Why does rice go bad next day? I'm using a rice cooker to cook rice and I find the very next day it starts to increasing smell bad and I feel like puking just smelling it.

Not sure what the cause is but the rice cooker has started making funny noises when cooking(though rice cooks fine so probably not that) and I leave the rice in a poorly ventilated and warm environment.  Still dont think that should cause it to go bad so soon as Ive always made rice in the same place and it doesn't do so bad.

Thanks

Leftover rice is one of the most common causes of food poisoning. Once cooked it needs to be immediately cooled down if you aren't going to eat it straight away, and it needs to be kept cold until reheated. Reheating should be a quick process that doesn't allow it to sit for a long time at a lukewarm temperature.

I used to be able to leave rice in the cooker 3 or 4 days.  I eat white rice every day.  Yes, I eat 4-day old rice left at room temp and never gotten sick.  I've replaced several cookers when rice started spoiling too quickly.  Sometimes, in less than 1 day.  I tried all the remedies out there.  Then I tried BLEACH!

It's not the water. It's not the rice. Adding vinegar does little or nothing. The problem is getting rid of the bacteria on and inside your rice cooker.  Once you've let rice spoil in the cooker.  The next time, it will spoil at much faster rate.  But you can solve this. Soak the pot and lid in water and bleach.  Unplug the cooker.  Mix up a water and bleach solution.  Spray inside the cooker, where the pot sits.  Don't be afraid to let some of it run into the bottom, where the heating coil is.  Don't soak the whole cooker.  Just spray a nice coating of bleach and water.  Let it sit for at least 30 min, long enough to kill bacteria.  If you want, just let the bleach sit and dry on the cooker.  Dump any excess out.  Let it dry for a day or two. You have to clean the cooker. Not just the pot and the lid. Bacteria multiplies rapidly. If there's bacteria in the cooker, it will make its way past the lid and into the pot.

Look it up on intelligent scientific websites and you will find it's perfectly safe.  What happens when bleach dries up?  It leaves behind Sodium Bicarbonate.  That's right, baking soda.

As for the other solutions... vinegar is LESS effective at killing bacteria than soap.  Scientific fact.  So you people who clean with vinegar, all you're doing is making your kitchen smell sour.  "It's the water" or "it's the rice"?  Cook that same rice with the same water in a regular pot on the stove.  It won't spoil as quickly as it did in your bacteria infested cooker.


What's the name of this slow cooking technique? I just discovered the joy of slow cooking meat, separating the juice, then boiling it to a reduction, then simmering the meat in its own concentrated juices (with some other tasty ingredients added).

So is there a name for simmering slow cooked meat in its concentrated juices?

Sounds like braising, though while it's traditional to concentrate the juices afterward, it's optionally delicious to throw everything back in to simmer in them.

Braising is a pretty general term though: it also applies to slow cooking in any concentrated juices, or even un-concentrated juices (though this is not recommended for best results).


What hot sauce should I use for Buffalo wings sauce? After watching "The Wing and I" in Good Eats and being the one that always ordered Buffalo wings (I no longer live in the US), I decide to give it a try. The recipe for the sauce is:

butter
garlic
hot sauce

I wonder what exactly is hot sauce. Alton Brown said there are dozens of hot sauces. I tried to use plain tabasco but that doesn't work. Can I make my own?

The original Buffalo Wings are made with Frank's RedHot Sauce. The original recipe is simply equal parts melted butter and hot sauce.

However, you truly can use just about whatever hot sauce you want in even greater ratios if you want more kick. There are also some distributors that specialize in spicy wing sauces. I recommend Defcon 2 if you are adventurous and enjoy a very nice kick of heat.

I.m not American so obviously have no idea but saw somewhere you can use sriracha which we can get in France.  If you have not had the original I doubt if you would know the difference :)


How to clump store-bought granola? I purchase granola from the store and like to snack on it as an alternative to chips. At the top of the bag, most of the granola are bite-size and easy to pick out. But towards the end of the bag, it is all very small rice-size pieces, and difficult to pick up. Is there a way to take the small pieces and clump them together to make them a bigger size?

this might just work:

let's say there's about a half-cup (or just over 100 ml) of crumbs

preheat your oven to 200F (about 90C) with the door closed
take a paper towel and tear it in half
get one half completely wet with water, but squeeze it out enough so it's not dripping
put it in the bag and shake-shake-shake.  this gets a little water more-or-less evenly on the surfaces of the crumbs
remove the wet paper towel and shake the clinging crumbs back into the bag
dump it all on the dry half of the paper towel and roll it up into a sausage shape
set it in the oven on middle of a rack in about the middle of the oven
close the oven door and turn off the oven
wait at least 4 hours
voila, 1 granola roll, i hope

There probably aren't enough crumbs to be worth "clumping". But you could potentially make homemade granola with oats, nuts, dried fruit etc. baked together with some oil and honey or maple syrup. You could use up your crumbs by adding it to your homemade mixture. Personally, though, I wouldn't bother :)


What is "Food Grade" Stainless-Steel or Aluminum After a comment by @Blacksmith37 after the question Are trace amounts of lead in seasoned bakeware safe? (comment in response to answer given by @SomeInterwebDev)

  Blacksmith37 says:  "Food Grade" got my interest , since I have never seen it in a
  specification. I checked the ASTM index , there are no :food grade"
  material specifications.

I've heard the term for years, but never really 'looked into' what it meant, rather taking the name at face value. Was further surprised to find no such question already present on SA...

What makes a metal, specifically stainless steel or aluminum, "food grade"?

EDIT: I guess I need to clarify, What I want to know is what qualities of these various grades and combinations make something "food grade"? Why is 304 or 10/8 food grade and 303 (assuming there is a '303') 'not food grade'. I found those articles that are being quoted so far and have 'the list' of 'food grade' stainless and aluminum. Also would like to know if there is a reference, at least for the US) where the FDA/USDA/NASA...whoever...blesses 304 etc and not others.

Here's a description for Stainless Steel. It applies in Canada, but is likely similar elsewhere:

Grades of Stainless Steel that are Safe for Food
There are 150 grades of stainless steel, but your container, cup or plate should be made from one of these (check the label):
304
The most commonly used food-grade stainless steel; it is used in food, dairy, brewing, hospital and sanitation applications.
316
The second most commonly used food grade, it has the same uses as above, but has better corrosion resistance because it includes more nickel than 304.
430
Products made from this food grade generally have less nickel content and a lower resistance to corrosion and temperature. It’s best to dry these containers right after washing.
You may also notice that products will say 18/8, 18/10, 18/0 beside the grade. The first number is the percentage of chromium that is contained in the stainless steel. The second number is the amount of nickel. The higher the numbers, the more rust resistant the product will be. Nickel is safe in small quantities but can provoke a reaction in people with an allergy to it. The average adult consumes between 150 to 250 micrograms of nickel per day. Small doses of chromium, like iron, are good for your health, but can be harmful in higher amounts—50 to 200 micrograms per day is considered safe. One meal prepared with stainless steel equipment (such as stainless steel pots and pans) gives you about 45 micrograms of chromium, according to Health Canada.

And Aluminum is typically Alloy 1100:

Alloy 1100: This grade is commercially pure aluminum. It is soft and ductile and has excellent workability, making it ideal for applications with difficult forming. It can be welded using any method, but it is non heat-treatable. It has an excellent resistance to corrosion and is commonly used in the chemical and food processing industries.

Personal Opinion
It sounds like one of the biggest factors is corrosion resistance. My understanding of food grade materials is that they are mostly looking for material that is free of toxic materials (like lead, or nickel and chromium in higher quantities), and are resistant to harboring bacteria. By their nature, new aluminum and stainless steel meet these criteria, but the ones listed above provide more resistance over time.
I also couldn't find an official requirement, these seem more like guidelines that are followed by the food industry, possibly encouraged by a discerning public. Canadian Family, for example, recommends to check the label, suggesting some manufacturers don't follow these guidelines.

Lots of misleading info above; I are a metallurgical engineer, I was a voting member of ASTM "A" committees - iron and steel. There is much information in Wikipedia, mostly correct. I looked in ASTM ( the bible of materials and testing) index volume 00.01 ; there are no "food grades " listed.The closest spec is A270 Austenitic Sanitary Tubing ( for the dairy industry). From its number it was first written in the 1940's ( and revised every 5 years). BUT , no other product specs were ever written indicating no need for a "food" designation in the real world . Other products are: pipe ,plate, sheet, bar, forgings, wire, castings, etc. Stainless' 304 and 316 are the 18-8 austenitic ( typically of non-magnetic), the difference being 316 contains molybdenum ( not a factor of nickel ). Aluminum cookware is typically 1100 ( sort of pure aluminum) if wrought , And high silicon ( forget the number ) or 356 if cast . (  356 is known to some as "sweeps" alloy because everything swept off the foundry floor goes into it.) You folks are going to get more confused trying to learn metallurgy in this venue.


Does using Electric stove vs Gas stove have any difference in food taste? Does it make any difference in taste when you use Gas stove and Electric Stove?
AFAIK, it doesn't but some people I know (amateur cooks) say that it does make a difference in taste.

Enlighten me on this one please?

The simple answer is: no, heat is heat, it should taste the same.

Reality is slightly more complicated than that. In reality, a cook learns how to cook well by instinct with his stove. When he changes to a stove with a different behavior, his instinct is suddenly wrong, but he probably does not know it. So he cooks as usual. But because the stove works differently, he should have changed the setting and time he uses. So, a stove change alone can cause food to taste worse - not because the stove is worse, but because the cook's skill is lacking.

Also, an electric stove (especially an old fashioned one with iron hobs) cannot do some things a gas stove can, such as a very quick change in temperature. If the food absolutely requires this, it can turn out worse on the electric stove. But a good cook should be able to work around that.

