Should I include egg shells in my stock? I've been making stock from vegetable scraps I've been keeping in the freezer (mainly carrots, celery, onion, tomato, and parsley). I read elsewhere that one could include egg shells in stock. Is this a good idea? How many should I include?

I've not heard of egg shells being used that way. I'm not sure what they would add.

The classic way of clarifying a meat stock to make it crystal clear (ie: for a consommé) is to whisk egg white (and I know at least one chef who adds crushed up egg shell to this mix) and finely ground meat into the cold stock and then gradually heat it. As the added ingredients cook they rise through the stock trapping all the bits that make it cloudy and the gunky 'raft' can be skimmed off the top.

Eggshells will absolutely not harm you.  I have a friend that I used to work with at his catering Company.  He is a chef from Scotland. Where he went to culinary arts school.  He was also the head chef at HCA. Very good at what he does. He always used eggshells in his stock. And like I said he is the best.


How do I make my blended soup a more appealing colour? I was following this recipe for minestrone soup. This recipe includes a red tomato base, as well as some green vegetables.
I like to blend my soups up after to make them smoother. However, when I do this I end up with an unappealing brown colour to my soup, since the green veggies and red from the tomato combine to be brown (at least this is what I assume is the reason).
I've seen this with other soups I've made before; anytime I have tomato + greens in a soup it happens.
How do I improve the colour of the soup to make it more appealing? Or am I overthinking this?
(I know brown soup exists and can be appealing (e.g. Windsor soup), but in this case when I blend it the colour just comes out like a mossy brown colour that looks kinda gross).

Of course “appealing” is quite opinion-based, so let’s look at the problem in a slightly more neutral “how can I avoid the colors mixing when I blend the soup”.
In short, you can’t.
If you have a significant amount of green and red veggies, that is.
One of the appeals and key features of a classic minestrone are the colorful ingredients that give you a bright and versatile palette, almost a mosaic in a bowl. But let’s not argue with the question’s premise.
If you want to blend the whole soup, you need to stay in a limited range of the color wheel, which means for your soup everything that’s between red (as dictated by the tomato base) and yellow will be fine, as is white or translucent.  Stay away from green. Blueish ingredients are quite rare and not part of a minestrone, so we can ignore that. In your example recipe, the spinach is out.
Alternatively you can blend everything except “the green”. That means you need to either fish out all the green vegetables or cook them separately. That said, the spinach in your recipe will cook so quickly that you could even add it after the blending step. And of course you still get chunks in the purée.
If your desire to blend is not motivated by the desire for a chunk-free result but about thickening the soup, you could use alternative ways to thicken the soup. An easy way would be to scoop out a few of the starchy ingredients (e.g. the potatoes), mash them up and put them back. Or introduce an additional thickener, e.g. a starch slurry.

You didnt said what is used in those soups.
Anyway, does the tomato base need to be cooked so long ?
maybe you could cook the hard to cook veggies(like beet ,potatoes, carrots) on water first and only add the tomato in the end, that way the tomato will be fresher, more red, and more healthy too.
If you are using broccoli, leafes, greens vegetables and thats turning brown too you could try to add sodium bicarbonate in the water that cooks it. it helps to keep the green color. people use it for that and works well. I, particularly, dont like to add unnecessary chemicals to my foods. I prefer to time the cooking of the the veggies just in time to cook and avoid leaving too much longer for not overly cook the foods that would make colors fade, vitamins to decrease and cause the veggies to became too humid(in that thing, for being a soup, if you wait too long to eat it will be very humid/soft/"watery" anyway).
And just to resume and clarify,
i see most answers are agreeing in your teory of the green veggies be the ones turning your soup brown but it is not the case. when you use green veggies in a white soup it doesnt turn green, because most of then do not color the food like that, like a beet or the tomato itself.
what turn tomato bases brown is overcooking or the tomatoes being too old


What is the best way to reheat leftover grilled fish? I have rarely (if ever) looked forward to eating leftover grilled fish.  What is the best technique to reheat the fish so that it has the best flavor and texture?

I understand that some of the quality is going to be simply lost.  If you have a certain technique for a specific type of fish, let me in on that as well.

Is it a lost cause?

If what you want is a piece of fish with the same texture and juiciness as fresh-off-the-grill, yes it is a lost cause.

My preferred method for reheating leftover fish is to break it up and use it in another application. Bouilliabaisse is excellent for leftover bits, any fish stew really. Also fish tacos.

Simply break up the fish and add to the stew in the last few minutes (to prevent overcooking), or toss briefly in a pan.

Try Steaming it! Good luck ! or
Fish Tacos with black beans, cheese, cilantro and salsa


How do I prevent an egg cracking while hard boiling it? Sometimes when I cook hard boiled eggs they will crack in the saucepan, and some of the egg will seep out into the water.

Am I boiling the water too vigorously, or can I add something to the water to prevent it?

I used the method here before with good success: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_perfect_hard_boiled_eggs/

Basically you start with the eggs in the pan with cold water and bring the water to temperature, right when it reaches boiling you pull the heat back and let the eggs cook for 10 minutes.

You don't need a full on boil to hard boil the eggs.


How do I make prettier fried eggs? I have no problem cooking fried eggs to my desired doneness or keeping them intact while cooking and serving.

But eggs cooked by professional chefs and diner line cooks look like this:

The white is round and mostly white; the yolk is basically centered.

My fried eggs look like this:

The yolk won't stay in the center (even though I let the white firm a little before adding the yolk to the pan), and the white looks like the British coastline. (Ignoring, of course, the detritus of the leftover onions and peas - those are attributed simply to laziness of the cook.)

How do the pros get their eggs to stay so symmetrical and pretty?

One factor you may not be considering is the quality of the egg itself. The highest-grade eggs have firm whites and more regular shapes when cracked onto a flat surface. The fresher the egg, generally, the higher the grade. If you've ever cracked a grocery store egg next to a fresh-laid egg, the difference is clear. The hen's diet makes a big difference, too.

But judging by the pictures, I'd say your biggest problem is cooking with too much heat. Notice how much your whites have bubbled and that the edges are already browning while the inner albumen (the thick part of the white that surrounds the yolk) is still raw. In comparison, the albumen of the "prettier" egg has a visibly consistent cook on the whites.

