Kosher salt vs. Table salt for rib eye steak

The reason people choose Kosher/Sea/Rock salt over table salt is mainly down to the crystal size and the lack of additives like iodine.

Kosher salt is less soluble and less dense than table salt.

The large crystals in these salts mean that unless there is a fair bit of water present they don't completely dissolve. This means it is less likely you'll over salt steak even if it's caked in crystals.

Table salt will dissolve with far less water present and will, therefore, get absorbed more easily into the meat.

Also the lower density means you can liberality sprinkle Kosher/Sea/Rock salt on things and even if it does all dissolve you've actualy added less salt than you would think. It looks like a lot but 1g of Kosher/Sea/Rock salt takes up a lot more space than 1g of table salt.

1tsp table salt would be way too much. I'd go for about half the volume of Kosher salt if you were dissolving it in liquid and maybe as little as quarter the volume if I was using it as a rub (as in salting a steak).


How many dried herbs are mixed with a kilo of tomato sauce?

There is no set amount or rule to guide you, as there is a lot of variation in tomato sauce for spaghetti.  Some people use oregano, some use marjoram, some use thyme, some use basil...some use a combination.  Oftentimes fresh herbs are used, rather than dried herbs.  A tablespoon of dried oregano sounds like a lot to me, unless you really like that flavor.  I would start with much less, see how you like the flavor, then add more until it is of your liking.  It is much more difficult to remove or alter the flavor if you start with too much.  I would suggest you begin with a quarter teaspoon and work your way up.


Is it possible to make cookies without creaming the butter?

The only way that the butter could be incorporated without creaming would be to melt it.  Melting butter, or allowing it to get too soft, even if just left at room temperature too long will result in what I call "pancake cookies"...those that just spread out and run all over the baking sheet.  This is also the reason that butter should NEVER be softened in the microwave.

Creaming butter and sugar aerates the butter with tiny little air pockets. The reason it becomes lighter in color is due to the air that has been incorporated.  The moisture inside the air pockets from the butter itself to  eggs, milk, etc. turns to steam and the steam (aided by any leavening that might be called for in the recipe) helps the cookies to "puff".

If you don't cream the butter and sugar you'll most likely have very poor results.  The expense of the wasted and ingredients and your time would be enough to pay for an inexpensive hand mixer.


What size were Baker's Chocolate bars when they were first introduced?

Bakers Chocolate Bars prior to mid 2013 were 8 ounce bars, after mid 2013 they became a 4 ounce bar.


Typical in Indian cuisine, and I am sure it would work in other preparations, the first step is to heat some ghee or oil and then add brown mustard seed.  Now, these will pop, so it is helpful to use a lid on the pan.  Once the seeds are finished popping, the lid can be removed and you can continue with additional spices and/or other ingredients.  Just be sure not to burn the seeds.


I would advise if you are planning make often then I would invest in a gallon fermentation crock. It may cost you anywhere from $100- $200 but if you are making this often then i t maybe worthwhile for you as it will last you for many years and most come with weights already specific to the volume of the crock. My grandmother has one she uses for making kimchi


I realize that this is an older post, but from the photo posted, these don't look like scratches at all. Instead, the marks look very much like the marks you would see on a ceramic sharpening rod.

Because ceramic is usually much harder than the mild steel used in your average metal spatula, your ceramic coating is actually putting scratches in your spatula instead of the reverse. So those marks that you see are probably microscopic bits of mild steel that were scraped out of the spatula and deposited into the tiny pores in your ceramic coating.

Since that mild steel was probably very quickly converted to iron oxide (rust), I would suggest using something acidic, but food-safe to dissolve out the particles. Oxalic acid should be perfect for the job, making a product like "Bar Keeper's Friend"  a good choice.


Is it bad to cook frozen meat without thawing it?

It's really a question of taste.  It's not going to hurt you, but there will be some undesirable effects.  For example, to cook turkey properly, it must come to an internal temp. of 180. If the meat is frozen, it is going to take a lot longer for the internal temperature to rise that high, so the outside of the bird will be somewhat overcooked (compared to roasting a thawed bird). That meat will be much tougher than it would be otherwise.

If your question is querying as to whether it will cause ill health, then no, it will not. My mom does it all the time.  Her roasts are tough, though. I have done this, but only when I am braising the meat, or using a slow cooker, which will cause the meat to be tender either way.


I would think that if you were using fresh sirloin and the pieces were small enough you would be alright using the method you mentioned. I would think that if you were to pre-cook your sirloin and then cook it on top of the pizza for that long you might get tough sirloin. I would suggest cooking the sirloin until just about done, while the pizza is cooking then putting the sirloin on the pizza (I would add a little more cheese at this point- but that's just me), and giving it 2-3 minutes under the broiler to melt the cheese and cook the sirloin the rest of the way.
To avoid losing the flavor of the meat, you should marinade it for at least 30 minutes and season well before you precook or put on your pizza(use a meat tenderizer in your marinade to avoid tough meat- vinegar or pineapple juice works well.) Good Luck- I hope it turns out delicious.


How can I stop puddles of water forming on the shelves of my new refrigerator?

Simply saying what MaxW said already: Make sure the fridge doors seal. When freezer doors don't seal you get that frost we all loved as kids but when the fridge door does not seal, you get little puddles forming around/under all your pots and containers. If this is the case, you can use the following suggestion from popularmechanics.com:

"This can be the result of a leaking door gasket. The gasket allows the cold air to constantly seep out, making the refrigerator run overtime and produce extra chill in the freezer. Check the gasket by placing a high-power flashlight or emergency battery-powered light unit in the freezer with the beam pointed at the door. Turn the light off in the kitchen and check around the perimeter of the door. If there is any light leakage, you'll need to replace the gasket, which can be purchased directly from the manufacturer or from large-appliance retailers."


Is it OK to reheat my spaghetti sauce over & over?

Food safety wise, you want to minimise the amount of time the uneaten sauce spends in the "danger zone", 4-60 degrees Celsius. When you repeatedly reheat and chill food, every time it chills it spends some time (depending on how you chill it and the container you store it in, but usually at least an hour) in the danger zone adding to the risk you will get sick from eating it. A typical recommendation is that food should not spend more than 2 cumulative hours in the danger zone to be considered safe to eat. Why not just scoop out the amount you need for the day onto the plate you will eat from and reheat that? Or, if you're adding it to freshly cooked pasta, dump it directly on the pasta from the fridge and let it stand on a warm burner with the lid on for a few minutes to warm up?


Isn't the oil (and bad oil temperature), the main reason for calories in fried food, not the vegetables themselves?

Just coating in corn starch will not help at all, the moisture in the vegetable will still make them limp and oily.

If you do a tempura or batter type frying, then the batter itself becomes the calories sponge.

If you want to make "lower" calories french fries, just do them in the oven.

cut and prepare your potatoes, put them in a bowl and add a little bit of oil (and seasoning) and shake/mix well and put on a sheet and put them in the oven until crispy (flip them around a couple of times).


What stops commercial ice lollies from being rockhard?

If they are rock-hard, they need more sugar (or you're one of those people that use artificial sweeteners and they don't have the same effect that sugar does.)

About 30% sugar is a typical proportion that works - feel free to experiment. i.e. mix 300g sugar with enough water and flavoring to make 1 liter of mixed solution. If using juices, calculate how much sugar they contribute from the label information and add enough more sugar to reach 30%

Pectin can also be helpful. You need things that interfere with the size of ice crystals. Jam is one way to get it, (and some sugar - again, read the label to find out how much) or you can get the pectin made for canning your own jams.


Hot espresso poured into a cold cup - is that dangerous?

There are frequently conflicting opinions about coffee preparation, as everyone has their own way that they like it best. Keep in mind that these are just opinions though and you should prepare the drink however it most appeals to you.

That said, there are a few things to keep in mind: If you're using solid chocolate or cocoa powder, you'd want to add hot liquid directly to that to melt it. Most flavorings will dissolve best in hot liquid, but syrups can be stirred in to cold liquids as well. The main thing you'd want to avoid is pouring hot liquid directly over ice, as that will water down your coffee a lot. Generally my method is to pour the espresso over the syrup, swirl it to dissolve, add cold milk, then add ice last. If I'm making an iced Americano, I do add the espresso directly to ice and then omit adding water (or reduce the water).


Pasta Salad+Chicken freezer storage for a week?

I'd seriously doubt it going bad in 5 days if your fridge is set to a proper temperature and it was prepared with some semblance of proper sanitation. A vat of the stuff taken out of the fridge for serving 4 times, yes. An individual serving stored in the fridge the whole time, I doubt.

The pasta texture will get weird from freezing/thawing. Should not actually affect the flavor if it's properly sealed. You may or may not find the texture change acceptable. Your wife may or may not agree with you.

As usual, experimentation will be your best guide as to whether you find it acceptable or not, so freeze one and don't freeze one and compare the two when you eat them.


Are there any differences between the commonly recommended types of woods for chopping boards?

The main difference between types of wood is hardness -- a softer board will be more prone to damage and absorb liquids more quickly, while a harder board may require you to hone your knife more often.

What's likely going to be more significant is how it's constructed:

Is it a solid piece of wood?  If so, that's going to warp horribly when it gets wet.
Is it a bunch of strips of wood, with the grain running in the direction of the strips?  It'll be more stable, but still might warp a little bit.
Is it a bunch of bits, stacked together so the end grain is on the surface?  It'll be the most stable, but it's probably going to be thicker and heavier.
If it's constructed from multiple pieces, what size are they?  Narrower strips will warp less than wider strips if it's similar wood (hardness, size of grain, etc.) but increases the cost.

I'm also not a huge fan of end-grain boards ... they're so heavy, I use something else to transfer, rather than moving the whole cutting board ... for me, that means that if I get some water on the counter, it might get under there, and then I have mold starting to grow.  (yes, I admit, I don't lift and sanitize under my board after every time I cook)

More important in my selection are issues like:

Does it have feet?  Makes it more stable, but non-reversable
Does it have a grove to catch drippings?  Useful when carving meats, but reduces the effective work area.
How expensive is it?  Exotic woods are great for decorative cutting boards (placing out some cheese at a party, etc.), but I'd never use them for my main prep.
How tight are the joints?  Look for gaps in where it's glued together ... any gap is a place for bacteria to grow and fester, and a change it'll crack prematurely.

