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	We registered for a roasting pan and it has been sitting around taking up a lot of space. Do I really need this or is this a "one-tasker" as Alton Brown would say? I understand that the roasting rack allows the juices to drip down. I've had lots of success roasting chickens just in a baking pan with 2" high sides.	I use my roasting pan (either with or without a rack) at least once a week to roast vegetables - either for salads, for sides, or (for instance with pumpkin for soup) to get a slightly different and more concentrated flavour before blending the veges. I find the vegetables cook more evenly in a roasting pan than a baking pan - perhaps the higher sides help to create a kind of microclimate around the veges?? Not sure about that one. When making roast vege salads, you can take the pan straight out of the oven and take advantage of the high sides to mix your other ingredients in (pasta, greens, dressing etc) then serve from there if no one is looking at your serving dish! I also use it as a water bath when cooking souffles, puddings etc.
	I was wondering how low is a "low" in low-fat cheese. It can't be 0%, because then cheese wouldn't exist, right? :) In my country, there's something called "fresh cheese", and fat percentages are in range of 5-10%, but in dry matter, fat percentage is higher, like 20%-30%... Any thoughts?	In Europe at least, the rules on advertising say: "for a product to be able to make a claim that it was low in saturated fat under EU Regulation 1924/2006 on Nutrition and Health Claims Made on Foods, it should contain no more than 1.5 g of saturated fat per 100 g of solids" (from the ASA Adjudication on Youngs Seafood Ltd )
	We made some pretty good windows for our gingerbread house this year, by putting crushed boiled sweets (hard candy) in the cut holes for the last few minutes of baking. But since then they've absorbed enough moisture (at least I assume that's what happened) to run and in some cases collapse. We've had some unusually cold weather recently, followed by a thaw and damp weather, so the humidity indoors has got quite high (especially at night when the heating is off). This probably hasn't helped. I have a dehumidifier, but cooking steam followed by cold nights can get a bit much for it. Currently the relative humidity is about 65%, and the windows feel slightly tacky. The way the windows look like they're crying indicates deliquescence, which requires over 85% RH at 15°C - possible if the temperature fell overnight after steamy cooking. Here's the whole house - under-decorated in my opinion, but I'm not in charge of decoration. This is after applying melted coconut oil to the bottom left and top right panes, and all 4 lower right panes (see WillK's answer) The appearance of these windows was just what we were going for, but is there a way to make them last longer if indoor humidity can get quite high? Ideally this would be a vegetarian (no gelatine) change to the ingredients, or something in the process of making it.	Coconut oil? Give them a smear. You might need to take them out and bake off the moisture they have absorbed, then let them cool. Coconut oil will be solid at winter room temperature. It will serve as a moisture barrier for your sugar windows. An alternative to coconut oil would be Chapstick or some similar lip balm. You can get it in minty flavors which would smell nice for people who were closely inspecting the house.
	As a college student, I eat a lot of frozen pizza. Unfortunately, the brand of frozen pizza that I eat has very little taste. Recently, I started adding Parmesan cheese, basil and garlic powered to the pizza before putting it in the toaster oven. Can I do better than that? What can be done with frozen pizza to make it taste better?	We have a pizza stone that makes the finished pizza taste so much better. In addition we add more toppings to the pizza. For instance sliced mushrooms, pineapple, olives, peppers and cheese. The sky is the limit. And this way you can have a 5 topping pizza for the price of the toppings and a cheap frozen pizza. For the pizza stone you don't want it to make a drastic change in temperature otherwise the stone would break. So for the oven I put the stone in the oven then preheat it. So the stone heats up with the oven. During this time I prepare the toppings. When the oven is hot enough you take out the stone, careful it is hot, put the pizza on, throw the toppings on then put back in oven and cook.
	I am planning to make Jiaozi (Chinese dumplings) for a friend's party. Because she is vegatarian I'd like to make one set of vegetable dumplings and one set of conventional dumplings. To make it easy to tell these apart I'd like to color the dough for one of them. Can you suggest me a simple way to color the dough of the dumplings? The dough for Jiaozi is simply made from water and flour. I am mostly interested in ways to color the dough that use "natural" integredients as she does not really like artificial stuff. Also, what is the traditional Chinese way to color dough?	You could add chopped fresh herbs to the dough. I'm not familiar with Jiaozi to know how much it would affect the texture, but its common in pasta dough. If you chop it fine enough, it should bleed quite a bit of green color into the dough. I don't know any particularly traditional food coloring methods, but I do know that tea is often used in place of water to change the color and taste of certain dishes (e.g. tea eggs). However, I doubt that is a flavor you really want to introduce into the dumpling dough.
	Onions are an ingredient in almost every recipe. I hate the taste(flavour) of them (I know I might be the only one). I always try to avoid eating them and try to pick them out of the food. Seeing that I am the only one in the house that doesn’t like the taste of onions not using them in a recipe would be selfish. I was just wondering (a) if there would be a good substitute or (b) do I really need to have them in a recipe? And (c) what purpose do they add to food?	As a child, I used to hate the feel and taste when I conciously bit on a piece of onion (strongest offender: medium-sized chunks, sautéed glassy but still firm). Sometimes that still happens. However, I use onion a lot myself now in cooking. Lots of dishes really need the kind of taste onions can supply; even though that taste may by itself be a bit gross, it's really useful in the mix. (This is true for many other ingredients as well!) I can only speak for myself, but very likely, there are some dishes where you don't even notice that onions are in, but they are – and you wouldn't like it if they weren't! Do use onions, just do it consciously. There are broadly three ways of preparing them that I consider effective, each suited to different cases: Disperse them throughout the dish. Either chop them really fine and sautée (with the right technique and a decent knife you can get the chunks down to only a few millimetres), or boil with other vegetables and then purée. You'll get all the good taste, but nowhere too strong and without any unpleasant mouth-feel.Ideal for light/creamy sauces or soups. Caramelise them boldly. Frying changes the taste of onions a lot, it makes them much sweeter, gets rid of the pungency in exchange for a really concentrated savouriness, and almost completely tames the consistency. Browned onions play great together with strong seasonings like garlic and pepper, as flavouring for chewy mushrooms or meats. Or the opposite: keep them mostly raw! The freshness and crunch of raw onions can also be very useful without evoking what I call the bad onion effect – albeit in a completely different way. Thinly sliced in salads, or very quickly stir-fried in rice dishes, you keep the raw pungency in check while staying clear of the uncanny softness. Again, it's a good idea to define the taste heading with other sharp flavours: vinegar or chilies work well. Perhaps you won't be able to befriend yourself with all of these preparation methods, but you should give them a try.
	I used a new cupcake recipe. It has raving reviews about how moist it is. Mine turned out moist but it's very crumbly. Any suggestions? Ingredients 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate morsels 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 (16-oz.) package light brown sugar 3 large eggs 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 (8-oz.) container sour cream 1 cup hot water 2 teaspoons vanilla extract Directions Beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Add melted chocolate; beat until blended. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add to chocolate mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Gradually add hot water in a slow, steady stream, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in vanilla.	This looks very similar to a recipe that I make for chocolate cake. Mine was always a bit crumbly until I changed my measuring technique for the flour. Instead of scooping and leveling I spooned the flour in to the cup and then I leveled it. That made a huge difference. Of course, weighing is even better. It could also be an issue of slightly over baking. You could try testing them 5 minutes earlier. Those two things tend to be the crumbly culprits in cake.
	Is hummus a condiment? What makes a condiment a condiment? What makes something not a condiment? What makes something a condiment vs a sauce/seasoning/spread/ingredient?	Interesting question. While I realize that dictionaries are descriptive, they're what we have to go by for common usage, so let's consult three: Wikipedia: A condiment is a spice, sauce, or preparation that is added to food to impart a particular flavor, to enhance its flavor,1 or in some cultures, to complement the dish. The term originally described pickled or preserved foods, but has shifted meaning over time. Merriam-Webster: something used to enhance the flavor of food; especially : a pungent seasoning Cambridge: a substance, such as salt, that you add to food to improve its taste Given that Hummus is usually treated as a food in itself, rather than as a spice or sauce to enhance another food, one could argue that it's not a condiment. However, it's not uncommon for veggie burger purveyors to top a sandwich with hummus, which would, in usage, make it a condiment. Certainly tahini sauce would be a condiment. So, my answer: It Depends.
	Last night, I had a small disagreement with my mother. She asked me to cook beef tacos for dinner. However, upon getting to the kitchen, I saw that the ground beef I was going to use was not fully thawed, there was still a good chunk of beef that was frozen together. Naturally, I didn't want to cook it as it would cook unevenly. She told me to start with the sauté but put it on low heat so the frozen chunk would get thawed and it would break apart. She also noted that cooking it in low heat prevents the unfrozen parts from getting overcooked. Now my question is, is that actually a sound cooking method? Wouldn't cooking meat on a low heat be bad for the meat as they wouldn't get a good color on them which means they wouldn't get good flavor? On a normal day, I'd allow my ground beef to fully thaw, get on room temperature, season, then sauté.	There is a common misconception that you should absolutely never cook meat from frozen or near-frozen. This is incorrect. I would also not recommended putting any meat on a low heat to thaw it out - you are asking for tough meat at best and food poisoning at worst. The aim when cooking meat is to bring the internal temperature up to a safe level for a sufficient amount of time that any pathogens are destroyed. When you're talking about a large roasting joint, then it is absolutely a good idea to fully thaw it (in the refrigerator), because it takes a relatively long time for the indirect heat of an oven to get to the centre of the meat. However, with smaller cuts of meat you intend to cook with direct heat, cooking from frozen or near-frozen conditions is absolutely fine, provided you take extra care to ensure it is properly cooked. For example, there is no problem with slicing a chicken breast when it is still partially frozen (in fact it's easier to slice) and sauteeing it straight away. In fact, you can buy frozen, pre-sliced chicken that you fry straight from solid frozen. With your ground beef, provided the centre was not so rock solid that you couldn't break it apart, you would have had no problem simply frying it as normal, though it may well have taken a little longer to get up to a sizzle. If it was rock solid, you could speed up the thaw by wrapping in plastic wrap and running it under cool water for a while. Furthermore, there is virtually no benefit in bringing meat to room temperature. Even for small cuts like steak, the amount of time needed to bring it anywhere near room temperature will put it well in the zone where you should think about throwing it out, according to the USDA. Serious Eats tested this: I pulled a single 15-ounce New York strip steak out of the refrigerator, cut it in half, placed half back in the fridge, and the other half on a ceramic plate on the counter. The steak started at 38°F and the ambient air in my kitchen was at 70°F. I then took temperature readings of its core every ten minutes. After the first 20 minutes—the time that many chefs and books will recommend you let a steak rest at room temperature—the center of the steak had risen to a whopping 39.8°F. Not even a full two degrees. So I let it go longer. 30 minutes. 50 minutes. 1 hour and 20 minutes. After 1 hour and 50 minutes, the steak was up to 49.6°F in the center. Still colder than the cold water comes out of my tap in the summer, and only about 13% closer to its target temperature of a medium-rare 130°F than the steak in the fridge. and in terms of the effect on cooking: So when searing a steak, the vast majority of energy that goes into it is used to evaporate moisture from its surface layers. Next to that energy requirement, a 20, 30, or even 40 degree difference in the temperature of the surface of the meat is a piddling affair.
	I currently have an unopened package of raw sausages in the fridge (with several days left before expiration). I also have a recipe to use all of the sausages, but due to the other ingredients in the recipe (mostly pasta) I know I can't cook it all at once (due to pot size, mostly). So I will have to make half of it at a time. Is it better to pre-cook all the sausages and put half back in the fridge for a couple days until the second batch, or leave them raw? And should I leave them in the original (now opened) packaging (if raw; I know I shouldn't do that if cooked) or transfer them to another container (which can be sealed)?	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.
	I have always breadcrumbed meat in a certain way (cordon bleus, schnitzels). But the crumbs on the food are nowhere near a standard that I would make this for guests. The crumbs always come off, whether in the pan (while turning), or when we eat it and the whole crust just comes off as one big piece. Method: I use 4 bowls. Milk Cake flour egg yolk Bread crumbs I dip the meat in the same order as above and as properly as I can. Then it’s over to the pan on medium heat and a small layer of oil. Where I am going wrong?	The problem that most people make when doing a breading is that they try to put on too thick of a coating of any given layer. Breading sticks because wet sticks to dry, and visa-versa. As such, you need to give the item a good shake after it leaves each dry station, and a moment or so to drip (and a little bit of shaking here helps, too) after it leaves a wet station. I've also seen recommendations to let the breaded item sit for a while before cooking -- I can only assume that this is to allow moisture to migrate into the dry breading, or for the egg to set up some before it turns to steam (which could result in that layer separating). So, some suggestions to fix your recipe: Don't use the milk, but also don't dry your meat. Use whole eggs, but make sure they're well beaten (the color will go to a pale yellow). The whites act as more of a 'glue' while the yolks only serve to wet things down. Make sure to shake the item after it's gone in the flour. If the eggs layer is going on too thickly, thin it with a bit of water before you do the next item. Really press the crumbs in on the final station. Shake the container to get a good distribution, then set the item in there. Spoon the crumbs from the side on top of the item 'til you can't see it, then press the crumbs into the item. Shake the item as it comes out of the breadcrumb station, or leave it to set for a few minutes on a sheet tray or wire rack, or both.
	Is there a difference between tepid water and lukewarm water? Are the terms interchangeable?	The terms are interchangeable.
	I want to cook red kidney beans in a shortest cooking time. How can I cook them? Should I put them into water before going to office and then cook them in the evening? What are the required ingredients?	The traditional way to make beans is to wash them, soak them overnight, change the water and boil them for a few hours the next day. This obviously takes a long time and you have to plan ahead. With the miracles of modern science there is a better way. Using a pressure cooker raises the boiling point of the water and decreases the cooking time dramatically. Some recipes call for as little as 12 minutes of cooking time. You can get electric pressure cookers that make this process very simple. Your question "What are the ingredients required" suggest that you may be asking about some particular dish and not just beans? The ingredients in my beans are: beans, onion, and salt.
	I'm a decent cook but I know that there are huge gaps in my knowledge of the fundamentals of cooking. I assume that aspiring chefs learn a great deal of this in culinary school but I was hoping that there might be a book or resource for explaining not only the "hows" of making things like a good mayonnaise but also the "whys". So is there a book or cookbook thats considered best in class for the basics of cooking?	I've never really considered there to be a real difference between sautéing and frying. They both mean to cook in a hot pan with a little bit of fat. However there isn't a lot of consistency online. It doesn't look like there's any sort of definitive answer here. Some points of view: They're the same, although frying might involve slightly more oil. The terms are essentially interchangeable. This is the top hit on a google search "sauteing frying" (although this question is on the first page!). As Aaronut says, sautéing involves jumping the food while frying involves a little more oil and less flipping or stiring of the food. Here's another source for this definition. This definition makes a delineation between pan frying and shallow frying. Frying is the same as shallow frying and involves partially submerging the food in oil. Food is normally breaded first. There's no distinction between frying and shallow frying. This is Martha Stewart's definition. As you can see, it's really all over the map, and that was just from the first page of the google results. I think we're getting in to issues with language changing beneath us. However, I think the safest bet is probably that sautéing involves a lot of stirring, frying doesn't, and I should consider refining my own definitions. Caramelizing (which fortunately doesn't have any of the same confusion) is a process that happens during cooking when sugar oxidizes. There are many different ways that you can achieve this effect. One of the ways is to sauté or fry (depending on your definition) something until the water sweats out and the remaining sugar heats up. So the answer is that you are caramelizing the onions by sautéing (or maybe frying) them.