So, the more complete statement should be: There is no difference in taste between cooking on electric or gas stove, if the cook knows how to compensate for the difference in heating speed.

Of course it's better with gas, it cooks quicker therefore retaining moisture in the food, which aids taste...try cooking a full breakfast to prove my point.


I ate undercooked steak, what can happen to me? What are the risks of eating undercooked steak?

I tried to cooked medium rare steak for the first time and I did not know about the palm trick to see it the meat is ready. I ate a bite and it was very soft. After I googled and found the hand/palm firmness trick,I realizes my meat was not cooked.

The risks of eating undercooked steak vary based on the the region, the risk status of the person involved (are they a child, elderly, or immunocompromised in any way).

For normal healthy adults, the risks of eating a single bit of under cooked steak in any of the industrialized nations are fairly small.

Nothing might happen
You might suffer from food-borne illness, most likely e coli. from steak, with consequences ranging from:

You might get a "tummy ache"
You might suffer flu-like symptoms or vomiting for a few days
You might die, but it is quite unlikely

Note that food borne illness normally takes at least 24-48 hours to develop, and is related to the quantity of contaminated food consumed.  One bite is lower risk than a whole meal (lower, not none).

If you are seriously concerned, you should consult your physician.

See also:  Foodborne Diseases Factsheet from Texas state government

Well, considering that "steak tartare" is raw steak... I'd say you probably don't have too much to worry about!  The dangers in raw beef are mostly for ground meat. That's because the facilities processing it may harbor bacteria which can be harmful (read: salmonella, for instance). Those bacteria are typically less harmful in whole cuts, like steak.


What's a gluten free alternative to farro? I am looking for a safe gluten free alternative to farro for a Greek chicken soup recipe.

Perhaps a wild rice?

Farro is essentially a variety of wheat, and I assume your recipe is using it in whole form, rather than milled in some way. Therefore, you'd want to substitute another grain that will provide at least a similar texture.

Farro

Rice is gluten-free, so you could use any kind of whole grain rice as a substitute.

Brown Rice

You could use wild rice, although its particular texture is quite different and may or may not compliment the soup.

Wild Rice

It's useful to know that there are actually four different kinds of gluten:

Gliadin in Wheat
Hordein in Barley
Secalin in Rye
Avenin in Oats

Because farro is a kind of wheat, it contains Gliadin, which is the form of gluten people are most allergic to. However only one in five people who are sensitive to wheat are allergic to the Avenin in oats.

If you're cooking for others and don't want to take a chance, then don't even consider using oats. However, if for yourself or someone who wants to try oats*, they have a nice flavor that would be delicious in the soup.

Oats

Specifically, you'd want whole kernel oat groats — not cracked or rolled. Look for a package that says "gluten free", which really means they've taken precautions to keep the oats from being contaminated with gluten from wheat or other grains.

If you find you can tolerate oats with no problem, you may also be able to use rye and/or barley.

* Consult with your physician before trying any of these alternative grains.

You can try whole grain sorghum. It has a fun texture.


What's the difference between Guatemalen, Honduran and Salvedorean Cream? All three are available at my local mexican market. How are they different?

I haven't actually had these creams (I might have to try next time I'm at a Latin grocery), but a little research indicates that Guatemalen cream is something like a hybrid of American style sour cream, and creme fraiche; Honduran cream is saltier, and Salvadoran one is sweeter.

Here's a review.

The Salvadoran is to my palate the most flavorful. .but really buy what you like! American sour cream is thicker....I wish I had never purchased the Salvadoran sour cream...as it is all I want now and not as readily available


Why do stuffed shells recipes include eggs? I'm making stuffed shells, but I don't have any eggs. All the recipes I can find call for one or two eggs. What is the reason and can I get away without eggs?

The eggs are for binding - they keep the filling together. They might also provide some substance/body to the filling. Not knowing what recipes you're looking at, it's hard to say for sure, but since you tagged this with "cheese" I'm guessing that the fillings would start to melt and ooze out of the shells if you didn't use egg.

Though this is a bit delayed, I actually didn't have eggs today and am using spinach, ground beef, ricotta, mozzarella, parm. No eggs necessary.


Minimum procedure for sterilizing mason jars for canning My wife and I are about to do some tomato canning tomorrow. We have a bunch of mason jars that we didn't have time to sterilize.  She thinks that just washing them in hot water is enough. After searching around all instructions require boiling.

What is the bare minimum necessary?

Washing them in hot water is most certainly not enough. Sterilization via boiling under pressure is guaranteed to kill every harmful pathogen, particularly Clostridium botulinum, the beastie responsible for botulism. The "hot" water from your tap is not enough to kill the spores. C botulinum spores must be heated to 250 F for at least three minutes to guarantee they are killed.

Please do not compromise here under any circumstance. Canning requires sterilization, not sanitization. Botulism can paralyze and kill you.

I always use freshly scrubbed jars, dip them in boiling water for 1 minute, then can using the water bath 10 minutes+. I don't want to take a chance and it only takes a minute. I seriously doubt if my jars are well cleaned, stored dry for a year that there will be much bacteria if any. I don't live in a 3rd world country...


how do I toast oats so that they are crispy? I'm playing around with making cereal, and one of the cereals I want to replicate is the "bunches of oats" style, with crispy clusters that include oats.  Every time I try to toast oats, though, they get more flavorful but not much more crispy, until they get burnt.

My current method: I use minute oats (problem #1?) but otherwise just put them in the oven at 350F.

I'd like to avoid adding sugars if possible, but I'm not stuck on that idea if it's not possible.

We have succeeded!  The key was to use egg whites (for a vegan version, the liquid from a can of chickpeas works great):

2c. oats

1/4c egg white (or chickpea water)

(nuts and seeds if you want, but the oats will cluster and be crunchy without them)

2Tbsp peanut butter (nut butter of any kind would work, really)

Mix this all together well and lay it out on parchment in a baking sheet.  Bake at 300F for about 40 minutes or so, until things get brown and crispy.  Take it all out, put it into a bowl, and mix in spices.  I like cinnamon, vanilla, and allspice.  You'll need to let it sit (for some reason, honestly I don't know) for about a day in order for the spices to infuse into the granola, and you're golden.

I use a a granola recipe to duplicate the "bunches of oats." It's not sugar-free, but the original cereal isn't sugar free either.
Here's the recipe: http://cookieandkate.com/2015/healthy-granola-recipe/
If you follow that recipe without using any of the add-ins (fruit, nuts, etc.) you will end up with perfect oat bunches.


How is this kind of cattle called? I've heard of beef, not specifically "veal", where the animal can be older but has had mostly a milk diet and been restricted of physical movement, preventing muscle development, making for softer and more tender cuts of meat throughout the whole animal. Is this true? What's this meat called?

I believe the cattle you're referring to are Japanese Waygu - there are a number of breeds under this rubric, but there are notable points:

Genetic predisposition to exceptional marbling and tenderness
The animals are hand-massaged by the farmer, due to insufficient space for the cattle to wander freely
Grain fed rather than grass fed, as the cattle is generally tethered or penned for its life.


Can quinoa be used instead of flour for cookies? I use a non-gluten flour combination of:

4 cups brown rice flour
2/3 cup tapioca flour
1/3 cup potato starch

Would it work to use quinoa in this combination as an addition or substitute for all of part of any of the ingredients?

I have used quinoa flour in various recipe and it would have a similar effect as the brown rice flour, though its taste would differ. I would recommend against substituting it (at least not 1:1) for the tapioca flour as that is likely working as a kind of binding agent to some extent. Experimentation may yield different results based on the ratio, but also tapioca has less flavor (which may be ideal as a balance).

I don't know about quinoa, but we have used white beans to bake cookies. Turns out great and tastes delicious.

I am sure you could use beans of any colour, so long as you could mash/grind them into flour after soaking under warmth heat. Warmth heat to facilitate softening the beans but not to cook them.

Also, as +mfg mentions either corn or tapioca flour could be used to stabilise the bean flour by providing the starchiness.

Since both tapioca and beans are kosher for pesach, this is a good way to have passover cookies.


How can 100% peanut butter have more protein than 100% peanuts I am looking at:

100% peanut butter (no added salt, sugar, oils or anything else)
100% roasted peanuts (no added salt, sugar, oils or anything else)

When looking thought different sources, I can always notice the following:

Peanut butter has more protein (as % of calories) than peanuts

example sources (I've looked through a dozen more, but please check others, maybe mine are not representative?):

http://www.waitrose.com/shop/ProductView-10317-10001-5588-Waitrose+LOVE+life+roasted+peanuts

http://shop.wholeearthfoods.com/collections/award-winning-peanut-butter/products/whole-earth-100-nuts-crunchy-peanut-butte-227-g

Why is this? If no ingredients are added, how is it possible for the macronutrients to change (as % of the calories). Different levels of roasting cannot be the reason because they should not change macronutrients disproportionally.

The only explanation I can think of is if in the process of making peanut butter, some part of the peanut is removed and that part contains a low protein amount. Some sources say that when peanut butter is made, the 'bitter heart of the peanut' is removed. Could that explain it?

If anyone has some insight I would be very interested to learn.

There's definitely some rounding going on because the peanut butter has 100.1g of nutrients per 100g of product.  This isn't enough to explain the discrepancy.  Adding up the nutrients on the roasted peanuts gives 95.4g.  I think we can assume the other 4.6% is water.  So perhaps more water has been driven off the peanut butter.

What I think is more likely (though could be additional) is that there's significantly less fat in the peanut butter (48.1% vs 51.7%).  While this could be down to different varieties of peanut, I suspect some fat is removed in the processing, perhaps to avoid an oil slick on the surface.