Personally, when I have a choice, I'd probably go for maple.

The only ones I haven't been a real fan of are bamboo (I know, technically a grass not a wood)-- I love it for cooking utensils, but I'm not a fan of it for cutting boards.  They wear down my knives faster, and they seem to die earlier (I don't know if this is an issue w/ being harder means they're less strong, as they can't absorb forces, an issue with those who manufacture bamboo boards, or something specific to the material (eg, does it not absorb the glue as well?)

But I'd probably first consider all of the other considerations that were mentioned (unrelated to the specific wood) at Cutting boards: What are some general tips on purchasing and using a cutting board?


What properties allow something to be considered "milk"?

I will disagree with Johanna here. While hers sounds like a reasonable definition, it is not how the word is used in practice.

Milk is

A) Cow's (also goat's, sheep's, camel's and mare's) lactated fluid, or
B) Any liquid which kinda looks like A), doesn't have an overly strong taste, and there is a convention of being called a milk. It can in many cases be a substitute for A, including when drinking straight out of the mug.

So not only are there nut milks like almond milk which contain both fat and carbohydrates, but there are also grain milks like rice milk and oats milk, which have practically no fat and get their white color from the starch in the grains. This goes against the "fat in water emulsion" definition, but it is common usage.

There are also foods which have "milk" in their name while nobody would say that they are a milk, like the "donkey milk" wine.

In the end, there is no rule. Whatever people call "milk" is a milk. And they call "milk" whatever reminds them of the milk they have encountered before.


how many pints cooked cabbage from 3 pounds raw?

It really depends on how much you cook the cabbage.

Less cooking not only means that it's firmer and it won't compact as easily, but that the majority of the water is still in the cabbage, adding volume.

The longer that you cook the cabbage, the more that the cell walls break down, moisture is expelled, and that moisture evaporates.  (but evaporation is also a function of the surface area of the pan/pot it's being cooked in)

...

I've personally never paid attention to the volume of cooked cabbage, but I have for cabbage that's been salted, let sit and drained to make cole slaw ... and that's closer to 1.5 to 2 pints per 3 lb cabbage.  (but again, it depends how much force you use to pack it ... and how much you cut out when removing the core).

I'll try to remember to get a measurement when I make a ~10lb batch of cole slaw for a gathering in two weeks.


what is the purpose of adding oil to balsamic vinaigrette slowly?

Specifically, the reason you whisk it in slowly at first is to create small drops. If you just dump the oil in fast, it will adhere to itself and make it impossible to break up into droplets dispersed in the vinegar (or other water based liquid, such as lemon juice). This is the definition of an emulsion: tiny droplets of one liquid evenly dispersed in another. Once you've got the emulsion started, you can pour in the oil a bit faster because the already suspended droplets reduce the room for a big blob of oil to form, and act sort of as "sandpaper" to break up the incoming stream as you whisk.


Do chefs use customer feedback to improve dishes?

I'm only a semi-pro chef, but let's have a go at answering your question.

There are some people who have an actual impact when they provide feedback on one of my dishes. These are people I have cooked for more often and whose tastes are familiar to me. They will often function as a "test panel" when I want to try out a dish I'm considering for the menu of a commercial event I'm planning.

Should this test panel think my sauce needs more seasoning or more acidity, this would certainly cause me to adjust the recipe and/or process.

On the other hand, feedback from an individual guest whose tastes are unknown to me is pretty much meaningless. How would I be able to tell whether their likes and dislikes are anywhere near an average opinion? There those who will nearly always reach for the salt shaker when served a dish, even if to the average taste it is well seasoned.

So this hypothetical individual customer that features in your question seems pretty unlikely to cause a chef to change his recipe, unless of course the same feedback has been given before and a pattern emerges. In that case an individual customer can of course tip the scales in favor of a change.


Slice off 1/2" of the top of the onion (opposite the root)
Place onion root side up, and make slices all the way through, staying at least 1/2" away from the root
Flip it over and spread apart the leaves

This is best described with images.

Alternatively, if you're willing to drop a few hundred dollars, you can buy a bloomin' onion cutter. This is what restaurants use. There are cheaper alternatives, but I can't vouch for their quality or ease of use.


Probably not, it will yield a thick dense crust. You can prepare everything ahead of time, keep it in the fridge separate and then bread everything at the last minute. Since there is only a couple of bowls it will clean up quickly. If you marinate the pork chops put them on a wire rack uncovered in the fridge for  a couple of hours before you bread them. If you absolutely need to bread them ahead of time have some bread crumbs or panko and roll them again right before you fry.


How to safely reuse scissors used to open food packaging multiple days in a row?

Wash the scissors in hot soapy water after you've used them.


One strong possibility is that the recipe is overleavened, which will cause it to blow up fast and then collapse. BakeWise (by Shirley Corriher) recommends 1 teaspoon baking powder or 1/4 teaspoon baking soda per cup of flour as a guideline. If your recipe is much beyond that, suspect that is the issue.


What is the difference between kosher salt and unprocessed sea salt?

Kosher salt is pure, like table salt, but without any iodine and (usually) without any anti-caking agents.

Kosher salt crystals are also coarse, but flat, which makes them easy to dissolve or season/coat meat.

Unprocessed sea salt is simply coarse; the shape of the crystals (whole or ground) does not stick to meat particularly well and the impurities make it harder to dissolve properly in water. It doesn't usually have minerals added (unless it's a really cheap kind possibly made from pre-iodized table salt), it just doesn't have minerals removed like table salt.

Kosher salt and sea salt are definitely not the same thing. Kosher salt can come from seawater, like sea salt, but the "kosher" part is all about the size and shape of the crystals, not their source.

Sea salt is not a good idea for brining. It's expensive and inefficient, and by the time the meat is cooked, any distinctness of flavour will have completely disappeared. Some of the minerals may even burn, depending on the cooking method.

Instead, use kosher salt or table salt for brining and add sea salt as a seasoning afterward if you want. Using sea salt for cooking, brining, or other preparation is simply wasting it.


I've put too much onion on my macaroni salad and it overwhelms other ingredients. Is there a way to tame down the onion taste?

If it goes well with the other ingredients of your salad, you can add some mint of fresh parsley, it will balance a bit the strong onion taste.


My ginger is moist and floppy... has it spoiled?

Here is how you can find out further if your ginger has gone bad in the fridge:

extra moist
skin will peel off easily when touched and texture is slimy
obvious blackish, dark yellowish skin
aroma is no longer the fresh one, but rather a ginger aroma covered by a sharp unpleasant earthy smell/mixed smell. You can notice it's going/gone bad.

You may cut it in half and check the inside still. If it looks fresh and smells fresh, then hard-peeling of the skin up to 2-3 mm can still leave you with good piece of ginger. But in order to store this now, you have to slice it, dry and put a zip lock. It can last for about a week.

Ginger is a root and there are ways you can store it without even freezing. I have had the luxury to dig a ginger root when needed. However for the recent years we had been storing it either outside, in an indoor soil basket or in the fridge. All are proven methods that many are successfully using. Otherwise I wouldn't want to blabber...

Keep unpeeled ginger root in an outside rack, e.g. an onion rack, or in a dry place that has proper ventilation. You will see it sprouts and/or dries a bit, but it can last with flesh inside up to a month. You can cut the portion you need and keep it back in this place. This way it doesn't get moist or turn into the texture that you encounter usually by storing in the fridge.
Make sure the root is not damaged by slugs. Get some soil/sand into a bucket, and bury it in it like how you can store winter veggies.
Store it in the fridge by wrapping it with a paper towel or a piece of paper or of thin cloth. Extra moisture will be absorbed by the wrapping.


Non-coconut substitute for coconut cream

I would use cream as well. It's very similar in structure, thus they both have the title cream.


The accepted answer from the linked question is just as accurate in this situation.  Assuming you're talking about "stew meat" sized pieces (about 2cm per side or so) by the time smaller pieces brown sufficiently, they should be nearly if not completely cooked through.  By similar logic, when you refrigerate them they should cool down more quickly than a larger roast.  So there's even less risk here than with larger pieces.


What is the difference between normal oils and cooking oils?

There are three major properties an edible fat (I am assuming you are not asking about inedible oils like petroleum based products) has that affect how it is best used:

Flavor
Saturation
Smoke point

Properties

Flavor

The flavor of the fat is very important.  So called neutral oils (like canola oil or refined grapeseed oil, or refined peanut oil, among many others) have very little flavor and so are suitable for almost any cooking task, as they will not interfere with or compete with the other flavors in the dish.

Other oils such as sesame oil are primarily used for the delicious flavor that they provide, and are almost more of a condiment than an oil for culinary purposes.

In between are oils like olive oil and coconut oil which have a distinctive flavor, but also have good qualities for cooking.  Many non-oil fats used in cooking (like butter, or bacon fat, lard, or suet) also have distinctive flavors.

Saturation

The level of saturation in the fat controls how hard the fat is at room temperature.

Most oils are fairly low in saturation, and are so quite liquid even at room temperature.  The major exceptions among the vegetable based lipids are coconut oil and cocoa butter.  Coconut oil is solid at room temperature, and cocoa butter is actually quite hard at room temperature.

Note that while you only asked about "oils", many common cooking fats not usually called an oil are much more saturated, including butter, lard, and hydrogenated vegetable oil such as the US brand Crisco.

The level of saturation can affect texture of baked goods made with a given oil, and whether the fat is suitable for the creaming method or in making laminated pastry in baking.

Saturated fats also resist rancidity better over time better than non-saturated fats (although they are still subject to rancidity).

Smoke Point

The smoke point of a fat or oil is temperature to which it can be heated before it begins smokng.

Oils which have a high smoke point (such as grapeseed oil or peanut oil among others) are more suitable for high temperature searing, or deep frying.

Applications

The oil for a given application is based on the properties it has.

Cooking

For general cooking uses (by which I am inferring general sauteeing, shallow frying, greasing of casserole dishes, and so on is meant), normally you want a fat which is either:

Neutral in flavor so as not to interfere with the dish.  The neutral oils are all useful for this.
Complimentary in flavor, to enhance the dish.  Many cuisines have traditional fats which are flavorful, but are integrated into their cuisine, such as olive oil or butter.