Getting the right temperature

To get that consistent cook on a sunny side up egg you need to use less heat than you'd use for other fried eggs. The inner albumen cooks slower because it's sitting up higher than the outer albumen, farther from the heat. And you're not going to flip this egg, so it's a very uneven heat that you have to work with.

Imagine trying to cook a hamburger, entirely on one side! That's the challenge you have here, except with an egg, which is thinner than a hamburger but also less evenly-shaped and much more delicate. Some people like to loosely cover the pan for part of the cooking time, which reflects some heat and traps some steam to help cook the inner albumen from above. The risk there is that you're also cooking the yolk faster; if you cover the pan tightly, you can end up steaming the egg instead of frying it. You can use a plate, a lid of the wrong size, or another pan if you like.

Assuming you can get the temperature right, though, you don't need to cover the pan. To practice, start with the heat around medium-low and try to find the right balance of heat and time through trial and error. Crispy, brown edges means either too much time or too much heat. If you're practicing, try not to adjust the heat too much in the middle of cooking an egg. Cook one egg through, then assess the result and adjust your heat if necessary on the next one.

Getting the egg into the pan

Once you get the temperature right, assuming your eggs are decent quality, your only other challenge is getting it into and out of the pan gently. If you're rough with the egg, not only will it spread out unevenly, but you can break the membrane that separates the inner and outer albumen. This makes the white cook faster but it definitely doesn't lead to an attractive sunny side up egg.

Cracking the egg into a ramekin or small prep bowl rather than directly into the pan or pot makes it much easier to get a regular, attractive shape on your fried or poached egg. As far as centering the yolk, I suspect that's all about the grade of the egg; high-quality fresh eggs are just firmer and tend not to wander so much. I wouldn't recommend separating the yolk and adding it after the white -- I think that would do more harm than good. You want to keep that nested membrane structure, but separating the yolk requires breaking the inner albumen's membrane. What you get is a yolk that's just going to slide around on the raw surface of the white, instead of being held by the membrane in one place.

Other tips

Use oil rather than butter. Butter will brown the bottom and edges of your egg more quickly, and give it that browned butter flavor. A classic sunny side up egg is supposed to be evenly white and taste like egg. (Of course, if you like that flavor, go for it!)
Whether you're using oil or butter, only use enough to keep the egg from sticking. Too much butter can foam up around the edges and not look very nice. Too much oil can result in little splashes of oil on top of the egg and an unpleasant residue on the plate (and palate).

It takes some practice but cooking an egg every which way is a very basic technical skill that will stay with you forever once learned. As you get better you may start to notice how much of a difference the freshness of the egg makes, or how the color of the yolk indicates the quality of the hen's diet (and the flavor and nutrition in the egg as a result).

You don't have to go buy the fanciest eggs on the shelf -- plenty of restaurants get good results with whatever they order from their supplier -- but there's definitely a difference between brands. Hard to tell the gimmick from the real deal without cracking one open; I remember a story on the radio a couple years ago about a woman who resold grocery store eggs at a farmer's market when her hens weren't laying well, passing them off as fresh-laid. Best thing is to keep your own hens, but that's obviously not possible (or desirable) for everyone. Next best source is likely a CSA or farm stand.

Oh and by the way -- I never ate egg breakfast growing up. Couldn't stand them, especially the runny yolks! Tastes change; now I keep my own hens and I love a good runny poached egg. I don't claim to be any sort of professional in the kitchen; it's all about quality ingredients and practice, practice, practice.

Use heaps of oil. Cook on a medium low heat, spooning hot oil every so often to coat the top of the whites. Place a plate over then pan for the last couple of minutes to finish off the tops of the whites.

I've only tried this using fresh eggs from happy chickens so that may be the real trick.


Substitute instant coffee for brewed black coffee If I need to substitute 2tbsp of instant coffee for brewed black coffee, how much should I put in/ how much of the other liquids should I take out to compensate?

Why not just prepare it based on the instructions on the package (add water, mix), and then use it exactly like you would the normal coffee?

EDIT:

You mention in the comments that you actually need it the other way around (replace instant coffee with brewed). I was at the store recently so I took a look at instant coffee and all of them recommended between 1 and 2 teaspoons of instant coffee powder to 6 oz. of water (3/4 cup). So for 2 tbsp of instant coffee you'd need 4 1/2 to 9 cups of coffee to replace it (depending on how strong you want the coffee flavor to be).

If there's not that much water in the recipe already, it's probably why it uses the powdered version and I'm not sure there's anything you can do.

It is 2 tsp instant coffe for every 8 oz of water. To brew correctly you should use 1 tbs of ground coffee for every cup of water.  All you need to do is brew the coffee directly into the liquid in the recipe( way easy with a French press, or put a funnel into a container, line funnel with coffee filter and pour hot liquid over) and use above numbers to figure out how much coffee you need to use.


Does the airflow pattern in a hot air popcorn popper matter? / What should I look for in a popper? I'm interested in purchasing a hot-air popcorn popper. I grew up with a Wear-Ever Popcorn Pumper, which holds the unpopped corn in a metal cup with angled slots for air on the sides (so that the corn spins as it's being popped).

On the other hand, almost all of the poppers I've found for sale today (I admit, I only looked on Amazon, and a lot of them seem to be the same thing in different plastic) are described as having the air coming in from the bottom, moving directly upwards.

I also notice that the reviews of these poppers often talk about unpopped kernels being blown into the bowl (which I know happens even under the best conditions) or debris falling through the grate and burning up on the heater (!).

Is the vertically-blowing design actually inferior so that I should be trying to find a better grade of popper? More generally, how do I evaluate a hot-air popper (absent trying it in person)?

All of this techniques are simply trying to get an evenly, uniform amount of heat to all kernels. If one part of the machine or blower gets more heat than the rest, then you will first start hearing the kernels pop. Then a brief silence. Then other popcorns The rest that did not get the same heat as the first ones) start popping. By the time this second kernels stop popping, the first should be burned out.

So several ways have been created to solved this. You got horizontal heat blowing, diagonal heat blowing (This cases involved a bowl like container). Then you got the vertical heat blowers. Most of this are meant to do 2 things:

Create enough heat at the bottom and blow it up until the kernels pop.
Make the popped kernels literally blow out to the top of the machine and on to a bowl of some sort.

