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Reducing Sugar, what else do I need to change?

I would start at a 25% reduction, so down to 360g. Reducing the sugar in a cake further than that can cause some structural issues. It also has a ton of eggs (seriously, where did this recipe come from?). Lowering it much more could result in egg cake.

Oh yeah, that’s the amount of sugar you would typically expect to see in a chocolate cake but not a vanilla buttermilk one. Reduce the sugar to the weight of the flour and you should be fine. Just keep in mind the reduction of sugar will also result in a reduction of moistness but also an increase in structural integrity, so if moistness is important to you then you can replace a couple of the eggs with egg yolks or replace some of the buttermilk with sour cream.

Is it actually bad to use a KitchenAid Classic for bread?

I have never had an issue making bread with my KA mixer. I usually finish my dough by hand kneading and use my mixer just to get it all started. But I do that bc I enjoy the kneading, not bc my mixer can't hang.

I use my regular ol kitchen aid mixer with the dough hook at least once a week to make milk bread. No problems with it so far. You just have to keep the speed low (2 is for bread) or else the whole machine will start to shake.

I need to know My teacher made cookies with a secret ingredient, I need to know what it is, it has 3 words and 17 letters, any ideas?

instant pudding mix! i saw a tiktok of someone making choc chip cookies with it https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdyEShgx/?k=1

melted brown butter?

What causes cupcakes dome top?

The doming occurs because it's rising. It's a necessary step to making your cupcakes being light and airy, just like most full sized cakes will usually dome in the oven. And, also like a full sized cake, the best way to get rid of an unwanted dome while maintain a cake-y texture is... let it rise normally and just trim the domes off after cooking, before decorating.

This happens for any baked good when the edges cook faster than the center. This happens because the metal pan heats up quickly, so the edges start cooking. Once they're starting to set, the center has nowhere to go but up. For cupcakes, you could try putting the pan on top of a tray of water (which inhibits the edges from cooking as fast) although I've never tried it myself. Usually domed cupcakes don't bother me at all.

Why dont my cookies turn out like the recipe book?

Honestly there is so much that can vary with where you live and the oven you have. Your oven could be unevenly heating or heating too high/low. I think a lot of times people think they are bad bakers but they aren’t considering some of the stuff out of their hands. Remember that humidity and elevation will change how a recipe works too.

First impressions, when a cookie doesn't spread as much as you would like there are a few main causes. (just in general since I don't know what recipe you've used) 1) you used a flour with too much protein (gluten): change the type of flour if necessary 2) Too much flour: weigh it carefully. Sifting the flour is advisable too. 3) used the wrong type of fat (e.g. shortening, which you could replace with butter or oil 4) not enough sugar/leavening agent/liquid ingredients: again measure by weight carefully 5) Dough not mixed properly: make sure to very thoroughly cream the sugar and fat together to incorporate air, and those air bubbles will expand in baking. Also, mixing too much after the flour is added develops more gluten and can toughen the cookie. 6) Oven too hot: the outside sets before the cookie spreads properly. Double check the oven temperature with an oven thermometer if you have one. As for being a little pale, there are a few normal causes 1) too little sugar in the dough 2) oven too cool 3) underbaked cookie: leave it longer Oh and the quality of your ingredients plays a part. The same batch of cookies made with really good quality butter and the super cheap kind from walmart will turn out very differently. Guess which is better

Funfetti Cake - Different Sprinkles?

Finally, one I can answer! Yes, the other sprinkles should be fine. You might have little hard bits due to the different sizes. If you have them, do not use the tiny (<1mm) nonpareils, they turn grey and kinda gross looking. The very best option would be to go out and buy more of the ones it calls for, but you gotta do what you gotta do!

I think you might wind up with some hard crunchy bits with the non-pareil type that are mixed in. If you can find the kind that are all the extruded paste type of sprinkle, your results might be more predictable. Use "great value rainbow sprinkles" as your search term on the Walmart site. Maybe take 1/4 cup of cake batter, add some of your sprinkles and bake to find out how they perform.

How thin of cake layers is too thin?

It’s too thin when you can’t manage it. Assuming they’re not too dense, I’d probably just have a two layer cake, but then I’m lazy, so I rarely bother cutting my layers in half

I think cutting them will be the tricky part. If your filling is sturdy it should act the same as taller cakes.

Pie weights pitted?

So yeah, there's supposed to be some kind of liner between the dough and the weights. BUT, you're going to fill the pie, and all those dents won't show at all, unless you're making one of those transparent pies. Next time you use them, use parchment or foil below the weights. It will all be fine!

So, usually you would put the weights on top of like, a piece of parchment or something and lift them out when the crust is still hot.

Homemade puff pastry worth it?

Short answer: it’s worth it to me. Long answer: I genuinely don’t understand why most people think of puff pastry as some untouchable thing. is puff pastry difficult to make? No. Is it time consuming? Yes, but it’s mostly inactive time. If I’ve got 1-2 days before I need it where I can step into the kitchen 4-5 times throughout the day and can have a folding station left out in the kitchen (which cuts down on the cleanup bit) it’s really easy to pull of and scales/ freezes incredibly well. (It sounds persnickety when I list it out like that but I’m the type of cook/baker where I’ll do more complicated projects over several days to make it less stressful the day of. So I honestly make my own puff pastry several times a year.) That being said, I wouldn’t attempt to do it on the same day that I need it. it’s not enough time to warm and chill the butter as many times as you need and sounds like more stress than it’s worth.

This “cheesecake burrito” sounds a whole lot like a cannoli...

Food grade essential oils vs extracts?

A lot of essential oils are toxic to consume and most health bureaus strongly recommend against ingesting them. Unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation spread by essential oil MLM's like DoTerra and other oil distributers who encourage the consumption of oils. I personally would recommend against using any essential oils in your cooking because it's so hard to tell which oils are genuinely safe to eat.

Because most aren’t food grade and it’s a propaganda scheme from the fragrance oil mlm’s to get people to use them more. Oils you can consume: olive, nut, you know, what you find on the oil aisle of fancy grocery stores. Do not consume any of the rest, at the very least you will get a stomach ache.

Can I prep baklava ahead of time?

Exactly what the other person said. Let it sit overnight. It honestly taste better that way. And all don’t put in fridge. Also don’t cover right away bc the head will create condensation and it will cause it to get soggy. Let it come down to room temp before you cover. It will be absolutely down the day before. Just not in the fridge.

I just ran into this and it turns out you need to let the baklava sit at room temp overnight (covered) as part of the standard recipe. DO NOT put it in the fridge! It will be fine and crispy at room temp. Edit: also dont cover it right away. My recipe recommended 3 hours uncovered to let steam evaporate.

Where can I meet some catguys?

Thundera for sure! Oh wait it's destroyed, maybe third earth then? They're are not many left of them!

Don't know about catguys but you can meet Catgirl in DC universe ; )

Despite being a “car guy”, do you ever feel anxiety about driving?

Yes, of course. After learning to drive on track, I’ve become a much more defensive driver on the street, because I realized most people 1) have no sense of the danger driving poses, 2) most people drive distracted, and 3) most people have no idea how their car works or how it handles in emergency situations. For much of my life I had all 3 of these despite being a “car guy.” Now, I like to play a game where I guess what dumb shit other people are going to do, and then take action to avoid it. “I bet this dipshit isn’t going to look before they merge.” “I bet this guy is going to cut me off.” “I bet this dumbass is going to floor it straight into the back of that stopped traffic up there.” “I bet this guy behind me is antsy and aggressively pops over into the next lane.” The key is to calm down and let the idiots be idiots, while protecting yourself. Essentially: They’re going to cut you off, just let them do it. Public roads are no place to prove anything. Job 1 is to get there safely.

Well, I drive a Subaru, so yes. In all seriousness though, I do know what you mean. The best we can do is get a dashcam setup and drive as safely as possible ourselves. At that point, it's out of our hands, so putting it out of our minds should become a bit easier.

What car would you buy if you just won $106 413 US?

That’s an oddly specific number. Either way, here’s my list: Practical electric car: Tesla Model S Long Range (with autopilot) Practical gasoline car: Porsche Panamera 4S Fun car: Convertible Jaguar F Type R

Is that before or after tax? I'd buy a CPO Volvo V60 estate. R trim, thank you. Because I could commute in comfort, go around corners, punch through the worst midwest snow storms and pull my camper for vacations with that 3000lb towing capacity. Also, survive any roadway accident short of some Final Destination shit. Also, because wagon. And then I'd take the other $70k, buy a *nicer* camper, and refinance my house, freeing up many hundreds of dollars every month for when that Volvo eventually dies because it's a car and they do that. At that point, I'll be able to finance as many Volvos as I want given my higher home equity and more comfortable monthly operating margin.