Saturation matters less (as the fat can be melted before greasing a pan, for example), and smoke point is not terribly relevant unless the application is searing, in which case you want a very high smoke point.

Depending on the application and the cuisine from which a dish derives, almost any oil or fat may be used for general cooking purposes.  The major exception is sesame oil, which is so flavorful that it is used as a condiment, not a fat, for culinary purposes.

Deep Frying

The most important aspect for deep frying is smoke point.  A low smoke point oil would break down and add off flavors to the dish (not to mention making the kitchen smoky and setting off smoke alarms).

Secondarily, for oils that are going to be reused over time, saturated fats such as hydrogenated vegetable shortenings break down more slowly, and may be considered advantageous.

Generally, flavorful oils are not indicated, as the same factors that give them good flavor often give them low smoke points.

Some good oils for deep frying include peanut oil, canola oil, or hydrogenated vegetable shortening.

Dressing

For most dressings (by which I infer you mean salad dressings as used in many Western style cuisines), the most important factors are flavor and saturation.

You want an oil with good flavor (such as olive oil) or neutral flavor (such as the many neutral oils like canola, refined peanut, corn oil, and so on).

Most dressings also need an oil which is liquid at room temperature, and thus low in saturation.  The major exception is  the class of hot dressings made with bacon fat.

Many dressings are made from olive oil, or one of the neutral oils.

Baking

While you did not ask about baking applications, there are two types of baking which require a fat with specific properties:  cakes made by the creaming method, and laminated pastries like croissants or puff pastry.

These applications require a fat which is solid at room temperature, but still plastic enough to be manipulated.  Generally, only butter and hydrogenated vegetable oil are suitable.

Bottom Line

The oil or fat you choose for any particular purpose will be based on what is best for that application—but a good neutral oil with a high smoke point such as refined peanut oil or canola oil can serve the vast majority of culinary purposes most of the time.

See also:

What is meant by "neutral" oils?
When is a cooking oil not appropriate to substitute for another?


What might be the English name for this chilli?

This isn't a definitive answer, but I suspect that the name you have for it is the english name. There are many many varieties of chili and many of them are not found in the english speaking parts of the world, so the local name is the english name.

I googled the name as you provided it and found that it probably is called an unhelpful "green chili". It is very probable that the "morris" part is a corruption of "morich" which translates to pepper (see the entries for morich on this list of Bangladeshi spices). Within that list is an entry for "green chili pepper" which has the local name of "kancha morich" or "kancha lonka", which seems to be a variant name with associated recipes.

I have been unable to find a Scoville rating for this chili or even which of the species of Capsicum it is, but the rating is normally done on dried chili (I think!). There is an excellent summary of chili varieties and types in this page, which might give you some direction.


Why does rapeseed oil turn sticky but coconut oil doesn't?

It is a chemical quality of the oil called "iodine number". There is nothing you can do about it, it is as inherent in the oil as its smoke point. Oils with a low iodine number create hard polymers, and oils with a high iodine number create soft, sticky polymers.

If you want a hard, nonstick surface on the pan, choose the right oil. Coconut oil, Palm oil or lard give you a good finish, while many polyunsaturated oils give you a soft finish. Linseed oil is the worst of all, it's very gunky.

Note that many sites will suggest seasoning with high iodine oils, especially linseed, because it is easier to get them to polymerise. I personally don't like this recommendation - as you discovered, the resulting polymer is low quality.


Induction cookware not working with some induction cookers

I have experienced something very similar, and it was because the pot was too small in diameter, so was not being sensed by the hob (range top).  Higher end, professional induction hobs do not turn off as easily if the pot is pulled away for a second.  Cheaper ones I have seen are almost on a hair trigger.  So if your pot is small, and not perfectly centered, the sensor will trip and the range will shut off.


I'd cut it up into small pieces, wash it in cold water (partly to cool it, though this will get rid of some salt), dry it and freeze it in small portions. Then the bacon can be added to dishes which might get some salt anyway, such as pasta sauces and casseroles (chicken chasseur).

It should be labelled so you know to use less salt when cooking, or less stock, or a lower-salt stock (which is my default anyway).

If you it want to use it immediately I suggest slicing it (assuming you're starting with a bacon joint from the fact you're slow cooking it) and then boiling it in water for a few minutes.


Per the USDA guidelines, frozen chicken should not be cooked in a slow-cooker or a microwave. It can only safely be cooked in the oven or on the stovetop.

A similar warning is given for beef as well.


It happens sometimes, no worries.

It could be the perforations that make the band break off were not quite cut correctly, could be the band was just a hair wider than normal (or the plastic softer), could be the neck of the jug was just a bit narrower.  All within manufacturing tolerances.

Usually, if you pick at the separated band, you can pry it off the milk-jug neck, its not even that hard.  That is essentially all that happened with your jug, the perforations didn't tear when the cap was removed, so the band got yanked off with the cap - probably part of why it wasn't as easy to open, you needed the extra strength to stretch the band loose.

The breakaway band doesn't have anything to do with the milk being "technically sealed" or still sealed or not, the important seal was the airtight suction between the cap and the milk that kept the milk form exposure to air.  If that seal was good, then the milk is safe and the band not breaking off isn't a problem.  The lid is supposed to be a fairly good cap anyway, to keep the milk fresh while being used.

The band doesn't actually make a difference after the initial opening, it's just supposed to make sure you know the milk wasn't opened before that, during shipping or whatever, maybe prevent the cap from working its way loose or letting you know if it had.

You might want to remove the band if it makes re-capping your milk difficult, but otherwise - it isn't a problem.


It's not. The original consumers of chocolate, the Native Americans, had their chocolate in bitter teas and savory moles. They mainly were after its caffeine effects. We could speculate about the overuse of sweeteners in general, especially among peoples of European descent. Other ingredients like mint, cinnamon, and cardamon come to mind. In the European culinary, those ingredients used extensively for puddings/desserts; in Africa and India, these are ingredients for savory stews. The fetishization of sugary desserts and exotic ingredients in Europe is partly to blame. Look up some traditional chocolate moles or consider adding it to a chili con carne recipe for a new way to enjoy chocolate with less sugar.


The trick, according to a French roommate from college, was thin batter temperature and a well (clarified) buttered pan.

The batter should feel almost too thin. I always thought that the batter was perfect and she would thin it just a little more.

The pan should be at just the right temperature (this will vary stove by stove).  Your photos look like the temperature could be a little lower, but only just! The way she kept her pan perfectly buttered was using clarified butter, and used half of a yellow or red potato on a fork (think a nice waxy potato) to spread the butter.  This allowed just the right amount of butter into the pan.


why should the madeleine tins start off cold?

David Lebovitz tells us that chilling the tins prior to filling helps the cakes to develop a "humpy" appearance, particularly if baking powder is used (which some chefs say to NEVER use in Madeleines). Also, since the tins are usually prepared by brushing with melted butter mixed with flour, chilling would keep that where it belongs instead of it pooling in the bottom of the tin.


Do I need to coat beef in flour mixture for slow cooked stew?

Browning your beef with some flour adds depth of flavor. The flour will act as a thickener, and by coating the meat with it you won't have problems with it clumping and getting little flour balls in your stew. However, unless you are browning the meat before adding to the cooker I would recommend you leave it out as uncooked flour might give your end dish a raw flour flavor. You can thicken it up at the end if you like with a cornstarch slurry.


They're likely referring to di-ammonium phosphate, which is used in wine making and mead brewing, as it provides nitrogen to accelerate the yeast growth.

I found a site giving instructions for using egg whites as a replacement, but it might be easier (and safer) to just go to a shop that specializes in brewing or wine making supplies and getting the right stuff.  (I have no idea how expensive it is, as I've never done it)

Your other option would be to find an alternate recipe that doesn't call for it ... it might take longer to brew, though.


Chemically speaking, why do you have to add chilli pwder earlier rather than at the end?

Like you would describe colour or music, you add dark at the beginning & bright at the end.

Any type of deep curry or chilli flavour will improve over several hours in the pot, & even overnight, left to go cold then re-heated the next day.

The problem with that can be that you lose some of the 'brightness' off the top; some of the zing is missing.

So you add additional aromatics at the end.
Whether that's some garam masala in a curry, or some extra chilli powder [I favour New Mexico Red for warmth, or some chipotle or smoked paprika for aroma, or just a bit of generic cayenne if it's not quite punchy enough] to a chilli, the purpose is the same - to put back some 'highs' in the flavour palette.
If you need timings, add anything like this when you put your rice on - so you're about half an hour from serving.

Right at the very end you then add your brightest, most delicate flavours - a handful of coriander [US cilantro] or some flat leaf parsley, topped off with a squeeze of lime or lemon.

& there you have a symphony - all the colours of the rainbow.

If you're getting "bitter" or "grainy" you're adding the wrong thing, or trying to add "all flavours" right at the end, which isn't going to work.


Why did my tomato soup turn thick and brownish?

I think that this must be some freakish ocuurence. The way you describe it, there isn't anything you did wrong, unless maybe if you have been throwing in spices by the handful.

Tomatoes (incl. skins) don't contain anything thickening. In fact, when you want to thicken a tomato puree, you are in for hours of constant stirring over gentle heat until most of the water has evaporated. It's still not jellylike after that.

They shouldn't turn brown either. Carotenes are not terribly heat sensitive. Some of them will degrade, dulling the color somewhat (you can't keep the color of raw tomatoes), but the change won't be too big, it should be still more red than brown. That change won't be affected by oxygenation anyway, so lemon juice won't help. In my experience, enzymatic browning (which is affected by oxygen presence) just doesn't happen in tomatoes, you can leave a cut tomato exposed to air for days, and it won't brown the way apples or avocadoes do.

You could be experiencing some browning due to a Maillard reaction, but tomatoes are low in carbohydrates, so for this to produce any significant browning, you must be terribly overheating it. And by "terribly overheating", I mean it's one step removed from charring.