The problem here is that, what happens if a kernel is at the bottom and it pops, but this same kernel has way too many kernels on top of it. By the time it gets blowned out, it will be almost burned or totally burned. This is the most common problem with this vertical ones (I bought one long ago). the ones left are either burned or not popped yet.

What I would look if I wanted a popcorn maker would be:

Vertical Popcorn Makers

Enough space where the kernels are heated for them to move (Since heating them will make them start jumping because of the amount of heat/energy received) and to come out quickly.
The height of the place where the kernels are left should be low to help them come out quickly.
If the space where they are is very narrow, there is a bigger chance they will burn while trying to escape their doom.
Kernels should not be thrown in with butter or any other sticky liquid, since this liquid will make them stay on the bottom and will burn more of them faster.

Horizontal Popcorn Makers

Make sure it actually spins. If they do not spin, make sure the airflow circles around the machine in a somewhat evenly distributed airflow. This should also take care of moving the kernels. If not, then kernels that stay on the borders longer will burn. For this cases, the center should have something that kicks the kernels to the borders, making sure they all pop quickly.
The space inside the machine should be in the shape of a circle so it can spin better and heat the kernels evenly. If you see a machine that starts making some socially acceptable figures that are not circles (Like a Horizontal Unicorn shaped popcorn maker) do not buy it. It will eventually burn more kernels than a circle which is the best way for airflow to work it's magic on the kernels.

Diagonal Popcorn Makers

Tips from the 2 above should be applied here. Typically they will either give you an option to spit the popcorns from the top to a bowl or from the side. In any case, watch out for space for kernels to move and heat sources.

For all the cases above, there is another small, minor, insignificant detail in regards to this machines:

Do not use plastic ones. They will not last since we are talking about a machine that will heat kernels to the point of popping them. It is much better a metal based one and have the handles be made of plastic, but never have the actual plastic be in the same place where the kernels will get heat and pop.

What I would suggest, if I may be so bold is to either use the microwave or the stove. In both cases you get the same result. On the stove you actually need to be moving the popcorn with a spoon until you see all kernels popped. In the microwave, you need to make sure they are evenly left on popcorn bag for example. Making sure they are not all push to the borders (That would make the kernels on the borders pop first and burn first before all kernels are popped) or push them all to the middle (Same effect but with kernels left in the middle).

Just some tips to look for some of this machines and ways of doing great popcorn.

no it does not matter and you should look for one that works


Basil - to wash or not to wash? Best practices? I know that washing basil weakens it's flavor significantly. I often buy it from local supermarkets where everyone can touch it, that's why I just have to wash it. But even when I buy organic basil, I still feel the urge to wash it.
How do you deal with that? Is there any way to 'wash' the basil without weaken it's flavour?

People generally wash fruit and vegetables (organic or not) to remove surface contamination ,and the bacteria it may host, from the farm and supply chain

This includes soil (ground based animal faeces), compost (rotted vegetable matter), airborne dropped bird faeces, road dust (often high in animal faeces), and other surface contamination that can host bacteria

A short and simple wash by hand in a bowl or sink of cold tap water will remove large amounts of these surface contamination from most fruit and vegetables. Some may require light brushing or scrubbing. And for best results rinse in running cold tap water after washing. Shaking water off usually works better than trying to blot it off with a tea towel

Gentle washing will NOT remove any significant flavour or aromas. Think about what happens when it rains :-)

I would wash my basil leaves in salted water.  Salt, whose chemical composition is NaCl, when put in solution (water) dissociates into Na+ and Cl- ions.  These ions will then attract the dirt, bacteria, etc.  Then i would rinse them and dry them on paper towels.


The Warm Oven Temp. for Cakes My Mom is making a cake. Its an old recipe, 50 - 70 yrs old (or older). All it says is to use a warm oven. No temperature range, just a warm oven. What temperature would this be?

Without any details on the recipe, it is hard to offer any firm recommendations. That said, I have had success using a convection oven on 180 degrees Celsius (356 degrees Fahrenheit), and checking for doneness with a bamboo skewer.

For some cakes, I bake longer at 300F, and the result is quite delicate.


What does resting mean I'm a little confused with what resting actually means.

I've typically seen this term being used where you move food (typically meat) from the oven/grill/heat and then keep it warm for "some time" (maybe 10's of minutes depending on the size).

What has confused me is Gordon Ramsay's burger video, where he is cooking burgers on a BBQ. He then moves the burgers to the "resting" rack (if that is the right term) within the BBQ. This rack is still above the heat. To me, this is not resting, this is cooking at a lower heat.

https://youtu.be/v191Y8AUk6w - He says this at 4:43 where also says "they'll continue cooking". AT 5:50, he closes the lid!

I'm assuming resting does not mean "left alone" because many recipes, such as a roast, call for us to put meat in the oven and leave it alone until cooked.

So my question, which may be a double question is: Is there a definition of what resting means and if so, what is it?

There is, as you've seen, no universally precise definition. Broadly, though, "resting" refers to allowing heat to diffuse through the food. Although the burgers are "still cooking" once placed on the higher rack, the amount of heat being applied is nowhere near as high as when they were on the grill, and following the resting the temperature differential will be lower than when they were first taken off the grill.

All foods contain a certain amount of water, even meat. Those waters, when heated up through cooking, begin circulating through the food, faster and faster, raising the interior temperature of the meat(or whatever). This is called convection. When cooked food is removed from the heat source, convection does not just come to a dead stop; it takes a while to slow down, and then, eventually stop. All the while the meat's interior temperature continues to rise and the food continues to cook (this is called "carryover" cooking). If you cut into meat while this convection action is still happening, all of the waters (juices) swirling around come flooding out. This water loss results in dry, overcooked meat. By waiting for convection to stop, those waters are reabsorbed into the food and it retains it's moisture. Also, if you wait until the internal temperature of your meat is where you want it to be before taking it off the heat, carryover cooking will overcook the meat.


What is the shelf-life of store-bought commercially-produced jam? My question is similar to this one, but about store-bought jam.

What is the shelf-life of store-bought jam – i.e. commercially prepared major brands – if not opened?

Are the processes or ingredients for preservation of mass-produced jam superior to at-home sterilization of home-made jam?