What's the difference between a money shift and engine braking in manual transmission?

Engine braking happens when you let off the gas while the car is already in gear and the clutch is fully engaged. The engine's computer cuts off fuel to the engine and it continues rotating due to the momentum of the moving car. Instead of the engine turning the wheels, the wheels are now turning the engine. Because the engine is no longer producing power, the only forces involved are now the frictional forces both inside the engine and throughout the drivetrain, as well as the compressive force inside the cylinders. These frictional forces slow down the car naturally by resisting the turning of the wheels, having the effect of "engine braking." All you're doing is coasting while in gear. That's it. This effect is increased slightly when in lower gears at higher RPMs, which might be the source of your confusion. Downshifting usually precedes engine braking. That downshift, however, should be rev matched so that the clutch disc engages with a flywheel that is spinning at the same speed, saving wear on the clutch/syncros and ensuring a smooth gear change. Not rev matching your downshifts is bad for your drivetrain. It's important to know that the engine braking only happens when the clutch is fully engaged, not before. If you're slowing down using the clutch, this isn't engine braking, and it's not good for your car. A "money shift" is what happens when someone accidentally shifts into a lower gear than intended. This happens most frequently when shifting from second gear to third while racing. The gear lever goes into first, the clutch is quickly engaged, and the engine RPMs exceed the mechanical limits of the engine internals, blowing the engine up and costing a lot of money in repairs (hence, "money shift"). This *does* have the effect of suddenly causing the car to decelerate, but the mechanics involved are quite different. In a money shift, the deceleration is caused by a large mismatch between the rotational speed of the engine and the transmission. What causes the overwhelming majority of deceleration in this case is the friction of the quickly spinning clutch disc engaging with the slowly turning engine flywheel. In engine braking, the deceleration is gradual and slow, caused by the internal resistance of the engine and drivetrain with the clutch fully engaged. With a money shift, the deceleration is sudden and violent, caused by the friction of the clutch suddenly engaging with a flywheel that is rotating much more slowly. Money shifts break cars, engine braking does not.

Money shift takes the engine past the RPM redline. Cool analysis from Engineering Explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9SbDvMhCFs

What is generally considered to be the first "pony car"?

Why do you think they are called pony cars? Because of the badge on the mustang.

Mustang

Is white pepper really worth it?

Everyone in this thread loves white pepper. But the white pepper we have at work (I haven't tried others) literally tastes like a horse's barn. As if they just ground up horse hooves and packaged them. Edit: just found some interesting info confirming my experience: "The typical smell of manure of white pepper produced with “traditional”methods is due to some of the components of its volatile oil. ... The 4-methilfenolo – an odor of feces and/or horse sweat, as well as the skatole (whose pungency is increased by the simultaneous presence of p-cresol)." "Unlike its black counterpart, white pepper can possess a medicinal or barnyard-like smell. ... According to food science expert Harold McGee, these off-flavors will develop during the fermentation process if the peppercorns have not been properly maintained in constantly flowing water."

Yes. White pepper totally rocks. Fruitier profile compared to black. Mine has lasted years and still tastes great.

Why do my burgers taste so different from restaurant ones?

You need to cook burgers hot to get the Maillard reaction really going. The oil should be smoking when you put them in (PSA if your oil lights on fire put a lid on the pan to extinguish the flames). IMO a great burger will have a crust that makes a noise when you drag a knife across it. Also you need to really season them well. I recommend a steak seasoning like Hy's or Lawry's because it contains *just the right amount of savoury, savoury MSG.*

Could be the meat you're using. Maybe consider higher fat content and/or adding ground pork. This may be inaccurate but I feel like 30% to 50% pork is pretty common.

Is there a difference between coconut milk you can buy in the supermarket fridges near the regular milk, and canned coconut milk you buy near all the spices, curry pastes, etc?

As someone else said, you've gotten a lot of good answers! Canned for cooking almost always! Only thing I'd like to add is that a lot of the canned types have thickeners added (things like guar/xanthan gum, carrageenan, agar, or starch) to give it a smooth consistency in place of actually being creamy due to fat content. I try to find brands without these as they don't always sit well on my stomach (yay Crohn's...) and may be something else to consider when you're selecting a type!

Funny you ask, the other day i tried to make a coconut adobo recipie. Didn’t have the canned type, so I just dumped in the drinkable type. Big mistake, came out really sweet, but fake sweet, like if you had dropped a sucker into the pot. And like everyone else said, the drinkable is super watery. Don’t make my mistake and ruin a whole meal you were excited for

Is homemade ice cream texture determined more by the machine you buy, or your technique in making it?

You can make absolutely great ice cream with a "put the bowl in the freezer" type ice cream maker. I used one of these for years. Given that most "premium" ice cream is low overrun anyways, there is really no disadvantage, other than you can only do one batch at a time. It's mostly about the recipe - balancing the fat, sugar, total solids, not getting too much water from certain ingredients, stuff like that. If you want a basic book to get started, read The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. If you want a more advanced book, read Hello My Name Is Ice Cream by Dana Cree If you really want to get into it read the Ice Cream Science blog and the Underbelly blog.

Your homemade ice cream with a non-compressor maker can be outstanding. Ice cream is much more dependent on recipe / ingredients / technique than maker. Source: have made so much ice cream, in professional models, in freezer bowl models, and in at-home compressor models. I will note that a lot of fancy people, like Heston Blumenthal, disagree with me and they say if you're not making it real quick you're losing out. The theory is that super-quick freezing will make smaller ice crystals (which is true) and that yields a better texture. But the right technique and recipe will also yield a delightful texture. The obvious thing that a compressor model can do that a freezer bowl model can't is make multiple batches in a row. The less obvious thing that a compressor model can do that a freezer bowl model can't is handle certain recipes that require a lot of freezing, like salted caramel, say.

Why the hell can't I sharpen my knife?

Ok, basic tip here: Color the edge of your knife with sharpie, like John from JKI does here. Then do a few strokes on your stone, at the angle you did the previous times. Where the marker gets removed, that's where your stone is removing metal. If it's just a hairline on the very edge, you are at too steep an angle and need to lower the back of your knife towards the surface of the stone. The other thing that can occur, of which I am fairly certain it will in your case, is that the black color gets removed further up the blade, away from the edge. In that case, you need to increase your angle, lifting the back of the knife away from the surface of the stone. You can always reapply the sharpie, take one or two strokes and then check what's happening. This is the very first step to troubleshoot your dullness problem. If you aren't hitting the edge, no actual sharpening occurs. There can be reason to use a lower angle than your knife currently has set, but that has to do with modifying the geometry of the blade. Also important, but not at your current stage. There are tons of great sharpening tutorials out there, but you may have to try some of the different sharpening styles used in order to the find the one that works for you. I for instance first tried to switch hands for the two different sides of the blade, which led to complete disaster for me. My sisters husband does use that technique to great effect.. In the end, I started using the japanese way, with the dominant hand on the handle and the index finger supporting the spine, and two fingers of the non-dominant hand on the edge, right on the spot I want to sharpen, moving up and down the blade. Ricky from Burrfection is pretty close to my my style, maybe try this video (Yes, I know of the controversy regarding him in the knife community, but his videos have great production value for a beginner, it's very clear to see what he does) If you have more questions, I will try my best to help you.

I really recommend Korin's video tutorials (they are a famous Japanese knife shop in NYC). I only picked up sharpening last year and being broke settled for only using a 800 stone, so not very experienced but satisfied with the results for my home needs and I am familiar with what a sharp knife is like, having cooked in restaurants (just always had more experienced people do it for me). My advice is to feel for the bevel on the stone rather than use some arbitrary angle. Feel it and go really slow to keep it and become familiar with it. There is some adjusting to do with the angle of your hand as you're progressing along the different parts of the blade, the goal being to keep that feeling of the right angle. Edit to add: There's also no use in going up the grit size before you feel like you've sharpened the knife.

Why is butter deemed healthier than margarine even though it contains a lot of saturated fats?

Margarines were re-engineered in the last few decades. Almost all now are made from vegetable oils with high levels of unsaturated (“good”) fats, poly and mono. Prior to that they had a lot of trans fats which are now thought to be bad, and a lot of saturated fat. Butter is largely saturated fat. So the fat content of margarine is arguably healthier. People’s perception of “natural” versus “man made” products and perhaps a lack of understanding of the content of margarine now likely drive the difference in perception of health, not the reality of the products.

