven use.

Second: flexibility.  Broiler drawers often seem to come equipped with an awkwardly-sized pan that's smaller than the oven itself.  Sometimes this has brackets or rails to hold it in place in the center of the drawer.  This is a stupid design that's difficult to clean, sometimes even difficult to remove, and limits your cooking space.  The pan also rarely has any ability to move up or down, limiting your vertical space too.  With an in-oven broiler, you can adjust the existing racks to get thick items underneath, and control how close your food gets to the heat source (and therefore how quickly it browns).  I frequently kick on the broiler at the end of cooking with things like au gratin potatoes, to get a nice brown crust on top at the very end.  I couldn't fit the pan I use into a broiler drawer, but with the in-oven version I don't even have to open the door.  An in-oven broiler will also accommodate any size pan that will fit in your oven.  Remember those flank steaks?

Regarding design, most gas ranges that I've seen with an in-oven broiler have two separate burners, a main version at the bottom that provides indirect heat to the oven box, and the broiler running along the top with a sort of heat shield to reflect its energy down into the oven.  Drawers often seem designed to take advantage of only a single burner at the bottom of the oven, which provides both indirect heat to the oven box and direct heat to the drawer.  This is mostly my assumption; I'm not an engineer.

This design could make drawers marginally cheaper (again, I haven't checked) but I think the advantages outweigh any price premium for the extra burner.  I'll be so bold as to say that you will be very pleased with the difference if all you've ever used is a drawer.


Too much water in box cake mix batter. Can it be fixed?

If you are only over by a small amount (¼ cup or less) just add half the volume of flour(±).  If you added a moderate amount of extra water(½ to 1 cup) add half the volume of flour and ½ tsp baking powder and sugar equal to ⅓ the flour. Cakes fixed this way will be slightly dry but serviceable, particularly given that you started with a boxed cake anyway.

Beyond that point just make a double recipe.


What can be used as a substitute for tomato sauce in typical italian dishes?

You could use Red Pepper Coulis:

Roast red peppers on grill, gas flame or cut off the sides and place skin side up under broiler until skins are blackened.  Cool and remove charred skin.

Sweat onions and garlic in a little olive oil with salt and pepper until softened.  Add the charred roasted red peppers and some chicken stock.  Simmer until vegetables are very soft and puree with an immersion blender, food processor or regular blender.  Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.  Thin with additional stock according to consistency desired/needed.

Add basil, oregano, Italian seasoning blend to season as desired.