Most likely of all is just different source data. Different peanuts may have been used in the calculations -- whether that is consistent with the actual ingredients used is another matter.  In fact if you look at nutrition information for raw peanuts online, you'll get a range of values.  There's nothing special about peanuts, the same is true for bananas.  I'm sure if you look at the scientific literature on any foodstuff, you'll find a range of values published, reflecting natural variation as well as measurement variabilility -- this will then propagate to the values published to the consumer.

I am not 100% sure. But as the link you provided for wholefoods states "No... Palm oil" this does not exclude additional peanut oil. Almost every recipe for Peanut Butter I can recall, calls for additional peanut oil.


Why cook green plantains? Many cookbooks and chefs recommend cooking green plantains before eating them.  Is it just because of all the starch? Or are there any toxins as in sprouting potatoes?  Does the ratio of amylose to amylopectin have anything to do with the recommendation?

According to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN) "Banana and plantain do not contain significant levels of any toxic principles."  Raw, unripe plantains can be difficult to digest, especially if eaten in large quantities.  Doing so can lead to upset stomach.  This may be due to the fact that they contain starches resistant (RS2) to digestive enzymes, compounds that inhibit salivary amylase production, and significant quantities of amylose.

Raw, unripe plantains and bananas also have a starchy or waxy texture and a bitter flavor which can be unpalatable.

If you eat a brown very ripe Plantain, they taste just like a banana. Any plantain that is green or yellow, will taste better peeled and cooked.Be sure to use a peeler for this as it is almost impossible to take the skin off of an unripe plantain.


Making flour tortillas softer and more elastic I would like to make a tortilla that is softer and more elastic, allowing for large burritos with lots of filling

I've been using the following recipe below which yields good results, however it is not soft or elastic enough to handle large amounts of filling.

1/4c butter
1/2c water
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 3/4c flour

I knead the dough and then immediately cook.

RESULTS

The tortillas taste great fresh, but after sitting in a zip-lock bag for a few hours the become much less pliable.  I generally re-heat them with a damp towel in the microwave which makes them pliable enough to wrap filling in.

I've read this question about how to make "Big, Fluffy" tortillas, and it notes letting the dough rest is a key step.  I did try this, and I ended up getting more air bubbles but other than that they are pretty much the same.

I would like to figure out how restaurants like Moe's make and prepare their tortillas which are suitable for large burritos. I am open to suggestions in technique or ingredients.

Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_burrito

  Two key technologies that made the San Francisco burrito possible are
  the large flour tortilla and tortilla steamers, which together
  increase the flexibility, stretch, and size of the resulting tortilla.
  The tortilla steamer saturates the gluten-heavy tortilla with moisture
  and heat, which increase the capacity of the tortilla to stretch
  without breaking. This in turn allows for the size of the San
  Francisco burrito. Corn tortillas, the original indigenous
  pre-Columbian form of the tortilla, cannot achieve either the size or
  the flexibility of the flour tortilla, and thus cannot be used to make
  a San Francisco burrito. A few San Francisco taquerias grill the
  tortillas instead of steaming them, using heat and oil instead of
  steam; and a few grill the finished product before the final step of
  wrapping it in aluminum foil.

  The aluminum foil wrapping, which is present whether the customer is
  eating in the restaurant or taking out, acts as a structural support
  to ensure that the tortilla does not rupture. One of the main
  difficulties of the San Francisco burrito is the issue of structural
  integrity, but skilled burrito makers consistently produce huge
  burritos that do not burst when handled or eaten. A successful large
  burrito depends on an understanding of the outer limit of potential
  burrito volume, correct steam hydration, proper wrapping/folding
  technique, and assuring that excess liquid has been removed from the
  burrito ingredients prior to inclusion.

Steaming your tortilla is the best way.  (Just like Chipotle)


Is it safe to reuse loose tea leaves the next day? What precautions need to be taken for storing tea for reuse? I'm a fan of green tea and I find myself reusing the tea leaves 2-3 times a day. Sometimes I'll just store the leaves and reuse them the next day but it got me thinking if what I'm doing is actually "safe", I know that the taste isn't the same.

So my questions are:

What's the best way of storing tea for reuse? Currently I drain the leaves and put them in a small sealed glass jar.
Is it safe to store tea to reuse the next day? Bonus point for an actual reference/research proving that it has bad or no side effects whatsoever.

Here in China, it is normal to reuse tea again and again. Typically the first cup from the tea is bitter. Chinese people commonly pour one cup and then throw it away and drink the second cup from the same leaves. Workers here can be seen with a large mug or jar of tea. When drunk, they top up the water again with hot (but not boiling) water. This will go on all day.

The next day, however, they will not reuse the tea. My Chinese wife always tells me off if I reuse the previous days tea leaves. She says they are bad for you, though I have never had any problem myself.

In my experience, it can last for up to 24 hours, but it must be stored correctly. I hope this infographic helps.


How do I prevent burned chicken breasts when cooking on the stovetop? Ok I'm going crazy with this. I've tried everything, but no matter what I do, it always results in my chicken breast burning and becoming black. Here is what I usually do:

Grab a chicken breast, wash it with water.

Next, I season it. I usually add salt, pepper, curry, and lemon pepper.

Then I grab a pan and I've tried these things to cook the chicken with:

Olive Oil
Vegetable Oil
Butter

All of them usually result in me burning my chicken. I set the temp at like 5.5/10 on the knob, so that it takes its time and doesn't burn. What am I doing wrong and what should I do instead?

I suspect the blackness comes from the spices you put on the chicken burning.

Try this technique I learnt from Jamie Oliver: Season your chicken as normal. Put the pan on a high heat until it's hot (not stupid-hot, just hot). Add olive oil and the chicken skin-side down. Cook for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, take a square of baking parchment or greaseproof paper big enough to cover the pan. Fold it in half until you have a 'folded fan' shape. Hold the point so it's roughly over the middle of the pan, and tear off any excess that goes over the side of the pan. Unfold and you should have a circle of paper. Scrunch it up, then run it under a cold tap and give it a shake.

Turn the chicken over, turn the heat to medium low, then place the wet paper (a 'cartouche') on to the chicken. Finally put a heavy pan lid (the lid from a casserole is ideal) on top. Cook for another 20 minutes.

The moisture in the cartouche helps keep the chicken moist and prevents it from burning. Cooking time will depend on the thickness of the breast, so do check it's cooked through before eating (cut it open and check it's not pink).

Use a lid, works great to keep in the moisture.


Do slow cookers require liquid to operate? I have a Butterball turkey breast roast that I'd like to cook tomorrow, and I'm planning to do it in my slow cooker.

The recipe as provided online is the same one that is on the turkey packaging:

  Slow-Cooker Instructions:
  Place THAWED roast, skin side up, flat in 8” diameter slow-cooker. Add 1/2 cup water. Cover, cook on low 7-1/2 hours to internal temperature of 170 degrees as measured with a meat thermometer. After 4 hours, check temperature at center, ends and near top for food safety. Turkey must reach 140 degrees within 4 hours.

Now, I haven't done a lot of slow cooking before, but when I have, I've always added enough liquid to fill the slow cooker up to about 3/4 full.  Half a cup of water will barely cover the bottom of my slow cooker.

I did some research, but found nothing conclusive.  Some people say that slow cookers should always be more than half full, while others seem to indicate that it's fine to run them almost empty.

Is there a minimum level of liquid necessary when cooking in a slow cooker?

It's really no different from cooking something on a stove: if you have no liquid at all, things are probably going to start getting too hot, sticking on the bottom, and maybe burning. As long as there's some liquid, you'll be fine. The important thing is to add enough; if you keep having to open it to add more, it won't stay hot. This is basically the minimum level: enough that it won't boil dry in an hour or so. If you're cooking something really simple like a piece of meat, using too much water just provides more water for the flavor to get diluted into.

This is precisely what the first page you linked to says: if it's not full enough, it might all boil off. The writer is just way off about quantities. I suspect his cooker's lid doesn't fit well, or he's unnecessarily cooking on high. I don't think my slow cooker would boil dry from half full in 8 hours on low, and there's no reason to put it on high if I'm cooking that long.

The recipe at the second link isn't exactly empty - a can of cranberry sauce will provide a good amount of liquid. It also might not be a great recipe. On that note, I might suggest you look for more authoritative recipes. Perhaps check out a slow cooker cookbook from your library (these tend to be pretty common) to get an idea of the kinds of things you can do. (Of course, if all you want is a plain piece of meat, I guess you don't need much.)

The hottest a slow cooker on low gets is about 160 degrees and on high about 180 degrees. This does not reach the boiling point. Use very small amount of liquid if you want to. When you BBQ a brisket you just put it on the pit at about 180 to 210 degrees or so with just dry heat and let it cook for 15 to 18 hours. I think brisket cooked this way is very tender and tasty.  Enjoy.


How can I reduce the sugar in this oatmeal bar recipe? I made this recipe for oatmeal bars, following the instructions with just a couple changes. Although they turned out well, I would like to reduce the sugar content while still preserving the texture of the bars. They are currently somewhat dense and a bit crumbly but still hold together, and I'd like them to either stay that way or be lighter and less crumbly. What changes could I make to achieve this?

Here is specifically what I did:

2 cups rolled oats
2 cups flour
1 cup creamy peanut butter (Jif)
2 beaten eggs
3/4 cups white sugar
3 tsp vanilla
1 tsp each of baking soda, salt, cinnamon
1 cup raisins cooked in 5 tbsp water, including water
4 tbsp whole milk plus enough more to make the dough hold together

Mixed everything together and baked in a greased 9x13 glass pan in a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes.

You could try putting some medjool dates in a food processor then grinding them down into a powder! Lots of vegan and paleo recipes use dates instead of sugar as a healthier and less sweet option.

I routinely reduce sugar in cake and cookie recipes without any discernible difference in the final product.