Quite simply: I have an unopened jar of jam purchased 18 months ago.  Good to eat now, or not?

Jam and jelly have VERY long shelf lives both in the cupboard, unopened as well as in the refrigerator. The acidic environment and concentration of sugar make it an inhospitable environment for bacterial growth.

Typically the only changes you'll see are darkening of color (unopened in the cupboard) and possible "sugaring" in the refrigerator (development of sugar crystals).  Flavor can diminish over time too.  There's very little need to be concerned about it being safe for consumption....mainly palatability will be affected with age.

It took some time to get a really honest answer for jams & jellies stored on the shelf at room temp.   Most said 1 year, some two.   Only a couple pointed out, as above, that such preserves can (under good storage conditions) last almost indefinitely.   If their seal is air tight so they are not exposed to germs in the air, and if the seal is very durable and remains undamaged, then the acid in addition to the sugar which preserves are loaded with and which is an excellent preservative, preserves can last years.

It seems obvious to me that the reason few have the courage to say that is that merely saying it might expose them, they fear (I think) to legal  problems should someone open and eat their 10 year old strawberry jam.   It is very possible that could be ok, but only if very specific conditions have  been constantly maintained throughout the 10 years with a guarantee that no one has even slightly attempted to open it even once in that period.   So . . . can't you just see the problems if you do not put all kinds of red flags around your statements when you mention that preserves can last a real long time?   In today's litigious environment, I don't blame them one bit for refusing to commit themselves to the possibility of preserves lasting more than a year or so.


Cork-like flavour in "tasteless" Xanthan Gum I recently discovered xanthan gum and bought a jar to try this amazing thickener for myself. When opening the jar I however noticed a slightly "corked" smell to the powder itself. I made a thick (~5g/1L) mixture with water to see if the taste was noticable, which it was. It was also noticeable in a thinner sweet cherry dessert sauce.
All sources online refer to xanthan gum as being completely tasteless - did I just get a bad batch? For reference, the brand and specific product is Sosa Pure xantham gum.

OK to sum up what this is. This can be a multitude of things separate or combined. Since its a cork smell, i would say throw that batch out and get a new one and try it. If its the same thing, then report it on their website (If they have one) and just get a different brand. it might be molding, or staling of the gum. Either that or they make Juicy fruit gum out of the game stuff and its just not reliable. ANYWAYS, i would say get a different brand nonetheless and try that.


In order to mix the cocoa powder in water/milk, is it a good idea to put the cocoa powder in the milk while heating it? The answers here Dissolving cocoa powder in milk tell us to manually dissolve the Cocoa powder in the liquid.

Will it not be a good idea to put the Cocoa powder in the liquid while heating it so that it gets dissolved automatically? Why?

No, it is not a good idea at all. It will be worse, not better. What you are missing here is that cocoa powder does not dissolve at all, never, it just disperses in water (or milk). So there is no reason why methods for dissolving stuff would work with cocoa powder. You will need to use a method created for colloid-producing powders like cocoa powder, which is mostly starch with fat.

This is why the answers to the other question recommend the slurry method. When you are dispersing an absorptive powder like starch, you always run a risk of clumping, and the slurry is designed to work around that problem. But starch also thickens much more under heat, so if you were to not just forego the slurry, but simply drop the cocoa powder into hot water, this would be the worst choice possible, leading to instant unbreakable clumps. The slurry method wouldn't work with hot water either, you'll get clumps before you have created the slurry.

So, the short answer is: if you try it, it won't "dissolve automatically", it will produce an ugly undrinkable mixture of clumps.

You'd better not, the milk is easy to boil while heating. Just dissolve the cocoa powder in hot water or milk then stir is okay.


Which method to use when making fruit powders? Searching online I found a lot of videos/ articles about making fruit powders, some of them dried the fruit itself then ground it. While other juiced the fruit, then ground it.

I am wondering which method will give me a better result regarding:

1) The taste;

2) The color.

The fruits that I am looking forward to try out: Mango, Orange, Lime, apple, grape, tomato, pepper and other fruits and veggies.

I will be using a cheap dehydrator if that is going to make a difference.

I tried drying lemon in a cheap dehydrator, and the flesh doesn't really dry well even when the skin /pith is hard and dry. The membranes of the flesh some too keep the moisture in.

For citrus at least, drying the juice/pulp would be worth a try, and is what I'll do next time I have some to try it on. I suggest drying the zest as well. The pulp or juice would have to be dried on something non-porous, like baking parchment.

The best method, and yet the most expensive one, is freeze drying the fruit, then pulverizing. Freeze drying is, as the name suggest, works by freezing the fruit and then reducing the pressure in the chamber the food is in... Eventually, the water in the food will sublimate leaving the rest of the fruit intact but completely dry.
And you'll even be preserving most of the aroma of the fruit.

So considering you might have access to a household-dryer; I would use that to dry the fruit; then pulverize.


Bake frozen pizza without a tray - will it melt and drip? How can frozen pizza be baked in an oven without a tray, without running the risk of melting like in the picture below (found on teh internets)? Or does that just not happen?

I have baked many a frozen pizza without a tray and never had a pizza lose structural integrity like that.

The oven should be quite hot  (usually the box will specify at least 400°F).

Usually the difficulty arises when it's time to get the pizza out of the oven. I suggest a baking tray with no sides.

Mine did completely that last night where it never did it before.  What a shock and a mess!  It was completely frozen so something must have been messed up with the ingredients. I won’t get that brand again!


Can of chicken left in hot car - okay or trash I bought a can of chicken (chunk white meat) a while back. Because I wasn't "deliberately shopping for groceries" (I was at the store returning bottles for deposit, but had earlier realized my meal plans were short by one can of chicken), that was all I bought, and as a result, I ended up tossing it in the glove box and forgetting about it for about a week.
When I finally brought it in, it was rather warm, and presumably had been heating and cooling every day it was left in the car.
Is it still safe to eat? Obviously, if it was something that would normally be refrigerated, the answer would be a very emphatic "no", but being canned, it has already been cooked to death and (at least in theory) sealed into a sterile environment, and doesn't need to be kept refrigerated. (Note: the can is not bulging noticeably, which I do know would indicate that it is definitely not safe.)
p.s. I read https://www.stilltasty.com/fooditems/index/16796 but it doesn't say if exposure to higher temperatures is an issue. OTOH, a comment on this question suggests it may have already been exposed to similar conditions.
p.p.s. I don't plan on keeping this around for another 2-3 years; the intention would be to eat it within about a month.