In my understanding, Butter is saturated and is a natural fat, vs. margarine which is an engineered product that contains trans-fats.

Why are "econmical cuts" of beef more expensive than "expensive cuts"?

The economical cuts are the cheap ones, no matter what cuts they happen to be. Enjoy your steak!

It's always what's "in" that's the most expensive. For the longest time fatty and collagen rich parts were not considered "good", as lean and tender was the way to go. Now people are slowly remembering that you can do amazing things with parts of the animal that actually taste a lot more intense and, if prepared right, can be a delightful experience. On the flip side, as you mentioned, other cuts are getting a wee bit cheaper which is also nice. Where I am the supermarkets routinely sell "soup cuts" which you have to cook a long time but I'll be damned if they don't make the most amazing stews. Smoking them for a few hours would also work wonders I guess. Tldr: stuff is good and we won't shut up about it

Is there a name for eggs that have been cooked sunny side up but covered so the top turns white?

What is the different between what you are asking and over easy? I always just order over easy. Also ordering common dishes have a higher chance of success rate.

When she was a kid, my wife's parents used to use a spoon and baste the yolks of sunny-side-up eggs with the butter in the pan. They called those "splashed eggs." In a kitchen they would be "basted sunny-side-up." They had the added benefit of the flavor of buttery goodness. So, as someone else said here, I think "steam basted" would be a good way.

How do I serve fresh pasta to big groups?

I used to work the pasta station at a high-end italian restaurant and we used all house-made pasta.... that said, it was made fresh, portioned into single servings, dusted with semolina, and then frozen in little "nests". fresh pasta keeps really well this way, and then you just grab a couple frozen nests and drop them into your hot water to cook. Only adds like a minute to the cooktime, and doesn't affect the texture of the pasta at all. From there, your best bet is to have several sauces ready to go ahead of time and kept warm in something like this: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/bella-3-x-1-5-quart-triple-slow-cooker-stainless-steel-black/4310325.p?skuId=4310325&ref=212&loc=1&ref=212&loc=1&ds\_rl=1260582&gclid=CjwKCAjwzIH7BRAbEiwAoDxxTmoE5wLNY1o5ChJu0wZPoHOXiYygWx5Q\_xe616p5klsTHJyF6id9\_BoCbb0QAvD\_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds From there, it's easy, keep a big pot of boiling water on the stove, ideally with pasta baskets in it, and then you just finish it in the pan. If you're doing something like linguine that cooks quickly, you can finish a full pan of a given sauce in under 10 minutes easy!

Nobody makes pasta to order. If it’s made that day it will be just as good if it’s stored properly and oiled to prevent sticking.

Why is celery almost always included in mirepoix?

I find it adds a clean, herbal but not overpowering flavor that balances the sweetness of onion and carrots. It’s a teeny bit bitter without being noticeably bitter and a teeny bit herbal without being intense like rosemary or bay leaf.

Because it's delicious and adds a lot of flavor.

Is it just me or is cooking chicken to 165F result in overcooked chicken?

Destroying pathogens is a question of time *and* temperature, not just one. per the USDA's time/temp table for meat & poultry Pasteurization Time for Chicken With 5% Fat Content (99.99999% of pathogens killed) |Internal Temperature|Time held at that temp|| |:-|:-|:-| |136°F (58°C)|68.4 minutes|| |140°F (60°C) |27.5 minutes|| |145°F (63°C)|9.2 minutes|| |150°F (66°C)|2.8 minutes|| |155°F (68°C)|47.7 seconds|| |160°F (71°C)|14.8 seconds|| |165°F (74°C)|Instant||

So it's all a function of temperature over time. It's 165 for 10 seconds, or 150 for a longer period of time. I'm not sure of that number off the top of my head, but salmonella will die at 150 eventually. 165 is the idiot proof, surefire way to make it safe. Edit: serious eats has a graph that says at 150, it's about 3 minutes. Well worth the read here. https://www.seriouseats.com/the-food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-chicken-breast

Can you make a chicken stock from a leftover rotisserie chicken carcass, even if there is no meat left on it?

Oh yes. It's one of the best-known-secrets out there. Take the carcass, break it down at the joints, then roast it in the oven for about an hour at 400F. It'll render the fat, so less gets in the stock, and it'll brown up all the tissue, making for more flavorful stock. If you want to really step-it-up, take a mallet and bust the bones to shards, to create a marrow-rich bone broth. Boil out carrot, celery, garlic, onion, in a stock pot, then add your chicken bits once they brown, then simmer it for another hour or so. Strain with wire-mesh covered in cheesecloth to get a near-consommé broth.

I was born for this thread my head chef showed me how to make stock and i am here to share this with yall. Step 1 is to save up chicken bones ( carcass, neck, meat litterally anything) then you wanna wash them until your water runs crystal clear. After that throw in some onion rosemary sage thyme celery carrots shallots pepper corns bayleaves and whatever else you wanna try experiment its alot of fun! Put all of these is a cheese cloth tied to your pot for easy removal later. Then you wanna heat the water up to a simmer and skim whatever gunk comes to the surface with a spoon or mesh. After like 2 hours you shouldn't have to worry about it but for those 2 hours check up on it and skim it every 20 mins or so. After that just let it go i usually do overnight but 6-8 hours is usually fine just check it make sure the water hasnt evaporated away too much but no need to babysit it ( i litterally leave the building for the night tho i use a steam kettle so no fire hazard there do what you feel is safe) then you gotta strain it out now is also the time to portion if you want. I use a mesh strainer and cheese cloth the finer the better. Be sure to go SLOW there is a layer of fat at the top and that is good stuff but not for the stock so you have 2 options. 1 you can stop straining when you see fat bubbles and set the fat aside for later use. 2 you can strain the whole thing then let cool in fridge and the fat will become solid and you can pull it iff the top like a stick of butter. Finally add some salt if you want and bam you got that good clear chicken stock that will make your whole house smell like bomb ass chicken noodle soup

Why did our mother die?

I always keep a deli on starter in the freezer for when someone or something accidentally kills the starter. The last time it was someone trying to help it and adding a handful of commercial yeast. When it is struggling or dies, I have that save point in the freezer and start over.

Have you changed the ambient temperature or cleaning products recently?

Do professional chefs actually yell at their line cooks, during service, if they mess up?

It’s definitely a toxic trait the industry has. I experienced it even in school while we worked in one of the restaurants for a class. They yell if you’re too slow, if you mess up, if it’s too loud, if it’s too messy. Anything and everything. I now work in a kitchen that is so calm and serene. The chef only yells out orders and talks to you in a normal voice. If there is a mistake, the head chef steps in so either you or him can make it right. He delegates tasks to others to help another chef out if he sees someone needs it. We are allowed to talk about things other than work as long as we are still doing our job. We can listen to music while we work. Everyone understands that mistakes happen. We are a super happy and productive team and the industry needs to head in this direction.

It used to be the case, but not anymore. Restaurants, especially high end restaurants ( especially Michelin starred restaurants) are highly stressful work environment, when a cook messes up one dish it can have repercussion on many other dishes that needs to be served at the same time for a table, and will also impact the timing of other tables service. Like in many business, if something wrong happens, it is not just the fault of the line cook, but of all the workflow, was it a lack of training ? was it a hardware failure ? was it a lack of communication between the cooks ? It will and should be handled professionally with a good post-mortem (at the end of the shift) discussion. Gordon Ramsey build his brand/schtick on being a dick on reality TV shows, but if he behaves like that in his own kitchen it would be considered a highly toxic work environment.

Is there a resource you’d recommend to improve my plating from home cook to better-than-home-cook?

This might be of help: https://www.webstaurantstore.com/article/200/basic-guide-to-food-presentation.html This is from a website that a lot of folks in the business use for supplies. I've used them for both work and home. I have learned most of plating skills by watching others that I cook with, watching videos online and from guides like the one above. At home I basically use the same plates for day-to-day use, but for holidays or special gatherings, I do use random plates that I think will make whatever is on that plate, "shine".

Try r/culinaryplating. It’s basically high end food porn, but might inspire you.

You can't leave cooked rice out at room temperature (b cereus growth) but you can soak raw rice for 12 hours or more, why is that?