	I made a sablé base for a cake last night. It was the first time I made this, so I used a basic recipe containing butter, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and egg yolks. After everything is mixed the recipe says to put the dough in the fridge for two hours so it can rest. I wondered why this is necessary? There is no yeast in the dough that would let it rise. My only idea would be too cool down the butter so it can be rolled out more easily, but then I think two hours would be pretty long for the amount of dough I got out of the recipe.	Therre are actually two things that happen during the refrigerated rest period: Obviously, the dough is cooled, which firms up the butter, making it easier to roll out without having it fall apart. The starch granules absorb water, making the dough more cohesive, improving its texture, and making it easier to work See: What does an overnight chill do to cookie dough, that a 4 hour chill doesn't?
	When making an egg-less type of Italian pasta, which type of flour should I use for the dough? And why? Or, can you make decent egg-less pasta using all the same types of flour from pasta recipes which include egg? I was skimming pasta recipes and videos (such as pasta grannies) and was under the impression that durum flour is the way to go when making eggless types of pasta, but couldn't find any articles discussing why this would be the case.	This answer is valid only for what I can call Italian type pasta. The best then is to use durum as it is characterized by a high content in protein, specifically those of the gluten group. Proteins changes upon cooking results in a reticulated structure that retains starch and gives the typical "al dente" feature as well as resistance to overcooking. An Italian law* promulgated 1967 qualified as pasta only the products obtained from durum and having a proteic content of at least 12%. More recently, globalisation oblige?, the law* has been modified as to allow wheat to be mixed with durum up to 3%. According to the info labels, top pasta producers are still using durum and nothing else. The above does not concerns regional specialities that only resembles pasta (they are indeed pastasciutta but this term refer to the dish) but go called by their specific names, both colloquially and commercially (for instance they might contain buckwheat, chestnut flour, potatoes, etc., examples are pizzoccheri and various types of trofie and dumplings). *I don't post links to the Gazzetta Ufficiale, the official laws collection as it's obviously in Italian This link has a table that should be readable to those reading English http://www.pasta.it/legge.htm Points 4 and 5 deals with wheat, forbidding it as the only ingredient and allowing it within the above mentioned limit of 3% in certain types of pasta.
	I am trying to make decently smooth and scoopable ice cream. I don't have any thickening agent at the moment and I also don't have an ice cream machine, so to make a decently viscous blend that isn't more fat or sugary than a Ben & Jerry's I mixed whipped cream with a base of (boiled and later cooled-down) milk, sugar and 15% fat sour cream. I also combined 1 teaspoon of soy lecithin into this ~800 gram solution. The fat and sugar concentration should have been close to 20% percent (it was too sweet for me, perhaps due to the taste profile of the dissolved sugar); it was close to being scoopable but still required 10-15 minutes thawing and wasn't as smooth as you'd like. The reading I made about the different thickening agents often said they have somewhat different properties and are best combined to reach a balanced chemical effect. It was sometimes said locust bean gum might perform a bit better then guar gum, but a main point was that all of these thickeners cause the milk proteins to separate when the ice cream starts melting, and that it is advised to combine guar gum (for example) with carrageenan to mitigate this effect. I can see in the Ben & Jerry's ingredient list that it indeed contains lecithin (both from the eggs and from soy lecithin), guar gum and carrageenan. But I read some people's claims they made great ice cream adding only inverted sugar and guar gum, and it was also claimed somewhere that "food grade carrageenan" is often adulterated and is considered a possible carcinogen and a cause of gastrointestinal illness. So to summarize, is it still possible to make descent ice cream using only whipped cream, milk and sugar thickened with guar gum and soy lecithin, or is the mentioned protein-separation effect that detrimental? Thanks in advance.	@TLSO All industrial/semi-industrial processes involve aeration to make the ice cream fluffy and scoopable. So, you have to introduce some air continuously in the mixture until it sets (using an ice cream maker probably). This trick will make scoopable ice cream just with milk, cream, sugar and optional essence of your choice with no need to add gums or alginates. It is equally important that the tub of ice cream is returned to the freezer as soon as you have scooped out the ice cream. Because melted ice cream will harden and will need thawing as there is less/no air inside the mixture. Try and let me know.
	I've read about differing techniques for getting the best flavor, texture, and chewiness in my pizza crust. One of the commonly suggested routes is to include a sourdough starter as part of the process, but I also find suggestions to use a poolish pre-ferment. From what I understand the main difference in technique is that a sourdough starter typically uses simply flour and water(introducting natural lactobacillus), where as poolish you would also include off the shelf bakers yeast. The sourdough starter also seems to be an ingredient that you build up over days, or even longer, where as the poolish you make in less than a day. What I haven't been able to determine, is what if any differences will I find in my pizza dough using one product over the other? Would the pizza crust taste different, look different, rise different, or exhibit other differing characteristics between the two processes? My ultimate goal is Neapolitan margherita pizza in a home oven).	Three things: Most traditional Neapolitan pizza dough does not use a pre-ferment - poolish, biga, or sourdough starter. Not to say it may not be good, but it wouldn't the way most are made. Sourdough starters change their flavor profiles by age and by geographical region. In general, I would expect a bit more of a 'tang' from the sourdough starter than from the poolish. Sourdough starters usually don't rise as much - commercial yeast is just in general stronger than its wild counterparts. So a dough made with a sourdough starter may not rise as well. Between the two, I would prefer poolish over sourdough for a more traditional taste. However, I'd be more likely to try something like a cold starter and super slow rise like a Pain à l'Ancienne in order to promote more natural sugars in the bread which would result in better browning. The primary challenge with Neapolitan pizza dough is the lack of heat in a home oven. Part of the thing that heat does is the browning - hence the recipe that promotes better browning but with traditional ingredients.
	I've been experimenting for a while with whole grain pancake recipes that I can make in a blender. This is the best variation I've come up with so far: ½ cup hard white wheat 1 cup rolled oats 1 ½ cups milk 2 large eggs 1 tablespoon baking powder ¾ teaspoon salt Put all ingredients in a blender. Blend on high speed for 6 minutes. Cook on a 325° griddle. I like the pancakes, but some of my kids complain about the texture. What can I do to make them lighter and fluffier? I don't want to significantly increase the fat or sugar. I don't want to significantly decrease the fiber or protein. Are there any good options within these parameters?	Debbie's right about the gluten - overmixing is a reliable way to get tough pancakes. I'm not sure what the best solution is within your process. By far the easiest thing would be simply to use wholegrain wheat flour, letting someone else do the grinding for you. Failing that, I think you want to grind the grains up dry, and then it really won't take much mixing at all to eliminate clumps. That's going to require something other than a blender, though.
	Apologies if I've phrased this wrongly. I don't try to do this very often: that is, boil a sauce to evaporate the liquid (I understand this to be known as 'reducing the sauce'); however, when I do, I frequently end up with a skin forming on top of the sauce. I have two questions related to this: this first is, is this expected / normal, or am I doing something wrong? The second: assuming I'm not, should I try to scrap the skin off, or just stir it back in? As an aside, is there a guideline time for this (for example, 5 minutes per 10ml)? I usually leave it for too long, or get bored early and end up making a standard sauce using flour and butter.	Not an expert at this, but I suspect the skin that forms on top is just the upper layers that gets slightly drier from being exposed to open air. By not being submerged like the rest of the sauce, fluids on top evaporate at a different ratio causing a more solid "skin" to form on top. It can also happen on casseroles or sauce heavy dishes that go in the oven, and is probably an important part of gratin technique. I don't think there is anything wrong with it other than potentially being unsightly. If you find it inaesthetic or unpleasant you can remove it at the expense of wasting a portion of the sauce. You can however mix it back in without issues, or prevent its formation by stirring gently or from time to time so that the top layer never forms. Math experts here can probably give you a more informed answer, but setting a ratio of evaporation per unit of time is hard because it depends on a lot of different factors, like the type of sauce, chemical composition, the total volume being cooked, area of exposure to air (wider or narrower recipient, lid/open air etc.), temperature/flame intensity, among others.
	I am not a chef, I just like to cook. Tomorrow I am making paella for a bunch of people, and I am leaning towards following this recipe. I was wondering, however, if it would be okay to swap the two whole roasted chickens for two whole smoked chickens as I am an avid smoker and it would be really easy to pop the two chickens into the smoker in the morning. My smoked chickens usually turn out juicy and delicious, so I think this might be good in the paella, but I don't know if the addition of a smokey flavor would be unwelcome. I would be using apple wood for smoking, if that matters. Thanks in advance!	I don't like the recipe much. First of all, paella is a one pan dish, normally. That is, all ingredients are cooked in the same pan (paella) and in sequence. This means that all the flavors are stacked one on top of the other. Second, if you are going to use saffron, the most expensive spice in the world, hold down on any other spices. In particular, most recipes I've seen, use paprika powder explicitly forbidding the use of 'de la Vera (smoked)' paprika powder. Third, if you are going to use saffron, at least treat it with delicacy. Put a pinch of saffron in a cup of warm chicken broth before you start cooking. This way, the saffron will release it's color and flavor slowly. When you must add the broth, first add the saffron broth, then the rest. Fourth, this recipe has way too much ingredients: Chicken, Chorizo, Lobster, Shrimp, Squid, Mussels, Clams in the protein department. Honey, Saffron, Garlic, Pepper and Parsley in the flavor department. Fifth, Spanish paella (Arborio Bomba) rice has a thick grain that resists cooking that long. Having said all that, and to answer your question. If you are using saffron, don't use the smoked chicken as you'll not be able to taste where your money went. If not, and if you insist on using this recipe, go ahead. Paella really accepts all you want to put into it (but do look for a simpler recipe).
	I've previously asked about converting a family recipe for a cocoa frosting to a coffee frosting instead, and got a pretty good answer, but it's all very theoretical and "try this" and "try that", and I just don't have the time or, to tell the truth, the patience, to experiment like that. I think what I want is an established recipe, or rather, a way to search for an established recipe. Problem is, if you search for "coffee frosting", you get various types of buttercreams, all of which involve copious quantities of powdered sugar. If I could instead search for "coffee [insert type of frosting here]", I might have better luck. Problem is, haven't the faintest idea what this frosting method/technique is called (assuming it has a name). Here's the recipe: Ingredients: 2 heaping tableserving spoons Dutch-processed cocoa (the original recipe just calls for 2 big spoonfuls, but in family practice, this has morphed to a whole lot more cocoa than that), 3 to 5 tablespoons granulated sugar (depending on how heavy-handed you were with the cocoa), 5 tablespoons water, 8 egg yolks, 2 sticks unsalted butter. Method: combine everything except the butter in the top of a double boiler. Cook slowly, stirring pretty much constantly, until very thick and sticky. (It'll take a while, and your arms will get pretty tired.) Let cool. Meanwhile, whip the butter until light and fluffy. Combine the completely cooled chocolate mixture and the butter. Does anyone recognize this type or method of making frosting? Does it have a name? Looks like I need to edit to make it clear that it's the method that I'm after, not a vague resemblance of the ingredients. So, the method, in more detail: combine starch (cocoa powder, in this case), sugar, a relatively large quantity of egg yolks, and a relatively tiny quantity of water. Cook in a double boiler, stirring constantly. If you find yourself scraping thickened mixture off the bottom of the pot while the rest of the mixture isn't as thick, immediately remove from the heat and stir like crazy until smooth. Rinse and repeat, until your arms are screaming, and the mixture is so thick that when you lift the whisk, the cream slowly falls off in clumps, rather than in a solid stream. Let cool completely. When cooled, the mixture is about the same texture as butter, just stickier. Thus, you can simply dump the entire cooked mixture into the butter (or the butter into the mixture, makes no difference), without worrying about curdling or separating, and whip away until no streaks remain. As you can see, there's no cooking of sugar syrup, there's no hoping-the-sugar-will-cook-the-yolks-without-curdling-them, there's no dropping-the-butter-into-the-cream-in-small-cubes-and-praying-it-incorporates, and there is starch, so it is absolutely, positively NOT a French buttercream. The relatively tiny quantity of liquid means that this doesn't really resemble a German buttercream or a "flour buttercream", either, though a German buttercream made creme mousseline style (i.e. with pastry cream instead of custard) gets tantalizingly close...	It sounds like a German buttercream which is an egg yolk custard that is blended into whipped butter.
	This question has been asked before but only with respect to washing a small container. We have a friend who runs fruit stands in the summer and we typically get 10 pounds of blueberries at a time from him. Before freezing or eating, they need to be washed, and I always struggle to find an efficient way to get rid of the squished berries, the stems, the leaves, etc. I'll post what I do as an answer, but I wonder if there is a better way, or some equipment that would make it easier.	What I do is use a big plastic bowl. The bowl is about 18" in diameter at the top and holds about 2 gallons of water. I fill the bowl about 1/2 to 2/3 full of blueberries and then fill it to the brim with water and leave the water running into it. As the bowl is filling and when it's full I gently agitate the berries with my hands. Most of the chaff naturally floats to the top and spills over the edge of the bowl. As I agitate the berries, I also try to direct any leaves to the edge and pull any berries back from the edge. I lose a few good berries, but not too many and since I'm dealing with a lot of them I don't worry about it too much. As I'm agitating the berries, I can feel a lot of the squishy ones and pull them out to look at them and discard if they're too far gone. When most of the chaff is gone, I dump the berries into a colander and let them drain. I've tried spinning them in a salad spinner, but for the amount of berries I'm trying to process, I've found that in order to remove any appreciable amount of water I can only put a small amount at a time in the spinner so it takes forever to spin them all. So I let them drain, and then since I'm usually freezing these berries, I put some paper towels down on a tray and spread out a layer of berries. When they're spread out I can pick out most of the squished or shriveled ones that I missed earlier, then I pull the paper towels out and freeze them. I haven't ever looked for one, but I've always wondered if there's such a thing as a colander or sieve or screen with really big holes - i.e. just slightly smaller than a blueberry - that I could just dump the berries into and rinse off all the debris. One big limitation to this technique is that it bogs down if you're dealing with less than fresh berries. Picking out all the squished or moldy ones if they've been sitting around too long is problematic.
	For the cake we needed melted chocolate with some extra sugar. However, instead of sugar we have added salt. Is there a viable way to separate the salt? The chocolate has 60% cocoa in it, and there's also some butter in the mixture.	You're going to have to start over with new chocolate. I'm sorry to say it but there's no way to remove the salt from the chocolate.