I have a similar recipe that I make with 1/2 cup of sugar. My family loves them.


Teaching Bread Making to a young student- need new reasources Hi Seasoned Advice Forum Members
I am a semi experienced Artisan Bread Baker. I am currently teaching a 9 year old boy the basics of bread making and would like to see if anyone has any  suggestions on where I can find free educational material on Bread making that is not too heady, that would benefit my student

Take a look at the Josey Baker Bread book. He is a former elementary school science teacher turned professional San Francisco baker. The lessons start with the simplest no-knead bread and progressively add to that foundation with new concepts and techniques.  In a number of ways it feels like an elementary school science textbook.  It might be the best match for what you are looking for.

http://www.joseybakerbread.com/the-book

I am a huge fan of the modernist cuisine series including modernist bread, I have them all except the photography one. There are curious omissions, for example they have a photograph and description of every type of mixer including the uncommon Ankarsrum/Electrolux and diving arms but they somehow missed fork mixers. Nevertheless, it is astonishingly complete. They have performed ridiculous amounts of testing across everything bread related that they knew about including water of varying hardness, varying ph and every combination of home equipment they could think of. The recipes have a lot of information about adapting them to different baking situations.

If like me, you were sick of not being able to search your paper copy, I might point out there is a chrome extension that can search certain libraries that American politicians are not fond of and perhaps some other options.

Having said that I am not a huge bread baker and there are doubtless other excellent resources.


Which spice gives brown colour to Indian curry? Many of the premixed curry pastes and curry dishes I have eaten have a brownish / reddish colour to them.

I have a nice collection of spices that I cook with, but my curries seem to always look and taste quite similar. Most of these are a yellowy colour, dominated by turmeric.

Thinking of butter chicken and also a goat masala that is available at a local restaurant; what dominant coloured spice am I missing that would give my curries a red or brown colour?

I am assuming that these would introduce me to some new flavours that I can mix and match with.

Note: I already have paprika.

I've seen a lot of different curry recipes with varying levels of authenticity, but the most common ingredients I see in curries that might impart that colour are:

Garam masala (brown)
Chili powder (red)
Cumin (brown)
Paprika (red)
Tandoori powder (usually a mix of masala, cumin, ground red pepper, fenugreek, and others - very red)
Saffron (red)

Still, it's all kind of a moot point, because, in Indian restaurants the most common source of red is actually red food colouring.  Don't kid yourself; Indian restaurants use plenty of "artificial" ingredients - they also usually use food colouring in the saffron rice, which is how they get those few vibrant red grains to mix in with the yellowish rice.

It's probably cinnamon, even in small quantities, it disperses very well in liquids and has a lot of color, and it's commonly found in garam masala blends. I'm guessing it's pretty likely to be cinnamon because adding a very small amount of ground cinnamon to a light colored food like oatmeal or white flour dough turns them from white/beige to brown.

Turmeric was already mentioned, it's the main colorant used in yellow curries and a very small amount of that turns things bright yellow, but combined with other common curry it might turn brownish as well (anise, cumin, coriander) esp with something like lentils.


Backyard mint too grassy I just moved into a house with a large quantity of mint growing in the yard.

It is late in the season and a lot of the mint is going to seed.

I picked two packed cups of leaves and trimmed off all the stems.
I pulsed the leaves in the food processor with granulated sugar until it was a paste.
I then used the paste as the flavoring for homemade ice cream.

The ice cream texture was fantastic but the flavor wasn't. It was weirdly grassy and not very minty at all.
The kids wouldn't even eat it until I added a good quantity of mint extract to fix it.

I thought the mint leaves themselves were minty enough.

This is my first time using fresh mint this way.
Did I use the mint improperly or is mint only used very young?

While it is true that there are a variety of mints, I think your biggest challenge is that it is "late in the season."  I find that here (Philly, USA), in August, all of my herbs tend to develop a bitterness that is not there in spring and early summer.  While it may be the variety, I don't think it is the age of the plant, as my mint comes back each year as well.  It seems that the "soft" herbs are just past their prime now.  My rosemary and sage are fine, thyme is ok, but softer herbs like basil and lovage have a higher bitter component.  Try your mint again in the spring.

Another thought: Pulsing into a paste my also bring out flavor components that are not desirable.  What about steeping the leaves in the milk and cream (this would work if you are making a custard based ice cream and heating the cream), then straining them out?

haha you posted this a long time ago but there are different types of mints. the mint in your backyard is not spearmint (the kind of mint that has that menthol, cool flavour) and instead you probably have peppermint (which is always grassy tasting).


Seasoning a wok in the wrong way? I've just bought a wok recently and seasoned it. The only thing i realized at the end is that it never became blue, it's just a dark brown color. Is there a possibility to season it wrong? I've added a few layers of coat with oil, however i have no clue if this can be a health issue on the long run or not.
Thanks in advance.

You are probably not using the right oil and/or heating it hot enough.


Is it bad to eat cheese after its expiry date? I accidentally ate some packaged shredded cheese without knowing its expiration date. It expired in December and it is now February. it tasted fine, and it wasn't moldy. will I be okay? or should I worry about being sick? if so, how long would it take for me to get sick?

Speaking in general about expiry dates, because I haven't seen them posted in other answers to this or other questions...

Expiry dates are (in some jurisdictions) entirely optional for most goods, and determined by the manufacturer (one example, anecdotally).

Another recent-ish article, which I found enlightening, from National Geographic that suggests that strict adherence to these "dates" results in wasted food that's perfectly safe. There's no doubt a balance between economics... and helpful suggestions for general health/safety.

There's clearly also examples and counterexamples: food that's spoiled before the expiry date because of poor storage, contamination, etc.; unopened shelf-stable food that might be safe indefinitely.

Plenty more questions about this topic, in general, also by searching SA for "expiry" and/or "expiration" in addition to the other suggested search topics.

Be safe out there! :)

you'll be fine. cheese is mold after all.


How do I ensure my deep dish crust gets cooked I've made a couple of deep dish pizzas over the last several months and I occasionally get either a soggy or a not cooked crust.  I've been pushing the dough into a cast iron skillet and then putting it into a 400-450 degree oven for say around 25 minutes.  By then the crust around the edges is threatening on burning but the crust on the bottom might still be doughy.

I've thought of a couple things and I'd love to hear some feedback on what you may have tried and found successful:

"sear" the pizza on the stove for a little bit (Wondering if just a minute or two would suffice
Bake the pizza with the pan on my baking stone

I'm nervous that the cast iron might suck enough heat out of the stone to risk cracking it.

As always your feedback is appreciated.

For a deep-dish pizza, around 425°F is right, and so is 20–30 minutes. That's starting with cold dough (need to keep the butter layers chilled, at least for a Chicago-style pizza).

Cooking in an aluminum 3" deep cake pan is fine. I suppose cast iron should work too (though it'll heat slower, so might take longer). As has been pointed out in comments, the cast iron much greater heat capacity may be part of the problem; I'd guess preheating it would help. (You can just put the cast iron skillet in the oven as the oven heats, though depending on how long you let the oven heat, you may want it in for only part of the time—no idea what the optimal temperature for it is). Make sure to have plenty of oil under the dough, and also cook on a lower oven rack.

I'd guess that you're using too-watery toppings. The tomato sauce should be pretty thick, much thicker than you'd ever use on a thin-crust pizza. Vegetables may need sweating to get some moisture out. If nothing else works, partially cook the crust (say, ten minutes or so) and then add the sauce and toppings.

I can vouch by Cook's Illustrated's Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizza recipe. Normally they have a paywall, but currently that recipe isn't behind it, so grab it quick.

Low moisture skim mozz!  The sauce needs to be as moisture free as possible (without being solid.)  You can also precook the dough without anything in it for 8-10 minutes before putting in the toppings, that will help if you have too moist sauce.


How can I smoothly sugar the rim? Sometimes I end up with a nice even coating of sugar on my lemon drop's rim (it's served in a martini glass). But most of the time the sugar is clumpy and uneven. What can I do to encourage a nice smooth professional coating of sugar on my glass rim?

The clumps come from too much liquid on the glass when applying the sugar.

The way I learned to salt a glass was to dip the glass upside-down in a shallow plate or bowl of water, let it drip for 5-10 seconds, then dip it into an evenly layered plate of salt.  I think this should work for sugaring a glass.


How to get breading to stick to chicken? I made a simple breaded chicken recipe last night (mixed butter, mustard & bread crumbs together), but the mixture wouldn't stick to the chicken - any tips?

This has been answered in a related question : https://cooking.stackexchange.com/a/13878/67

So, to sumarize & relate to your current situation : don't mix your coating together, as you want seperate alternating layers of wet & dry.

Your typical breading for chicken is:

flour, cornstarch, or some other dry powder, possibly mixed with salt, herbs and spices
egg, possibly mixed with milk or water
breadcrumbs, possibly mixed with salt, herbs and spices (but beware that some may burn).

You want to shake or let drip between each addition for nice, think coatings.  If you don't, as dry won't stick to dry, and wet won't stick to wet, you'll end up having a giant slip-plain and things will slide off.

If you're pan frying (instead of deep frying), you might be able to get away with your mix while cooking, but it'll likely come off when someone goes to cut into it.

Mixing a little corn starch in with the flour helps the breading to stick


How to store Parmesan cheese? I recently lucked into about 4 lbs of a delicious Parmesan. Sadly it's already in 4 pieces, and so I'm pretty sure its going to be more prone to spoilage than a single large chunk. How does one go about setting up a block of dry, hard cheese for long term storage?

Also how long can I expect my cheese to retain its flavor?

If it's high quality, store it in the refrigerator in an air-tight container and try to use it as quickly as possible so you can enjoy it while it's fresh. There are always excuses to use loads of parmesan: cheese plates, pasta dinners, fondue, scones, grilled cheese sandwiches, etc. It should last for 3-4 months in a sealed container in the fridge. As time goes on it will get drier, but that's to be expected.