Referencing Shelf-Stable Food Safety, from The Food Safety and Inspection Service in the US.

There are several factors that limit the shelf life of canned foods. First, cans can rust over time. Shipping accidents, where cans fall and dent or are crushed, also cause container problems.
Then there’s can corrosion. In all foods, but especially in high-acid foods like
canned tomatoes, natural chemicals in the food continually react with the
container. Over several years, this can cause taste and texture changes, and
eventually lower the nutritional value of the food.
High temperatures (over 100 °F) are harmful to canned goods too. The risk
of spoilage jumps sharply as storage temperatures rise. In fact, canned goods
designed for use in the tropics are specially manufactured.

The exact determination here depends on exactly how hot the interior of your glovebox was getting on particularly hot days, but that's impossible to know. Personally, I doubt that the temperature ever reached dangerous levels and would just enjoy my can of chicken.
However, you may have different tolerance for risk levels than I would, so I hope that the information I've provided is sufficient for you to make a decision of your own. The absolute 0% risk determination would be to simply throw it away. It's your choice.

You know canned food isn't supposed to be stored in hot environments. A week of hot/cold cycles is way too much. It's actually temperature shock (extreme changes) which can quicken spoilage of many things that are otherwise "stable" by the way. There are people who died horribly painful deaths after eating a meal they left out too long for just 1 day. Think about it.
On the point of temperature shock: "Inappropriate storage temperatures or fluctuations in storage temperature are the most avoidable causes of spoilage" -- Understanding poultry products spoilage
If you think temperature cycles in your car will "reset" the safety of food each day as it cycles through temperatures:
"Some bacteria, such as staphylococcus (staph) and Bacillus cereus, produce toxins not destroyed by high cooking temperatures. Refrigerate perishable foods within 2 hours in a refrigerator temperature of 40 degrees or below." -- Food Safety Myths, Washington State Dept. of Health.. So actually the food could be becoming more deadly the longer it is in there as toxins accumulate.
"Yes, heat is the enemy of all canned goods. Food stored in cans will spoil quickly if exposed to high temperatures, especially over 95 degrees F. It's best to store all your food in a temperature controlled environment that is kept at or below 70 degrees F." -- Does Canned Food Go Bad in the Heat?
On a side note I've done experiments myself with food preservatives and observed that when food is stored in conditions that minimize how suddenly temperature changes it will be preserved much longer than otherwise. Not that you have to take my word for it.


Can I eat white vinegar if it has tons of deposits in it? I have a bottle of white vinegar on which it says that the presence of deposits is normal. My problem/concern is that there are LOTS of deposits. What are they? Is there any danger associated with eating these deposits?

There are unfiltered vinegars on the market that come with a lot of solids, and it's perfectly normal for those to have all kinds of chunky weirdness if they've sat for a little while.

Wine vinegar has a wide range of normal behaviour: it can get cloudy* or develop sediment, and that's normal. Even filtered vinegar can develop cloudiness and still be perfectly safe.

If your distilled vinegar gets cloudy, I'd worry. That shouldn't happen. Still, foreign bacteria do NOT grow well in vinegar. If your distilled vinegar is growing something, you probably know why.

Commercially produced vinegar very seldom goes bad, unless you're storing it outside on your deck, or something. If you brew your own, your mileage may vary.

*This is often a result of leaving live bacteria ("The Mother") in the vinegar. Some people think this makes it better, like live yoghurt cultures. There isn't much data either way, but it's certainly not harmful.

I don't think any bacteria will survive in a bottle of vinegar, the older the vinegar the more sour it becomes. There are some vinegar's out there that are 10 years old and super expensive.


Induction range vs gas In the next few months I have a kitchen remodel planned. One item to be replaced is the range/oven. Currently we have a "vintage" electric stove.

I am undecided as to whether to choose gas or an induction model. I had gas in a previous house and I really liked it. However, I have reservations about combustion gases and unhealthy effects on air quality. I have heard great things about induction ranges, but my biggest reservation there is that I'll need to replace a fair bit of cookware. Personally, I have no experience using induction.

My question is mainly directed at those who have used both induction and gas, but if you've used either that's ok as well. So, given a choice between induction or gas, which would you choose?

P.S. - Not sure if this should be a community wiki, but if so I'm good with that.

Update
I was hoping to hear from someone who uses an induction range. The ideal answer would be something like, "I've used gas and induction and when I bought a new range I bought "x" and here's why". Anyway it's not an ideal world...

My issue is that I have used gas for cooking and know lots of others who do as well. I have one friend who used an induction range in a vacation home, and her take was that she hated it at first, but then came to like it. Another friend has a countertop induction burner, but he's not a cook as he just uses it to boil water. The thing is that induction ranges are not very common in the U.S. or at least among people I know.

So, to refine what I'm interested in.... If you are an avid cook, and have used an induction system, "Is it responsive?", "Is it controllable, in that say, you can set a burner at 180 and it'll stay there?", "Is it durable and easy to clean?".

Also, my reservation about replacing cookware pretty much went away. I found flooring materials through salvage for less than half of what I expected to pay. That pretty much opened up my budget if I decide to go with induction rather than gas.

Finally, what I really need to do is find a way to test drive an induction range. I'll be checking in with some local shops to see if there is a way to accomplish that.

And by the way, I have of course googled on this.

Thanks for the input so far.

Another Update

I was hoping to get more comparative experience in using gas and induction. I suppose I didn't get much of that because induction ranges do not have wide usage in the U.S. market.

I know that I generally like cooking on gas ranges. My main concern with gas is indoor air pollution. Somewhere among my bookmarks is an article about particulate matter and CO generated by gas ranges.

On the other hand, I really like some of the things I've read about induction ranges. Efficiency, safety, control, etc.

My final decision on what I actually wind up purchasing is down the road a bit. Hopefully, I'll get to "test drive" an induction range in the meantime.