	What exactly is it in shellfish that people are allergic to, and is it possible to extract those chemicals from them?	Allergic reaction to shellfish is typically caused by the protein tropomyosin. Since it is present in basically all of the muscle tissue of shellfish, extraction is not possible outside of a chemistry lab. Said lab extraction would destroy the food and likely render it inedible. Update Just found this recent article which indicates that myosin and sarcoplasmic calcium-binding protein (SCP) are also responsible for some allergic reactions.
	I'm sure everyone's seen this - that brownish stuff left behind when you grease an area of a baking dish that gets left exposed to the heat. Soap doesn't bother it too much, and it likes to gum up my scrubber. What's going on there, and are there any easy ways to get it off?	When oil gets overheated, it turns into a polymer that is insoluble in water, even with soap. The best way to clean this up is with Barkeeper's Friend, Bon Ami, or a similar solvent (I think they're all alkaline-based solvents). It's non-abrasive, and safe to use on almost all cookware without leaving marks. Edit: To help prevent this from happening in the future, use a paper towel to wipe off any excess baking spray on the edges of the baking dish that won't be covered by food.
	Google results have confused me so much. I learned to make a Nescafe Classic coffee a year ago. All I would do is: Add some coffee and sugar in a mug/cup, add a few drops of water or milk and start shaking it with spoon. A few minutes later it changes it's color and becomes a paste. It releases the flavors. Now you can add hot water or milk according to your taste. Most YouTube videos also show similar results and believe in this theory. That's it. Now Google results like this really confuse sometimes. Kindly don't write your answer based on just this link. If you search "should you boil coffee" you'll see tons of articles or answers that nowhere tells a method like shaking and making a paste before adding the milk or water to get the flavor. They will support your Google search and say like: Boil water and then add coffee in it Add coffee in water and boil it Heat water and add coffee in it And so on. Why is it like this? If flavor can be accieved by the method I described above, why people use boil mothod?	Coffee hates boiling water - or more specifically, water boiling at 100°C - it scalds it & kills the taste. but read on... There are basically two kinds of instant coffee, spray dried & freeze dried. Both start by making up 'real' coffee. Spray drying is achieved by then super-heating the mixture & spraying it out into an evaporator. The powder falls to the bottom where it is collected [Whether they leave it as powder or clump it is either a design choice or a method limitation, I've never found out which]. Freeze drying is achieved by reducing the atmospheric pressure then spraying in a similar way. This means they can work at much lower temperatures, as water boils at a lower temperature the lower the pressure. The second method is more expensive than the first. It preserves the flavours a lot better, so tends to be reserved for blends & beans that were higher quality to start with. Pure arabicas will almost always be freeze dried. So, your Nescafe is made by the first method - spray drying - & therefore has already been ruined/scalded by the process. This is one reason [amongst many] that spray dried coffees taste nothing at all like actual fresh coffee. Pouring boiling water on this can now have no further effect. "It's already dead, Jim." Pouring boiling water on freeze dried, however, will spoil it. Freeze dried has so far avoided the scalding. You can test this by making 3 very simple black coffees. One teaspoon of freeze dried coffee granules in each cup. To one, add half a cup of cold water, to the second add just half an inch. The third, leave with just granules. Pour absolutely boiling water [the second the kettle clicks off] onto all three to make a full cup. Stir, leave 1 minute & examine all 3. The first will be quite cloudy & mid-dark brown. the second will 'look like coffee'. The third will be almost black & very clear. Taste them all. They will taste in order from, 'a bit grainy', just right, 'ooh, spoiled'. You can try this test with spray dried, but the results are not as distinct.
	Can anyone tell me what I can add to Buttercream frosting that doesn't include shortening and will still allow me to keep the cake at room temperature? I hate the taste of shortening	There are several different types of icing that are referred to as buttercream, none of which require the use of shortening, including: American Buttercream -- Butter, powdered sugar, perhaps some milk, and flavoring such as vanilla beaten together. While some recipes call for shortening, using actual butter gives a better flavor. See a sample recipe from Savory Sweet Life. French Buttercream -- Egg yolks are beaten and cooked by adding hot sugar syrup (at the softball stage). The yolk mixture is then beaten until it is cool, and butter and then butter and flavoring is beaten in. See sample recipe from Chicago Tribune. Italian Buttercream -- An Italian Meringue (egg whites beaten with hot sugar syrup) is prepared and then cooled, and butter and flavoring beaten in. See sample recipe from Martha Stewart. Any of these are stable at room temperature for a day or two, but like most perishable foods, should not be held indefinitely. In addition to buttercreams, you may wish to consider other frostings which don't contain shortening, including ganache (chocolate melted with hot cream and cooled), whipped ganache (ganache that has been beaten until it is foamy), and Seven Minute Frosting (essentially a meringue frosting).
	Living alone means that my leftovers tend to go a pretty long way, and I don't end up using raw ingredients as quickly as the supermarkets expect me to. For a while I've been considering investing in a vacuum-sealing system to avoid having to throw out so much food, for the sake of both finances and convenience. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone who owns one, so it's hard to get good advice. Most of the advice I got was "read some reviews." Well, I read the reviews, and did the best I could to exclude the obvious PR blitzes from my sample, and it turned out that the reviews weren't very good. For any of the products that I see sold in stores. I'm not really looking for advice on how to choose a vacuum-sealer. I already have a pretty good idea what criteria I should be looking for. The problem is that I can't find any products that meet it, and I suspect that like so many food-related products, the really good ones may not be advertised or even very easy to find. So to clarify what I mean by "worth the expense" - I'm looking for something that: Actually makes a proper seal at least 4 out of 5 times (it's amazing how many products on the market seem to fail this one). Will last at least 2 years; the break-even point for costs seems to be about 1 year, and many if not most products have been reported as breaking down after 3-6 months. Will not instantly die if there's even a drop of liquid in the bag. Does not take up significantly more space than, say, one of the wide George Foreman grills (a little bit bigger is OK). Does not waste a significant amount of sealing material if it fails to form a seal. Preferably, can also be used with some kind of reusable container or canister. This is one of the things I liked about the new Food Saver products in spite of their many reported shortcomings. Costs under $500 (US). That's not a hard upper limit if it's going to last 5 or 10 years, but if I have to spend $1000 on something that'll only last 2-3 years, then the economics of it break down. I suspect that there are at least a few, and possibly many, "professional" models used by the food industry that at least meet criteria 1-6. Some of these companies may even sell retail-ish models to the general public but probably don't actively market them as such (how many home cooks/bakers have heard of Hobart?). That would especially be the kind of thing I'm looking for. But, failing that, if anybody's had an exceptionally good experience with a more mainstream product (i.e. has owned one for at least a few years and/or worked with it in a professional capacity), I'd like to hear about that too. And, if somebody out there has tried hundreds of these things, had nothing but awful experiences and wants to give a definitive "no" as an answer to this question - please do (and please elaborate).	This is the cheapest chamber vacuum sealer that I've come across: VacMaster VP112. At $669, it's half the price of most other chamber sealers. Chamber models are far more "professional" than the stuff marketed to the home, and my understanding is that they are far more reliable. The difference between a chamber model and a home model is that you place your food in a bag in a chamber. The entire chamber is used to create a vacuum, meaning that liquid won't leave the bag. A home sealer will also not go below atmospheric pressure while a chamber unit can get a much higher vacuum allowing for vacuum marination, compression or fruits, and better flavor penetration during sous vide, which may or may not hold any interest for you. In terms of your specific questions: My understanding is that these consistently make a good seal. I can't speak to longevity, but these are the kind of units that restaurants use for sous vide prep, so I assume they take a beating in those environments. Because it's in a vacuum chamber, liquid is no problem, and you can actually vacuum seal just liquid. Major Fail. These things are big and heavy. The one I mentioned is 24" x 16" x 9" and weighs 53 lbs. Shouldn't fail to seal. Not sure about waste if it does. Cannot be used with a container, but why would you need to rather than using a bag? Minor Fail. The model I listed is a little over your price range. Most other models of this type will be between $1,250 and $7,000. The other consideration is chamber size. You obviously can't vacuum pack anything that's larger than the vacuum chamber. The one is listed has a chamber size of 12" x 11" x 5".
	I am going to be operating a stand selling frozen bananas (just like in Arrested Development), and we dip the bananas in chocolate. I bought some milk and dark chocolate wafers that can be used in fondu fountains, however we have no fountain. We will just be dipping the bananas in the warm chocolate. My question is, how can I decrease the setting time of the chocolate? That is, I want the chocolate to solidify into a shell around the banana as quickly as possible so that the chocolate doesn't drip off the banana. Is there something that I can add to the melted chocolate wafers to decrease the set speed? Edit: Just found this question, thanks to rumtscho's comment. No-melt chocolate coating on ice cream bars	I have never heard of Tofu being called "vegetable meat". There are some fake meat types based on different types of soya products (or also other plant proteins), like "fake duck". But the only product I have seen bearing the generic label "vegetable meat" is textured vegetable protein. It is made from soya beans whose fat has been extracted to be used for oil production. As for "non artificial", I have no idea what your personal definition of "artificial" is. It doesn't grow on trees, but then neither does butter, and I have never heard people condemn butter as "artificial". It is a processed product, and it is not a traditional process, but I can't tell you if it is more or less processed than traditional heavily processed foods such as sugar. Also, the amount of chemicals involved is probably dependent on the manufacturer. I guess you have to trust the regulatory organs of your country to not allow the production of food containing something harmful. Organic? This depends on the manufacturer too. If he adhers to organic production guidelines, then it is organic. And hygienic? This is even harder to answer, it depends on not only the manufacturer's decisions about the process, but also on the day-to-day process quality measures his employees take. There is no reason to say that "vegetarian meat" is the same as vegetarian Chinese food. A cup of rice served in a Chinese restaurant is vegetarian and Chinese, but does not include any kind of meat substitute. If I cook a French recipe and use textured soy protein as meat replacement, this makes it vegetarian, but not Chinese. There can be some overlap between the two, but I doubt that it is big. China has had social conditions leading to vegetarian lifestyles (poverty, religious restrictions) for long before production of such protein began. I doubt that any restaurants in the world are famous for it, mainly because it is a poor meat analogue. Yes, it offers a high amount of protein. But it does not taste really like meat. World-famous restaurants are world-famous because they offer high-quality food, and no food using inferior substitutions is high-quality. Yes, there are good vegetarian restaurants, but they don't make poor imitations of meat dishes using fake meats, they offer vegetarian dishes made from good ingredients. Some of them can feature some of the more popular soy products like tofu, but they are probably not famous for their tofu, because the tofu is not the main star of all dishes. This all assumes that what you refer to is actually the textured vegetable protein I linked, but that is far from clear from your question. Other possibilities exist, because people have long tried to find a suitable meat substitute for vegetarians and for people who can't afford real meat. Most are soy-based, like the mentioned tofu and tempeh, but there are also wheat-based ones like seitan, and I think that there was some kind of beans product used sometimes instead of meat. Without you giving us more information, we can't conclude for sure which one you mean. But the answers to the other questions is about the same, with the exception that some processing methods are older than others and so can be considered more traditional (in case this plays a role for your understanding of "artificial").
	I'm doing food tech coursework, and I'm really confused on how temperature of water affects the texture of the bread. If someone can answer scientifically that would be great : ) thank you!	The yeast (and other microorganisms) will effect bread dough over time, breaking down sugars and fermenting the dough. The speed and character of how the yeast will work is a function of time and temperature. At colder temperatures, like in the refrigerator, the yeast will work slower and take a longer time to ferment. At warmer temperatures, the yeast will work faster and reproduce more frequently. At hot temperatures (140 F) the yeast will start to die off and be useless. Therefore, the temperature of the water added to the dough will help determine what temperature the yeast is starting at. Adding colder water is a good way to delay the fermentation process, and warmer water can help speed it up. Since your question was about texture the question now becomes how does fermentation time effect the texture of my bread? All other things equal, slower fermentation times produces larger and more irregular holes and faster times produce smaller, regular-size holes in the crumb. A fast rising dough will have many small air pockets all of a similar size and shape.
	In my great-grandmother's recipe for Open-Face Apple Pie, she writes, "Cut apples in eighths if they are not quick-cooking." I assume that this means some apples will cook more quickly than others, but I can't find a list of such apples anywhere.	One of my favorite topics, having grown up close to two apple orchards... Most likely, by "quick-cooking," the recipe intends you to use a pie or sauce apple, i.e. one that softens readily with heat. Sauce apples. Use these for a pie if you like VERY soft pie contents. Personally, I prefer applesauce that has some chunks in it, so I don't use "sauce apples" for sauce; however, the standard is to list for sauce those apples that practically dissolve (like McIntosh). Pie apples. An apple listed for pie is typically one that retains its shape but softens well (like Cortland, Mutsu, Empire, Jonagold, or Fuji). Consider the taste. Some apples (Gala, for example) lose a lot of flavor when cooked, and are best for eating raw. Others gain tremendous flavor when cooked (Empire). Which apple to use is certainly a matter of preference. Some people like their pie apples to remain quite firm (using, say, Granny Smith), while others like them to be VERY soft (and thus use a "sauce" apple). Here's some apple lists/charts ... I'd say look up the varieties readily available to you, and see which ones are listed for sauces or pies. http://www.baumanorchards.com/chart/index.htm http://www.recipegoldmine.com/kitchart/kitchart71.html Look up the website for your local orchard - they may link to a usage chart for the apples they grow!
	I just made tomato soup with two cans of tomatoes with jalapeno peppers in it. The soup has turned out to be too spicy. How can I reduce the spicy (heat) level of the soup?	Can make it a creamy tomato soup by adding heavy cream or half and half. While this will make the soup taste less spicy be careful if you get heartburn or other issues from eating spicy food, because it will not nullify those effects.
	I've made strata a few times before, usually for brunches where I have a number of guests coming over and don't want to spend all my time in the kitchen. I always follow instructions in the recipe; I assemble it the night before, refrigerate overnight, and then let it come to room temperature and bake it in the morning. I've never had any problems, but I'm planning on making this for New Year's brunch that I'm hosting, and I got to thinking about why I need to let the strata come to room temperature before baking it. (Every recipe I've seen for strata says to let it sit on the counter for at least a half an hour.) I bake mine in a glass casserole dish, so I know that one reason for this is to avoid extreme temperature change that could cause the dish to shatter. However, is there any chemistry or physics reason for this - i.e., would baking it (in a disposable aluminum pan, for instance) straight out of the fridge impact the taste/texture?	My guess - and this is just a (somewhat educated) guess - is that it's just to promote more even cooking. Since you're talking about a layered dish, some parts are definitely going to cook faster than others. If the entire dish starts from room temperature, as opposed to fridge temperature, then that means less time is required to cook it through. Less time and less heat required to cook means that all of the layers will be more likely to end up at similar internal temperatures - as opposed to having burned bread, liquefied cheese, or rubbery eggs (I'm not sure offhand which cooks the fastest). Even if it's not an issue with the thermal capacities of your individual ingredients, you're also layering these each several times over, creating a very dense product, so there would still be a significant risk of the middle layers being undercooked, or the outer layers being overcooked. You might be able to bake it straight out of the fridge; however, you would definitely have to increase the cooking time to account for the temperature difference, and there are a lot of variables that come into play which would affect how evenly it cooks: the intensity and location of your oven's heat source(s), the density of the casserole, the kind of baking dish you use - I probably wouldn't chance it, at least not when preparing this for other people. You tend to see the same recommendation for anything particularly dense, such as a roast, or anything layered, such as a lasagna, and generally, you do want to follow those recommendations for the same reason. They cook rather poorly if you cook them from cold or frozen, leaving you with a charred surface and an only-mostly-cooked interior. It can still happen even if you start off at room temperature, but it's less likely and the effect tends to be less pronounced.