When in culinary school, the acronym FATTOM was used to explain the conditions that bacteria need to grow. **F**ood (duh) **A**cidity: the pH of the item has to be within a specified range; more neutral generally means better conditions for bacteria to grow. Something acidic enough will kill bacteria, which is why something like ceviche works. **T**emperature: the "danger zone" of 41-135F is where bacteria grow the most easily, with somewhere between 60-80F being the "extreme danger zone," where it's *really* easy for growth to occur. You can kill bacteria above this temperature, but not below; refrigerating or freezing an item just slows or stops the bacteria from multiplying, but doesn't permanently disable them. **T**ime: it takes time for the cells to split and reproduce. This is largely why you get two hours of "dedicated prep time" in the danger zone to get stuff done. **O**xygen: This one is sometimes incorrect, as things like botulism actually grow in anaerobic environments, but generally it needs exposure to air in order to grow. **M**oisture: This is the one at play in your question. Rice, in its raw form, has little to no "accessible" moisture that bacteria can use to feed and grow. When you cook it, you introduce a great deal of moisture to the party, and the bacteria can then begin to reproduce. So, in short, you added moisture, and that's what makes it potentially hazardous while raw rice generally is not.

It's a very good question. I know that starch is not a readily available food source to most bacteria. Part of the rice cooking process is that you breakdown ie convert the starch into simpler sugars. Not all of it mine you, but enough to provide an ample enough food source for the spores to start growing. That would be my hypothesis.

What would be the difference in the flavor/taste of a dish when it's cooked by caramelizing onions which is: Grated OR Chopped OR Pureed?

My partner loves my soup but doesn’t like chunks of vegetables. I’ve been putting the mirepoix into the blender before sautéing it, to “hide” the vegetables. Reflecting on the info here, next time I’m going to sauté chunks of onion, carrot, celery and blend them after they’ve gotten some good color on them.

There is no short answer for this , but basically everything changes on the ingredients and cuts and methods of cooking. For instance the onions you ask, if you puree them and put those in a pan it would boil on its own juicies, and if you cut them in pieces and sautee them in oil you could brown them. You should get a book on basic techniques to grasp most basic interactions between different ingredients, methods of cooking and cuts.

What is the salt used at steakhouses?

I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the concept of dipping $100 steak in salt. How do you taste the meat? Dipping? Jeepers. Maldon Salt is a common, perhaps most common, finishing salt. There are other sea salts as good (from Salt Island BVI is great if you can find it without flying in, chartering a boat, and heading over there yourself, then grinding and cleaning). The challenge is ensuring restraint in the kitchen while seasoning so that the finishing salt doesn't overwhelm the product. Otherwise you might as well use cheaper meat. The key is determining how much you're paying for the brand, and how much for quality salt. If you can taste salt, the dish is oversalted.

Check out Saltverk https://saltverk.com/. I have a sample pack and it’s pretty good. Also, if in Canada, Silk Road has some great stuff: https://silkroadspices.ca/collections/salts

What Does Vanilla Extract Actually Do?

It adds one of the most complex flavors available, giving depth to anything it touches. Garlic is the moon while vanilla is the entire milky way

It adds a pleasant vanilla flavor. It's very potent, that's why small amounts are all that's necessary. Although, I've used as much as 1 tablespoon in a "normal" recipe. Add a few drops to your oatmeal or cereal next time so you can taste the difference it makes.

Simple question for those that work in the food industry: how is it that I can order mashed potatoes from a favorite half fancy restaurant and they are always perfectly prepared ready to go?

The restaurant I work at makes a base of unseasoned mashed potatoes with a little butter and cream that they keep on the line. Then when potatoes are ordered they heat butter and cream in a pan then add the potato base and season to serve.

* Bake potatoes * Scoop out those potatoes (discard the skin) and portion out * Keep it warm or warm it back up in microwave * Ricer, then whip with butter + cream + salt + ??? * Serve Not sure what your local restaurant does, but that's how I did it on the line years back.

Substituting vinegar for citrus: would you keep the quantities the same?

In terms of Ph, lemon juice and vinegar are pretty similar, however, that doesn't mean they are perceived the same on the palate. Vinegar is a fermented product and mostly acetic acid. It hits the palate in a completely different way. Commercially produced vinegar also doesn't have a lot of additional flavor. I'm talking about the stuff in the gallon jug from the grocery store, not the $12 bottle of balsamic finishing vinegar. By comparison, lemon juice and citrus is is a natural fruit juice, and mostly citric and ascorbic acid. Different acids hit the palate differently. Think about how the acid from a green apple (malic) is different from citrus or vinegar. Another consideration is, if the citrus is juiced in a way that expresses a lot of oil from the rind, like with a press, there is a lot of additional flavor added to the juice. Lime juice specifically can have a lot of vanilla flavors. This is the main caution I would give for substituting one for another. Verjus is probably the closest bridge between the two, but it's not as readily accessible and usually overpriced. Would you substitute lime juice in a guacamole for cider vinegar? Why or why not? Would you put lemon juice on french fries as a substitute for malt vinegar?

I agree that to some extent it is up to your taste, but I will add that generally I think that vinegars are substantially stronger than lemon or lime juice. It’s not only that the sourness, but they also have a sharper flavor than lemon or lime, so when I use them I would use substantially less. An acrid flavor might be another way to describe it, not necessarily in a bad way but just a lot stronger and more pungent than lemon or lime. Some people really like that but I find it easily overpowering. Vinegar also holds up to cooking much better than lemon or lime does, and I actually find that cooking it helps mellow and balance out the taste. So if I’m using vinegar instead of lemon or lime I like to add it during the cooking process and let it mellow that way, as opposed to lemon or lime where I typically would add it as a garnish at the end of a dish. You could use vinegar that way as well of course but I personally find that then the sharpness comes out much more and I would tolerate much less than lemon or lime.

“browning” ground beef Silly question, but when a recipe says to “brown the ground beef” does it mean to cook it until its not raw anymore or does it mean to actually sear it, kinda like a steak?

I can't speak for all recipe writers but it will be best if you actually sear it. However, I think people often use it to just mean "until its cooked". Both will work for the recipe but getting a nice browning (as opposed to "steaming" in a pan that's too cold or small) will always taste better. I like to just plop the whole amount in a hot pan and let it sizzle for a couple minutes before breaking it up and finishing cooking.

Usually it means to get some brown crusty spots and the rest rare as it will finish cooking with more ingredients like in a sauce, stew, or chili type dish. My favorite way of doing this is to make small meat balls, golf ball size. Then brown them well on one side, roll them and brown another side. Keep doing that until until they have dark brown patches across 2/3 or so of the surface. Then bust them up with a potato masher. This keeps the pan from over crowding, so they brown and don't steam. It allows you to pour off the grease if need be. The final product has tasty brown bits, but is not dried out. Saw that technique on America's Test Kitchen.

Are there any commercially available preservatives I could use to preserve my homemade mayo so it lasts as long as the storebought stuff?

When I get in the mood to make mayo I will pasueurise the eggs first with my sous vide setup. The resultant mayo, in theory, should last well, but it's never around for very long!

In terms of splitting, if that truly is an issue, you can use lecithin but also just mustard like dijon is very common in mayo in terms of its flavour profile but mustard too acts somewhat as an emulsifier. Lecithin is also an antioxidant so it could potentially extend shelf life a bit. You shouldn't need the lecithin though because egg yolks have plenty. I'm not aware of mayos spontaneously splitting, unless something completely wrong happened like applying heat to it, not emulsifying it properly in the first place etc.

When making ice cream, can I use table cream (18%) instead of mixing milk and whipping cream?

Yes, this is possible. What matters is the amount of fat, sugars and total solids present in the final base. What combination of milk, cream, water, nut butters etc. these ingredients come from is not as important as the overall balance of the recipe. You'll want to stay inside recommended ranges. That said, using milk is quite useful. Having an high-volume ingredient that's mostly water allows you to easily make substitutions and tweaks to ice cream recipes without throwing the ratios out of whack. Milk is the flexible ingredient in ice cream that accommodates for additions or substitutions so that the total amount of the base (usually 1 000 g) remains unchanged. Want to make berry ice cream from puree? Add puree and remove an equal quantity of milk. Want to make the ice cream denser, more New England style? Increase the quantity of skim milk powder, and take away milk. That sort of thing. Feel free to stop by at r/icecreamery, too. There's a lot of expertise there.

So, I have tried making it with table cream in the past. I didn't manage to get it as thick as it should be (did it by hand), and it was too liquid, resembling a milk-shake. Taste wise, it was perfect to me.

What beans are these?