We have recently remodelled our kitchen and moved from a gas hob to an induction hob. In general it cooks much the same as gas and you get similar levels of control over the temperature. One style of cooking that is not recommended is 'slide' cooking as this will likely scratch your hob surface - this can be mitigated by putting a piece of parchment paper under the pan or lifting the pan off the hob. we don't use a wok and can't see how we could with our hob.

The surface of the hob gets hot but not as hot as it would it it were gas or electric this means that spilt / spattered food doesn't generally burn on to the hob surface and it is much easier to clean.

The hob is touch control and so far we've not had any problems with this. If you lift a pan off the heating zone it will switch itself off automagically after a certain amount of time. Before this happens if you put a pan back on the zone it carries on cooking. If there are no pans on any active zones then the whole thing switches off after 2 minutes.

We chose a NEFF Flushline hob that sits in a natural black granite work surface and the whole thing is positively beautiful and a pleasure to work with.

Since nearly all the important pros and cons are already listed, I just want to add one more thing:

Induction cooking produces electro-magnetic hazards. It doesn't seem to be quite clear what possible effects that may cause on human body (e.g. radiation that hits your eyes). Some say none, some say there may be effects ... Just like the question wether or not a mobile phone may be harmfull to your brain while doing a phone call.

Same for the stuff you put in the pan that is exposed to this radiation. It could be possible that it may influence the food's structure/molecules.


How can I keep my jam from overcooking while I process it? As we've rolled into fruit season this year I've started canning up some jams using a traditional boiling process in my big stock pot (though I'm getting pretty close to investing in a pressure canner at this point) and I'm running into a problem: I wind up with too much jam to process in a single batch (which comfortably handles about 7 4-ounce jars or 4 8-ounce jars), so I'm forced to do one batch, then sterilize a new set of jars before I can process another batch — and in the meantime, my jam is continuing to cook down, pushing past 220F/105C and taking on a much thicker, taffy-like consistency.  Is there any way of keeping my texture consistent across batches, or should I just be making smaller loads or accepting the difference in results?

If it's getting cooked too much, well, stop cooking it. You can cover it to prevent water loss. If it's too hot sitting on the same burner (on an electric stove), move the pot. It sounds like your cast-iron pot might be part of the problem, too - if it's still staying too hot, you could pour it into something else. Finally, if you do still have significant water loss, I believe you should be able to add a little water (careful not to add too much) and stir and reheat.

P.S. you could also just get a lighter pot. (I know that's not ideal.)

Why are you boiling-filling-boiling again? Check out canning myths. Trust me it’s there. I simply run my jars through the dishwasher checking for any possible grit after (we’re in a farm so sometimes get a silt/sand in the bottom of cups) turn the jars upside down on a towel while making jam. Fill bottles with pipping hot jam screw lid on tight. Turn upside down. Then go relax till fully cooled or 24 hours. Turn right side up push center of lid might click down (and stay down!) your good to go. Lol no batch of home made jam that fills 2 pint jars ever lasts long here. But I’ve been told by my grands at least 6 months possibly years. Just push the center of the lid every so often. Once opened as long as there’s no mild and smells like jam I think you’re good.

We do a haywire canning spree every once in a while. Never had a problem and the ones that don’t take are easily spotted


Sugar substitute for cake recipe I ran out of granulated sugar for a cake recipe.  Will XXX sugar, or another sugar/sweetener be a good sub?  I also have brown, turbinado, and splenda.

The only functional replacement of what you've mentioned would be the turbinado, which is typically a slightly coarser, unbleached version of regular granulated.

Confectioners/XXX sugar is fine ground into powder and will not provide the aeration or structure/bulk to perform in a cake. Brown sugar could possibly work, but will alter your flavor profile. Splenda just isn't that functional.

Best of luck.

In the future, it'll help if you give more info on the type of cake/product you're making.

Yeah I wouldn't use confectioners/powdered sugar as it is actually very finely ground sugar and corn starch. You don't want to add more corn starch to your recipe!Totally agree with @StevenXavier - turbinado is really the only true substitute unless the Splenda is specifically a baking version/mix.


Why is it that white fish do not have as strong of a "fishy" taste as other fish? As a rule, my wife does not like the taste of fish, or pretty much anything that once made its home in the water. However, she's decided to give fish another shot. Not wanting to hit her over the head with the "fishiest" of fish, I did some quick Googling and determined that white fish tend to be the easiest on the palate.

Why is it that white flaky fish like sole, halibut, and haddock have the least "fishy" taste?
Is there a scale relating color and texture to that of "fishy" taste?
Is there a more appropriate term to describe "fishy"?

Kudos to your wife for giving it another shot!

Let me start with what I feel is the most important part of my answer: find a good fish monger and make friends. If the supermarket is the best you can find, so be it, but learn the name of the person behind the counter, ask about the fish, be interested. Ask what's just in, ask what's fresh. If the fish is frozen at sea, ask if you can get some from the freezer instead of the stock in the case that's been thawed and sitting all day.

Ask to touch and smell the fish. Look at the stock - do the whole fish have clear eyes? Does it smell like a dumpster? Getting the freshest, best fish will help you and your wife enjoy it more. Some good suggestions here on shopping for fish.

Now, on to your bullet points. Fish should never smell or taste "fishy". Fishy smelling fish is a sign of bad fish.

I find that a lot of my friends who say they don't like fish have had experiences with poorly handled or old fish. Fish must be fresh (or frozen at sea and handled properly afterward) to be good.  I've stopped ordering fish in restaurants unless it specializes in fish (and I don't mean Red Lobster) or is well known for their freshness.

That said, some fish is certainly more strongly flavored than others. I found this nice chart here with a few varieties of mildly flavored fish. I do agree that flaky, white-fleshed fish is generally the mildest. Flatfish, like sole or flounder tend to be consistently mild. Tilapia has become an extremely popular fish lately.

However if you do find a good fish monger, talk to him about it and you should be able to find plenty of interesting venues: monkfish has been called the poor man's lobster, and I had some arctic char the other night that knocked my socks off.

As for why white fish tends to be less strongly flavored than meatier fishes, I can't really answer authoritatively. My guess would be that meatier fishes tend to be more oily and fatty, which equals more/stronger flavor.

I disagree with you.

Sole fish is so dang smelly and tastes horribly fishy. While salmon smells and tastes great. Is it because I live in the northern coast and fresh Salmon is just a mile away. And sole fish has to be transported over a great distance to my region?