	I have a recipe of Old Fashioned Donuts that I love... I would like to add some Cocoa Powder to the recipe, but I don't know how to do that and keep the percentages correct. Basically, I don't know if adding Cocoa Powder will muck up the percentages the same as say adding more flour. The Current Recipe is as follows: 600 g Flour 12 g Kosher Salt 90 g Egg Yolk 30 g Unsalted Butter 15 g Baking Powder 380 g Sour Cream As a bonus... how much cocoa powder for a recipe like this would be appropriate? I'm kind of new to baking.	Cocoa powder is a drying agent. So you would want to remove a portion of the flour, and replace with a smaller portion of the cocoa powder plus an extra pinch of baking soda to counteract the acid nature of cocoa powder. So if you were to follow the advice of 480g flour and 120g cocoa powder, (which sounds good) I would add a 1/4tsp of baking soda in addition to the baking powder. I would try that out, keeping in mind that cocoa in addition to being acidic acts as a drying agent and so you may find that the above suggestion yields a slightly dryer donut than the original recipe. Adjust incrementally by tbsp of milk. As a side note, we've all had fried chocolate donuts before and they probably haven't been bitter or burnt tasting. If you use way too much cocoa, sure. Creating recipes can be tricky, keep in mind it often takes some experimentation to perfect.
	I have heard one should use a lot of water when cooking pasta; how much water should I use?	This question was answered to some extent in another Pasta cooking question by Roux. This answer, which is basically just a link to a series of experiments by an MIT grad / Chef, dispels a number of myths about cooking pasta. For instance: Water will return to a boil in the same amount of time regardless of how much is in the pot prior to pasta being added. Pasta won't get sticky with smaller amounts of water. It only gets sticky because of reactions in the first few minutes of cooking, and the solution is to stir it. This is necessary even with lots of water. You do not need a lot of water to cook pasta. Water does not need to be boiling to cook pasta. It simply needs to be above 180°F/82°C. Some really interesting stuff in the article that debunks quite a lot of kitchen lore about cooking pasta. I have tried this at home with great success. So in answer to your specific question: No, you do not need a lot of water, it simply has to cover the pasta. The amount of salt is heavily dependent on the amount of pasta, the amount of water, and your own taste. You need to find a consistent way to cook pasta and then experiment.
	Lately I've been making a lot of no-knead bread, not out of laziness, just love the crustiness and rich flavor. I was thinking about trying to make a loaf but use wine for some of the liquid because I'm interested to see how it would flavor it. But I'm worried that the wine will do something to the yeast. Too acidic, maybe? I'm not really sure. Would it ruin everything? What do you suggest?	The wine will bring several things to the breadmaking party: Acidity Alcohol Water Flavoring Color (especially if it is red wine) The biggest of these is the alcohol which is a yeast byproduct--they don't like it in their environment, and it inhibits their growth. The acidity can do the same. Proofing will be retarded, and you may need a larger starting quantity of yeast than for a wineless loaf. You would also have to adjust the amount of liquid in the formula to account for that from the wine. Your bread would probably take on a strange mauve color, after being baked, and may have some hint of winey flavor. I think the lack of well known wine-loaves in the world's baking traditions indicates this does not generally work out very well, although there are some recipes for yeast raise breads containing wine such as Sourdough Cranberry Wine Bread from The Fresh Loaf.
	I would like to cook a meal, but i have no clue about cooking. Is there some kind of an app (smartphone / ipad) that would guide me through the process of cooking a specific meal? Step by step like in kindergarten. get 2 spoons get 2 eggs seperate eggs place 200 g of XY in a bowl cook eggs for 19 seconds etc etc Really step by step with text, pictures and/or videos.	Try Jamie's 20 minute meals. I've used it for a few meals and its pretty easy to follow. The recipes are all supposed to take 20 mins, but in my experience it takes a bit longer, maybe I'm just a bit slow in the kitchen! The only thing that has really caught me out though is when it tells me to chop something in the middle of the recipe, which takes me a bit longer than the app assumes - so I now check over the recipe and chop anything in advance. The app lists all of the ingredients and equipment you need, and it has some videos showing you some of the basic skills and knowledge for each recipe. Its got a shopping list The app has about 80 recipes that cover soups, pastas, risottos, stir-fries, fish, meat, curries, salads, vegetarian and desserts. There is a decent range of cuisines, but it does lean a bit toward Italian. Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/20-minute-meals-jamie-oliver/id318926433?mt=8 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zolmo.twentymm&hl=en
	Howdy, I just wanted to ask if it was possible to roast this type of soybean directly in a microwave popper contraption or a dedicated popcorn popper without any prior water work, just straight out of the box? And If they'd be edible if I did such a thing? Edit: Honestly what confused me was this video, because the guy just threw them in the frying pan without any preparation or water usage and roasted them. https://youtu.be/aFt60REeLIk	No, you can't cook dried beans just by roasting them. All this would do is it dry them out even more and that wouldn't make them more edible. Indeed, dried beans are used as baking beans to weigh down pastry during blind baking and they don't pop like popcorn. All recipes for roasted soybeans require some combination of soaking and/or boiling before they can be roasted. (Note we're not talking about fresh soybeans here, those are green and succulent.)
	I’ve seen claims that, while you can replace heavy cream with the proper proportions of milk and butter in recipes that don’t require whipping, the mixture will not form stiff peaks when whipped, even if it contains the same milkfat percentage as heavy whipping cream (>35%). However, offhand I don’t know why this would be so, and I can’t find an explanation of the claim. I’ve used milk and butter to stand in perfectly well for cream in things like sauces or drinks, but I’ve never tried whipping it. If it’s not possible, why? Does it have something to do with the proportion of protein, fat, and water? Does the process of churning butter break down protein/fat structures that are required for holding peaks? Or is it not impossible, but simply difficult or time-consuming to get the butter to emulsify properly back into the milk and cool to the point that it can hold aeration?	Heavy whipping cream is homogenized as @myklbykl mentions. That means the fat molecules are pretty evenly dispersed throughout the liquid parts, giving you a smooth mixture instead of one that separates. When you whip cream, you don't just incorporate air. You also agitate those fat molecules and they start sticking together. As long as you keep whipping vigorously, the fat molecules Wil Form a matrix within which the tiny bubbles of air and liquid get trapped, making a foam. If you keep beating, all the fat globs together, and that's where you get butter and traditionally buttermilk. So if you add butter to the milk, even if you melt it- it's already done. The fat was already beaten and globbed together completely. You won't be able to get that matrix to form again since it's already been completely whipped. And unfortunately you can't homogenize the fat and liquid back together. It requires special machinery. I actually tried once because I was young and the internet lied to me. End result was me crying over a big bowl of milk with lots of tiny butter chunks in it.
	I came across this page (How to peel a mango) while surfing and I found it very interesting. What kind of methods and knives/kitchen gadgets do you use to peel fruits? Are there different tools to peel delicate and heavy skinned ones? According to the answers, I'm planning to buy suggested tools/knives to peel fruits.	I am not one to fall for the "as seen on tv" sales pitches... however, I came across the Titan Peeler's on sale at a Bed Bath and Beyond. Let's say I have never looked back! They are absolutely amazing, dishwasher safe and great for peeling anything. Potatoes, apples, carrots, kiwi, you know it the peeler is great.
	The handles on my pots loosen over time and I have to occasionally tighten the screw that attaches them. Is there any reason why I can't or shouldn't use Loctite (screw locking compound) on them to secure them? And if that's the case, why not send them from the factor pre-Loctited?	You could use Loctite 2046 which is food safe. They list deep fryers as a possible application, so it should also work on a cooking pot.
	Hi does anyone know where I can buy gluten free chapatis or what is the best method of making them and storing them without any preservatives?	I use ivory teff tortillas from La Tortilla Factory as a gluten-free substitute for chapati. They are sometimes available at my local grocery store, but I've also bought them online. They are similar in texture and mouthfeel to wheat chapatis. When heated on a griddle, they brown and puff up just like the real stuff, and they then taste delicious with a little ghee. I don't miss wheat chapatis at all since I discovered these. They are much closer to wheat chapatis than gluten-free sandwich bread is to the genuine article. They freeze well and also keep in the refrigerator for several weeks. If you're interested in making a gluten free Indian roti, I would suggest not trying to make something that approximates chapati. Instead, make some traditional preparation that uses other flours. For example, there's bhakri, which can be made with any of various flours like jowar (sorghum), bajri (finger millet), or even rice flour. Or there's one of my all time personal favorite foods, a multigrain flatbread called thalipeeth. Most recipes online include wheat as one of the ingredients, but you can just leave it out and increase the amount of the other flours proportionately. There's also a sabudana (sago) version which is a lot simpler as it just uses whatever flour you have lying around in addition to sago. Finally, the site Spice Up The Curry has a section on Indian Breads that includes recipes for rotis made with exotic flours such as rajgira (amaranth), singhara (water chestnut), and kuttu (buckwheat). I've never made any of those, so YMMV. In general I've had good success with recipes from that site, though.
	Stuffed turkey crown is almost cooked but there is virtually no juices how can I rectify this	I use an infusion technique, I learned from my mother. It is a bit time consuming but provides you with a nice quantity of sauce (gravy) at the end. This is good for any roast, either chicken, turkey, lamb, goat, pork, veal, etc. For a start, I marinate/add a mix of herbs and olive oil, white wine and water to the roast. Every 20 minutes I open the oven and use a large spoon to rinse the top of the roast with the sauce. Add a little water and white wine to keep a decent quantity of sauce. Repeat this every 20-30 minutes until the roast is ready. If your oven dries the roast quickly, or you don't have time to repeat the infusion too often, cover the roast with aluminum foil. But remove the foil about 20 minutes before the roast is finished.
	I quite like lime-infused raisins (like these), but they're kind of pricey compared to regular raisins. Are they made by some process I can emulate at home? Is it just a matter of soaking and then drying? Or adding small amounts of liquid? Or is this an industrial process I can't easily replicate?	I am not sure what you mean by lime-infused raisins but let me explain what I do to my raisins for scones. I usually soak them in Gran Marnier Liquour, anywhere from 4 hours to 24 hours. I put the raisins in a glass bowl or big cup, covering the raisins with the Liquour. It depends on how much flavor I want the raisins to have. Then I strain the raisins and set aside the liquour for either another receipe or someone usually wants to drink it. I put the raisins in the scones. My nieces and nephews just love them, their moms tell me because it's just like eating booze, and of course, when I make it for them, I do use more raisins and soak them more than 24 hours for the flavor. I use the white raisins. Now for your question. YES I do believe that if you squeeze enough fresh lime juice to cover the raisins, you will achieve your goal. My only tiny problem is that the lime juice might break down the raisins because of the acidity in the lime juice. So, what I would do is try one cup of raisins, cover with fresh lime juice and check in 2 hours, if ok continue, if you want more flavor wait 2 more hours and check again and make sure not only for flavor but for the break down of the raisins due to the acidity. What raisins did you eat? White, red, concord, there are so many types, that I am not sure which would hold up to the acidity. Now for the drying. Put them in a very low temp oven, 200 degrees about one hour, checking every 20 minutes, checking to make sure that they do not burn or put in a food dehydrator. Then let them cool. Look this up on Google also. I am giving you my own experience. My Auntie used to soak her raisins for some of her cookies in Brandy, Whiskey, Vodka and whatever liquour she thought would be interesting. She was an excellent cook and baker and owned a restaurant. Her booze soaked rice raisin pudding was awesome. The old way and even today is to put outside on mesh, covered on both side with cheesecloth so insects and birds or other undesirables will not get to. This might take a little while, a few days to a week or two depending on hot it is outside. I would check this every day or so also. You could also let them stay plump, leave in the fridge, and take out and eat what you want as you want it. A little juicy but still tasty. Sounds delicious and in a fruit salad. I bet this would be awesome. I have a lemon tree and white raisins and will try this out myself this week. I bet this will be a big hit! Good Balance with sweet fruit. Hope this info helps you.
	I have found a cheesecake recipe which says, for the cooking phase: Place springform pan in a large baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan. Bake at 325 °F (160 °C) for 60--65 minutes or until center is just set and top appears dull. I have done it so (I mean, it's in the recipe which I followed), but I wonder what is this for? I suppose that the water layer prevents things from going much over 212 °F (100 °C) since the water stays at this temperature. But I don't understand the motivation for this set-up. Couldn't I just use a lower temperature setting?	Couldn't I just use a lower temperature setting? No, you can't. Ovens are very bad at keeping a constant temperature. Not only is the oven thermostat usually off, it also cycles around its mean temperature a lot. So your food is subjected to constantly changing temperature. If you were to set your oven to 100C, you 1) won't get really 100C, and 2) won't get the crust to brown, as the temperature is too low. Instead, you can use the water bath described. In combination with a temperature setting higher than 100C, it will keep the bottom portion of the cheesecake at a constant temperature, and will allow the surface to bake well. You will see water bath (i.e. bain marie) recommendations for many types of baked goods, including custards. But when it comes to a cheesecake, it has a second function. At each temperature, there is an equilibrium moisture in the oven air. As long as the equilibrium has not been reached, moisture evaporates at a high rate from every moist surface (your baking good). When this happens to a cheesecake, its top cracks. But when you have an open water surface, it is sufficient to saturate the air, and no (or very little) evaporation happens on the cake surface. You end up with a smooth cheesecake.