If you can't eat it in time, consider giving some away to a friend. If you wanted, you could freeze it as well, but I would only use it for baking or melting once thawed as some flavor and a lot of texture will be lost.

Put it in a cooler or running water (cold) bur not more than 5days


How to bind chopped pepperoni, salami, and bacon I have this sandwich I make that I think is pretty good, except that I have a problem with it falling apart.

Basically I take sliced salami, sliced pepperoni, (precooked) bacon, and banana peppers and throw them into a food processor to grind it up fairly ground up but not pasty.

I then put it in a skillet with some olive oil and brown/crisp it a little and then I add some red wine vinegar and black pepper to taste and set aside.

Then I take a loaf of french bread (there's this "everything" french bread at my local store that has "everything" seasoning on top of it, which I like to use, vs. plain french bread). I cut it in half lengthwise and scoop out some of the inside of the bread.

I squirt some horseradish sauce on the bottom side, then add a layer of sliced sharp chedder and pepper jack cheese. Then I add heap of the meat mix, and finally top with another layer of sliced sharp chedder and pepper jack cheese.

I then butter the skillet and press the sandwich on the skillet on each side for about a minute (like a cubano).

So this is one of my favorite sandwiches to make, and I think it's yummy! The problem is it's a little bit of a pain to eat, because there really isn't anything binding the meat together.

So I've been trying to figure out what I can do to make it not fall apart.  The first thing I tried is to shred/grate the cheese and mix it in with the meat. Unfortunately, that doesn't work. I assume it's because of the olive oil and vinegar, but I haven't tried outright removing them, as it's a crucial part of the flavor I'm going for.

Next time I get a chance to make this sandwich, I was thinking maybe I would try browning the meat without adding the oil/vinegar, and instead sprinkle them on the top while building the sandwich. I figure this might help, but I'm not entirely sure it will completely help, since these meats are a bit fatty in their own right.

I was also thinking I could go the route of making it a patty (like making a hamburger patty), where I mix an egg and some breadcrumbs and cook it as a patty. I'm not so sure I really want to do that though. I'm not outright opposed to it, but I already feel like the flavor is where I want it, so I'd like to avoid throwing new flavors into the mix (though admittedly, eggs and breadcrumbs are fairly neutral).

But I'm also not sure I dig the idea of a patty for this sandwich in general. I like the mouth feels of heaping mass of chopped meat, and I actually don't mind if there's some amount of "fall apartness". I just really want to reduce it a bit somehow.

I'm certainly down for experimenting but I'm not by any means even fractionally rich, so I can only indulge in this pleasure about once a month or so, so I was hoping I could maybe see if anybody else out there might have any ideas?

If you got this far, thanks for reading my TL;DR!

What I did to solve my problem was I made a thick cheese sauce with some of the pepperjack/sharp cheddar (grated some of it, coated in corn starch, melted in a little bit of milk), and mixed that into the meat mix, just enough cheese sauce to bind it, just enough to make the meat start sticking together (and I reduced amount of sliced cheese on top and bottom to make up for the addition of cheese in the meat).  Worked pretty well for me!

Egg makes for a great binder?
Either toss in one egg when yer blending and proceed as usual or make into a patty, might need to add some bread crumbs.


How do you reduce a cream sauce? My wife made a cream based sauce last night and the recipe said to "reduce" it.
The cream sauce was comprised of some white wine, couple cups of heavy cream and chicken broth (my wife substituted water for the broth)

I looked up how to reduce a sauce, and it basically said to heat it up til most of the liquid evaporates and the sauce gets thicker.  Makes sense, but the website I was on said that the liquid should simmer on low heat while reducing.  I was doing this but it was taking forever and was still very thin (~30 minutes).  I cranked up the heat to high and that sped things up, but I'm wondering what the proper way to do it is.

Should she not have added water?  Was there something else we missed? Or does it really take that long to reduce a cream sauce?

The simple answer is: You reduce a cream sauce the same way you reduce any other sauce, by simmering it until a certain amount of liquid is gone, just like the instructions said.  You have to be careful about temperature though, because milk (or cream) can burn at high temperatures, and then your sauce is ruined.  You should keep it to a low or at most medium simmer.

Cream sauces normally tend to thicken extremely fast, so the long cooking time is almost certainly due to watering it down.  I don't think the water was necessary at all; the chicken broth was probably for flavouring, and although "broth" is a somewhat nebulous term, one would normally expect a broth to contain at least some amount of gelatin, which will cause the sauce to thicken substantially when it cools if you reduce it a lot.  Water doesn't, so you've added no flavour and thinned out the sauce.

Basically, you (or your wife) added water for no other purpose than to try to evaporate it later.  Water generally doesn't go in a cream sauce.  If you don't have chicken broth or can't use it, I would either substitute more wine or just leave it out completely.  Usually the only time you substitute water for broth is if it's actually the base of your sauce.

It dosnt make sense to add water to cream if your purpose it to take the water out of the cream, thats why it took so long .


When smoking, is temperature consistency more important than exact temperature? I am smoking ribs in a charcoal smoker. The smoked rib recipe that I am following instructs smoking the ribs at 225°F. My smoker is maintaining a temperature of 215°F. I can add more lump charcoal to raise the temperature, but fear I will soar right past my target temperature.

I realize the ribs will cook slower at a lower temperature, but is maintaining 225°F paramount to cooking the ribs correctly? Am I risking food safety by maintaining a slightly lower temperature?

When you approach the low end of the low-and-slow cooking methods, a concern that is normally not an issue in faster cooking methods starts becoming important:  how long will it take the food to get to safe temperature?

You want the food to be above 140 F (60 C) for the entirety of the cooking process, for safety, although having that happen instantly is not possible.  Therefore, you want the temperature to get to that threshold as quickly as reasonably possible, especially for the surface of whole cuts of meats where the greatest risk of pathogens are.

Therefore, I would urge you to err on the side of caution and safety, and use the extra coal at the beginning of cooking until the food reaches at least 140 F.

Once it gets out of the danger zone, and into the safe zone, you have much more freedom.   However, barbecue is far from exact.  I would not worry about a 10 or even 15 F disparity. Your final outcome will likely be indistinguishable.

Still, once the food is safe, if you wish to allow the temperature to be somewhat lower, that is the time to do so.

As long as you cook it long enough so that internal temperatures reach safe levels than you are fine. Sous vide for instance commonly occurs at temperatures of 150 degrees for instance for beef.

Pork needs to be at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit to be considered safe.

On a side note 225 is perfect for ribs. A meat thermometer is tough to use on ribs because of the thin meat and the bones but figure that Baby Backs will cook in about 3-4 hours and St. Louis can take about 6. Pick them up with your tongs and they should bend easily under the weight and start cracking at the surface.


How to effectively take cream from milk? I tried to take cream from raw (full fat) milk by the common method: leaving the milk at refrigerator overnight, then taking the cream from top. The amount of cream came to the top was low, and after separation, the milk was still fully fat. Then, next day new cream came onto the top, and the milk was still fat.

Is there a practical method (probably similar to industrial approach to skim milk) for full separation of cream from milk?

If you have raw milk and let it sit, the cream will indeed rise to the top. To separate, you can just wait and skim off the cream as you did. However, if you store the raw milk in the refrigerator, it will take longer for the cream to rise. Perhaps that is why you are having difficulties. Alternatively, you can use a spigot jar to drain the "skimmed" milk from the raw milk, leaving the cream behind.

I think you end up with about 1/10th of your raw milk that is cream.

Letting the milk sit out for half an hour to an hour to warm up to separate the cream from it is safe. Yogurt is made by heating the milk, letting it cool, then adding bacterial cultures (ie, a bit of previously made yogurt).

Similarly, if the milk is off a bit, freeze it as it's perfect as buttermilk in recipes.


How can I cook more flavorful Chicken through and through? When I cook chicken, the flavor seems to be concentrated in the skin.  But when I get a rotisserie chicken from Costco, it seems to be very flavorful through and through, beyond just the skin.

I've experimented with various seasonings, including salt/pepper, soy sauce, or various store-bought marinades. They're all good, but again, all the flavor seems to be in the skin.

In my chicken quest, and out of admiration of Costco chicken, I've purchased a Ronco Showtime Rotisserie oven, which I use regularly.  I'm quite the novice cook, so it has certainly helped the level and consistency of my chicken. However it seems to make little difference when it comes to flavor.

From what I know, cutting the chicken into pieces gives the chicken more flavor. But I'm looking for other solutions please.

How can I achieve more flavorful chicken through and through?

One option to consider to add flavour to a chicken is brining. I've personally never brined a chicken, but everytime I come across mention of it in a foodie blog, forum or elsewhere, it always seems to be considered a good way to impart additional flavour into the meat.

Since writing this answer I've followed Nigella Lawson's recipe for Spiced and Superjuicy Roast Turkey which has resulted in fantastically tasty and moist turkey at Christmas every year, to the point where I won't countenance turkey at Christmas without brining it now. If this translates as well to chicken (which I fully admit I should've tried by now!) then it's well worth the time and effort.

I poach chicken for salads and stir fries.    Wash chicken in cold water. Place in pan just big in enough to hold the chicken, and cover with water. Heat to boiling. Add one tsp of salt ( rounded for small and heaped for large ) two spring onions and a walnut shell sized piece of ginger sliced.Ginger can be duplicated for traditional flavouring ie sage or thyme. Place chicken in boiling water and top up with more water if needed to cover chicken. Bring to boil for ten  minutes. Cover and remove from heat. Leave for 2 hours. Chicken will be juicy, tasty and tender.
Wonderful with salads, sandwiches and stir fries.  Choose your favourite flavourings but don't overdo them  Of course, use the liquid for soup.