My guess was mayacoba, but apparently that is just a different name for Peruvian beans. Anyway, I sure love them. Like pinto but better with a cleaner flavor.

They look a little light to be Pintos so I'm going to say Peruvian beans, also known as Canary beans.

Best way to prepare sausage stuffing for Thanksgiving when guests don't eat pork?

Mushroom based stuffing is delish as an alternative

I would buy the sausages you're considering using, and cook them up, just to try them now and see how they compare to your usual sausage. Then make the Thanksgiving sausage with the one you liked best!

Remember that turnip that was actually a watermelon radish?

That earthy taste you’re describing is a compound called geosmin. Geosmin is very alkaline, so you can neutralize it with an acid. Toss the dish with some added lemon juice then let it sit for 15 minutes. It should cut the dirt flavors way down (same reason why beet dishes like borscht are often seasoned with an acid like lemon juice or wine vinegar).

Have you tried quick pickling it? It makes it less of a main dish and more of an accent to something else but its quite tasty and tames a lot of the more aggressive radish flavors.

Does it really make a difference if you add the pasta before or after the water is boiling?

Kenji seems to think "no". Also Harold McGee. Ever since I read that NY Times article now 7-8(!) years ago, I've been putting just barely enough hot water to cook the pasta in, salt, turning the burner on, and throwing the pasta in immediately after the salt is dissolved.

Pasta needs to hydrate and it needs to cook. Cooking takes near-boiling water, but doesn't take much time at all. Hydration can take place at any temperature. So you can add your pasta to cold water and bring it to a boil, add your pasta to boiling water and turn the heat off, or pre-soak your pasta and add it to boiling sauce. It all works fine.

Why are eggs on so many foods in so many ways?

Because across nearly all cultures bird eggs were easily forage-able, and once tamed, in exchange for some labor and grain, chicken eggs became a plentiful, versatile source of high-protein food. It's not just that they're plentiful and cheap, it's that they've been that way for hundreds of years. Also when you've got just a few food ingredients, it gets old quickly so versatility comes into play. French cuisine is often considered the pinnacle of fine dining and the French developed several dozen ways to prepare the humble egg.

Because chickens lay so many of them, they've become a part of many recipes, dishes, sauces & sides. Lol. Plus, it's any easy, inexpensive way to make some stuff look & taste "fancy".. Edited.....

Will the juice in the bottom of the grocery store rotisserie chicken container work for gravy?

It’s a combo of water and fat. I would use it to start a gravy, but throw 1-2 T butter into it as you warm it, before adding flour to bring the fat proportion up.

Yes. This is basically pan sauce

Toasting Indian spices: does it always improve flavour?

I don't always toast whole spices. It depends. Toasting does change the aroma and flavor. When I toast, it's quick, 20-30 seconds. When you smell it, your done. I preheat a pan, toss in the spices, keep them moving, and remove to a shallow bowl or plate to cool. Toasting for longer will destroy the delicate volatile compounds which is why you get that muddy, toasty flavor. If I want a brighter flavor, I don't toast. If I want a richer flavor, I toast. How fine you grind also has an impact on the result. If you grind coarsely leaving more big bits, you'll get more individualized flavor, toasted or not. If you grind finer, you get a more combined flavor. It all depends on the result you want.

I’ve found that toasting my whole spices, especially coriander and cumin seeds, heightens the aroma rather than deadens it. I toast on a fairly low heat, tossing the whole way, and take them off the heat once they become very fragrant. I would try toasting on a 1-2/6 and go a bit longer, agitating the whole time. In general though, I would go by your nose more than by timing. Sounds like you might be toasting for too long on too high a heat.

How do caterers and restaurants boil large batches of pasta for a lot of customers?

Get a big pot

Many places will par cook (undercooked not yet al dente) large batches of pasta, lightly toss in olive oil and portion- then finish in a boiling pot or with the sauce in a skillet. The practice is looked down upon in higher end establishments but it makes life easy

Why do fruit woods impart a sweet taste on meats after smoking?

I think it is more of a lack of any bitterness rather than an actual sweetness. Kind of like the difference between hickory and mesquite.

Can't say but have to brag: I have peach trees in my orchard, and when I pruned them last winter I stored the wood. Did a pork butt with oak as the heat and peach wood as the smoke and it was so good I didn't even add barbecue sauce. Just put that pulled pork straight onto a bun. it was like 8 pounds of meat, and I was not tired of it when it was gone. have another pork butt in the freezer, and it will be better next time, with adjustments to the rub. Used apple juice for the last one, may use peach juice from the fresh peaches ripening as we speak for the next one.

Is there a difference between regular white wine (that we drink) and cooking white wine ?

Many have said "only cook with wine you would drink." I agree, but with a small variation. Only cook with wine you *can* drink. Cooking wine usually is very salty, essentially unpalatable to all but the most desperate alcoholic. Cheap wine isn't great, probably an aftertaste, not much complexity to the flavours, but you can drink it. I'd happily cook with the cheapest wine I can buy at a liquor store, because I can drink it. I'd be very hesitant to use cooking wine unless it was specifically called for in the recipe. I buy a box of white, usually whatever is on-sale. I can have a glass while I'm cooking, and some can make it's way into the meal.

It's preferable to use proper wine for cooking, "Cooking wine" is usually bottom of the barrel crud that couldn't pass as even the most awful drinking wine. It's then got other things added in like salt and watered down a bit iirc. For some reason google is turning up articles about fortified wines like sherry and marsala when searching for cooking wine. They're a different story and if a recipe calls for one of those specifically, you should use it.

WTF is a pod of garlic?

For 23 kg I think a pod refers to a garlic braid: a dozen cloves braided together at harvest time and hung up for storage

Honestly pod is a better descriptor for that thing than bulb.

I never realized soy was such a prevalent ingredient in American groceries until I had a child that is allergic to it... Why so much soy?

Welcome to the wall of text about how its in freaking everything due to the history of American big agriculture, its nutritional value and usefulness in industrial food manufacturing. In the early 1900's, cottonseed oil was king in the US but in 1915 the US cotton crop was infested with boll weevils, which eventually led to the processing of soy oil for human consumption. Cottonseed processing plants were easily converted to soybean because the presses and other equipment worked equally well with soybeans. So soybean oil was being efficiently produced at a time when World War I was creating more demand for oils. Southern farmers replaced their cotton crops with soybeans, the USDA started to provide incentives to increase soy land use, pushing the crop into the Midwest. Which made soybeans the nation’s “Cinderella” crop in the 1920s. Demand was also high for soybeans to provide farmers with a high-protein, low-cost animal feed. By developing new strains, the territory where soybeans could be cultivated was vastly expanded. The oil went into numerous industrial products, like soaps, paints and varnishes, linoleum, ink, glycerin, explosives, celluloid, and as a rubber substitute. But it still tasted like shit because of the high levels of linolenic acid. But ingenuity wins out when there's a cheap crop expanding. During the 1930s, research on flavour reversion and its use in hydrogenation opened the way for soybeans to be used in human food products. The oil found its way into shortenings, margarine, salad dressings, and as a cooking oil. By WWII, soybean oil had become the most important food oil in the United States. Soybeans are easy to bulk transport, can handle long storage and shipment over long distances, are easily harvested in an entirely mechanical way, have a growing season of only 15 weeks which makes it easy to adjust production to world market demand. So easy, cheap and plentiful. Soybeans are also valuable nutritionally. Staple cereals like rice, maize, barley, wheat, and rye yield an incomplete protein, meaning they lack essential amino acids. What they don't have, soy does have so it became a very useful nutritional additive high in B vitamins, vitamin E, phosphorous, and iron. As an additive, they are also useful for emulsion formation, promotion of fat and water absorption, and texture and colour control for products like bologna, frankfurters, breads, soups, cakes, pasta, gravies, whipped toppings, and simulated meats, vegetables, and fruits. So yeah, sorry your kid has this allergy and soy is in freaking everything. As a banquet chef, I'd say on average 30% of my guests have some sort of food allergy so I tend to shape my menus to entirely avoid peanuts, soy and shellfish. The good news is that kid friendly chickie nuggs and fish sticks are easy to make at home and freeze really well. Portion out chicken/fish strips, flour, egg wash, panko, lay em out on parchment on a sheet tray, into the freezer until solid then dump into freezer bags. Pull out and pan fry. Its can be expensive but if you've got a Trader Joes or Whole Foods nearby, they tend to have a lot of "free-from" foods that are well labeled.