	This is partly a continuation of this question, since that one was already closed, but my question is about a specific problem encountered the last time I cooked scallops. I got the pan up to a reasonable temperature and put the scallops in, and as they were cooking, TONS of water came out of the scallops and filled the pan. I poured it out, continued cooking, and more water came out. Several iterations later, I thought they were done, but they were still very raw inside, so we ended up tossing the batch (it definitely wasn't sushi grade). Where did all the liquid come from, and is there any way to avoid that the next time?	I've had this issue with crappy supermarket scallops before. Alton Brown covered this. From http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/Season9/scallops/scallop_trans.htm (section 5): dry scallops are usually ivory, or slightly pink, or even orange in color, not white. Of course, they don't actually look dry. The term refers to the fact that these lovely lozenges have not been soaked in any kind of chemical, say, sodium tripolyphosphate. This solution is used to help scallops retain moisture when frozen. Now there's nothing wrong with that per se, unless the scallop in question is not going to be frozen. You see, treating fresh scallops with S.T.P. causes them to gain moisture, making them heavier, which could be a good thing for a retailer, but it's never good for a cook. Because once this stuff is inside the scallop, they become very difficult to cook properly, and they are impossible to sear properly. Diver scallops are probably good. Look for a bit of color when buying. The good news is that you probably aren't doing anything wrong, the scallops just aren't going to sear. When you buy for searing, get scallops that haven't been treated with chemicals. Diver scallops are almost always untreated. Look for a bit of color, which is usually a sign of quality. Don't buy them if they are in a pool of milky liquid (as they usually are in the fish section of the supermarket). Buying diver scallops is also much more sustainable and eco-friendly, since large ships that freeze their stock at sea dredge the floor to get scallops. Divers are much more selective and do negligible damage to the ocean floor.
	I have a standard long-raising bread I use to make and bake in a cassarole. During this holiday I wanted to bake a double-sized bread. However,I ended up only giving it 150% baking time, and not 200%. Are the sources that can help you calculate how long approximately your bread needs to be baked given size, floor and water composition, etc. ? Example-recipee: 400 g flour 300 ml water 1 small ball of yeast Raise for 18 hours Baked for 30 minutes in 250 celcius closed heated cassarole. Baked 10 minutes without lid. Double up: 800 g flour 600 ml water 2 small balls of yeast Raise for 18 hours Baked for 45 minutes in 250 celcius closed heated cassarole Baked for 10-15 minutes without lid.	No, I cannot guess a time. What works is temperature. Bread is done at an internal temperature of 195F to 205F (90.5-96.1C).
	I have a portable small oven with a max temperature of 250°C. There are two hot bars, one at the top and the other at the bottom. First of all, I'm not sure that I can get good pizza in that. My crust never gets heated much, it looks like the base is not heated when it's on the plate. So I want to ask if it's possible to get a good pizza at 250°C.	There are a large variety of pizza types and styles, with different doughs, crusts, and toppings. While it is difficult to make a VPN napolotana style pizza without a wood fired oven, there are a myriad other types of pizza. Many of these in fact work quite well in home style ovens, and even toaster or portable ovens. See the Food Lab's article on Three Doughs To Know, which describes three different types of pizza dough (from the many). The Sicilian style pizza works extremely well in a toaster oven.
	The fishmonger gave me a whole salmon rationed, and included the head and spine. I threw the head and spine away, but was wondering whether there is any culinary use for it. Normally in a fish stock, I use white fish, not blue.	I agree that you can get some good meat from the head and could use it to flavour Bouillabaisse, i wouldn't however use it for stock as oily fish can lead to a cloudy fatty stock rather than the clearer and more flavoursome fish stock that can be derived from the off cuts and bones from white fish.
	OK, I've got a big dinner coming up, and I want to do something different. What I want to do is a large piece of meat, cooked slowly in a low heat oven until it reaches a core temperature of about 50 degrees Celsius, then to finish off on a piping hot barbecue for about 30 seconds on either side. I want to do either a sirloin or a rib-eye. I have a personal preference for rib-eye, due to the flavor, but am worried about rendering the fat on the outside to avoid that nasty bit of chewy fat on the outside. That rendering is obviously not going to happen within the minute the steak is on the barbecue. The question is; will the fats render when the steak is being slow cooked at low temperatures?	No, the fat will not render at about 50 C (122 F). However, you said core temperature, which implies the surface temperature will be higher assuming you are not cooking in a 50 C oven (which you should not, for safety reasons). If you are pre-cooking the steak at, for example 120 C (250 F), the surface will be hotter by the time the center reaches your target temperature, so you may get some rendering. Still, there is a quite simple answer: trim the excess fat. What remains should char and develop a good flavor when you sear it on the grill.
	I've recently come across the recipe to make one of my favorite glazes, "Jack Daniels Glaze" from T.G.I. Fridays and am close to perfecting it. The only issue I'm currently facing is that in order to get it to the thick consistency I want, I have to reduce down it to 1/4 of what I started with. For example, I started with 8 cups of water and end up with 2 with my heat on medium high for about an hour. I've tried this on something as simple as a run of the mil pot to my higher end copper core All-Clad sauce pan both yielding the same results. What's the key to making large batches of my sauce? Do I need even more water? Note that I've tried high and low heat. Here are my ingredients: 8 cups water 1 cup teriyaki sauce 2 tablespoons of soy sauce 2 cups of brown sugar 1 lemon 1/4 of a yellow onion 1/4 cup Jack Daniels Whiskey 2 cloves of roasted garlic 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 tablesppon of crushed pineapple Original Recipe: https://hostthetoast.com/jack-daniels-burgers-t-g-i-fridays-copycat-recipe/	Follow the recipe and increase everything by the same proportion if you want to make more instead of just adding more water. You've octupled the water but kept everything else about the same. Of course you'll have to boil off all that extra water before the consistency is correct. If you had a recipe for a gallon of lemonade but wanted two gallons, would you add an extra gallon of water to the original recipe and expect it to taste the same? Or would you add more lemon and sugar in addition to the extra water to keep the flavor the same? Same thing here, adding more water will water it down, you need to increase everything to increase the yield and keep the consistency the same as the original. Interestingly that page even has a button to scale up the recipe. Click it and you'll see it does exactly what I say here: it doubles or triples all ingredients.
	A while ago we ate at a Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown. We were given these nice burnt sugar-flavored beverages to drink, but unfortunately the staff did not speak fluent English so I don't know what it was called. I've tried in vain to research it but can't find anything close. The beverage was very dark brown, but served with milk (I'm quite sure it was dairy milk, not coconut milk) poured on top, which when mixed turned it a caramel color. The consistency was thin, but the beverage was very flavorful---the burnt sugar flavor would have been almost bitter if it didn't have the milk added. Burnt sugar seemed to be the only major flavor---it was not a coffee beverage, though there might have been other spices. The beverage was sweet, but not extremely sweet. It was served in a standard plastic restaurant glass with ice.	Stick to the microwave. Many college dorms are somewhat underwired for everybody bringing high-wattage appliances, have (as yours would seem to ) rules against those, and many college life safety departments will quite happily confiscate high-wattage appliances that are forbidden. Burning the place down is a BIT of a concern. Use the cooking facilities provided (there might even be a real stove someplace in the dorm you can use if you expand beyond the microwave - but if a microwave is all you have, learn to make the most of it.)
	In an attempt to make (vegan) white chocolate I noticed that the sugar doesn't dissolve in the melted cacao butter. For reference, this is the recipe I'm using: Organic Authority's "Four Ingredient Vegan White Chocolate Recipe" I melt the cacao butter au bain-marie, add the coconut oil and melt that too. Then I add the vanilla and sugar. What happens next is that the sugar forms clumps and sinks to the bottom. Why does this happen? I'd love to understand this. (Putting the mixture in a high speed blender didn't help as well.) In a previous attempt I tried heating the mixture directly in a sauce pan to the point where the sugar would 'melt' but this turned out to be a big mistake. The sugar seemed burned and the result was cacao butter with burned caramel. Needless to say I didn't eat it. I have a hunch that I need an emulsifier in order to get a smoother result, however I have no experience in this at all. When melting factory made chocolate au bain-marie I get a much creamier result which actually looks like melted chocolate. The chocolate I'm making is just very oily (with sugar lumps in it) and looks nothing like I would expect. What does it take to get such a result?	Sugar won't dissolve in cocoa butter. Or in coconut oil, for that matter. When making chocolate, the sugar is smoothed and kept in suspension by prolonged grinding, conching, which is really a mechanical process... and one of the reasons making actual chocolate at home is very rare, absent specialized equipment, as the sugar crystals will not dissolve and this leaves a gritty product. You might have better luck with powdered sugar, since it's already more finely ground. Or superfine or castor sugar, perhaps. I see that the recipe calls for coconut sugar, and I'm not sure there's commercial powdered or superfine, but you might be able to grind it more finely for a better result anyway. For powdered or castor sugar the amounts in volume will be a bit different - as the sugar will physically settle differently, plus the addition of cornstarch for powdered - but weight should be the same and there are conversions for volume measurements. It may also help to cool the cocoa butter/coconut oil mix down to a thicker consistency (semisolid, maybe like softened butter, something of the sort) before mixing in the sugar, as the thicker texture should help keep the sugar in suspension rather than letting it settle out before the mix finishes cooling. With the cocoa butter/coconut oil mixture in that thicker state, the incorporation would look more like creaming.
	Recently, I observed that there is some brown slimy stuff on the underside of my plates. I don't know what they are or how they form. I tried removing it with a tooth pick, but was too hard to come off. Does anyone know what this is? How can it be cleaned?	My first guess is oil deposits that have hardened through oxidation. Especially the highly unsaturated oils are prone to oxidation, which will after a while lead to insoluble deposits (like in the original oil paints, where the linseed oil polymerises after prolonged contact with air). It's hard to remove as it's not brittle, and deforms rather than breaking, like an oil varnish. (are those items you show plates, or pan covers/lids?) It doesn't look like any kind of mold.
	I have made some food in my pressure cooker and left it in room temperature for over a week. When I opened it, there was no mold. I threw it out because it might have still been bad, but this got me thinking. Since canning is basically cooking food in a sealed environment, isn't pressure cooking similar when I do not open the pressure cooker? Could the food be left in the pressure cooker at a room temperature for a longer time, given that I pressure cook it every time I close the lid?	When you take the pressure cooker off the heat, it's filled with high-temperature, high-pressure steam. As it cools, that steam condenses, leaving a vacuum. Pressure cooker valves are designed to allow air to enter to fill the vacuum (to avoid damaging the pressure cooker, and to make it possible to take the lid off). So it isn't really sealed once it's not at high pressure.
	Often I have read that whole grains are healthy. So, what is a whole grain and what is a non-whole grain? The Pasta I have says "Durum wheat" as the ingredient. What should I understand by that?	Graphics and quoted text from: Whole Grains Council Grains, by definition, have 3 major parts: the germ, the endosperm, and the bran. Whole grains are those that have all of the parts of the natural seed, or kernel (not including an exterior husk that is generally inedible). To be called "Whole Grain" the product must still have all of the bran, endosperm and germ that it had when it was in the field, although it can milled, ground, cracked, natural, whatever...as long as it still has all of its parts. If a food label states that the package contains whole grain, the "whole grain" part of the food inside the package is required to have the same proportions of bran, germ, and endosperm as the harvested kernel does before it is processed. Refining normally removes the bran and the germ, leaving only the endosperm. Without the bran and germ, about 25% of a grain’s protein is lost, along with at least seventeen key nutrients. Processors add back some vitamins and minerals to enrich refined grains, so refined products still contribute valuable nutrients. This graphic shows what's lost when wheat is refined, and what's added back when it's "enriched": Durum is just a variety of wheat. Unless it specifically says "whole wheat" or "whole grain", you can assume that it is refined.
	I bought it very cheap during the closing of the grocery market. The seller said that it was some kind of lettuce, but it tastes like upper leaves of cabbage.	It appears to be curly endive which is a lettuce. It is crisp and has a bitter flavor. Dole Know Your Lettuce
	I've been curious about how to make fine powder from leafy herbs for some time now (I don't mean merely flakes). We can have large amounts of tarragon, basil, etc. in the garden. It would be nice to be able to make a fine, powdered form. How can I do this? I'm especially looking for alternatives besides coffee grinders, since I'd be uncomfortable with using that solution.	Mill them. When you dry them very well ( so when you think they are dry put them in oven for 20 minutes at around 40 Celsius). Then use mortar. This is it exact use in kitchen, to turn moist things into paste and dry things into powder. If you don't have one use poor man hand mill. Put leaf on large cutting board and then use smaller one on top. Move it in circular motion with little to no pressure.
	It is sometimes said that to best experience the flavor and aroma of a good whiskey (or whisky), one ought to add a bit of water. This practice is said to release flavors somehow. Is there any truth to this? Assuming that there is, what is going on?	Whisk(e)y has some crazy chemistry going on inside of it, due to the complex interactions between water, alcohols, oils, esters and other compounds of various complexity. The profile of these chemicals will vary between different whiskey/whisky styles, but the overall chemistry is similar. Simple effects of dilution Adding water, or serving on the rocks, has a number of simple effects, such as diluting the ethanol a bit (ethanol anesthetizes your taste buds a bit), and cooling it (making your taste buds slightly less sensitive to certain flavors), but the fascinating part is what happens to the oily flavor compounds during dilution. Dilution masks some flavor compounds Oily hydrocarbons are somewhat soluble in high-proof whiskey. There are long-chain esters and short-chain esters of many varieties. As you add water, the whiskey becomes more polar, and the long-chain esters become supersaturated and start to precipitate in the form of micelles, microscopic "droplets" of esters that have clumped together. In some liquors like absinthe or ouzo, these droplets can get so large that they become visible, and visibly cloud the drink (an intended feature of absinthe preparation). In whiskey, these droplets are usually microscopic and don't visibly cloud the drink, because most of the oils have been removed during chill-filtration. However, these droplets do something important, in that short-chain esters, being more soluble in the droplet than they are in the diluted whiskey, enter the droplet and become trapped inside. These compounds are now less available for tasting or smelling. Fortunately, these compounds are the oily, grassy compounds that many people do not like in their whiskey, and masking them is considered an improvement. Dilution releases other flavor compounds There is another type of micelle "droplet" that forms in whiskey. Ethanol, in high concentrations in water, forms it's own clusters, as ethanol molecules gather up with one another. Interestingly, warmer solutions cause more clustering of ethanol molecules, as do higher concentrations. Like before, these micelles trap compounds that are more soluble in ethanol than they are in water, volatile flavor compounds. However, unlike the oil droplets, these flavor compounds are desirable. Cooling the solution and diluting the solution both serve to "pop" these ethanol micelles, allowing them to release their trapped compounds for aroma and flavor. So cooling and adding water can have the effect of both masking certain flavors by forcing them out of solution, and enhancing others by promoting their release back into solution. In the end, the result of the changed flavors is a matter of taste, which is why some people prefer neat, with water, or on the rocks, but one cannot deny that real chemical changes are in play. References Scientific Paper: Release of distillate flavour compounds in Scotch malt whisky Blog posts: New perspectives on whisky and water Article: Tasting Whisky Wikipedia: Scotch Whisky
	Many people say that cookie dough having water or milk in it makes the end result quite rock hard, and many people told me to bind the dough entirely out of fat to make it flaky. But how do the big biscuit companies make their products crispy and flaky even though their biscuits are not very greasy, and some of them have water/milk in their recipe? I have often tried to make eggless cookies with less fat in them but ended up with really hard ones. What can I do to make my cookies crisp and flaky having less butter/fat in the dough?	The texture of a cookie is based on much more than the fat used, shortening or butter. In fact, within some basic limits, they are fairly interchangeable in most cookie recipes, flavor not withstanding. Switching to part or all vegetable shortening will not yield a flaky texture. The method by which the ingredients are combined, and how the cookies are treated, mixed, or rolled is a dominant factor in the final texture. As Sourd'oh points out, your variation is more likely to be a result of over-cooking or under-cooking. The individual size of each cookie can make a considerable difference, especially with very small cookies. If you are getting inconsistency within the same tray, you may not have uniformly sized cookies. A cookie scoop or disher can help with that, as can practice. To get a truly flaky texture, you would need to use a recipe and method specifically designed to create flakiness. These cookies are often built with a variation on the laminated methods used for biscuits, where butter is cut into the dough, and then moistened. When they are rolled out, the pieces of butter flatten into layers, separating the flour layers, and providing the flakiness.