How to make big, fluffy "Mexican-style" flour tortillas (without using any special machinery)? Flour tortillas are so bloody expensive (and rare!) outside of the U.S. so I'd like to make my own. A friend taught me how to make some ages ago, but I stopped because they were always weird and I could never get them to taste, feel or smell like the ones I got in the store (never-mind from Mexican restaurants in California!), not to mention they were always little tiny baby tortillas only intended for children with very small fingers.

The recipe was basically this (disclaimer: haven't tried in about a year):

Add flour, oil, salt and warm water into a bowl and make a dough.
Knead until you can't anymore.
Break off small pieces and squish/roll out into thin tortillas.
Throw into a frying pan with some butter.
Occasionally flip and wait until dark spots appear on both sides.

It worked out but the results weren't spectacular, often too crispy, too thin, etc. maybe I just need to practice at it more?

How do you make big, fluffy "Mexican-style" flour tortillas (without using any special machinery) ?

Authentic flour tortillas use lard.  For an authentic taste, use that, or consider using shortening or butter since they are solid at room temperature like lard.  You also might want to consider increasing the fat in your recipe.  Fat will coat the proteins of your flour and keep the gluten network from forming so easily.

I was also taught when making tortillas to let the dough rest for an hour after kneading and before rolling/pressing.  This helps everything relax.

After cooking each tortilla, put them in a pile with a clean towel over them.  The tortillas will sweat liquid, helping them to soften up.  You can also put them all in a heat-safe bag (paper or microwave safe plastic) for sweating.  When storing your tortillas, make sure to store them in a bag and not in the open air.

If your tortillas are too small, you should be able to roll out a larger piece of dough.

Part of the texture issues might actually be from you rolling them too thin.  If you are used to working with dough your ideas of thin might be different from the overstated ones found in recipes.  Try rolling to various thicknesses.

I've never put anything on my tortilla pan (the heavy black pans, one is flat with handle); no butter, spray etc. Do not over knead as this will make tortillas less pliable and soft. Do you have a  "Mexican food" section in your grocery stores, if so you can buy a bag of tortilla flour already prepared, you just add water.


Irish Cream Manufacturing What do you need to make Irish cream in a more professional way that lasts for a long time without going bad like baileys.

Do you have to use a homogenizer, and is there alternatives so it doesn't curdle?
Should E471 emulsifier and E331 Acidity Regulator be used, or anything similar, and if so how are they used and mixed?
There are so many recipes with minor differences what is the best one. For instance some recipes use condensed milk and other recipes only heavy cream.

To sum up: How can you make it last longer and not curdle or separate.

To make Baileys I have a great recipe.  1 1/2 cups Rye-Bonded Stock, 1 large can carnation milk, 1 can Eagle Brand milk, 2 tbsp. instant coffee dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water.  Put above in blender and mix for one minute.  Let stand for about one hour.  Bottle and refrigerate and do not drink all at once.
When I made it, it was gone in four days.


Could I add butter to single cream to make whipped/double cream? I want to make some whipped cream for millefeuille but I only have single.

If I added butter to single cream and whipped it, would that add enough butterfat to it to make it suitable for whipping?

Thanks in advance.

Yes, this is possible but you need a high-speed blender like a Thermomix or Vitamix to do so. There's actually a recipe on the Thermomix website:
http://www.ukthermomix.com/recshow.php?rec_id=29

Ingredients
250 gm unsalted butter
250 gm milk (full cream or semi-skimmed)
Method
Weigh butter in pieces and milk into the Thermomix bowl.  Cook 3 minutes/ 90C/ Speed 1.  Blend 30 seconds/ Speed 8.  This emulsifies the butterfat back into the warmed milk and makes a perfectly delicious cream.  Chill in the fridge 4 hours to use as pouring or spooning cream.  Chill in the fridge 8 hours or more to be able to whip the cream.

I presume you could tweak the ratio to account for the difference in fat between milk and cream to make your double cream.

I had the same problem. I bought single instead of double and needed it to whip as I was making cheese cake. I found vanilla angel delight in the cupboard added it to the cream and hey presto :-)


How do you prevent oatmeal from overflowing? Whenever I cook oatmeal (whether steel cut oats in a rice cooker or pan, or rolled oats in the microwave), it always overflows. How do you prevent this?

Do you just use a bigger container? Do you just take the pan off the heat or bowl off the microwave when it's about to overflow? I've also heard that if you put dried fruit or something like that along with the oatmeal while cooking, that helps prevent it from overflowing -- is this true?

A bigger container is definitely the 'instant' solution.

I've never hear of fruit preventing overflow.  I'd guess the theory there is that it has something to do with the fruit interfering with the bubble to prevent them from forming...but I'd doubt it without A LOT of fruit.

Generally I've done two methods:

Reduce the power and increase the cooking time.  Cut the power by 30% or so and increase the cooking time, this seems to prevent as much of a rapid boil and alleviates the problem.
Determine the time right before it starts to boil over, cut power off, cover it tightly and just let coast the rest of the way.  This is particularly effective if you're cooking in a  vessel with good thermal retention.

It's surprisingly EASY!

As I explained in a blog post, it's very easy to get it well. It never boils over for me when I do it that way.

Place oatmeal and 1/2 C water/milk in a bowl in microwave.
Set your microwave to 2 minutes and then hit the ‘Power’ button.
Choose 8 or 80% power.
Then hit start and go deal with your screaming toddler/teen/puppy.
When you think… oh crap! I forgot to watch the oatmeal so it doesn’t boil over…
You’ll remember… oh yeah, it NEVER boils over anymore!


Machine washed my cake pans I got two circular cake pans for Christmas, and finally put them to use for home-made yellow cake layers. Feeling lazy, I tossed them into the dish washer afterwards instead of hand-washing, and realized afterwards that I didn't know if they were safe for it.

After coming out they've turned from silvery to looking like they have a chalky white "coating" all over, that won't wash off. It feels very strange to the touch, almost like a chalk board.

The "coating" (I'm guessing it's actually a lack of coating, that the dishwasher destroyed) is very uneven over the pans.

Nothing comes off on your fingers when you rub or scratch at it, though.

Are these still safe to bake with? I'm perplexed and don't know what to do with them now.

That sure looks like anodized aluminum that has been put through the dishwasher. I have never seen a non-stick coating that washes off in the dishwasher.

If it is anodized aluminum then it is harmless to continue using the pan.

I suggest contacting the manufacturer (stamped on bottom) if you want to be safe.

I'm assuming that the pans were originally non-stick coated. Most cake pans like that are.

I'm also assuming that either the detergent you used or maybe the "heat dry" cycle of your washer ruined the non-stick surface. So the chalky surface is probably the wrecked non-stick.

In any case, I wouldn't use them out of fear I'd wind up ingesting something awful from that surface. You could test them and see, but you'd never really know what's going on unless the surface flakes off on your food, and really--how expensive are those pans? Wouldn't it be better to chalk this one up to a lesson learned and get new ones?


Why add salt to the water when cooking pasta? What is the effect of adding salt to the water when cooking pasta?

The salt adds flavor, but it also helps reduce the gelation of the starch in the pasta.  The starch in food is the form of microscopic grains.  When these grains come into contact with water, they will trap some of it (think cornstarch in cold water), but when the water is hot they swell up like balloons and merge with each other, and you have starch gelation.

Another thing you may want to add to the pasta water is some acid (lemon or cream of tartar).  Tap water in most cities is made alkaline, which increases the starch loss from the pasta to the water, making the pasta stickier.

It has to do with Osmosis (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmosis). The saltier the water the less water gets pulled in by the pasta. Adding salt will keep your pasta nice and firm and not too bloated. That is also why you should never drink distilled water in Chemistry class. The exact opposite will happen, since there are no Salts in distilled water, your cells having a higher salt level will pull in all the water literally making them pop.


What oils are suitable for Indian cooking (i.e. extended frying duration)? Indian cooking basically uses oil from the beginning of the process, typically starting with sautéing ginger and garlic, then adding shallots, chillies and onions. So the oil is on the fire for quite some time.

I would like to know whether any type of olive oil will be suitable for this type of cooking. Extra virgin olive oil seems to be out of the question from what I have read.

Indian food is commonly cooked with ghee (clarified butter), for both religious and flavor reasons.  Where ghee is not used, coconut or refined palm oil are common.

I can also tell you from experience that Indian food can be made with unflavored vegetable oils (canola, sunflower or soy), without a deleterious effect on flavor or texture.


Substituting table salt or sea salt for kosher salt? The roasted chicken recipe I'm following of course calls for kosher salt, but I don't have any, and getting some is out of the question.

I have sea salt and table salt on hand.

Can I substitute one of those instead, and if so, what is the proper ratio of the kosher salt the recipe calls for to either sea salt or table salt?

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

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

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

People are missing a big factor in what defines Kosher salt -- the absence of any additives, especially iodine (as in iodized salt). If it is being used for the lactose-fermentation process, such as when making kimchi or sauerkraut, iodine will greatly affect the process in a very bad way, so something like Kosher salt is needed. The grain size is less important, but a larger grain is preferred.


How can you make gelatin at home? I'm looking for something maybe from a really old recipe book, be it fish, chicken or beef. I've been searching all over and obviously most people's opinions are to buy store bought gelatin. That doesn't work for me - I want it to be kosher or halal, and I can't find that.

After a quick Google I found this recipe :- http://www.grassfedgirl.com/diy-make-your-own-healing-gelatin/

  Ingredients:

  3-4 lbs pastured animal bones (any kind will work, I even mix them between animals) (the more bones the more likely it will gel…fill’er
  up! )
  4-5 quarts filtered water
  1 tbsp sea salt

  Directions:

  Put all the ingredients in a slow cooker over night or for up to 48 hours.
  Strain it off through a wire mesh strainer.
  Refrigerate until firm or overnight.
  Chip or scrape off any fat and save for cooking or discard.
  Melt the gelatin and add fruit and sweetener to make something sweet the refrigerated again.