The practice supports this, here is the color you can expect from tomato puree which has been cooked for a while:

Garlic tends to turn blue-green when cooked in the presence of acid, and the combination of red and green should look brown, but if it affects color significantly, you are using way too much garlic. If you insist on using lots of garlic, you can try adding canned garlic after the tomatoes have been cooked, before the pureeing, or adding garlic powder to the prepared soup.

The only thing on your list which could have thickened is the pepper. Again, you must use powdered dry pepper it in amounts comparable to the chille powder in chilli dishes in order to experience a significant thickening. If you do this, and insist on this amount for taste reasons, but want a thinner soup, you just need to make it more dilute. First, don't remove the seeds of the tomatoes. Second, consider using fresh peppers instead of powder (either pre-roast to charring and remove the skin, or sautee to soften together with the tomatoes without removing the skin). Third, if all else fails, dilute with vegetable stock or some other liquid (commercial vegetable juice, whey, or herbal tea).

If you didn't overuse garlic and/or pepper powder, but the problem persists, there is something wrong with some of the ingredients. Try tomatoes from another source or something. But chances are that it was a one-time problem.


How do I know if my cast iron dutch oven is preseasoned?

You would know if the dutch oven was covered in wax. Cast iron prior to seasoning is a light grey color. It will rust very quickly just from atmospheric moisture, so they cover it in paraffin wax to preserve it. The process of seasoning the utensil forms a tough, yet smooth, black coating of polymerized oil. If your dutch oven is a slightly shiny dark black, it is safe to say that it has already been seasoned. With the proper care your dutch oven will last you many lifetimes-- enjoy it!


Lid popping when I checked for seal the next day

You should either store that jar in the refrigerator or reprocess it with a new lid.
The vacuum formed is not going to be as strong as your other jars and may be temperature sensitive. It may stay sealed on the shelf, but it may not. I wouldn’t risk having to discard the whole jar.


Techniques for mixing bread dough with stand mixer

Mixing bread with a stand mixer will normally take 10-12 minutes, depending on speed.  A lot of this smaller mixers will tend to 'walk' if they are not anchored.  Look for the dough to be smooth and supple, but not shiny.  If it is shiny, and appears wet, it is over mixed.
To start, it will look choppy and rough, sometimes you will have to pull all of the dough off of the hook and start up again, because it seems the dough will gravitate to the top of the hook and that part of the dough will not mix properly.  This of course depends on the dough consistency to start with.  Remember that a crusty bread dough will be stiffer, and a sweet dough will be soft, and should have a spot on the bottom that doesn't clear the bowl.


Should rice be started in cold or boiling water?

It doesn't make much difference. A few things to consider and also why I use cold water.

Once you bring the water to a boil you need to turn  it down to a simmer. Adding cold rice at this point can thriw off this process.
Rice is typically cooked based on ratios of volume. Boiling the water first won't effect this unless you lose track of it and the boiling causes your water content to reduce.
Lastly rice cookers these days are set-and-forget and boiling the water first is an unnecessary step.

All in all boiling your water first is not a problem but doesn't add any value.


It sounds like the kefir was further fermented by a second, more aggressive stain of acetic or lactic acid bacteria introduced after opening. It's likely safe, but probably not very tasty. And as with any unexpected microbial activity: When in doubt, throw it out.


Can you use coffee or tea instead of water in a sourdough starter?

Well no-one will shoot you if you do. But there are obvious downsides: yeast is killed at 55C to 60C, and slightly higher temperature will kill many lactic acid bacteria. So unless you cool the tea or coffee you'll simply kill the starter. Moreover caffeine has an inhibiting effect on yeast growth (see Figure 5), so your feeding regime will be less effective.

If you want to make tea or coffee flavoured bread, I would instead add instant espresso powder to the dough, or replace some of the water with (cold) strong tea. Given the article above, it might also be a good idea to use extra starter/yeast.


How hot should the oil be when preparing schnitzel?

I generally use about 1cm deep of olive oil when I'm making schnitzel which may or may not be the right oil but it works for me.

I generally find that if the oil is smoking, it's too hot so I tend to get it to a temperature that is very hot, but not smoking.

Once I get it to that temperature, I don't cook too many schnitzel's at once, generally 2 or maybe 3 max to a pan depending on how big your pan is.

The final thing is that you need to make sure you beat the schnitzel out nice and thin before you crumb it so it's only about 1/2 a cm thick when you're cooking it. This way it'll only take a minute or two to cook through and won't overcook the crumb.


The stone will be fine kept in your oven all the time, but there are trade-offs. The biggie is that your oven will preheat slower than you're currently used to--potentially quite a bit if you get a large or heavy stone. And you will really need to make sure that the stone has reached the desired oven temperature (by preheating longer) or the way things cook in your oven will be thrown off. The oven may claim to be fully preheated before the stone is really up to temperature because the thermostat just measures the air temperature, which can be higher than the stone, or even the sides of the oven for a while.

The upside is that your oven will retain heat better and generally be more even in its heat. So if you are willing to properly preheat that stone, you'll probably benefit in the long run.

As you've divined already, you'll have to put it on one of your oven racks as low as it will go toward the bottom of the oven. You don't want to put it right on the coils, but you want it as close as it will go. This means you'll have one less rack available to you. In practice this may not matter much, but it's a thing.

I wouldn't recommend putting a pan directly on the stone, but that's because it would completely change how heat gets to the pan. When a pan is on a rack, there's heated air circulating around from all sides. If it sits on a preheated stone the pan now has direct heat conducted to the bottom--which will change how things cook, and many things you'd cook in the oven don't want that direct heat.

Broil mode should be fine with the stone in the oven. I wouldn't want to put a cold stone right up by the broiler as the thermal shock might crack it, but with it at the bottom of the oven there should be no issues, even if the stone isn't heated up.


The easiest way is just use a recipe for lemon cookies. I'm sure you can find lots of them online. If you really want to use a recipe for normal cookies (because you really like it), you could certainly add lemon extract to a regular batch. Don't add too much, the flavour is really concentrated. Since you won't use a lot of it (a teaspoon will do), the liquid:dry proportion practically won't change, but to be sure, you can cut back the milk by the amount (e.g. a teaspoon). You can also add a bit of zest without a problem.

I wouldn't add lemon juice because you're adding milk in your cookies. The milk would curdle (in some cookies that is exactly what you would want to achieve). However, you can try to add lemon juice instead of milk.


Why does my apple crumble develop a bitter aftertaste?

It may be that the specific flavour has a compounding effect, in the same way that spciy heat (capsaicin) does. The first bite is great, the second one is more sour, and by the second portion it is the only thing you can taste.

It happens because of the way the mouth's flavour sensors react to certain flavour compounds, but I don't know enough to explain how it works exactly.


What you're describing sounds like jallab. From Will Travel For Food:

  Jallab is a very popular drink in the Middle East. It’s made by diluting the syrup made of grape molasses, dates and rose water with water and serving it in a tall glass with crushed ice. It’s always topped with nuts, most of the time pine nuts and golden raisins, because a jallab without nuts is not really a jallab.

There is also a recipe on the linked page.

Also, from Wikipedia:

  Jallab (Arabic: جلاب / ALA-LC: jallāb) is a type of fruit syrup popular in the Middle East made from carob, dates, grape molasses and rose water.[1] Jallab is very popular in Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Lebanon. It is made mainly of grape molasses, grenadine syrup, and rose water, then smoked with Arabic incense. It is usually sold with crushed ice and floating pine nuts and raisins.

Jallab, the syrup used to make this drink seems to be quite easy to find on the internet. It is also sold in Middle Eastern grocery markets.


Can I boil water to temperature lower than 100 Celsius / 212 Fahrenheit to make a tea?

You cannot boil water at 70 Celsius. Maybe this is a language problem; "boiling" means taking water to the state where there are lively bubbles popping on the surface all the time, and it is steaming profusely. It boils at 100 Celsius at sea level and a little bit below it when you get higher, but the difference isn't that much. Even in the highest towns in the world, at more than 5000 meters, water boils at just below 90 Celsius.

When you get your water to 75 Celsius, you are heating it, not boiling it. Heating water certainly kills bacteria - in fact it is the heat which desinfects water, not the boiling - but we cannot tell you which bacteria are killed and which are not. US/Western Europe guidelines for food safety suggest temperatures up to 70 Celsius for safe food preparation, but these suggestions are based on many things, such as the type of bacteria found in these parts of the world, statistics showing how many people get sick from underheated food, and so on. It is entirely possible that your water is contaminated with something different than whatever is present on US meat.

If you do not have access to tap water, or the water supply in your city is not considered safe, and there is a directive to boil water, then this is what you need to do to be officially safe. And it means real boiling, at 100 Celsius. Nobody is equipped to tell you whether 70 Celsius is sufficient for your case or not.

Update As the commenters suggested (and Wayfaring stranger linked an official source for it): The safety guidelines are not just to bring the water to boiling, but to hold it at a boil for one minute.

This means that the flash-kill temperature for the bacteria must be well over 100 Celsius. A small explanation about food safety: There is no temperature at which all individual cells in a bacterial colony keel over and die. Bacterial death is a function of temperature and time, and some hardy individual cells can withstand a lethal temperature for some seconds. This is why you either have to incinerate them outright with a really high temperature - which seems to not be possible to reach with boiling the water - or wait a bit on a somewhat lower temperature until every bacteria is dead, in this case 1 minute at 100 Celsius at low altitudes, or, because you cannot reach 100 Celsius when you are up in the mountain, 3 minutes boiling at high altitudes.


How do you keep corned beef from falling apart in the crockpot?

Did you let the meat cool completely before attempting to slice it? Even meat that is completely-fall-apart tender straight out of the (crock)pot will firm up quite a bit when cooled.


Different Cuisines is definitely the way to go.  Many dishes from South America (chile, brazil, argentina) seem truly innovative from an American palette.  Maybe you can gain some excellent insights into these amazing and wonderful cultures through their culinary voyages!

While the meat-vege-starch thing is a staple of a euro-centric diet, something that our privileged positions in society takes a certain advantage of, it's remarkable what you can pull off with the addition of different plating techniques involving sauces and various cooking techniques.


If a chicken has released a lot of moisture due to freezing, will these cause soup water to flow back in due to pore enlargement?