	Vacuum-packed cheese, stored in refrigerator for awhile (2-3 weeks), then placed in freezer. Cheddar and Provolone. Any risks, especially in regards to botulism...opinions sought. Never heard about botulism being a risk in vacuum-packed food until recently, and now am concerned and want to know about the cheese I stored in freezer if I can consider it well. Thank you for opinions/information.	No, there's no risk. Cheese has too much salt and acidity to harbor botulism even at room temperature; there's practically no chance of it growing in the refrigerator even with low-acid food, and literally zero chance of it growing in the freezer on any food. I don't think data is publicly available on individual botulism cases in the U.S. or worldwide, but aside from honey-related infant botulism, the vast majority of cases are reputed to be from improper home canning of low-acid foods (garlic, peppers, etc.), and that number is still very small. I don't think I've ever heard of a single case related to cheese. Seriously, stop worrying about botulism unless you are either (a) caring for an infant or (b) canning your own foods at home.
	I can not afford so many fresh lemons to make lemonade. What would be the equivalent for 6 fresh lemons if using citric acid instead? Can Tartaric replace fresh lemons which are very hard to find where I live?	You can very likely buy frozen lemon juice or juice concentrate, even if you can't buy fresh lemons. (This is different from frozen lemonade concentrate.) This is what we do often when we're making large batch lemonade; while it's not quite as good as fresh lemon juice, it's usually close enough that it's not noticeable. For example: It's kept in the freezer section. That jar is roughly seven lemons' worth of juice; each one makes something like 2-3 liters of lemonade, depending on your strength requirements. I usually put a few sliced fresh lemons in with the pitcher after that.
	I would like to ask about cooking a top blade steak. I am currently out of stock and wine, and am curious about slow cooking it in an oven, although not really familiar with slow cooking. Any input would be appreciated, thanks.	You can cook bacon that is safe-to-eat using a microwave. The USDA even lists microwaving bacon as a safe way to cook it: The three main ways to cook bacon are in a skillet or pan on the stove, in a conventional oven, or in the microwave. The length of time to cook bacon depends upon the type and thickness of the bacon, the heat used, and the desired crispness. That said, I wouldn't expect the same (or even similar) results as cooking bacon in an oven or on a stovetop. Microwaved bacon usually ends up rubbery instead of crispy and brown. You also can't collect the rendered fat and reuse it since you usually microwave bacon on a paper towel. Serious Eats wrote a great piece on how to cook bacon and advised against microwaving bacon due to the texture, but try it for yourself! Microwaved bacon is perfectly safe to eat and, at the end of the day, only you can decide whether you like it or not :)
	Should I precook mushrooms before putting on pizza to prevent soggy pizza? I swear when I've seen pizza shops do it, they put them on raw--albeit from recollection they're more thinly sliced than the supermarket pre-sliced variety. Is that the key? Or do most pizzerias saute their mushrooms in advance to remove the moisture? What if I'm using a lot of mushrooms?	Short answer: It Depends. Long Answer: You are correct that the decision on precooking mushrooms before putting them on pizza is about controlling moisture. For some hefty mushrooms like portabellos, it's also about making sure that they cook fully. Here's what to factor in: What's the density of mushrooms per pizza area? That is, how much space between slices? Are these hefty mushrooms (white, crimini, portabello) or delicate mushrooms (chantrelle, oyster, enoki)? How thickly are they sliced? Are there other "wet" items going on the pizza topping, like a sauce or fresh tomatoes? How thick is the crust? How long will the pizza cook, and how hot? On one end of the scale, if you're making a thin-crust pizza with tomato sauce and covering it completely in thickly sliced portabellos, you pretty much certainly should precook them. However, if you're making a deep dish pizza with only a few thin-sliced white mushrooms on top, then don't bother. Stuff in between is up to your judgement. For pizza restaurants, American Pizza is a medium crust, and they generally don't put that many mushrooms on each slice, so it's fine to put them on raw. However, I've been to thin-crust Neopolitian-style pizza places where they did, indeed, partly cook the "wild mushrooms" ahead. Also, if you are precooking the mushrooms, you want to cook them in a way that will remove moisture. That means broiling them in the pizza oven on a baking sheet with parchment ... not sauteeing them.
	I am smoking a turkey and don’t have broth to use in the base of the roasting pan. The turkey was brined over night. I was thinking of putting the turkey on a bed of celery and carrots with 3 cups of water and 1 cup of apple cider vinegar. Is this a good idea or is this too much vinegar?	If you don't have any turkey, chicken, or vegetable stock or bouillon on hand, I would recommend using all water. That said, without stock or dissolved bouillon, your vegetables will not get the added extra flavor. I would recommend adding a small amount of salt and/or other seasonings to the water so the vegetables won't be bland. E.g. of others, white or black pepper, poultry seasoning, garlic powder, or a spice blend like Mrs. Dash. Go light, as you can always add more later. As others have commented, one cup is a huge amount of vinegar. And even a small amount of vinegar is likely to give the turkey an off taste and definitely will hurt the taste of the vegetables.
	How can I eat cookie dough safely? I want to make cookie dough ice-cream like the Ben and Jerry's range, however I don't want salmonella. How do Ben and Jerry's sell make theirs, assuming they don't sell it raw? Is it possible to cook the egg or dough without changing the raw uncooked feel of cookie dough? Is there a good substitute? (I have tried banana)	To make cookie dough to eat raw you have a couple of choices: Leave the eggs out Use pasteurized eggs I'm not sure how Ben and Jerry's make theirs, but I suspect it is by pasteurizing at some point in the manufacturing process. Leaving the egg(s) out is the simplest method and doesn't make a big difference in the final product (when you are not going to bake the dough). If you want to use pasteurized eggs, they are generally available in supermarkets or you can do it yourself at home. Here is one example of instructions I found through searching the web - How to Pasteurize Eggs
	The recipe calls for either, and I have both. What difference am I likely to see in the final product using one or the other? Would there be an advantage to going halvsies?	What you really need is "in the middle". Shortbread cookies are not very different from shortbread pie crust, they use the same principle, but a different shape. So the optimal flour would be pastry flour, at 6-7% gluten, which is between cake flour (4-5%) and AP (7-8%). If you are not aiming for five-star-perfection according to century-old traditional tastes, either of your flours will do well. AP is probably a bit safer, in the sense that the cookies won't fall apart too easily.
	What causes the texture of bread to be open, ie with lots of large holes, or close, ie a regular, uniform tender crumb with no large holes? How can I achieve either?	There are several factors that make bread be "holey". First of all we must understand that those big holes are created by "balloons" of gluten filled with CO2 and alcohol made by yeasts. Those balloons can grow in 2 ways Yeast cells close to the balloon make CO2 or alcohol, and it's "poured" into the balloon, and it grows. The wall between 2 balloons gets broken, so a new balloon is made with the joining of the former two. You would also get some bubbles with rye bread and bacteria, but the holes would be smaller. So I'll focus on wheat flour and yeasts. So, some tips to maximize the size of the holes: Please, note that those points are not independent. Thanks @rumtscho for pointing it out. Don't manipulate the dough too much. Most breads have 2 fermentations: bulk one and proofing. Do just one. The more you handle the dough, the higher chances to degas it by breaking bubbles and letting the gas get out of the dough. High hydration With more water the dough will be less stiff, so bubbles will be able to extend more. Also, it will be easier for the yeasts to "find" their food: sugar, so they'll produce more CO2 and alcohol. Some flours absorb more water than others. Using a flour with high absorption index might allow you Yeast + time The more yeasts, the more gas will be made. But be aware not to add too much, or they'll run out of glucose. It's better to give them time to do their work. Use strong wheat flour The more time dough is waiting to be risen, the more gluten will be destroyed by enzymes. So using flour with a lot of gluten (strong, high % proteins, a W value over 270) will help assuring a minimum of gluten will still exist after long fermentations. Oven spring Yeasts continue producing CO2 until they die at 60C/140F. Also, gasses expand with heat, so it will also help holes to grow a bit (if I remember well, up to 30%). But that grown will stop when dough gets baked and strengthens, and when crust begins to form. To retard this 2 tricks are used: Use steam in the oven the fist 1/3 or 1/4 of baking time. Steam will keep the "outer skin" of the bread humid, so it will prevent it from getting dry and forming the crust. Score the bread Bread is slashed (those cuts made in its surface) to allow it to grow more easily. So inner bubbles will be able to grow more in the oven. To allow heat enter in the dough from the bottom to up, bakers use stones in their ovens. Develop the gluten completely Kneading is very important, so the gluten network will perfectly developed to retain all the CO2 and alcohol. To get high hydration doughs, bakers make a normal hydration dough (approx. 66%) with all the flour, and then add the rest of water and knead a bit more to let it absorb it. An example of a type of bread with big holes can be seen in this Spanish forum (sorry: it's a Spanish bread and I couldn't find it in English). Ciabattas are also a good example of big holes bread. Some tips to minimize the holes: Low hydration As opposite to high hydration to get big alveolus. As low as 50% Degas the dough Some artisan or home bakers press the dough with their hand to avoid having too big bubbles. For certain types of bread, professional bakers use rolls to make a thin one. It's called refinement, and might be made several times (maybe 5 during proofing). Weak flour. With less gluten, the bubbles will break letting the gas go out of the dough. Underproof Use a short fermentation time so yeasts won't be able to make too much CO2. Pierce the dough So any excess of CO2 will leave through the holes, instead of getting kept inside the dough. Also, to lower the production rate of the yeasts, you can also add a lot (really a lot) of salt, or a lot of sugar, or grease/oil. As an example, a couple of breads (again in Spanish): Pan Candeal and Bollo Sevillano.
	whenever I cook dishes its always over satiating, I believe it has too much umami on it, and whenever I cook I always feel like being full already by just tasting while cooking. Like its too delicious and you cant eat more of it. Is there a way to get rid of that over satiating taste?	"Too delicious, and you can't eat more of it": I don't see the "too delicious" part as a problem. Delicious is good. "Can't eat more of it", as others have pointed out, sounds like it is just too heavy, or too rich. So, as others have also pointed out, it might help to cook some less heavy foods. In general, fish, tofu, and vegetables (especially raw or steamed) tend to be lighter and less filling than meats and heavy cheesy or buttery sauces. Depending on your cuisine tradition, however, substituting different food items may not be an appealing option. If most of the dishes that you and your family find acceptable happen to be on the heavy side, at least you can serve them along with other things in the meal to add variety, like plenty of plain rice or other simple grain, green salad, and/or steamed, pickled or raw vegetables and maybe a refreshing cold beverage or fresh fruit.
	Are there any common (non-toxic) household substances with boiling or smoke points close to the temperature at which the Maillard reaction occurs, 154°C? I want to be able to check that my pan is around this temperature without using a thermometer before frying a steak.	The Maillard reaction begins around 150° C. You do not need that exact temperature. Usually, you don't even want that exact temperature; even baking temperatures usually hover around 175-200° C (350-400° F), and those temperatures are held for 20 minutes or more. Pan-frying is almost always a fast cooking process lasting no longer than 10 minutes. Thus, almost every cooking oil has a smoke point at or around the ideal temperature. Butter is a bit too low around 121-149° C (250-300° F), but the vast majority of liquid oils - peanut, sunflower, corn, canola, sesame, even EVOO - all have smoke points from 150-260° C (300-500° F). See Wikipedia's list of smoke points for a fairly complete list. Avoid butter and unrefined flaxseed/safflower/sunflower oil (commercially-bottled oil is almost always refined, except for EVOO). Of course, this doesn't say anything about cooking time or sticking. When we talk about frying or sautéing in oil (i.e. to get the Maillard reaction going), we usually want a quick sear, and for that you really want to get the pan screaming hot so that you can get a good sear on the outside without doing much to the inside. Clarified butter, coconut oil, or any other of the highly-refined oils are the best for that purpose. If you're really trying to prolong the cooking time, i.e. pan-frying a chicken breast all the way through, then I guess you'd stick with a lower smoke point oil, such as EVOO or unrefined peanut or sesame.
	I live in Thailand in which potatoes in retail supermarkets can be a bit expensive because of a bit low demand due to low traditional usage in local cuisine. In my opinion in Thai bazaars the price is likely to be a bit lower though. Although, it would be hard for me to make these in my apartment as I don't have much tools in quite small kitchen, in which I have an electric stove with small pot and common sized pan. I desire to make a vegan instant potato puree like course. In Thailand, as in the rest of the world, instant Potato puree like courses are commonly sold ready to eat by "add hot water and heat" method in "convenience stores" and I consider to prepare something similar with potato starch by my own because I find these instant courses unhealthy (filled with synthetic materials with doubtful effects on human health and also expensive). Using potato starch might be good for me because people use it to make non traditional cakes in this country and it is likely to be sold online in large quantities for small businesses (although I am a single buyer) and could be mixed with ingredients and cooked fast. To clarify problem I'm trying to solve is making a vegan potato based or primarily potato based Potato puree; desirably without using whole potatoes (or with using a small amount). Notes I never found dried potato flakes in local stores in my area but online shopping might be a good alternative Any other staple food (rice/corn/semolina, etc) doesn't necessarily do with the problem I am trying to solve My question I assume potato starch (which is of course just the starch and not the whole potato) would be a basic ingredient of a potato puree like course and if so, what else do I need besides potato starch, for making a vegan potato-puree like course without whole potatoes?	This seems like a bit of a catch-22. If you bake the assembled gingerbread house for an extra 90 minutes at 90°C, the gingerbread cookies will possibly/likely become dried out, hard, and inedible. Candies and decoration may become similarly dried out and inedible. Some chocolate or gummy candies may melt, even at the relatively low oven temperature. I wouldn't consider baking the completed gingerbread house as a means to make it edible. I think it would have quite the opposite effect (though, I've never done it). I think the real question is whether the raw egg whites used are safe to consume as is. As mentioned in one of the comments, this can vary depending on where/how the eggs are sourced and what country's regulations you're listening to. Here in the US, the FDA warns against eating raw eggs, but US eggs are quite different than European eggs due to the differences in cleaning/processing eggs between the farm and table.