  Or use the gelatin as a base for making a soup or stew.

  This gelatin will keep in the fridge for a week (or a year in the
  freezer.)

One thing to note, the recipe makes no mention of all the meaty juices which will settle to the bottom during the cooling process. So where it suggests scraping the fat off the top I would recommend flipping the big gelatin block over a slicing the bottom off also.

Also during the straining process, if you can get hold of some cheese cloth or muslin it'll help ensure there are no meat particles in there anywhere.

I make bone broth. I cook for up to twelve hours on my wood stove. cool take off fat. put in jars and pressure can. so it has been at quite hot temperatures. All my jars are so hard to get the broth out of the gel is so thick I have to spoon it out. So I don't thin temp will affect much. I have thought of filtering and trying in a fruit jelly perhaps a thick puree mixed through. But you wouldn't have to boil to nothing. secret is lots of knuckle bones.


Are chilies a common ingredient in Italian cooking? I just read this article in CNN "Eating chilies cuts risk of death from heart attack and stroke, study says" and when I read this line:

  Carried out in Italy, where chili is a common ingredient, the study
  compared the risk of death among 23,000 people, some of whom ate chili
  and some of whom didn't.

I've seen that some Italian dishes call for the addition of dried chili flakes, but a common ingredient? I'm married to a Malay - chili peppers are a common ingredient. It seems as common as salt.

Maybe I'm thinking of the wrong types of chili peppers. We always have a supply of Thai chilies around, but no pepperoncinis.
So what have I missed in Italian cooking where chilies are a common ingredient?

Or is what we have here in America as Italian cooking just isn't the real deal?

Disclosure: I am Italian but no professional, so what I will say is based on my own experience and could be inaccurate/wrong.

There is sure plenty of use for chili peppers in italian cousine. It is really traditional in the southern region of Calabria and close ones, but it is used throughout the whole country.

Together with the already mentioned Arrabbiata pasta sauce, in which spicy chili peppers is the main ingredient, there are several other dishes and cured meat product (sausages and such) that contains or, sometimes, heavily rely on that spicyness ( for example Nduja ).

Also, plenty of other plates can be adjusted to become spicy using dried chili flakes, especially for tomato based dishes, if it is of your taste.

In the Calabria region of Italy, chili peppers grow natively and are present in the local dishes.


Physics/chemistry behind the observation This is purely observation based. Any time I have cooking something on the stove, if I change intensity in any direction - reducing or increasing the heat, it seems like water vapor threads shoot out from the pot.

I can understand if I increase the heat, more energy, but don't have any explanation for reducing the heat. It seems like state change any direction causes some water vapor to release.

Don't think it matters, but it's gas based stove.

What causes the vapor or threads of mist to shootout when there is a change ?

It's hard to say without seeing it, but I suggest that this phenomenon happening when you turn up or down the gas may be caused by your arm reaching out in the vicinity of the pot to turn the knob.

The air above the pot should be saturated with water vapor at a higher temperature.  Motion nearby will create eddy currents that carry that moist air to where it can meet cooler air.  You see the moisture when it condenses to fog.

I think what you're observing has a common name in the culinary world. It's called carry-over heat. Assuming you have a big pot on the stove, and the heat source is at the bottom. The bottom of the pot is hotter than the top of the pot; say there's a 5C difference. Bottom is 99C, top is 94C (almost boiling)

Even when you turn off the heat, the heat from the bottom portion of the liquid will continue heating the top portion to an equilibrium between 94 and 99. Say 96; and 96 is already good enough to observe steam on the top.


Why should one pre-heat an oven? When cooking potatoes and bellpepper in an oven, it is highly recommended to pre-heat the oven. Why would it be a problem to put them in the oven while it is heating up ?

Thank you very much ! :)

It is not a problem to put whole potatoes for roasting in the oven while it heats up.  In fact, it's a good idea.

However, if you are following instructions or cooking times written for a preheated oven, you will need to add about 10 minutes to the cooking time (depending on how fast your oven heats up).

The rule of thumb I use for this is to add 1/2 of the time my oven takes to heat up to the recommended cooking time.  Since my oven takes about 20 minutes to get to 400F, that's 10 minutes.

However, regarding bell peppers it depends on why you are putting them in the oven.  If you're talking stuffed bell peppers, then it's fine to start with a cold oven.  However, if you are trying to char the peppers to remove the skins, you need to start with an oven that's as hot as possible, otherwise you will cook the peppers to mush before the skins are charred (and, ideally, use the broiler).

Basically all good answers, especially about the "Thermal Shock" creating a crust, to which I would add, due to caramelization and Maillard reaction, which is a primary flavor/flavinoid source.

The MAIN reason however, is that to achieve high vitamin, high protein, flavorful food that is still low in fat and salt, it is SUPREMELY ADVANTAGEOUS to move starches, proteins, and vegetables into FAT only when the FAT is very hot to avoid the food absorbing excess FAT.

The heat reservoir created by hot oil or lard allows the food to cook, often reaching several tens of millimeters into the interior and browning the outside in a very short time exposure to the emulsified, liquid fat, which can be absorbed into the food material.  The longer you cook at a low starting temperature, with an insufficient heat source, the more fat the food absorbs.

Basically the same for an oven, you will render more fat into the pan and have the right amount of butter, lard, or other oil browned and absorbed into the food combined with the natural striping or stipling of fat in meat.


Cooking stove vs cooking on open camp fire What are the advantages/disadvantages of cooking over an open campfire made with firewood as opposed to cooking on a propane gas stove? And which should one use for which occasion?

EDIT: Thanks everybody for the answers. For a propane stove, if we are carrying it to cook in wet weather, how does this help? We cannot light it inside the tent and if we take outside, the stove will surely go out in case of rain. No?

Campfire

Advantages: Less equipment to bring, you can do everything from grilling to roasting to steaming to baking, makes you feel more awesome for having cooked over a fire.

Disadvantages: Longer to set up, can darken pots, harder to control and regulate heat, more prone to burning food/hands.

My Usage: BBQing/Grilling (Steaks, burgers), roasting (anything that can be skewered), no dish steaming/baking of foods (Tin Foil wrapping), anything else that benefits from direct heat.

Stove

Advantages: Quick to set up, It's just like cooking on the stove at home. Much better control of heat.

Disadvantages: More equipment, you're limited to what you can do on a stove (which admittedly is quite a bit).

My Usage: Anything cooked in water (soups, noodles, hot drinks), Stuff that is really better done on a pan (eggs, french toast)

Fire:

can give out not just heat to food but to yourself as well
requires no weight but time to gather wood
can be difficult to start with bad weather

Stove:

Lot heavier
faster set up time
cleaner


Making hard cheese from milk by vinegar I tried to make hard cheese from raw milk by a common recipe: heating milk to about 190 F, then adding vinegar to curdle. However, I faced three issues:

Different recipes suggest 1/4 - 1/8 cup of vinegar for one gallon of milk, but in my case, the milk does not curdle with less than 1/2 cup for a gallon of milk.
The cheese produced is very soft. When I try to squeeze the cheesecloth (even think and double layer), the cheese is coming out of the cheesecloth pores. Then, I cannot remove more water from the cheese to make hard cheese.
When I separate the whey, it still contains cheese, and after heating the whey, it produces a lots of cheese (even more than the first step).

Is there anything wrong with my method?

The cheese produced is quite good, and I just cannot go further to make hard cheese. A possible source of problem can be the size of my curds in the milk suspension, which is smaller than those shown in the vidoes posted on the internet (not forming big lumps; but I have no idea what can be the reason.

Hard cheese usually uses rennet, and a mechanical cheese press to extract as much whey as possible, and usually a long aging (drying) time to make it hard.

I think there may be a discrepancy between the original poster's definition of "hard" cheese and what is generally known as hard cheese like Grana Padano, Cheddar, and others.

The process the OP is describing sounds like how one would make fresh paneer, and "hard" in this case might be more like the texture of "firm" tofu.

Use more vinegar for a firmer cheese.  3/4 cup or more.


Is there any way to salvage an old rusted wok? Hello Seasoned Advice: I cannot find an answer on any previous posts here relating to woks about what to do if the wok is Already Rusted. I found this wok in my husband's house when I moved in - he has no idea where it came from or how long it's been there.  I have no information about this wok, other than that the faded manufacturer's label indicates it was made in Taiwan, presumably by an Asian cooking supply house - has Chinese (?) characters above, then in English: "Seven S---G Co., Ltd" (the --- indicates where the label is faded and illegible) with an address, international phone number and fax number. It is black, has a welded, hollow steel handle with a hole through it for hanging, and looks to be a commercial, or restaurant-grade wok of carbon steel, well used. It was stored in an under-counter cabinet next to a leaky sink, so I have no doubt about where the original rust came from. Has about 10 small pits on the bottom and almost half of the entire upper right side of the circumference of the wok is almost one continuous thin (not pitted) area of rust.

Previously, I had spent the better part of a day alternately: scrubbing the rust (with coarse salt and fine salt), wiping with vegetable oil and heating over a high gas flame -then repeating this process 3 or 4 times until I was sure there was no rust or moisture remaining (although it is still pitted in some places at the bottom), and then another thin coat of oil to seal against moisture, heated again, then wiped. It worked very well for a couple of weeks, but as I don't currently cook Asian-style on a regular basis, after a few weeks of disuse it turned rusty again, almost worse than when I found it.