By the time herring reaches my stores, they somehow turned pickled with onions.

I am sure the lobsters tasted different in Maine then when people finally eat them in California (after dry-ice packing them for the flight home and then another 4 hours before reaching home from LAX in hot summer heat).

If you love to try salmon and you want to eat them fresh and unsmelly, why not take a vacation to places where they get fresh salmon. Like coastal Washington, Oregon, or Maine. Or patronise a grocery store where they refrigerate the fish properly.


Are accidentally fermented foods safe to eat I grew tomatoes this year and then made sauce out of them about 3 weeks ago (tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, olive oil, salt).  When I opened the jar I heard the distinct sound of C02 releasing.  I looked in the jar and saw a good amount of bubbling. No visible mold in the jar.  It doesn't smell bad, just fermented.

I've made a variety of pickled and fermented foods before and never had a problem eating those.  Kimchi comes to mind as a similar food where the fermentation comes without adding any starters, just salt, cabbage, and spices.  For some reason the fact that i didn't intend to ferment the sauce is making me second guess eating it.  Is it possible to use salt/vinegar to kill off any bad bacteria lingering in the sauce? What if I were to convert the sauce into a fermented ketchup?

Do.
Not.
Eat.

The assumption that it fermented enough to be safe because it fermented some is likely incorrect. Lacto fermented food recipes are specifically formulated to encourage the rapid and significant growth of lactic acid producing bacteria which lowers the ph so quickly that it overwhelms pathogens which are also trying to grow. Even then, consuming lacto fermented vegetables before they hit a ph level of 4.6 is still not safe. Almost no tomato sauces would be acidic enough to discourage pathogen growth on their own.

Even if the lactic acid in the sauce slowly built up enough to kill all of the live pathogens with acid alone, many food pathogens create toxins (Shiga, Botulism Toxin, etc,) and those could still harm or kill you, even if you heated the sauce up to serving temperature. Though botulism toxin can be neutralized by boiling for some amount of time, after looking around for a bit, I haven't seen anything that guarantees Shiga or other common toxins do too. Is it worth it?

There are lots of pathogens which thrive in that very environment, and plenty that produce gas as waste. You don't know what was growing in there, or what it left behind.

Y'all are overthinking WAAAAAAAAAY TOO MUCH, this product probably won't be pleasant for much other than kimchee, however it absolutely will not hurt you, the acidic value alone is not an environment for ANY bacteria


Tough roast.. what's going wrong? My housemate often manages to pick up reduced meat from the local supermarket (Sainsbury's in the UK) at the time he comes home.

It's usually silverside, topside or brisket of beef. Occasionally it's pork shoulder.

Without fail however my meat ends up "tough". Here's the exact procedure I follow for my standard "roast":

Take frozen joint of meat out of the freezer around 8-10AM.
Prepare 2 onions, celery, carrots and half bulb garlic. Throw them in my roasting pan.
Season joint with salt and pepper, pour extra virgin olive oil over it, sear it in a frying pan.
Cook at 20degC less than the suggested temperatures for the suggested times according to my MasterChef book, specifically for that cut of meat. For instance tonight's brisket was 900g - I cooked it at 160degC for 1h30m.
Rest for 10-15m while I make the gravy and finish off the potatoes in another pan.

I cook it at 20deg less because it's a fan oven.

Can anyone explain the factors that affect how tough the meat becomes? Am I not searing properly? Is the meat prone to being tough because it's not fresh (reduced stuff)? Is it not defrosting for long enough?

Thanks in advance,

Meat is tough for two reasons:
1- An abundance of connective tissue.
2- When over cooked.

In your case I'd say you probably have both problems. Cheap meat is tough meat. It is from older animals or well worked muscle groups. This means that it has been fortified with a lot of extra connective tissue. It also means it has a lot of flavor.

The solution to #1 is slow, wet cooking that will melt that connective tissue into delicious gelatin. Braising is the normal way to do this. When meat is heated too far, even if the connective tissue has been carefully melted out, the meat proteins bunch up and stiffen- resulting in #2, a dry, unpleasant meal.

You are buying tough meat and cooking it relatively quickly with no thermometer. You don't have enough time or moisture to melt the collagen and you can't be sure you haven't over cooked the meat because you don't know the temperature. Using time doesn't work because chunks of meat are irregularly shaped so you can't know how long it will take for the heat to penetrate.

Buy yourself a probe thermometer to prevent #2. For #1 look for pot roast recipes. Some are easily done in slow cookers- others use a tent of sealed foil over the meat to seal in moisture. Plan on it taking much longer than your 1.5 hours. 3-6 hours are typical to produce a really succulent pot roast.

The searing is just for flavor and will not play a role in either melting collagen or cooking the interior of the meat.

The trick to cooking a tough cook of meat is to make sure the cut is dry (pat dry thoroughly with a paper towel) to not cook the cut for very long. I usually throw the meat on the grill to rare/medium-rare, when it is most tender.


Bumps on carbon steel seasoning, can I repair it I've just got a new De Buyer carbon steel pan and I'm 3 seasons in (oven method) and I'm noticing quite an uneven surface (especially little bubbles). I've tried as best as possible to keep the layers of oil used very thin. I'm wondering if I should strip it down and start over or just forge ahead?

I think you are fine.  I personally feel the best way to continue to season a pan is to actually just to cook in it.  The first things I like after the oven or range top seasoning is to use onions, green onions and other inexpensive ingredients.  Perhaps also to deep fry some onion rings or french fries as well.  This will have the correct heat and also plenty of oil to seep into the pan.  Hope this helps.

How are you seasoning it?  I just seasoned my mew carbon steel and looove it.

You need to wipe alllll the oil out of it after applying it.  It look as though you put it in the oven right side up with oil still in it.

Put it in the self.clean oven cycle to strip it.  Tske it out when cooled and wash down.

I tried flaxseed oil and wasn't impressed.  I mixed crisco, red palm oil, ans grapeseed oil.  Put the pan in the oven at 200F for 10 mins.  Take out and rub down really well.  Now wipe it all off.  Think its all.off? Tske a paper towel and wipe it again.  Put in oven for 1 hour at 475 and let cool.  Repeat.