Soy proteins help water and fat emulsify

What are the pros/cons of frying Italian meatballs in a pan versus baking in the oven, and what would you recommend?

- Oven baked: much easier, less mess - pan fried: better sear, crispier, likely juicier

Meatballs in Italy are always pan-fried or pan-seared it’s much better in terms of moisture retention and browning

Why does my homemade yogurt get moldy so quickly?

I regularly make yogurt at home and don’t have this problem. I think the other poster who mentions being careful about having a sterile environment and cleaning your fridge/utensils/etc is onto something. If that doesn’t work, I notice you didn’t mention the step of scalding your milk before using the instapot setting. I know some people can skip that step and have no problems, but it might be the cause of your problems.

I can tell you how my mom makes it. Hopefully it will help you! It's very important to have clean containers. We use stainless steel/terracotta at home (india). Boil skim milk, and add a spoon or 2 or yesterdays (not sour) yogurt. Mix it up and pour it in the containers. Then we keep the containers in the oven (shut off) just so that they have a place to set comfortably without being disturbed in any way, and it's a constant temperature for the bacteria to develop. Once it's set for a couple of hours, we cover it with a loose lid and store it in the fridge. We make fresh curd every 2 days, and not a lot of it. Old curd definitely goes sour and that can be used to make alot of fermented foods (yum), but mold is not a good sign. I would suggest using store bought yogurt as a starter, and if you're not in India, I would suggest buying Dahi/Curd at an indian store and using that for your starter. Clear out your fridge and wipe it down with vinegar to eliminate all bacteria in it. It could be a cause of the curd going bad. Hope this helps! Edit to add: we use non-homogenised cow/buffalo milk. Also, while you can make it without heating the milk, it's recommended to heat it to 180F (boiling point), as it makes for a richer end product due to the whey proteins denaturing and coagulating and hence enhancing the the viscosity and texture of the final product. It also kills any bad bacteria that might be present in the milk.

Why doesn't almond butter taste like almond paste, or almond extract?

Eating almonds are used to make almond butter - this is a different almond than the kind used to produce marzipan, which is made with something called bitter almonds. Almond extracts also use this bitter almond flavor. Basically, almonds are the pits of drupes that are fairly close to your average peach. So every fruit produces one almond. The bitter almonds used for Italian amaretto cookies and marzipan come from some type of peaches, and are generally used in small-ish quantities since in large quantities they're technically poisonous (cyanide); sometimes you'll mix in a bit of bitter almond with normal almonds to form the base for almond-flavored pastries and the like. But almond butter is made only with eating almonds, the kind you snack on and can be eaten raw or dry roasted etc. That's why they taste different. :) Just different types of almonds.

Almond extract (some) is made from a darivitive of apricot pits. It's possible you actually like the artificial almond flavor, and not the raw nut flavor or roasted notes that you taste in almond butter. If you like almond flavored stuff as much as I do, go buy Ben and Jerry's new ice cream: sweet like sugar. It's an amazing almond base with what tastes like sugar cookie dough in it. I'm currently obsessed and trying to figure out how to make almond ice cream that tastes like marzipan.

Do professional chefs use signature knives?

Most cooks use whatever is rented (Victorinox usually) or mid-range Japanese/German knives. In higher end restaurants you'll sometimes see hand-made Japanese knives like Korin in NYC carries (your first trip to Korin is kind of a rite of passage on the East Coast). In the ten years I spent cooking I never saw anyone use a "signature" knife and they would probably be made fun of for using it.

There are two different answers implicit in your question, or maybe two different questions. The first is 'professional cooks' and the second is 'professional chefs.' Cooks use whatever. Some use high-end Japanese steel; others use German. One of the best guys I ever worked with used a shitty serrated chef's knife on the theory good steel is just going to get banged up in a kitchen anyway, but he was good enough to get away with that anyway. A celebrity chef is more likely to use a signature knife (I guess?) but in most kitchens the chef isn't doing a whole lot of knife work, if any. Ask what the folks on the line are using; those are the folks doing the chopping. And I'm fairly sure if a line cook shows up with a blade with the chef's name on it . . . well, everybody would get a chuckle at his / her expense.

Is there a milk substitute that has a long shelf life?

I buy ultra pasteurized half and half usually has like a 2 month shelf life and as stated in a different comment can be frozen if needed

I think powdered milk (reconstituted of course) should work

How to use rice as a binder in meatballs in place of breadcrumbs?

If you want to get ignorant I've used blitzed fritos corn chips as a gluten free binder and it worked like a charm lmao

Dont rinse the rice fully so it becomes naturally sticky, then mix it in

How to keep Pancakes from sticking to pan when making Multiple Pancakes?

Use non-stick pan.

lightly butter or oil between pancakes

When I make scrambled eggs, I always have a few streaks of white in the finished product -- how do I "scramble" the eggs so this won't happen and the result is uniformly yellow?

Buy a wisk foo!

You could use a blender. I used to do that when I wanted super aerated/fluffy eggs.

When you add red wine to braised beef recipes, is the one of the main flavor of the dish supposed to become the wine?

If you add your wine before any other liquids and reduce it by half, then add your broth, the wine flavour will be much more gentle. Half a bottle of wine for that many short ribs shouldn’t take over

If you're using half a bottle of wine it's going to be a major part of the flavor. In that case I would spring for something a little higher quality, but still don't break the bank.

How to get (parmesan) breading to stick to chicken?

Since I see no one else has said it and it works every time for me... Left your chicken sit in the fridge for another half hour or so after you've breaded. It sticks for me then!

Dry the chicken before the flour

How to use parchment paper in round pans without wrinkling cake?

Parchment on the bottom of the pan, cut into a circle. It doesn't need to be perfect, just cover most of the bottom. You could do the sides as well with a thin strip but you generally don't need to bother. Cakes will naturally pull away from the walls a bit and if it doesn't you can slide a knife around the side. As long as the bottom releases well, it comes out fairly easily. For the bottom you can trace a circle or do a wedge method like this.

Scissors.

Are some brands of chicken thighs watery?

A bit off topic, but cans of cream of chicken (soup, I guess?) in curry? That's a new one. How does it taste?

Most chicken after processing is rapidly cooled in a salt bath. This cools it very efficiently for packaging was well as increasing the weight of the product. You can find air cooled chickens at some grocery stores (they're labeled as such). They cost a bit more but taste more like chicken, or go to Asian markets and buy their whole free range chickens.

What's the proper way to cook a poached egg?

You want your water between 190-195 degrees. It shouldn’t be boiling at all. Drop the egg in- no need to stir, no need for acid, that’s only if you want it. 1 egg takes about 3 minutes, 4 eggs take about 5. Use a slotted spoon to move them around a little to ensure they don’t stick. Use the slotted spoon to pull them to the surface and touch the white and the yolk with your finger to find your own personal doneness. Then pull them out with the slotted spoon, use the edge of the spoon to cut off any of the wispy whites, rest the spoon on a towel for a second to take away any excess water, and you are all set.

Practice. You stir the water (If it's sticking to the bottom you didn't stir enough), add the egg, make a small sacrificial offering to the culinary gods, then scoop it out at the right time. One of the ways to help prevent the ugly blob egg is to strain the egg before adding it to the water.

How do you get starchy pasta water with fresh pasta?

The answer is you’re breaking tradition and rules. That dish requires dry pasta for a reason. It’s not so much the starchiness bit the texture that’s wrong

I have not tried this myself, so take it with a grain of salt and possibly research further, but I've heard of people actually adding a few teaspoons of flour to the pasta water as they boil the pasta water. It gives you the starchiness without having to extract it from the noodles.

What in the world did I do to my well-seasoned cast iron skillet to do this, and how do I fix it?

My neighbor bought two cast iron skillets at a yard sale that looked much like yours. Fortunately my husband's aunt gave me some advices a few years ago about cast iron cleaning and repair. Wipe the skillet out as best as you can. Put a light coat of olive oil on the bottom and then coat with coarse kosher or sea salt. Let it sit for a few hours (no longer than a day though). Then take a cloth or paper towel and rub the mixture in before wiping it out. Just dry it out. See if that helps. If so, reseason and enjoy. This method restored a cast iron skillet my husband left outside and filled with water for two weeks. I was a little mad about that.

Try /r/castiron too. They'll probably tell you to scour the seasoning off and reseason, but hopefully someone will tell you what went wrong too.

Why does jam get so much more sour than the berries originally were unless we add a ton more sugar?