That release of moisture is due to breakage of chicken's cell structure, and further moisturing will not repair it - so it's not about the pores, and there's no "going back" from that state.
Still, if You cook Your chicken in a liquid with agents that affect osmotic pressure (salt, for example), it will lead to release of liquid through membranes, and further cooling will cause the reverse effect (chcken absurbing released liquid).
That's why stew/soup-like dishes often taste better after cooling/reheating.

Hope I got the point)


Cheese soufflé with bread cubes instead of egg whites

There is nothing to explain here - the claim is simply wrong.
You can certainly put bread in custard and subject it to heat. It is traditionally done in French toast, for example. I could even buy that under some circumstances, you won't notice that you are chewing on what used to be bread - the inside of a French toast is quite soft, and if you don't know what it is, you might not recognize it.
But first, I don't believe that the bread in this recipe will disintegrate fully to the point where it is completely mixed with the custard. (And if it did, it wouldn't turn "into flour"). You can see in the video how, before sticking it into the oven, the bread cubes swim on the surface, even after he purposefully wets them on top at around 10:20. And after he takes it out, the surface is rather uneven with a few lumps, and while he does have cubed shallots and dried tomatoes in there, the shapes look awfully like bread cubes - see for example the closeup at 11:50.

You could, in theory, mix the bread fully. For that, you would have to wait until it is soaked well, and then physically mix it, with a fork or with the blender he praises so much. But in the video, it is implied that no such mixing happens.
The second claim is that the souffles don't fall. This is entirely wrong. When he puts the souffles in there, the ramekins are filled "all the way to the top" (quote from 10:28). When he takes them out, they are risen slightly, I'd say less than two centimeters - you can see a good shot at 11:19. That's expected, since there are no egg whites to rise during baking. And then, while he plates them, they fall back to the rim of the ramekin. He even mentions it at 11:29

"Eventually, they're gonna fall. A little bit. They're gonna fall right at the rim."

Don't be fooled by the "little bit" - if you remember, they were filled to the rim when they went to the oven.

So, even in his own video, you can see that the soufflés cannot hold any of the expansion they got in the oven, and fall to their original size once they cool. This is exactly how any soufflé behaves, with bread or otherwise.


Is pre-cooked beef that's not completely dehydrated safe to leave out?

It's probably not safe because your beef isn't fully dehydrated. Chunks don't dehydrate very quickly, which is why they are still soft in the middle - there's still moisture in there. Next time slice it thinly.


Ground coriander is made from the seeds, so you definitely can substitute seeds. But you do need to grind them first. It's hard to get them ground very fine by hand, at least for quick cooking dishes, but if you toast then before grinding they're more brittle (so break up better). In a longer cooking dish the bits soften a little, so you can get away with slightly bigger bits.

Whole coriander seeds (or big pieces of them) are unpleasant to find in food, and don't deliver their flavour well to the dish. They're too big and hard to ignore, but to small to go round (unlike the cardamom pods sometimes found whole in rice dishes).

Seeds store well, keeping their flavour, so toasting/grinding them when you're ready to use them makes for a better-tasting end result. If you're used to using ground coriander that's been hanging around a while, this will be particularly noticeable, and you want want to use a bit less.


White cloudy areas on bottom of new stainless steel skillet

Sprinkle the 'cleaned' dry pan with coarse salt - add any kind of inexpensive vinegar, just enough to wet the salt to a wet paste, scrub the pan with this paste with a paper towel for 30 seconds or so, using the salt as a mild "abrasive", while the vinegar dissolves the cloudiness.  Rinse with water and dry.  Voilá.

This is simpler and cheaper than using any kind of kitchen cleanser, and no toxic residue.


how long to leave the sliced onion mixed with salt/pepper for onion Bhaji/onion fritters/onion pakoras?

There are more than one methods and answers to above question. As per the Mumbai Special Ghati Bhajiya, Sliced Onions must be mixed with Salt for at least 15 Minutes & Maximum for 1/2 Hour. The water content must than be drained keeping only dry salted onions. Then Gram flour & other Spices should be added to Onions, just to bind, so Bhajiyas or Pakoras can be made.
Taste of Onion in Bhajiyas or Pakoras turns slightly mild, yet crispy, because due to low water content onion cook fast without turning dark!

Rice Flour, it can also be added or can be a substitute of gram flour for crispy Bhajiyas. Rice flour should be coarse and not fine.
For Crispness Ratio of Rice Flour to Gram Flour should be 1:1 or Rice Flour should totally substitute Gram Flour.


Thickening cream in a blender to increase fat content?

The centrifuge doesn't thicken the cream by mechanical action, but by separating the fat and water by their different densities.  The blender allows- not until solid but until ice crystals form,  you to spin, but not to draw off either liquid.  There's a chance that when allowed to settle you'll get layers, but you're more likely to make butter so you'd have to stop just in time, then let it settle.
It might be worth experimenting with freezing the cream and then allowing it to defrost in the fridge without stirring.  This should break the emulsion and cause it to separate, hopefully into layers.


How can I cook meat quickly without pressure cooker?

The cooking time is dependent, amongst other things, on the thickness of the meat. Small cubes of meat will be cooked much faster than huge slabs. Look up 'minute steak'.


Basic Nutrition
One cup of fresh pineapple chunks has 82 calories, 21.7 grams of carbohydrates, 2.3 grams of fiber and 16.3 grams of sugar. One cup of drained, canned pineapple chunks has 109 calories, 28.2 grams of carbs, 2.4 grams of fiber and 25.8 grams of sugar. The calories, carbs and sugar in canned pineapple are higher than in fresh pineapple because the canned fruit is typically packed in fruit juice.

I think that it is probably the pineapple affecting it. If you can buy pineapple juice, adding some of that may help the problem.
Livestrong.com


Why is my sassafrass root bark tea always so bitter?

Sassafras tea will naturally taste a little bitter. When I was younger, a friend of mine used to bring us some sassafras root in order for us to make this tea. He always recommended never to make it too strong because of the affects of the bitterness on the stomach. Try using smaller doses of sassafras in your tea. It should be more on the pale shade of color rather than too dark. Here is how to make sassafras tea.

It is true that the original root beer was derived from the sassafras root, however the modern root beer does not contain any sassafras in it confection.


Not really.

For a start there's no milk in it (there's cream, but milk is the defining factor in a milkshake). Second, egg isn't a normal ingredient in a milkshake, and neither is alcohol. Of course they can be added, but they take you away from what's normally meant by the term. When that happens it's normally reflected in the name.

In general, trying to precisely categorise foods is an exercise in futility - defining a category that includes everything you'd expect it to invariably includes things that don't belong, or you end up with categories so broad as to be useless.
Is a hot dog a sandwich?

Even calling eggnog a cocktail (An alcoholic drink consisting of a spirit or spirits mixed with other ingredients, such as fruit juice or cream.) is slightly problematic, as "cocktail" usually implies it's mixed just before serving, rather than bottled in between (as is common with eggnog).


For most oils, you can re-use them several times, if you're OK with (or want) the flavors the oil takes on from the food cooked in it.

The thing to watch is the smoke point. That's when the oil starts sending off whisps of smoke. For coconut oil, that's 350F. As oil is re-used, that smoke point starts to drop until it's no longer able to stay hot enough to properly fry food.

We're dealing with an oil that has a relatively low smoke point in the first place at 350F, as opposed to 450F for peanut oil, and proper frying needs to be pretty close to 350F in order to have the moisture in the food hold out the oil from rushing into the food like a sponge. That, unfortunately means that coconut oil isn't a great candidate for re-use.


What spoils breadcrumbs quicker, oxygen or moisture?

Oxygen will only spoil breadcrumbs if the bread was high in fat. The fat will oxidize and go rancid. Fat will also go rancid in the presence of light so a plastic bag on the counter would not be ideal either.

Moisture will spoil any bread immediately because it will allow bacterial and mold action. Where oxygen might make high fat bread go a little off after a week, moisture will make it mold in a day or two.

Just toast your breadcrumbs to drive out excess moisture before packaging in a plastic bag. If it is high fat bread then you might also keep it in the freezer.


Clean it immediately, before anything has a chance to dry.

As soon as I'm done grating anything, I run the grater under water and wipe it with a sponge. Wipe with the direction of the blades, then run a little water inside it. Optional: put the grater in the dishwasher to clean fully.


How do I stop all the sauce from being absorbed and the pasta going soggy?

The secrets to a good pasta bake are:

Pick the right pasta: unless you are making Lasagna, tube shaped pasta is the best choice because it holds sauce, and tends to be thicker. Thicker pasta is better than thin in a bake, because thin pasta will get soggy way too easily. Penne works fine, so does macaroni. I think rigatoni is best, because it has ridges on the outside which help hold sauce on.
Undercook the pasta: if you cook the pasta until it's done and then bake it with a sauce, it will keep right on cooking and get mushy. What you want do to is cook the pasta until it starts to soften, but isn't quite edible yet. A minute before you reach al dente would be how I describe it. This way it cooks perfectly as it bakes.
Right amount of liquid in the sauce: the ideal result is to have a bake that holds together well without being dry. The pasta will absorb water as it cooks, so you need enough liquid to allow it to rehydrate, but not so much the dish comes out runny. Once it's all mixed and in the baking dish, check to make sure there's some liquid on the bottom. You want enough loose liquid to cover the bottom. If there isn't enough add some of the pasta water or stock - slowly, don't overdo it - then bake it covered for the first 15-20 minutes. If there's too much liquid in the bottom, bake it uncovered so more evaporates.

As for what type of sauce to use and what to put on the top, it really depends on taste. Some people use a tomato sauce, others a white sauce (mac and cheese is a white sauce with cheese in it), some people use both, typically layered. You can do a meat sauce or vegetarian - chunky or smooth, there's too many possibilities to list and it's opinion based on what is best. You need to consider the audience and what their dietary needs/preferences are and choose a combination that satisfies as many as possible.


I don't think you're going to get a good ground beef substitute from polenta, for that I would recommend TVP or other vegan soy crumbles, seitan or even mushrooms. However, if you're interested in making a veggie burger out of polenta, I'm sure you could look online for a recipe (for example here, but you may find others). It's certainly not going to taste anything remotely like beef, though.