	So I've bought a gas-powered pizza oven reminiscent of the Ooni Koda 12. It gets the crust done alright, but as I expected earlier it is quite difficult to rotate the dough using a peel without ending up with some parts burned and without an overall unevenness of baking level. I've looked anywhere but couldn't find enough information on how to construct a (non-motorized) rotation mechanism into a pizza stone which could healthily withstand temperatures of 500 Celsius and perhaps a bit more. Possible issues I suspect: pizza stones are cordierite — I don't think it can hold screws; so you consider gluing — is there any chemical glue which doesn't release toxic fumes at such degrees? And then considering the types of bearings available — most don't mention it but aren't they likely oiled with stuff that, again, might prove unhealthy within a gas oven? I suppose this question isn't exactly food related, but I haven't found a definite SE category for this.	The intention behind an oven is to keep as much heat for as long as possible. There are even luxury ovens which are intended to never be turned off, and always use a constant temperature; communal village ovens used to work on the same principle. Modern ovens are rarely built that way, for several reasons. But still, you can expect (or hope) that the heat saved in your well-preheated oven is significant, and that "the amount of heat the oven continues to add to maintain the temperature" is the negligible one. So I would assume that the new dish will get heated much higher than per recipe. From there on, it is a matter of your dish's temperature sensitivity. If you place a cheesecake or a piped meringue into your overheated oven, you are asking for trouble. But if you are, say, roasting a pumpkin, then you probably won't have much trouble from the initial high heat. For a steak, you will likely be finishing it on a pan anyway. Just use a thermometer to make sure you don't have too high a temperature gradient between the deep and superficial parts.
	A friend of mine I'm getting an apartment with next year said that we should invest in a rice cooker. I'm fairly adept in the kitchen and don't come from a family that uses a rice cooker so I would default to cooking rice in a pot. He seemed to think that he would buy a rice cooker only for the convenience of cooking rice without worrying about it. Is convenience the only reason? Is it worth it to buy one for the other things (not rice) you can cook in it?	I come from a culture where rice is our staple and I have a rice cooker. Here are some of the advantages from my perspective: Rice is perfect everytime – not stuck to the bottom, not watery, not mushy and stuck together, etc. If you make rice in a pot, and the heat is too high, it will boil and spill over creating a mess. You can switch the rice cooker on and go do other things, whereas it is dangerous to walk away from a stove. The rice cooker can be used for other things such as cooking lentils and steaming vegetables. Rice cookers are cheap.
	I love noodle soup and doling out bowl after bowl of it, but I have noticed that ingredients are not evenly distributed between bowls. However I have noticed that the bowls, even when filled to the same level, contain different quantities of solid ingredients, potentially very different quantities of noodles, solid ingredients, garnish and liquid! With long noodles this is exacerbated by the tendency of the noodles to come out together and it is particularly difficult to ensure that subsequent servings have similar distribution to initial ones. As this issue is visible to the naked eye I imagine that only the tip of the iceberg is being observed and there is much more unobserved unevenness. How can I effectively dispense roughly even compositions of home served noodle soup with solid ingredients into multiple bowls a) served at the same time or b) in sequence? Things I have tried: Google searches for fair serving noodle soup - nothing relevant found Cut or break the noodles into much smaller pieces - this reduces the clumping issue for noodles and puts them in the same class as other solid ingredients but sometimes one wants long noodles Zig-zag over the bowls adding a little bit at a time - this is time consuming and particularly susceptible to clumping effects	Maybe take a cue from Ramen and prepare the broth and the add-ins separately. Evenly distribute the add-ins in bowl, then top with broth and garnish.
	Why doesn't rinsing mussels with tap water kill them like soaking does? I know running water over mussels takes very little time, compared to soaking them, but the water is still entering the mussels. For example, see this quote from Knorr UK: How to Clean Mussels: Keep the cleaned mussels under the running water. It’s really important that the water stays moving over the mussels, but that they’re not soaking in it. If you leave them soaking in tap water, they’ll die and that’s not what you want. This other quote from Serious Eats: How to Clean and Debeard Mussels implies that some mussels should be soaked--does soaking kill them or not? [F]arm-raised mussels are held in tanks prior to packaging and shipping, which means that the purging step—soaking the mussels in clean water until they spit out impurities—has already been done for you	Rinsing them doesn't kill them because a small amount of fresh water isn't toxic to them and, even if it were, the mussels aren't going to absorb much from a quick rinse. I've not seen this instruction about keeping them under running water other than to clean them. It makes sense during the scrubbing process but not as much as a holding method since mussels are just fine out of water for a few days, let alone the time between cleaning and cooking. The line in the Serious Eats quote doesn't mean that the mussels are soaked in fresh water. It's clean water - meaning water free of silt. But it's still saltwater and it's done professionally, knowing how to preserve the mussels - which someone in a home may not. A company that sells mussels offers the following: Don't soak in water Don't immerse them in water - fresh or salt. Freshwater will kill them; if left for too long in static salt water the mussels will use up the oxygen and suffocate. This practice used to be done to purge the mussel of any grit, these days all commercial mussel have been purged and purified in a UV deputation system. You'll note the emphasis here is static salt water. Moving, oxygenated salt water is fine but people don't generally have the ability to do this in their home (I suppose unless they have a saltwater fish tank). The end result is - lots of people have different methodologies for cleaning mussels. What it sounds like from both Serious Eats and The Cornish Mussel Shack (and many other places on the web) is that soaking (whether in fresh- or salt-water) is an outdated practice unless you're using wild-caught mussels (presumably including ones you've collected yourself).
	If eggs are thoroughly washed and of course beaten before microwaving, and after the process I can find no liquid, is there a possibility that salmonella is still there, or does it die from high temperatures?	Microwaves do not kill bacteria, heat kills bacteria. The higher the temperature, the faster those bacteria will die off. "Instant death" for most bacteria (including salmonella) is about 160° F (71° C). You only need a few seconds at this temperature. The notoriously strict USDA recommends 160° F for egg dishes but is considerably more lax about whole eggs and just says to cook until firm. Very few eggs are contaminated in the whites or yolks, so the risk is very low. Pasteurization begins around 57° C (135° F), so many bacteria are killed before the egg coagulates (at 63° C / 145° F), which is why the USDA is not very strict about it; if an egg by itself is "firm" then it's generally already been hot enough for long enough to ensure safety. Unfortunately, microwaves tend to heat (a) quickly and (b) unevenly, so if you are concerned about food safety and insist on making eggs in the microwave (not recommended), be sure to use short bursts and stir several times, otherwise you might end up with a combination of uncooked and overcooked parts, which is bad for food safety and for general taste and texture. Note that there is not only a possibility but actually a certainty that some salmonella is still there, assuming that there was any to begin with. Cooking is equivalent to pasteurization and that does not kill every single bacterium, nor is it meant to; it just kills about 99.9999% of them which makes the cooked item safe enough to consume.
	My oven's max temperature is 200 degrees Celcius( 392 Fahrenheit). There are some baking recipes which ask for more than 392 F. How do I adjust the baking process then? Do I increase the baking time a little bit?	If the recipe calls for 400°F, the difference is just rounding error and the normal process of checking when it should be nearly done (say at 3/4 of the stated cooking time, or just before the minimum if a range) will be adequate. If the recipe calls for up to about 425°F (220°C) it will take a little longer. Be sure not to open the oven door too soon (i.e. not before the stated time). If the recipe calls for much hotter than that, the chances are that even with extending the cooking time you'll get a slightly different effect, such as less browning on top or a less crisp base and you may need to experiment.
	I'm looking at getting a new blender, basically the main things I want to be able to do with it are make curry pastes, ultra smooth restaurant quality purees and soups and grind small amounts of spices (I'm talking 1-2 teaspoons). This leaves me with two choices (possibly three of which I'll get too): the Blentec or the Vitamix. The former goes to 27,000rpm and the latter goes to 37,000. I'm wondering is there much of a difference once you get up to crazy speeds like that. The other option is a Thermomix, which from my reading only hits speeds of 11,000rpm. Unfortunately, given that many Thermomix owners also sell them, it's pretty hard to get unbiased information online so I'm wondering if a speed drop of nearly two thirds will make a difference to the smoothness of my purees. From demos I've seen it think the Thermomix will do a better job with curry pastes and spice grinding as the blades nearly touch the base of the container unlike the other two units: my thinking being that however high the rpm of the Vitamix/Blentec, if the teaspoon of spices can't come into contact with the blades, it's useless. I read the What to look for when purchasing a blender? question and found no mention of rpm so maybe it's a parameter that isn't very useful, if so then it would be nice to know that at least.	I've used both a Vitamix 500 (not extensively) and a Thermomix TM31. I didn't know there was a difference in RPM, but I didn't notice too much difference in end-effect when both were turned up to full power. So I think it doesn't make much difference at those speeds anymore. If you're having trouble milling spices though, it helps to heat them a while in the oven, to get rid of humidity and therefore make them more brittle.
	I've recently been watching the PBS show "The Mind of a Chef" and noticed the plastic containers the chefs use to store ingredients as part of their mise en place. To me they seem like a better alternative to other methods such as the custard cups Alton Brown uses which I find clumsy and annoying to use and wash. The containers are stackable and come with lids and seem relatively sturdy. Seeing as they keeping quite a lot of them at hand, my guess is that they are disposable and / or cheap to acquire. I've been browsing some online restaurant supply stores, but the only storage containers I could find in similar sizes are quite expensive at around 1.5€ each. Is there a specific name these containers are sold under?	Around here, they're called 'deli containers'. Those are specifically the heavier weight ones that can deal with hot foods. I don't see delis using them much anymore (they've switched to thinner, less expensive ones), but all of the restaurants near me that sell soup as takeout use them. They generally go for $0.08 to $0.20 in bulk, depending on how many you're buying and if they have lids. (eg, a case of 1000 without lids is about $80 for the 16oz ones; maybe $100 to $120 for the taller (32oz ones)) You might be able to ask your local Chinese restaurants if they'll sell you some -- I can also get lighter weight ones in smaller lots (25) at most of the hispanic & asian grocery stores near me, as many of them have an aisle with goods that people running food trucks would need.
	I recently started buying locally-grown chickens. When it comes to buying chicken this way, it seems my only option is to buy a whole chicken. Right now I only know one way to cook a whole chicken, and that's roasting the entire thing in the oven. This is perfectly fine but I'd like a little variety. Can anyone offer any suggestions? I don't need every meal to include the entire chicken, of course, but if I cook something that only uses breasts, for example, I'm going to need some complementary recipes for the rest of the bird.	If you use only the breasts, you can use the rest to make a broth/stock hybrid using meat and bones. You can also roast the rest of the bird and shred the meat to save up to put in soups, pot pies, chicken salad, or with a one-pot pasta meal. Besides a standard roast, try butterflying (otherwise known as spatchcocking) your chicken. I do this regularly. The result is, in my opinion, much more flavorful than roasting the regular way. Cooks Illustrated has many recipes that use chicken thighs. You may want to investigate those. You can also simply look into googling recipes for the different parts of the bird. Finally, remember to freeze your bones and, when you get a quantity of them, make stock. It will be far tastier than store-bought stock and you can control what goes into it.
	I eat instant oatmeal at my office desk every morning. I think I can also get instant grits and maybe cream of wheat or something, but what other hot cereals can I make by just adding boiling water? I don't like flavored stuff and I'm not looking for recipes, just a little variety in my admittedly very bland breakfasts.	If you try regular oats and like them, then you might try flaked/rolled barley, if you can find it. If you have refrigeration at work (or just bring in one-day's worth each morning), you could also add wheat germ (I can't imagine having a bowl-ful of it, but adding some to your oats would change them up.) Wheetabix or shredded wheat can also be prepared with boiling water for a hot cereal. Late recall - "Grape Nuts®" is another one that can be done hot, even if it normally isn't.
	My grandparents own this silver-colored skillet. QUEENSENSE SENSHIN is the only printed on it, at the bottom. To save money and space, they desire to dual-purpose this skillet not only for cooking on stove-top, but also baking inside oven. But how can they deduce if they can safely insert this skillet into the oven for baking, like the pictures below?	If the skillet is entirely made out of metal, then yes, you can use this in the oven. If there are any non-metal parts or coatings, it depends on what those are. Without manufacturer information about oven safety, in the latter case I wouldn't risk it.
	I have made frozen yogurt for the first time yesterday. It was stored overnight in the freezer at -18°C (-0.4°F). When I checked it this morning it had solidified a lot more than I had expected. Is this normal for home-made frozen yogurt? Is the temperature too low?	-18°C (-0.4°F) is not too low for storage (as this would be the normal temperature of a household freezer, where I store my ice cream and frozen yogurt. I definitely wouldn't set the temperature higher if I store also other stuff in the same freezer). For serving you would probably want to let it sit out a little bit, so that it softens up a little so that you can scoop it (same as with ice cream). If it is way too solid, you maybe let it thaw too much before storing. Then, you can fix the texture by re-blending it in a mixer (you can get even more ideas if you search for recipes on "how to make a frozen yogurt/ice cream without an ice cream maker" - often it involves freezing in an ice cube tray for easier blending). Or by thawing it again and using an ice-cream maker to get the desired texture.
	I recently tried a no bake chocolate cake which used tofu to give it its consistency. It would have been great if it didn't have that slight tofu taste. What could I uses as a substitute for the tofu to avoid the tofu taste but keep the consistency similar? The recipe I used: 2 parts butter 3 parts dark chocolate 3 parts soft tofu 2 parts sugar Melted together and mixed until smooth then set to cool.	You can't directly make whole milk out of lowfat milk and milkfat. But if you like, you can try adding back some fat to the recipe -- melted butter or vegetable oil -- at the concentration of, I suppose, 2.5%. (If the recipe already includes one of these, just increase the amount.) The result will not be quite the same, but will be very close. In a yeasted bread, though, the difference between 1% and whole milk probably won't be significant. I'd just use the 1% milk, and see what happens.
	I have bought a electric ice-cream churner, I have tried so many different flavours, different recipes, used alcohols. Have read previous questions and a don't believe that leaving ice-cream out to thaw -scoop then refreeze is the only answer.How do the commercial companies keep them soft. I generally find the next day it is fairly reasonable to scoop, but day after day -the longer it stays the harder it becomes.	Yes, actually, there are two magic ingredients: Guar gum and Xanthan gum. Guar gum is a thickener, but in small quantities can also prevent the growth of ice crystals which would cause the ice cream to harden into icicles. Xanthan gum is a stabilizer which helps keep air (called overrun) in the mixture. Air is generally churned into ice cream by ice cream machines, but it won't stay that way without the stabilizer.