Loads of interesting tannins and whatnot in the skins. When you eat them fresh, you don't really extract much of them - but when you cook them, they all come out to play. Try cooking down peeled fruits sometime, you'll find them boring and bland.

Because most fruits that are turned into jams have a slight bit of tartness and sourness and when you cook and reduce that down that slight tartness and sourness that we love in the fruit is just condensed and intensified into something that can only be made tolerable with sugar.

Question: Is there a "palate cleansing" equivalent for smell?

Coffee beans. High-end perfume stores will use them.

is an override any different from a reset, speaking practically? pickled ginger is used in sushi service to accomplish the same thing, but it's a rather potent flavor component. perhaps a flavor override accomplishes the same thing.

Can I throw frozen meat in a soup?

This is totally fine. You can make a whole soup from frozen meat and veggies if you're just going to stew them anyway. It may not be as excellent as a stew made from seared meat and roasted vegetables, but like... if the point is just to throw things together in five minutes and not have to wash any dishes, then yeah it's a great way to make a normal family meal.

I make plenty of pressure cooker recipes where the meat goes in frozen. You’ll miss out on recipes that benefit from browning the meat. Stews usually benefit from browning the meat for flavor (Maillard reaction).

How do you bring the heat down in buffalo wings without shifting the flavor much?

Everyone saying butter is 100% right. But you should also add just a touch of vinegar to keep the tang from the hot sauce.

Just add more butter a little at a time, taste test until you reach the flavor you are looking for

Cooking science books?

Others have mentioned great books but Ill add The Food Lab by Kenji Lopez-Alt as a book that combines some science of cooking as well as scientific approach to cooking/recipe development.

* Harold McGee's On Food & Cooking is the industry standard text that every chef has on their shelf which also includes quite a bit of food history as well. * Harvard's Food Science Lecture Series is free on YT. * EdX Harvard's free online course Science & Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science. * Nathan Myhrvold's Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking a six-volume, 2,400-page set that covers all modernist techniques.

What is that weird ‘gamey’ flavour that you sometimes get with leftover poultry?

It's oxidation of the fats. https://www.seriouseats.com/what-is-warmed-over-flavor-leftover-chicken-meat

I find reheating poultry brings out that off flavor your describe. My solution is to never reheat chicken, I always just eat it cold, or room temp maybe. That's probably not the answer youre looking for, but it is at least one possible solution in specific circumstances

What is the reason for draining ground beef liquid, after browning and before adding seasoning, when instructions then call for adding water?

If the beef is browning, any liquid in the pan is going to be fat. Taco seasoning I think is mostly powdered corn, which absorbs the water you add to make a thick sauce for the taco meat. If you don't get rid of the excess fat, the finished meat will be too saucy, and too greasy.

While the beef liquid is nice, there's going to be a lot of fat going on there. Don't get me wrong, fat is tasty! However, if there's too much of it (in addition to the liquid), it'll look like a disastrous soupy mess.

Why do chefs suggest to add tomato paste to red sauces?

It allows you to get the same sort of long, slow cooked red sauce flavor that you'd get if you spent all day cooking your sauce, but without having to spend all day doing so, and without having to sacrifice the bright, fresh flavor of the tomatoes. Typically, you'd add it after sauteeing the aromatic vegetables, and before adding the tomatoes, in order to give the sauce a chance to start lightly caramelizing, accentuating the cooked-tomato flavor.

I’ve always used it as a thickener, but I add it just after I sweat my onions and garlic and cook out a bit of the acidity. That is called pince, pronounced pin-say and is incredibly useful for not only red sauce but to add some depth to your brown sauce or even Demi-glacé.

Can you substitute molasses and white sugar for brown sugar in a recipe?

Yes you can thats what brown sugar is. Advantages of using brown sugar pre-made are consistency, easier, and no mess from having to mix it. Just adjust molasses content for light vs dark brown sugar, there's plenty of online recipes/ratios with a quick Google search.

brown sugar is just white sugar + molasses

What “cupcake” base would work to recreate this flavour profile?

Beautiful flavour combinations. Please update what you end up with. As for the cupcake base, may I suggest a date cake base with chopped toasted walnuts mixed in. It’s not savoury like a rye cracker but a date cake has a deep flavour that might go well with the pear and Brie flavours. Another suggestion is for a spiced cake mix.

I don’t know but I definitely want to eat one if you make them. I’m dying just at the description.

Why are mussels so much cheaper than clams?

you have to dig clams,mussels are grown on a rope or picked off the rocks

Maybe because clams are more popular? Just look at the price of chicken wings since they've gotten popular as an appetizer. They're mostly bone and skin, but crazy prices per pound.

Is there a functional difference between potato starch and corn starch?

Yes. 1. You need about 75% more potato starch compared to cornstarch, to thicken to the same degree. 2. Cornstarch will hold up well when cooked for long periods, so you can use it for a pie filling that’s then going in the oven. Potato starch doesn’t, so add it at the end of cooking. 4. Cornstarch has a floury flavour that should be cooked out. Potato starch is essentially flavourless. 5. Cornstarch alters the colour and opaqueness of a sauce more than potato starch. 6. Potato starch holds up well and works fine in high-acid and -sugar dishes. Cornstarch doesn’t. 8. Cornstarch-thickened sauces don’t freeze too well. Potato starch is fine, though you may need to add extra liquid when reheating. 9. When deep frying, cornstarch gives a crunchier finish than potato starch.

Washington Post did a piece on various thickeners, I found it very informative. https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2021/02/22/cornstarch-tapioca-starches-thickening/

Hummus without tahini?

To be honest I don't miss it when I leave it out. I tend to add lots of garlic and lemon, sometimes things like roasted red peppers or sundried tomatoes though

Any nut butter will work. Peanuts, almonds, cashews, sunflower etc.

Why is it recommended to begin with cold water when boiling water for past?

I can tell you that in professional environment, we start with hot water because we simply don't have the time to wait around and watch water boil. It does not effect the actually cooking of the pasta at all. It MAY leech chemicals or lead from your pipes, as others have stated. But I don't know the science behind those things actually getting into your pasta.

I think it's to avoid off flavors from the crap that's built up in your water heater rather than anything to do with the pasta itself.

Can I make ahead and store a bechamel sauce?

Yes. Make the white sauce as normal (without cheese, though you can do it with cheese in if you like, it'll probably be easier without), put it in a container, lay clingfilm on the surface to prevent skin forming if you care about lumps, and place in a bath of cold water (preferably with ice) so that you can cool it asap. Then refrigerate until needed. Then, reheat, bring to above 82c if you're in Scotland - I don't know what laws the bacteria follow in your country - and add in your cheese, you may have to add a little extra milk or cream to get the consistency correct because the sauce will thicken up a lot.

No problems, just make sure you don't over thicken the sauce while cooking because it'll thicken a lot once chilled.

Drying fresh pasta, cooking time once dried and why was mine so disgusting?

FYI French guy cooking on YouTube has just started a a mini series on pasta- recent one covered difference between fresh and dried pasta

Fresh pasta has existed for thousands of years and was known to many cultures. Dried pasta wasn’t perfected until the 12th century, in Sicily. There’s a lot more to it than just drying out fresh pasta (though I don’t know the exact reasons why).

Can anyone help me recreate a recipe?

That looks like a Gateau Basque, but with lemon curd. They are great -- and not hard to make. With this recipe if you just swap the pastry cream for lemon curd, leave out the cherries, and put some zested lemon peel in the tart dough I bet you'd have it. the dough comes out like a soft cookie, almost cake. https://www.allmychefs.com/recipes/gateau-basque-with-brandied-cherries-vanilla-creme-anglaise\_948\_2

That looks like a tart. Shortcrust pastry, then lemon curd and then the sponge on top. Almost like a lemon bakewell. Did you try emailing your hotel and asking for the recipe? They may be happy to share with you.

Best way to make a large batch of wings for a group?

If you're using that recipe (which I approve of :) ), I'd do it up to the confit stage the day before (or even a few days before), then refrigerate the wings. Fry them in batches of a quantity that depends on how big your frying vessel is. Wings have a relatively short shelf life, and even though that particular recipe will get them crisper than any other method I know, they'll still soften a bit in the sauce. I'd fry them in batches, sauce the batch immediately, and serve it immediately, rather than trying to serve in one big batch. For that many people you'll want about 10 to 15 pounds of wings. Maybe a little bit less if you're serving many other things as well. That should be about 4 to 6 wings per person.