Why arent my pancakes browning correctly?

You seem to be doing everything alright with the heat and pan. This sounds like a problem with the recipe.

Add more milk (or yogurt, or whatever dairy you are using) - you need lactose for browning, so soy milk or enzymatically treated cow milk won't work. Also consider replacing part of the sugar with fructose, HFCS or glucose syrup, they brown somewhat better. Third, make sure they are not too sour. If this is a baking powder recipe, consider using only milk instead of any buttermilk or yogurt. If it is a baking soda recipe, add some more baking soda. If nothing else helps, you can even add a pinch of baking soda to a baking powder recipe, not for leavening but just for browning.

The "makes a film and separates" part could disappear after changing the dairy and/or leavener. If it doesn't, make sure you are only lifting at the proper moment. The pancake will stick first, then become releasy, then burn. If it still sticks during the releasy part, reduce the heat (you should still get enough browning after the measures in the last paragraph). If that does not work either, the last step is to increase the egg.

An alternative would be to find a better working recipe and follow it instead of adjusting yours. You might have to test a few until you find a winner.


Cointreau is just one particular brand. You can substitute any other triple sec/orange liquor. Some may suit your tastes better than others, but there's really no reason to insist on the fanciest most well-known brands, especially since you're mixing it into cocktails. So sure, try the Meaghers, or anything else that looks promising. And when in doubt, just ask the folks at SAQ to help you out!


Is it absolutely necessary to season a carbon steel pan?

I would never leave it unseasoned.

Carbon steel rusts. If you just cook with sufficient oil, and let it cool down with the oil still inside, and then clean gently (preferably without any soap), the inner bottom will indeed session itself with time, as tfd mentioned. But the rest of the pan will be exposed to the air and will create a layer of rust. If you don't use it frequently enough, or if you prepare acidic food in it before it has gathered some seasoning (and most vegetables are acidic), you will get rust on the bottom too, before seasoning has had time to build up on its own.

Ingesting rust is not an immediate health risk, but it is better to avoid it. Our bodies weren't designed for it, and you might end up with too much iron in your diet. It is also porous, so the pan would be hard to clean well. And it looks really shabby to have a rusty pan in the kitchen.

And if this is your first "normal" pan after years of non stick, you might be amazed at the amount of oil needed to prevent food from sticking. It looks terrifying to our modern "fat is bad" eyes. And you still have to be careful, despite the oil. With time, you will learn to cook the right way, but having it seasoned first certainly helps.

There is no law requiring you to season, but to me, the above reasons are enough to always season.


Sourdough starter bubbling but not rising after months of feeding

Filtering water may not remove all or even any of the chlorine in your water, it depends upon the filter. Chlorine is the bane of sourdough starter's very existence.

In 2017, Nashville tested the free chlorine (the chlorine 'left' in water after it has done its job of killing nasties in the water treatment facilities and the pipes on the way to your home) in city tap water as from a home faucet. The result was 1.82 mg/L chlorine. That is approaching the federal recommended maximum of 2.0 mg/L free chlorine in nearly fresh tap water. So, you have highly chlorinated water. I think that's probably your problem.

I recommend you do three things now to save your starter.

Switch to bottled water (no chlorine) to feed your starter, or very carefully choose your next filter.
Give your starter a "snack" of unsweetened pineapple juice, replacing all of the water of your next feeding and half of the water the feeding after that (so give it a 50/50 mix that feeding). See this article for reasoning.
Feed it with whole grain flour for a few feedings. Since your starter is wheat, use whole wheat flour for a while. That will give it a bit of extra nutrition while it's trying to get healthy.

Good Luck


How is the chai latte in Starbucks made?

The chai tea latte at Starbucks is made from the Tazo Chai Tea Latte concentrate. This product is available at supermarkets and online, and is mixed with milk to make a product not unlike what you have at Starbucks (minus the foam, as you pointed out).

So, what are these flavors (say, if you wanted to make this from scratch)? The website mentions that the black tea is malty. You could likely reproduce that with a maltier tea like Assam, though the box also says a "a rich blend of flavorful teas", meaning that a stronger blend like English Breakfast might be a closer match. It looks like you are on the right track with the spices as well: cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and cloves are all listed, though the website mentions black pepper, star anise, and vanilla in addition, which ought to lift your cup of chai a bit as well.


What should be understood by "refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or overnight"?

When I've seen that step in cookie recipes, generally there's no way you can over-firm in the fridge; if you're doing all the steps on the same day, it'll take two hours to set, but if you're trying to prep the night before, you can break for the night at this step.

Generally you'll have a wet, sticky, soft dough you can't cut into shapes, and after a trip to the fridge, it'll be firm enough to hold a shape when you go at it with a cookie-cutter (or roll it into a pinwheel and slice, or whatever shaping is happening). It's basically letting the butter go back from room-temperature-butter consistency to fridge-butter consistency.


Effect of adding wet ingredients to dry when making bread?

The main issue you will face is the extra mixing allows for additional gluten development.   In some breads, this could create a risk of over-kneading, which could make the dough less workable, more prone to tearing, and more difficult to get the proper rise.

Challah is a basic egg enriched bread, so other than the eggs themselves (which are fairly effective at helping prevent over-kneading) you don't have a great deal of protection.  The worst case scenario is that your bread will be a little flat and crumbly; the best case is that you are still well within the tolerance window and it will be just fine.

Edit:  I will leave this for reference, but I was thinking of brioche:  in a very sweet, fatty bread like brioche, this risk is minimized.  The fat and sugars in the dough act as barriers preventing the glutin-precursors from interacting as frequently or as easily, making it much, much more difficult to over knead.

The main reasons for the traditional order of dough assembly are:

As you no doubt realize, it is much easier to incorporate the liquids evenly into loose flour, rather than a partially formed dough
The yeast acts on the ingredients present, so sometimes ingredients which inhibit yeast growth are held back until after a fermentation phase
You want time for all of the flour to be fully hydrated--normally, in yeast raised doughs, this is hardly an issue.


How to store cut fruits & vegetables for days?

Both methods work. If I had to pick one, I'd pick frozen vegetables. If you can afford to go to the store every day and only eat things that are in season, buying fresh will get you more nutrients. But things frozen when they are perfectly ripe retain most of their nutrients so you're really not losing much for the convenience. Time is the enemy of nutrients, so if you can buy local also means it's not sitting in a truck for 5 days, so the closer you can get stuff to your home, the better. Freezing is like really slowing down time.

Lemon is mostly used to stop fruits/veg from turning brown, so especially for apples, bananas, and avacado. It will extend the life of food by up to a few days. The downside is the lemon can overpower the actual food, but you can store it in your fridge and the fruit/veg will keep most of the same texture/flavor, which is important for some dishes. This will only slightly extend the shelf life of your food and as far as I've read this is more about making the food look good. You can also do this trick with vinegar. It's the acidity that does the trick.

Freezing is great, and you can keep things for ages(sometimes a year or two) without losing nutrients.  The downside being that the texture/flavor of the food can change. But this will be fine for most dishes. You can have smoothies, fruit sauces, soups, lasagnas, casseroles, stir fry, and a bunch of other things without really noticing the difference. Some things are even fine by themselves. Sliced frozen bananas and strawberries are a great treat and healthy ice cream replacement.

Airtight is important, as you said--ziploc bags are fine though you can also get airtight glass containers. It's a bit of an investment, but you save money in the long run by not throwing away food.


How to sweeten ganache for a chocolate lining

While adding sugar syrups like corn syrup or invert syrup to ganache is fairly common, it will change the texture of the ganache. You'd end up with something more like a chocolate coating.

If bitterness specifically is the problem, I'd suggest using a less bitter chocolate. Perhaps you can find something with lower cocoa solids that will have a smoother flavor without adding any sweeteners.

Added from a comment since I remembered: A tiny amount of salt can also help to cover bitterness. You could try that.


Is it normal to wash an apple, or other fruits, with dish washing liquid?

No, you would not use a detergent or soap when washing fruit.

Normally, you would just wash them with water, using a brush on thick skinned produce.

See, for example, Best Ways to Wash Fruits and Vegetables from the University of Maine extension.


Can zucchini be increased in zucchini bread recipes?

Zucchini bread is a quick bread. It is chemically leavened and bound together mostly with egg but some gluten.

Adding more zucchini will add liquid and fiber which will interfere a little more with gluten development. Both of these changes will result in a bread that is more moist and tender- to the extreme of not holding together enough.

You can increase the zucchini- how much is difficult to answer because the bread will be different and how much is ok will be a matter of taste. I have found that for the quick breads I make, such as banana and zucchini, I can up to double the titular ingredient.

The resulting bread is always very moist and dense. Sometimes it is too tender to slice. The flavor is more pronounced and sometimes that's what I'm in the mood for.

Interestingly, bread made in this way has a much shorter shelf life because of the extra moisture.

I've tried adding another egg to hold it together but that quickly becomes too "eggy". Of course adding more flour means you are just making a bigger batch of your original recipe.


Yes, you can use all sorts of pans for chiffon cake and it works just fine. I've made many chiffon cakes and I've never actually used a tube pan as I don't own one!
Turning the cake over is absolutely essential, and you can turn just about any pan over as long as it has a fixed bottom or one that locks into place like a springform pan. Don't use a pan with a loose slide-in bottom because it won't hold the back of the cake up when you turn it over, and it will collapse.  Fixed bottom pans can work, getting the cake unstuck from the bottom is tricky though, I use a skewer bent 90° to get underneath stuck cakes, but a springform pan is ideal as you can just use a knife.
You need to make sure that the pan is going to be taller than the cake, or that whatever you sit the rim on will not touch the cake, only the pan's rim. Chiffon cakes rise a whole lot, figure on it rising at least 3 times the batter height. Plan ahead and have it all set up for when you take it out of the oven before you start baking, you don't want to be improvising when you take it out of the oven, seconds matter with chiffon cake.
You need the cake so stick to the pan, so don't butter or flour the pan sides or bottom, or use baking paper. If it doesn't stick it will fall out when you turn the pan over, and that means it will be dense. Chiffon batter will stick to anything, so don't worry if you have non-stick pans.
Enjoy your cake, chiffons are tricky at first but they are great when they come out well!