	I notice that for recipes that call to sift the dry ingredients, most usually cakes or cupcakes, there is a noticeable difference in the batter after the wets have been incorporated. What are the physics for sifting dry ingredients? How does this process result in a light batter?	Originally, before flour was as processed as it is now, sifting helped remove things like twigs and other contaminants. Sifting just helps remove clumped up dried ingredients (flour, powered sugar, etc, ) so that when you add in the wet ingredients you do not have to mix too hard to remove the clumps. Edit : When mixing the mixture too hard or too long you risk of "creating" gluten and that will render the cake mix too "bread" like (too dense, too chewy) You could just use the flour as is and whisk it in the bowl to try to remove the clumps. see : https://www.thekitchn.com/is-sifting-flour-for-baked-goods-really-necessary-213894
	I've recently gotten into making primal/paleo cooking, i.e. (no grains,legumes,processed foods) and have been meaning to try spaghetti w/meat sauce with spaghetti squash noodles instead of regular pasta. Is there a particular method of cooking the squash that helps form better noodles than others? Any other methods to help the 'pasta' come out more pasta-like?	Split the squash in half lengthwise, drizzle with olive oil, and place face-down on a foil-covered baking sheet. I usually roast for 45 min to an hour, depending on the size of the squash. The inside 'noodles' can then be scooped out with a fork for an awesome pasta substitution. Enjoy!
	I want to make my own shake and bake at home. The shake and bake you buy at the store is full of unpronounceable, non-organic ingredients and seasoning. I'm looking to make a good crust out of something that has whole grains any suggestions? Oh p.s. this is for Chicken.	The way restaurants do it is simple, straightforward, and also very easy to make organic by using organic ingredients. Standard 3-bowl breading 1) Bowl One: Seasoned flour -- flour, salt, pepper, and seasonings (for me: thyme, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, and parsley flakes) 2) Bowl Two: Egg wash -- Beaten egg with a 1-2 TBSP milk per egg yolk added 3) Bowl Three: Panko (or other bread crumbs) -- alternately, add some salt, pepper, and seasonings to them Procedure: Dredge the item to bread through the bowls in order, then repeat if desired to build up a thicker layer. You only need to change your seasonings to switch from breading chicken, fish, or even doing fried green tomatoes. If you make your own bread and breadcrumbs, the ingredient list will read: flour, water, milk, eggs, yeast, salt, and spices. Hard to get more straightforward than that! It's simple, fast, and works beautifully every time. Here's why it's the best way: the flour sticks to the wet surface of your item, leaving a dry, starchy surface for the egg wash to adhere to. The egg wash allows the panko to stick. For the next layer, the flour fills in the gaps between bread crumbs and absorbs residual moisture from the egg wash.
	I've got about 200ml of Double Cream (48% butterfat apparently) that I don't think i'll use before it goes off. What simple (~5 minute) things can you make with cream so that it can be frozen? At the moment I'm thinking along the lines of chocolate or toffee sauces.	Bacteria need a friendly environment to live. They can't survive without mosture. Mold tolerates more, but it needs moisture for life too. Bread is too dry a food, so it doesn't catch bacteria. This is why it can be stored outside the fridge. But if you live in a moderately humid climate, it can still be moist enough for mold to grow, especially if stored in a non-breathing package (plastic bag). Drying the bread to the point where this won't happen is possible, but it gets quite hard then. Examples for such dry bread are zwieback or finnish crispbread. Store bought breadcrumbs are dried to the point where they can't catch mold. This is why they can be stored for so long. If you make your own in the food processor, they will be similar to bread. Probably a bit better, because the bigger surface will let them dry quicker than bread. But if you want to be sure they will last, dry them. You can use a dehydrator or put them in the oven at the lowest temperature (usually.50 deg C) and hold them there for 4 - 5 hours.
	All the information on the internet I can find about frying a turkey outdoors involves a propane burner. Wouldn't a portable induction stove be safer, because there is no flame? I recognize that I would need a more expensive stainless steel pot than the more common aluminum ones. Are there any other limitations that I would run into?	Egg whites is widely suggested as a way to do this. I also see honey being recommended. In either case, don't mix the granola as it cooks, perhaps turn the larger chunks gently, 1/2 way (or more) through the cooking time.
	I mostly make curry from scratch. However some recipes (kedgeree)call for using curry powder. I can never get the mix right. Is there a standard spice mix substitution?	There isn't a standard substitution for curry powder; all the blends are subtly different, and may or may not include any of a dozen or so spices. The standard grocery store curry powders all have turmeric, coriander, and cumin in large amounts, and a smaller amount of cayenne or red pepper. Beyond that, they may include varying amounts of cardamom, mustard seed, fenugreek, asafoetida, caraway, cinnamon, nutmeg, garlic powder, ginger, black pepper, or clove. How almost all of them manage to taste like pallid imitations of real Indian curry blends is anyone's guess. I know recipes are frowned on here, but in this case I think it may elucidate things. Alton Brown provides a recipe which will probably get you a good ballpark result: 2 tablespoons whole cumin seeds, toasted 2 tablespoons whole cardamom seeds, toasted 2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds, toasted 1/4 cup ground turmeric 1 tablespoon dry mustard 1 teaspoon cayenne Either store together and grind before use (whole seeds store longer), or grind it up into a powder and store that way. From that base recipe you'll have to tinker with all of the additional spices to get your own substitution.
	In formal dining rooms there is often a long table set to the side and the servers use it to stage dishes before they are served to the table. What is that appurtenance called?	I know a few names for them, but one of them I have no idea how to spell. As has already been mentioned, ‘sideboard’. Also buffet table when you’re looking through furniture listings. I think the name I’m trying to spell is banquette, which looks to be built in seating in America, but was also the name for the narrow walkway around a castle wall. It’s what I grew up calling it, but I don’t know if I got that from my dad’s side (French Basque/Argentinian married to an Italian-American trained in Russian Ballet) or my mom’s side (Sicilian x4)
	I have fallen in love with raw milk. It tastes so much better than processed milk. Raw milk is not pasteurized or homogenized. Because the milk is not homogenized, the cream will separate from the milk. Also, pasteurization or homogenization changes the flavor of the milk so the milk does not taste as good. Homogenization breaks up the fat cells. I buy three quarts of milk at a time. As I use the first quart, the cream is well mixed in the milk. By the time I open the second and third quart, the cream has separated from the milk and settled at the top of the bottle. How do I keep the cream from separating? I suppose I could shake each quart each day, but that is more trouble than it is worth. Once the cream has separated, it requires a lot more effort than shaking to get the cream to mix back in. I have to stick a knife through the opening at the top and break up the cream. Then, I have to shake vigorously.	A very quick option is to buy less milk at a time - unless there's a very specific reason to by in bulk, picking up a quart only when you're ready to use it may solve the problem, since it seems mixed when you buy it. Additionally, raw milk has a shorter shelf life than pasteurized, so buying fresh may be better anyway. If you did have a reason to buy in bulk, you might try mixing the whole (separated) quart when you first open it, and perhaps every few days when using. Shaking may take more effort, but pouring into a container and using, say, an immersion blender may very quickly mix the milk well enough to keep for a few days while using. If you get hold of a little milk frother (works kinda like a very very tiny immersion blender) it may be useful to mix the milk still in its container, at least as long as the liquid is high enough to be reached. Another possibility, one I've no idea if it will work or not, is that depending on the shape of the milk containers, you might be able to stand them on their heads, say, every other day. Cream rises upwards, having that upwards change direction every so often might keep the cream in suspension longer without requiring a lot of physical effort. I've heard it works to keep peanut butter from separating (even on longer timescales, flipping once per week or month), but then peanut butter is so thick and the timescale it takes to separate so much longer I'm not sure if milk will work the same way. I don't recall how long this kind of mixing will stay un-separated - I tended to shake just before use and that was effective enough for me - but it may help, even if you have to do it periodically.
	The primary advantage I hear people talk about is that overnight oats take "little prep time", but isn't that true of oatmeal anyway? Is it just a fad because it's something different and you can use a mason jar? Or is there a true reason or benefit to overnight oats compared to traditional cooking methods, particularly quick oats?	They taste different. Some people like the taste of "overnight oats" better than regular oats, and some people absolutely hate them. "Put a bunch of stuff in a jar and leave it" is simpler, for some, than cooking oats on a stove (or even a microwave). Overnight oats prep happens at night, at which time many people are less rushed than in the morning, when oatmeal is typically eaten. I, for one, would not have time to cook oatmeal in the morning, but I definitely have time to prepare overnight oats the night before and throw it in my bag before leaving to work. Not everyone has a way of cooking oats at the place where they usually eat breakfast. I suppose you can eat traditional oatmeal cold, but likely many people would prefer overnight oats to traditional oats for eating cold.
	Can I use an oven instead of a dehydrator for grains and pulses? Dehydrators are not so common in my neck of the woods.	You can substitute white sugar for light brown sugar with no problem, in my experience. Make sure you substitute by weight (grams/oz), and not by volume(cups/spoons). This is because brown sugar is slightly more dense, so you get more sugar in a cup than you do with light brown.
	Last fall I tried my hand at making a homemade hot sauce. Essentially: roast peppers, blend with vinegar, garlic, salt and other spices, put in jar for three weeks, strain and you have hot sauce. The sauce was great, but after about a week of sitting in a jar in my fridge it separated and became rather unsightly. Of course, after shaking it up it returned to normal. Is there a way to keep a sauce like this from separating? Thanks!	Whenever you see a sauce separate, it's because you have an Emulsion, which is two or more immiscible liquids. In cooking, these liquids are typically water and fat. To stabilize an emulsion, you use an emulsifier. The most common food emulsifier is lecithin, and the most common natural source of lecithin is egg yolk. If you don't want the taste of egg or your food is not going to be cooked (i.e. a vinaigrette), then it you can actually go out and buy pure lecithin (soy lecithin is common to find). As the wikipedia entry mentions, there are other natural emulsifiers such as honey and mustard, and often when you see recipes calling for mustard when it seems to be a strange ingredient to add (such as cheese sauce), the reason is to help stabilize the emulsion. Additionally, the most common emulsifier used in packaged or processed foods is sodium stearoyl lactylate. It sounds scarier than it is; you can buy it in the store just like lecithin.
	I erred in making apple sauce by not coring and peeling the apples before cooking. Now I have a large quantity of bitter apple sauce. Is there anything I can add to counteract the tannic flavor?	Adding balsamic apple cider vinegar almost completely counteracted the tannic flavors. I don't suppose this is something everyone has on their pantry shelf, but I press my own cider (not from Yellow Transparent apples!) and ferment it into any number of other elixirs.
	I've been experimenting with panettone and I've come across the issue time and time again of losing dough consistency while mixing the secondo impasto (i.e. the final panettone dough). What makes this super bizarre to me is how I can go from fully-developed gluten to puddle of mud in only a minute or so after adding some fats/sugar. The new dough consistency is similar to cake batter, or pudding, or thick mayonnaise. You can stick your finger into this gloop, pull it out, and it literally forms "stiff peaks" (a reference to whipping egg whites). It's kind of glossy and can definitely be described as similar to choux dough. I guess it could be also compared to a very very over-fermented high hydration sourdough (i.e. a dough left to ferment for days or weeks). The viscosity is high -- I can "pour" the dough from a Teflon coated container as a single big thick blob (without it sticking to the bowl). (It's unfortunate that I don't have pictures to give a visual.) Thus far, I've determined that the issue does not stem from Using a flour that is too "weak" (though I'm unsure if using an even stronger flour would decrease the likelihood of the dough losing consistency) Adding too much water (I've tested adding a tad bit extra water, but not a whole lot) Over fermentation I'm assuming overfermentation isn't the issue because over-fermented dough can be identified before the second mixing is initiated. (But perhaps the byproducts or acidity produced during the fermentation process can aggravate the issue?) I've found references to this issue online, https://www.thefreshloaf.com/comment/26611#comment-26611 https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/5232/panettone http://hilda.hhandg.com/?p=1483 https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/69835/panettone-trouble And they seem to point to sugar being the culprit in the loss of dough consistency. The comment mentions how mixing for another hour turned the "milkshake" to "finally...where it [gluten] needed to be". But I've experimented with a very long mixing time to see where things would go. It doesn't take too long for the dough to overheat, so the first thing I'll notice is that the dough is leaking oil. After a couple or a few hours, the dough seems to solidify to form a somewhat grainy paste (like stiff/thick icing), which can be shaped and isn't sticky -- however, it has no elasticity. Currently, I suspect too much fat and sugar/erythritol* as being the main contenders for causing this issue. I'm aware that fats prevent long gluten chains from forming, and that regular sugar can compete for water which hinders gluten formation. (Well, the thing is, gluten was already fully developed...and then, well, all the bonds seemed to break down and refused to reform.) Furthermore, erythritol is not hygroscopic and is less than 1/5 the solubility of plain sucrose, but I'm not sure about how that would change things. Perhaps undissolved sugar actually cuts gluten (just speculating)? Does adding sugar slowly actually have any meaning/effect? Could overmixing be contributing to the issue? Is it even possible to overmix panettone/brioche dough (assuming you don't overheat it)? I haven't tested this but I was wondering if too much mixing could result in an irreversible puddle, as referenced in this post I'll also note that I add diastatic barley malt (~0.6% flour weight) in the final dough, but I doubt the proteolytic activity from diastatic barley malt could be fast enough to cause the issue (correct me if I'm wrong). More testing definitely needs to be done on my end, but I was just wondering if there are any experts out there that know the chemistry behind this fiasco and how to prevent it. *: I'm using a erythritol+monkfruit blend in place of plain sugar; in total it's about 7% of the final dough weight (before adding dried fruit), or about 20% of the flour weight. Update: After some further research, it looks like mixing definitely plays an important role. From what I've read mixing (improperly or over) can result in the trouble I'm facing.	In my experience, the secondo impasto can be a delicate balance. In the formula I use, most of the sugar, fat, and eggs are added in the first dough, with a smaller proportion added in the second mix. At that point, I find the temperature of the butter to be important. Soft enough to get worked into the dough, but not too soft. Too soft, and the whole thing can come undone, as you describe. Also, these final ingredients need to be added gradually. I don't have experience with the sugar substitute you are using, so I don't know if that is the culprit. But, be sure you are paying attention to proceeding gradually, with butter at the right temperature.
	I often hear different points of view to this question - some say the hottest part of the chili is its seeds, yet I've heard some (arguably more believable) sources claim that the white part that holds the seeds to the flesh is the hottest. What part of the chili fruit is the hottest?	The Wikipedia article on Capsicum reads, citing a FAQ on a page of the ollege of Agriculture and Home Economics of the New Mexico State University: Capsaicin is present in large quantities in the placental tissue (which holds the seeds), the internal membranes and, to a lesser extent, the other fleshy parts of the fruits of plants in the genus Capsicum. Contrary to popular belief, the seeds themselves do not produce any capsaicin, although the highest concentration of capsaicin can be found in the white pith around the seeds. Cisneros-Pineda et al. measured via gas chromatography the content of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin in the pericarp, placenta, and seeds of seven cultivars of chili peppers and the results confirm this: For dihydrocapsaicin, the difference is not so large, but the placenta still has a higher concentration. In terms of concentration considering fresh mass the difference won't be as dramatic because while the seeds lose around half their mass by drying, the placenta will lose 90%.

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