I would fry in batches until nice and crispy and cooked through (start with 300 degree oil and slowly up the heat since the wings will cool it down, don't let it exceed 375. takes about 12 minutes depending on wing size). Lay in a single layer on sheet try and hold in warm oven. They should stay crispy this way, but if they don't, you can always flash fry in batches for just a minute. Toss in sauce SECONDS before serving. Pre-saucing will result in limp skin which is a sin. OR - another way I've done at home is pre-cooking the wings so at service you only need a quick fry. Place the wings in your biggest pot and cover with cold water. Put on the stove on high heat. As soon as the water hits a boil, drain and cool wings. This can be done a day or 2 ahead of time. When you're ready for your wings, you only have to fry for like 3 minutes since they're cooked through and you're just crisping skin, then right into sauce for a quick toss and serve right away.

Can I put pretzel dough in the fridge overnight and still gave the same quality pretzels?

Shape them into pretzels and put them in the fridge. Very common practice in bakeries and I think it makes them even better. After 2 days they start to get big blisters which look funny but taste fine. 3 days is pushing it but probably fine. I don't really give any rise time, I mix, preshape, shape, into the fridge, within about 45 minutes. It's also totally fine if they dry out a little in the fridge, it makes them easier to handle during the lye dipping stage, or baking soda boil, whatever you are doing. (At some point, try it with lye, a true lye pretzel will change your life. bavarian pretzels)

I’ve never practiced this myself, but a friend of mine makes killer homemade pretzels. His practice is typically to freeze them and then vacuum seal them. (Must be in that order otherwise you vacuum-squish your soft pretzels.) If your first step of prep is boiling them, I wouldn’t think this adds on too much time. But like I said, I’ve never tried this myself. Eager to hear your results.

How to store and keep picked Basil fresh and green?

Plastic container. Dry paper towel on the bottom and a lightly damp paper towel on top. Should stay nice and green for a couple of days

The leaves don’t cope very long without the stems. You could try laying them on damp paper towel but i don’t know if that’d work, any damage or too cold and they start to turn black

Why does leaving homemade cookie dough in the fridge for 3 days make it taste so much better?

Shouldn’t give away my wife’s secret - but I will: bake from frozen. The dough is rolled into balls, frozen, then stored in the freezer until needed. From this shape they stay thick, minimal spread and you can bake at high temp while keeping a moist center. Also allows you to stuff the cookie with caramel without worrying about spillage.

Stella Parks touched on this with her chocolate chip cookie recipe. See Cookie Fact #20 and #21. http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2013/12/the-food-lab-the-best-chocolate-chip-cookies.html

Does it make a noticeable difference if you toast walnuts or pecans before adding them to cookies?

Yep! Roasting nuts brings out the oils, as well as deepens the flavor of the nuts. Roasting nuts makes a big difference for any use. To do so, heat your oven to 350. Since nuts are naturally oily you don't need to spray your baking sheet (I like to use parchment for less cleaning though). Spread whatever nuts in a single layer on the baking sheet. You don't want to overcrowd the pan or pile the nuts up because you want the heat to evenly hit the nuts to roast them. The time it takes depends entirely on the size/type of nut. For instance, whole hazelnuts take much longer than hazelnut pieces. I usually set the timer for 5 minutes and check, 5 minutes and check, etc. Nuts can burn very easily, so you want to keep a close eye on them. The nuts are done when slightly browned and aromatic. Raw nuts don't have much of a smell, but roasted nuts definitely smell! Once you can smell them, they're done.

Yes, the roasted nuts will taste much stronger. I don't like that taste so I don't do it for cookies, but if you like it, you will definitely taste it! I usually take a nonstick pan on very low heat on the stove, only because I don't want to heat up my oven just for that. But put a timer on and watch it carefully either way

Will a NY Strip Steak stay good on wire rack in fridge for 24+ hours?

Short answer, yes. Longer answer, yeeeeeeeesssssssssss

I actually do this every time I cook steak. It dries the outside and it becomes a lot easier to have a good sear. Same with duck breast.

Update: Would it be possible to dehydrate ice cream?

Here's my idea: dehydrate the ice cream enough that you can grind it down to a powder. Use liquid nitrogen to flash freeze a banana and smash it. Take some chocolate and melt it down over a double boil and sweeten with honey. Use the spherification process to make little spheres of chocolate sauce. Toast some peanuts. Construct with a piece or two of shattered banana, a sphere of chocolate, a peanut and a liberal dusting of vanilla ice cream dust. Nice little bite size treat after dinner or at a party. Deconstructed banana split thing (elaborated on OPs idea).

We need more people like you in the world

Can I store olive oil in a transparent bottle if it's 99% of the time inside a cupboard?

yes to the question in the title, no to the question in the text description. the contrasting nature of your questions might have caused some confusion with the person who commented "No." and got downvoted

Yes, without a doubt!

Is ginger making my food bitter?

Maybe you are burning the garlic? Burnt garlic is very acrid and bitter. Adding garlic first is usually not a great idea unless you will be cooking on low heat or adding enough other wet ingredients that the temperature will stay low.

If it's bitter you're burning the ginger and/or garlic. Cook until fragrant should only take 30-45 seconds

Is there any real difference between conventional mushrooms and organic mushrooms?

TLDR: Chemicals used in growing conventional mushrooms are toxic to the environment and to us. These chemicals are not used to grow USDA organic mushrooms. What pesticides are used on conventional mushrooms? **Fungicides-** ironically yes, fungicides are used to grow mushrooms. #1 is thiobendazole, which is not especially toxic to the consumer, but is not great for whoever's working at the mushroom farm. **Insecticides-** insecticides are often directly toxic to humans, especially the organophosphates, which are sometimes used in mushroom cultivation. Use of insecticides in conventional agriculture is directly linked to global decline of wild insect populations. **Pollution-** there is a variable amount of risk to the local environment of mushroom farms, including water resources. Many people here will point out that there is little or no nutritional difference between organic and conventionally grown food. This is not the whole story. Consider the impact your food buying decisions have for yourself, the people who grow food for you, and our shared environment. [edit: formatting]

It could just be something like “all mushrooms are grown organically, but if we put organic in front of it we can charge more”

How do you cook your Korean bbq?

Backyard, charcoal grill. Home made kimchi fermented 2-3 weeks. Hit the Korean market the day before and get a ton of banchan and hite beers and soju. It's an event. Or just in a screaming hot cast iron pan and some rice from the rice cooker, the end.

sugary marinades and a frying pan never turn out great for me. i grill it on the weber

Is it possible to fix overmixed crepe batter?

Gluten developed? Isn't there so much liquid in the batter that it shouldn't happen?

your recipe too thick? try letting it rest for a while in the fridge and thin it out a bit. I've blended crepe mix in a Vitamix blender many times at the restaurant without issue but my batter is thin.

can any cake recipe be used as a cupcake recipe?

I would have said yes until this week. Found a great dark chocolate cake recipe with loads of excellent reviews. Made it into cupcakes but they had a very thin batter and turned out too light and fluffy to easily get out of the papers.

I've had decent luck turning quick breads (pumpkin, banana bread) into muffins as well. Same idea as cake, reduce the cooking time.

Is getting a Kitchenaid standing mixer worth it?

Only the pro models are worth the coin now. Lots of fancy colors with wimpy motors have invaded Macy's, Williams Sonoma, target, sur la table, etc. I can break one of those in a day. That being said, I would never be without my pro with the lift bowl. Handles everything I throw at it and more, and I run a home baking business after baking professionally from 19 to 25. Also it's fire engine red.

Yes, because they last forever, and as someone else posted here, you can repair them somewhat easily, they do the job, they are versatile and last but not least they look great!!!!

KitchenAid or Cuisinart mixer?

My mom bought me a 10 year old KitchenAid when I was 12. I’m about to turn 29 and it still works perfect and most of the new attachments (minus bowls and blades for other machines) are compatible.

My daughter is now using her grandmother’s 30-yo Kitchenaid, if that helps. I’ve had mine for more than 20 years.

Why is rice cooked the way it is?

Different cultures cook it differently. I’m part Chinese and Puerto Rican and have always cooked it the steamed way whereas my husband is West Indian and cooks it the boiled like pasta way.

Pasta won’t turn into a mess as easily as rice will. If you can get cooked, individual granules by cooking rice in a stock pot, then go for it. Lots of recipes though have rice that’s cooked together with other ingredients where the water isn’t so precise. If I’m cooking just rice on its own, a $30 rice cooker does it perfectly every time and I don’t need to monitor it at all. I use it often after work so I can wash up while the rice is cooking.