Bake 1 hour

It seems that you are baking by the clock. This doesn't usually produce good results, you should bake until it is done. The time suggested in the recipe is a rough guideline, not the time when you should take it out of the oven.

Start testing for doneness when it starts looking good, and take it out when it tests ready. It doesn't matter how long it was in the oven.

You only have to start changing things if the edges burn while the inside is still raw, but this doesn't seem to be the case here.


Would blow-torching tomatoes have the desired "oven roasted" effect?

Does your oven have a fan-grill?

30-ish tomatoes on a tray, 3 trays, set to fan grill & rotate the trays every few mins.

Alternatively, use the regular oven & when the tomatoes are nearly done, switch to the grill. Rotate as above.


My experience is that for making porridge (various methods, sometimes soaked but not always) or granola, or for baking (flapjack/oat bars, crumble topping), all rolled oats are equivalent. I usually buy the cheapest (bottom shelf, boring packaging in UK supermarkets) but occasionally have to get more expensive ones.

One thing occurred to me that might possibly make a difference: some, such as Lidl's cheapest that I currently have, are packed in a paper bag. Many others, including the more expensive ones I've bought, have a plastic bag, possibly inside a box. If you're storing them for long periods in a humid place or exposed to strong odours, the paper may not be as good. Of course you could always put them in a sealed container when you get them home.


Different starters can behave very differently depending on what's growing and the temperature. I'd say it's probably not TOO active.

However, some times sour dough starters can grow really fast in the first one or two days, at this point it is NOT ready. There needs to be a few days for different types of bacteria growing and dying out before you get the right types and balance of bacteria and yeast. Do the following checks before you use starter.

Has it been at least a week
does it smell good (should be a light refreshing yeast smell, not a bad smell, if it smell like socks or something, throw it all out and try again)
does it double consistently after feeding

If all checks out, it's probably ready, if not just keep feeding every day and keep at room temperature


I assume you are talking about the risk that the alcohol vapor from the wine mixes with the air and ignites.

Let's do some maths. I'll do my calculations with some pretty round numbers, but in the end you'll see that it doesn't matter.

Assume an average gas oven with a volume of 150l. According to Wikipedia, the absolute minimum mix of ethanol to air for ignition is 3%, so that's 4.5l of pure ethanol vapor.
Water expands at a rate of 1700 when it turns into steam. Assuming ethanol is in the same ballpark and add some entropy for higher temperatures, we'll assume a factor of 2000. That means we'll need 4.5l / 2000 = 2.25ml of pure ethanol.
In a typical bottle of red wine there is 12% ethanol, so for a 750ml bottle, that is 90ml.

As you can see, we have about 40 times the ethanol we need to make a nice boom.

Now to answering your question:

I would deem it probably safe to cook red wine in the gas oven. The burners are usually not in direct contact with the air inside the oven, and both the burners and oven is ventilated, so the ethanol would probably escape even before it could meet the required saturation. And even if the vapor was allowed to build up inside the oven and not get in contact with the gas flames, the self ignition temperature for ethanol is 363°C, far hotter than it'll get in there.

The most convincing argument that it's safe is the millions of times chefs around the world have cooked with wine in a gas oven :)


How many kilos of bread can I produce with one kilo of flour?

In my experience, it doesn't really save money, but it's still worth it because it's fresh and better than store-bought at the same price.

For me, 1kg of all purpose flour yields 1.6kg of bread (as two loaves). Each 13x4x4" (Pullman) loaf weighs about 800 grams after cooling and yields between 24-30 slices depending on thickness. The cost per loaf is under $1.00, and includes all ingredients, tax, and electric for mixing/baking/slicing.

I've made a few hundred loaves based on variations of this formula:

                      %  grams   cost  cals fat protein sugar sodium
all purpose flour    100  500   0.417  1833   0      50    17      0
    instant yeast    0.8    4   0.067    16   0       0     0      3
  nonfat dry milk      4   20   0.203    70   0       7    10    109
       canola oil     10   50   0.072   429  50       0     0      0
            sugar      4   20   0.019    75   0       0    20      0
             salt      2   10   0.006     0   0       0     0   3933
            water     56  280   0.000     0   0       0     0      0
      dough total  176.8  884  $0.783  2422  50      57    47   4045

To be clear, I no longer use a bread machine. My answer focused more on how much bread can be made with 1kg flour. The Pullman loaf pan was $25, and the electric knife was $20. So for 300 loaves, that adds 15 cents per loaf. The mixer and oven are used for other things besides bread, so I don't really consider them in the overall cost per loaf.


Creating differing temperature fluid gels that stay separate

This is done, and explained in the Big Fat Duck cook book, by creating a hot fluid gel and a cold fluid gel and then fitting a tight divider down the centre of the glass.  Fill both sides equally, remove the divider, serve immediately.

you can follow the link and 'look inside' to see the page which has the recipe for this on to see exactly how to do it.  search inside for 'hot and cold tea', then its on pages 274 and 275, so just follow those links.

The gelling agent used is gellan F, and making the gels requires making two parts for each and mixing them together.  The details of the recipies are not availabale at the amazon.com site, only amazon.co.uk, although you can access it from outside the uk


Can I store a fresh turkey in my garage for a few days?

As setek said in the comments, 43F is too warm. Anything above 40F and you only have a couple hours before it's unsafe (has the potential to make people sick, even if unlikely). And your garage is attached to a house that's well over 40F, so it'll probably be well above 43F in there.

So you really need to keep it chilled. If you don't have space in your fridge, you might be able to make do with an ice chest; if it's really at most 43F, the ice will last a long time.


Someone once had me on in a pub that you could pickle eggs by simply placing a raw egg in a jar of vinegar and the energy released by the shell dissolving would hard boil the egg.

When I got back home I put a raw egg in a vinegar filled jar. Immediately air bubbles appeared around the shell as some chemical reaction kicked off.

The shell was completely dissolved in about 3 days. The egg was raw and no doubt gone off since it had been denyed its naturally given vacuum pack, i.e. the shell.


Has the storage duration of packaged "fresh" dairy products increased in the last 30 yrs?

You have to make an important difference here - standard "shelf life" (counted before opening) and the time you have to consume it after opening.

Shelf life (before opening, recognizable by expiration date) has increased.

First, if you are a purist and only talking about traditionally pasteurized milk, there are two technology advances which have contributed to longer shelf life:

The whole production cycle is now done under sterile conditions. That is, the milk does not meet any microbes after sterilization.
Microfiltration. This not only stabilizes the milk (prevents the separation of cream) but also improves shelf life by removing bacterial spores

Second, there is also ESL, which is a pasteurization process that sits in the middle between traditional pasteurization (30 minutes at 72 Celsius) and UHT processing (seconds at 140+ Celsius). which become very popular, and at least in Germany, it is difficult to find non-ESL milk nowadays. This milk has a shelf life of several weeks (before opening!), as opposed to the several days for traditionally pasteurized milk.

The safe consumption time after opening has not increased, but the signs of spoilage are gone

Your observation of it never going "off" is related to ESL products. One of their drawbacks is that, when they spoil, they don't go sour and thick like raw or traditionally pasteurized milk. They still have the same safe consumption time after opening (3-5 days), and once exposed to air, bacteria grow in them at the same speed as in traditionally pasteurized milk. Since the colony no longer contains significant numbers of lactobacteria though, it doesn't have the traditional appearance of soured milk. It just gets faintly bitter, but if you are not paying much attention, you can mistake it for milk which is still OK and drink it.


Any advice to help me form and shape stuff more uniformly?

Use something that will help you measure the dough or mix uniformly. Some possible tools to co-opt for this task: Ice cream scoop, melon baller, measuring cups or spoons : all depending on size of course.

You should be able to get to where you can eyeball the size in relation to the tool you are using.


You could do something like an Angel Food cake. I'm not a fan of Angel Food so I would save and probably scramble them with some cheese and tomatoes (or whatever you like and have handy) the next day for breakfast. Another option is to make the Carbonara using whole eggs, no leftover whites to deal with then.


Yes, but it's a pain (and depends how much kitchenware you have). When I was in the Peace Corps, I learned how to construct an "oven". You'll need two pots of the same diameter that are big enough to enclose your cake pan, hopefully with about at least an inch of room on all sides. (Just one pot is needed if it's tall enough.)

Put one pot on the burner, then put something in it to elevate the cake pan at least 1/2 inch above the bottom of the pot. Three small rocks work well, as will three stacks of coins. Put the cake pan on top of this stand, then put the last pot upside-down  on top as a lid. (If your first pot is tall enough, you would only need a regular lid, not a second pot.) It's best to set this up on the burner as moving it can be risky. Use a low setting for the burner and expect a longer baking time.

This method can work on a stove or on a charcoal grill (with very low heat in the case of grill). It will work better if you can add heat from the top as well (e.g. put a few coals on top). It's finicky though and takes some practice. Bread is a pretty safe thing to try, though I would guess that a box-cake would do okay.

Microwave cake is an easier option, just google "microwave cake" and you'll find lots of recipes.


Freezing is most definitely one of the best options.

If you are only going to use a little at a time, then it would be a good idea to divide the quart into smaller portions so that you do not have to defrost the whole amount. You can use an ice-tray and take out just as many cubes as you need.


Can I sterilize homemade mustard jars in the oven?

What you are doing is not sterilizing the mustard. You just pasteurize it.

If you just want to pasteurize the mustard: Yes, you can put the jars into the oven instead of water-bathing them. Jars, lids and the content are heated up to 100°C, so it's quite equivalent to water-bathing the jars - if not even better.

Friends of mine put the jars with the lid loose on onto the baking tray with some water (for the moisture in the oven to not to damage the gasket) and then "bake" this for 30-120 minutes (I can't remember how long exactly) at 150-200°C. Then the jars must cool down slowly, therefore the jar must stay for another 30 minutes in the oven which is turned off. I think the lids are closed when the jars are taken out of the oven (but I'm not sure).
After reading this text 1 I don't know whether to preheat the oven or not.

Note: In Germany people often can raw food! Since your mustard is not raw, you just need to sterilize the content of the jar and don't need to cook what's inside. Therefore the cooking/baking  time should be decreased.