Should I be using steel wool to scrub the rust down to bare steel first, or just the salt? Using a different oil? (WD-40?  Just Kidding). Oven vs Gas burner heating?  How should I be storing this? (I have limited space-so most of my equipment is hanging on the walls or on a steel kitchen shelving rack, so I don't think air-flow is an issue.)

As this looks like a relatively decent piece of equipment, I want to do more Asian style cooking and be able to use it on a more regular basis. Is this wok salvageable? I would hate to have to put it on the curb and spend the money for a new restaurant-quality wok.  Thanks in advance for any guidance. P.S., I have pics, but due to a software issue with my camera, I am unable to post at the moment - will try to send pics if I get an answer to this question.

Hi Leigh Anne and welcome to Seasoned Advice! First let me say that you will probably get a few different answers as many of us have different ways of handling such issues.

Since you had what sounded like a pretty good amount of rust to start with, I would recommend a thorough cleaning with steel wool to ensure that you have removed all of the rust. Be sure to rinse well and dry thoroughly.

Regarding the type of oil, I would recommend a good quality vegetable oil. You could also use a good quality vegetable shortening. Make sure to apply a very thin layer and wipe off any excess, especially since you are not using the wok frequently. Any excess residue can become sticky or gunky when the pan is left to sit for a period.

As for gas burner or oven, that is really your choice. I personally would use a gas burner but many prefer using the oven.

All in all, it sounds like you already have a pretty good handle on this. A couple of other things you may want to consider, though. Even though you are keeping the pan in the open air, humidity may be a factor. Also, if you live near a body of salt water, salt in the air could be a problem. You may want to consider keeping the wok in a closed plastic bag. (I do this with any cookware that hangs or sits outside of the cabinet to ensure it's always clean and dust-free when I am ready to use it.)

Good luck! :)

@LeighAnne:  You may find that your gas burner works better with a wok if you remove the grate on your stove and use a wire wok ring instead.  A wire ring may position and stabilize the wok better than using the grate.  The only wire ring I've found is made by Joyce Chen (http://www.amazon.com/Joyce-Chen-31-0063-Chrome-Steel/dp/B00004RBTL )

In my experience, the common rings with holes in the sides don't work well.  The sides restrict oxygen flow and the holes don't allow enough in.  The sides also trap the heat at the bottom of the wok; they don't allow the heat to flow up the sides of the wok.


Will I definitely get food poisoning from unrefrigerated meat? I took a piece of beef steak out of the freezer yesterday at 4pm. I left it on the windowsill until 11am this morning. It stayed pretty chilled because the temperature here is below freezing, but it probably got above fridge temperatures. I then put it in the fridge before I cooked it tonight at 6pm and ate it. Will I definitely get sick?

Of course there's no guaranty that you will get sick - there almost never is - this doesn't mean you should ignore food safety.

There are three large factors that influence how "safe" your meat is:

How much harmfull microorganisms were in your meat to begin with?
How much did these microorganisms multiply and more importantly metabolize?
How "healthy" are you? / What amount of toxin/microorganisms can your body handle?

You only will get "food poisoning" when you have ingested a sufficient amount of microorganisms / poisons produced by microorganisms to overhelm your own immune system.

So why do we still clamour about food safety?

Because you can't controll the factors involved. In a normal kitchen environment you have no way of knowing how "contaminated" your food is, or how much your system can handle.

Stay on the safe side, assume the worst, and throw out food which might not be safe to eat.

On a side note. Extreme temperatures (e.g. freezing / cooking) do not "sanitize" food.

You most likely won't get sick if the temperature was below freezing close to your windowsill. However, it's generally safer to thaw and consume your meat in a reasonable time frame, and not leave meat out for extended amounts of time. If you cooked your meat to temperature, you're also reducing the amount of bacteria that may have formed on the steak.


Non-alcoholic substitute for brandy? I have a cake that calls for 4 Tablespoons of brandy. I don't have any brandy in the house, nor any kind of liquor at all (besides maybe red wine vinegar which doesn't help much). Is there anything I can substitute, or should I just skip? (I think I've skipped the brandy sometimes before when making this recipe and it came out fine.)

It depends what the recipe is, but I've successfully replaced brandy with orange juice or apple juice in the past. It's not a direct replacement for the flavour, of course, but gives a similar strength of flavour, if you see what I mean.

Get a tiny sample bottle of Brandy.  The alcohol is going to evaporate as the cake bakes, anyway.  Or buy Brandy extract in the baking isle of the grocery store.


How to make frozen pizza taste good? 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.


Curries with yoghurt-based marinade When cooking a curry using meat that has been marinaded in yoghurt tikka masala for instance, I have noticed that it often curdles/splits/gets grainy when cooked. I use 3.5% fat yoghurt, Balkan style - but this tends to happen with any yoghurt. Is there a way to prevent that from happening?

Any advice at all on this subject would be helpful!

You can use sour cream - tastes the same and won't break.


How to store homemade pasta without freezing I'm curious how to make pasta (and in this case I'm talking about say, spaghetti, angel hair, shells or lasagna noodles, no filling) and store it dry like I would find in a box at a store. I would try to take a day where I have not much to do and make ~25 pounds of pasta for the year (or every six months, happy to keep food fresh) Should there be adaptations of a recipe? Or would any do?

How would I go about storing pasta (without filling) without a freezer for long periods of time?

Any standard pasta recipe (basically flour, salt, water or egg) should do. Unless stated otherwise, fresh pasta can be cooked right away or dried and stored for months. Cooking time will vary, of course, with fresh pasta done in a few minutes, dried in roughly the same range as store bought.

When drying pasta, use the same aproach as for laundry: Separation, dry conditions, slight air flow if possible. For long pasta, it's usually hung to dry, e.g. on (clean) broomsticks or poles, smaller shapes can be put in a thin layer on dish towels or table cloths, pro's use wodden frames with thin mesh, like one would for drying fruit. Tagliatelle are sometimes gathered into little nests (= 1 serving), then dried. For pictures, search for "pasta drying rack". Usually you'll need about 2-3 days for pasta to dry thoroughly.

Your estimated storage time of six months should be fine, even up to a year, but only for basic recipes with white flour. If you like to try whole grain, other grains (buckwheat, spelt) or more exotic flavours/colours (tomato, beets, spinach, curry...), I'd aim for three months just to be sure nothing goes rancid or looses colour. Paper bags (food grade) are ok, as is cellophane or plastic, but make sure the pasta is really, really  dry, when packing in plastic. Store in a cool, dry , possibly dark (for coloured pasta) place.

side note:Have fun and remember to take pictures once you've flooded your house with drying pasta ;-)

The Italians made theirs, all in one day, laid on cloth covered tables and dried in the sun, then stored in cardboard boxes.


Does the definition of "cooking" imply heat? Through comments posted in this question, I'd like to expand the commentary on the definition of cooking.  Specifically, is heat an essential stipulation?

According to the wiki article on cooking:

  Cooking can also occur through chemical reactions without the presence of heat, most notably with ceviche, a traditional South American dish where fish is cooked with the acids in lemon or lime juice.

Another example is cooking with liquid nitrogen.  Am I wrong in calling this cooking?

NOTE: I could not find a duplicate question, but please let me know if you find otherwise.

Neither "yes" nor "no" is a suitable answer to that question.

First, there is no "the definition" of cooking. I am sure you can turn up several formal definitions, and my best guess is that some will require heat and others won't.

Second, and probably more important, humans don't think in definitions. You are asking if a given action belongs to the category "cooking methods". A definition works by ticking off features some element has to have to belong to a category. Real human categories (in everyday thinking, as opposed to formally defined ones in the sciences) depend on the closeness of an element to a prototype element. This closeness is gradual, and there is no demarcation to say where the category ends.

Keeping this in mind, all prototypical forms of cooking clearly involve heat, so the ones which don't involve it have a weaker membership in the "cooking methods" category than those which do. But it is impossible to pronounce whether they fall inside or outside of the category. Different people will answer that question differently, and I suspect that even the same person may give different answers in different contexts.

To make it even more complicated, "apply heat" is not the single thing which makes a food-related action resemble stewing (or whatever you take the prototype cooking method to be). So different things you do to food without heat will have a different grade of belonging to the "cooking" category.

People tend to not be aware of all that, and usually trust their intuition to take one side or the other. So you'll find people on both sides who insist they are right, and can rationalize it with some kind of plausibly sounding argument. Reality is more complicated than that, and if you try to prove one of the sides wrong, you will end up in a flame war going nowhere.

Read that article. They are not cooking with liquid nitrogen they are freezing.
If you dropped a chicken in liquid nitrogen you would get a frozen chicken.

  Another example is cooking with liquid nitrogen. Am I wrong in calling
  this cooking?

As a chemical engineer if you define cook as a chemical reaction then yes you are wrong.  Freeze is only a state change.  If you freeze and melt H2O you get water.  Oxidize with an acid is a true chemical reaction.

Traditional cook is oxidation.   Heat will oxidize most (if not all) food.  Acids will also oxidize and cook.  The term acid burn.

Nitrogen is neither an acid or base.

WIKI

  The culinary use of liquid nitrogen is mentioned in an 1890 recipe
  book titled Fancy Ices authored by Mrs. Agnes Marshall,[14] but has
  been employed in more recent times by restaurants in the preparation
  of frozen desserts, such as ice cream, which can be created within
  moments at the table because of the speed at which it cools food.


How to clean a toaster from inside? This is the toaster that I have. I wish to clean it from inside. It has got a kind of wire mesh inside it. What's the way out?

Just found this page when I was trying to find a solution to removing crumbs that lodged on the areas above the tray and wouldn't move when I shook the toaster upside down. I have now discovered that using a paintbrush (art not decorating) is successful.

i used a damp paper towel and a butter knife i just pushed the paper towel down inside the toaster and moved it back and forth and then turned it upside down and shook it and everything came out