If you want to sterilize your mustard, you need weck jars with rubber seals and steel tension clips. When baking the jars with the contents and the lid on, secured with a rubber seal and the tension clips at more than 120°C, the contents are sterilized like in a pressure cooker. The rubber seal and the tension clip act as a valve. After baking, the contents are vacuum-sealed. See wikipedia article about home canning.

image by Alupus.

1

  Das Wasser darf nur langsam erhitzt werden. [...] Je nachdem, wie weich das Einweckgut ist, dauert das Einkochen zwischen 10 und 120 Minuten. Danach dürfen die Gläser wiederum nur sehr langsam abkühlen. [...]
  Statt auf dem Herd kann man auch im Backofen einkochen. Zum Einkochen im Backofen die Fettpfanne mit Wasser füllen, auf die unterste Schiene schieben und die Einweckgläser, wie oben beschrieben vorbereitet, hineinstellen. Obst bei 150 bis 160 Grad einkochen, Gemüse bei 190 bis 200 Grad. Die Gläser danach noch 30 Minuten im Ofen stehen lassen und anschließend zugedeckt abkühlen lassen.

translated freely:

[The first paragraph deals with canning with a water bath] The water must be heated slowly. [...] Depending on how soft the food the be canned is, the canning takes 10 to 120 minutes. After that the jars must cool down very slowly.[...]
Instead of canning on the stove you can also do this in the oven. Put the jars onto the baking tray and pour some water into the tray. Fruits are canned at 150°C to 160°C, vegetables at 190°C to 200°C. After that, the jars stay another 30 minutes in the oven [note: which is tuned off] and afterwards let these cool down covered up.


What research is there on tea preparation?

The making of tea is a balance between three factors that affect how the flavours of the leaves are infused into the water: time, temperature, and the ratio of leaf surface area to water.

Generally, more of any one of those parameters is balanced by less of the others.
The temperature,however, has a specific minimum requirement, below which certain things simply won't occur. This is why black tea must be made with the water starting at the boiling point, and not at 70 degrees.

As for precision, the problem is mostly defining the result, not the conditions. How do you define a good cup of tea in a way that is measurable and repeatable?

Practically speaking, I find that the different traditions in each tea-drinking culture are a very good starting point to work from. After that, you can adjust and experiment all you want. Remember that traditions can vary from "one for each cup and one for the pot" to the intricacies of a full Japanese tea ceremony.


How to stop icing from running off iced buns?

I think you can find your answer here. Basically, when the ambient temperature of the surroundings is on the higher side, the icing melts since the butter cannot remain in a solid state. However, what can be done according to the link that I posted, you can add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch per 3 cups of icing to make the icing sturdier. Or you can use other ingredients like gelatin, or meringue powder which does the same as well.


Either way should be ok for a couple of days.

Either keep them raw and cook them in a couple of days, or cook them now and re-heat them in a couple of days.


How can I increase the shelf life of a cut onion?

Keep the skin on a full half, seal it, and store it face down in the fridge.

Cooks Illustrated

Other half same thing but no skin.


Fermented cucumbers without or with minimal salt possible?

Yes, you need salt. Salt selectively inhibits mold and bacteria which would otherwise out-compete the lactic acid bacteria. I'm sure you've seen vegetables rot; that's fermented cucumbers without salt.

There's no absolute minimum salt concentration. The less salt you add, the funkier and slimier the final product will be, and the more likely you'll be to end up with rotted vegetables. If you're using less salt, you'll also need to be more careful about fermentation temperature, and you may need to directly inoculate the pickles with a selected strain of lactic acid bacteria to help them compete.


What would be the effect of doubling the egg in this bread?

While it might seem like a drastic step to double the amount of egg in your recipe, in fact, you are not adding that much more egg relative to the amounts of your other ingredients.

A whole large egg weighs about 50 grams and is roughly 75% water so that extra half egg will contribute just under 20 grams of additional liquid to your recipe - you will need to compensate for that additional liquid either by reducing your water contribution accordingly or by adding a little extra flour (like 30-ish grams).

That means you are only adding an additional 5 grams of protein and fat from the egg by including that extra half.  You will probably notice a slightly more tender or soft texture in your finished loaf from the slight increase in egg.

Since texture and flavor are so subjective and difficult to describe, the best way I can think of to communicate the possible change is to ask you to think about Challah bread.  Challah bread owes much of its characteristic texture, color, and flavor to the inclusion of a lot of egg in the dough.  While adding that extra half egg won't bring your recipe into Challah territory, it will advance your bread's texture, color, and flavor along the spectrum in the Challah direction.


How much gypsum is required to coagulate one litre/gallon of soy milk

I have The Book of Tofu by William Shurtleff, and the more recent Asian Tofu by Andrea Nguyen.

Shurtleff recommends 2 tsp of gypsum for 7 1/2 to 8 cups of soy milk.
Nguyen recommends 1 1/2 tsp for 8 cups of soy milk.

(These recipes are for about 1/2 gallon of soy milk. There are 16 cups in a gallon)

I can't verify with personal experience, as I use Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) as a coagulent, but have had success with both books.  So, I am sure they would both work.


Forever?

Years, anyway.

I bought 2 pounds of yeast at Sam's Club about 3 years ago and it still works great.

Just make sure you keep it very dry and very cold.


Using cream cheese instead of cheddar in a grilled cheese sandwich

No. Cream cheese will simply go runny if you melt it. It is in no way a substitute for a hard cheese.


Homemade chicken nuggets: How to keep the breadcrumbs from falling off

Here's recipe/tips my husband, a nugget master, uses, may be of help. Good luck!!

First he soaks chicken strips in a shallow dish of milk in the fridge for 30+ minutes.
Lift up the strip, let excess milk drip off (but not too long, you want it still to be wet) then dip the strip in a beaten egg mix and drop in your crumb/breading mix.

He uses a store-bought mix (ie, Shake-N-Bake, both bags), but to that he adds a goodly amount of plain matzoh meal. This stretches the crumb mix, allowing a thicker coating and cuts the extreme saltiness of the packaged crumb mixes. You'll find boxes of matzoh meal in your store's kosher aisle. If you wait till after Passover (Easter time, more or less) it'll often be on clearance! (I picked up 3 boxes of the stuff for $0.50/box, last April, now we're set for the year!) If you can't find matzoh meal, you can use crushed up saltine (plain) crackers, just be sure they're unsalted.

For the baking, take a baking sheet, cover it with aluminum foil (for easy-peasy clean up after baking, as some crumbs and fat/juice will drip down onto the sheet!) Atop this, set a wire rack or grill, ideally the grid kind (we use the same rack normally used for cookie cooling-- it's wire feet set right on top of any kind of baking sheet, rim or no rim!), so that the raw chicken pieces won't slip thru. Lastly, spray the wire rack with a light coating of Pam or other aerosol cooking spray. This helps the chicken pieces stick less & release more easily after baking.
So, after coating, set each piece on the grill/baking sheet and bake in an oven preheated to 350 F (175 C) for 30 minutes. If you like your chicken super-crunchy and on the slightly "drier" side like we do, you can add 5 minutes more at the end with your oven turned to "broil" (high broil). Also, note, the smaller your chicken pieces, the more crunch they'll cook up, but you'll also use more crumb coating to make them (hence the matzoh crumbs!)
After baking, let the chicken cool on the wire rack without disturbing for 5-10 minutes. This is crucial as the meat will be mushy/flimsy until it's proteins have cooled and coagulated (firmed up). Once cooled a bit, they should pop right off the wire rack more or less intact!


"Ramen noodles" are a predominantly North American term for what the Japanese call "Chinese Noodles" (Chukamen, which I've also seen spelled Yuukamen).

In practice, you can use any wheat noodle that's made with eggs or kansui, including lamian or mee pok, or even buckwheat noodles (notably soba). Noodles made without either of those are not recommended.

It does not matter which of the above you use, although the Chukamen varieties are the more traditional. Much like pasta, it's largely a matter of personal preferences and how you want it to come out in terms of texture and appearance.

You'll find a wide variety of all of these noodles in dried or fresh form at any Asian supermarket or grocery store. Across Canada there's a chain called T&T. You should have no trouble finding some Asian grocery stores in your region with a phone book or maybe Google or Yelp.


Either:

Use less custard
Use more thickener (flour/cornstarch) in the custard
Bake it longer on a lower heat to dry it out a little more


Fish contain very little n-6 (Omega-6 aka linoleic) fatty acids by nature. Most of the n-6 fats are contributed by vegetable sources during processing, such as vegetable oils used in coatings or pre-cooking. The amount of n-6 fats will depend on how the fish is processed and in which oil.

The US National Library of Medicine has a brief article at this page. Info on n-3 and n-9 fatty acids in sprats can be found here


Yes, preheating warns up the entire interior of the oven which is important for keeping the air hot such as when you open the door. It helps the oven bounce back to full heat much sooner. If you don't preheat, it will take several minutes before the oven reaches proper cooking temps, and interfere with even heating.

If you want to see the difference most dramatically, bake some chocolate chips. First without any preheating and then when those are supposed the be done, do another batch and bake them for the same amount of time.

If you are baking something for an hour or more, it may not make much difference, but shorter baking times can be dramatically affected.


Appliance to wash or scrub fruit and vegetables? Washer or scrubber

I'm not sure how sticky this coating is ...

Can you construct a huge wire tub (basket) and then hose them down with the garden hose outside?

My husband suggested created opposite rotating brushes where they enter at a slope and roll out after being brushed and washed at the same time.  It depends upon how much work space you have.


Can you boil milk and let it fully cool then bring it up to 100 degrees F for yogurt?

Yes, you will be fine.  As stated in this question, the main reason to heat milk for yogurt making is to improve texture.  Heating it twice should not be a problem.  It would be interesting to know if twice heated milk (heated, cooled, and reheated) has an impact vs. the traditional heating, then adding the culture at the correct temperature.  There is also useful information in this question and answer, as I was trying to understand the variables in yogurt making.  If you are interested in playing with the texture of your yogurt, you will have more information here than you need!  If you don't care so much about dialing that texture in to your liking, and just want any yogurt, your process will certainly work.