Im a first time cast iron user and repeated this process 7 times with my 2 new skillets one is cast iron one is carbon steel and they csme oit gorgeous and completely non stick.  Then i restored 2 old pans and only did this process 3 times and theyre both completely non stick and gorgeous


Should I throw away a jar of olives that fizzed and bubbled upon opening? Like the title says, I opened a jar of locally produced olives and it started to bubble like seltzer. Is it unsafe to eat?

Short answer:
Yes, throw it away.

Long answer:
Bubbling, fizzing, pressure etc. indicates some kind of microbiological activity that is unwanted for properly canned food - canning should eliminate these organisms. Any behaviour like the one you described indicates that something went wrong, so you can not assume the contents of the jar or can to be safe.

Yes, the olives should be thrown out. They might look good and smell good but taste bad.


Subsitutions for Monterey Jack cheese in the UK At one point in the US I had some Monterey Jack cheese which was tangy and yummy and delicious.

Here in the UK they also sell cheese labelled "Monterey Jack" but it is bland and tasteless and horrid. Are there any other similar cheeses that I could use (for eg melting onto nachos, grating into burritos etc.) that would have that same tang and flavour?

Or any UK-based suppliers of Monterey Jack that is not bland and tasteless? (I tried Sainsburys and Tescos and they are both the same).

Monterey Jack is in no way cheddar.  The advice to use Gouda was about as good as you can get. (make sure it is neither smoked nor aged).  Sainsbury has a four cheese pre-shred mix with MJ, Aged Cheddar, Edam and mozz that will approximate those four cheese mixes found in most US grocery stores and the finer 7-Elevens but MJ itself is near impossible find.

Semi-hard, made from cow's milk, aged for a few months -- it's essentially cheddar.

There are a wide variety of cheddars in British shops, varying in sharpness, tanginess, nuttiness and creaminess. Try a few and see which one is most like the Monterey Jack in your mind.

Cheddar has the same melting properties as Monterey Jack, so is a good fit for Tex-Mex dishes of the kind you describe.


How long can I leave an uncooked steak out? This is similar to This Question, but hopefully different enough.

I have 3 porterhouse steaks sitting in my refrigerator that I need to cook up tonight. I've been told leaving them out for an hour and salting them a half hour before cooking is the way to do it. However scheduling conflicts dictate that I either leave my steaks sitting out for an hour and a half to two hours, or eat at 9 o'clock at night.

Will the steaks be ok being left out that long? or will I need to just suck it up and eat a late dinner?

Note: my apartment is usually kept at around 70-75 degrees.

Even if you just pull them out for about 30 minutes once you get home that will be better than not letting sit out at all.   The main benefit is that it will cook easier and you'll have a natural gradation  from brown to pink on the inside rather than the gray color that often occurs.  I myself don't typically pull meat out an hour before cooking it.

But

As long as they haven't previously been sitting out for an extended period of time, most likely you'll be ok for 1 1/2 hours since the steaks will be cold when set out.  Make sure that they remain tightly wrapped/covered to minimize exposure to air.

I have never had a problem leaving steaks out for 2 hrs. Nice room temp steak before the BBQ makes nice juicy perfectly done medium rare steaks. People worry WAY too much about bacteria. Wash hands before touching them. If your steak goes bad in 2 hrs then it was bad to begin with.


Black layer in an onion I just sliced an onion and found that there is a large section of one of the layers that's black. What is the black substance? Is it safe to eat? If not, is the rest of the onion safe to eat?

The onion in question:

This is either mold or bacteria-caused rot. Don't eat it - the microorganisms which feed on raw plants are rarely pathogenic for humans, but will frequently create toxic metabolic byproducts. I would throw out the whole onion, molds can be toxic in very low doses, just from contamination between layers.

Do not be afraid like these people who have answered above. Yes, this is black mold. Since onion is layered and layered quite densely as that, you just need to remove the portion which has mold on it.

If the mold is topical, that is, within the layers of the skin, then all you need to do is wash thoroughly and soak in water adding a little (about 1 tsp.) of vinegar to it. You can go ahead and use it without any fear.

In this case too (as in the photo, I mean), you can use every portion of the onion that has not got any mold on it. Just repeat the rinsing method that I've suggested.

Please don't waste food. It is my humble request. Vinegar, ACV, Salt, lemon, turmeric are really effective ingredients to cleanse food. There's also baking soda water to use for rinsing the outer layers of any fruit or vegetable.

If you are still unsure about it and want to throw it away, then wash and discard it in a pot and let it decompose and make itself useful.

What grows among us, is not necessarily poisonous. So please don't waste food. Just make sure you find ways of cleansing it and/or re purposing it.

Thanks for the question. Hope my answer helps. Love and blessings from India.


What type of rum to use when making vanilla extract? My mom just bought me some vanilla beans from Tahiti and said that the person she bought them from suggested using rum to make an extract. What type of rum should be used, white or dark rum, and is there a certain alcohol content that is needed to keep the extract stable and safe at room temperature?

I've been making rum-based vanilla extract successfully at home for years. Here are my recommendations. Your basic ingredients are 80 proof rum, sugar and vanilla beans. At the recommended proportions, the rum and sugar are plenty effective preservatives.

You can use either light or dark rum, but it should be a good "call" 80 proof rum and not a bargain bottom shelf rum. I most often use Ron Rico. If you use a golden rum, your extract will have a warmer taste suitable for spicy treats such as pumpkin pie or spice cookies. If you use a silver rum, your vanilla will have a purer taste suitable for whipped cream or custard sauces. I get rum that is bottled in glass, because I think plastic imparts an off flavor.

Your basic recipe will use a fifth less about a 1/2 cup of rum, four vanilla beans and 1/2 cup of organic sugar. We'll go through that first, and then talk about variations.

Place your vanilla beans on a clean, flat cutting surface. Using a small, sharp knife, cut them first in 1/2 crosswise at the middle. Then take each 1/2 bean and insert the knife tip just 1/2 to an inch below the uncut end and carefully slice lengthwise to the send. Repeat this process gently and carefully on each piece unti each piece  has four lengthwise quarters attached at the uncut end. Some recipes will tell you to scrape some or all of the paste out of the beans, but this is not necessary. The simply split beans will infuse the rum just fine.

Pour out about a cup of rum from your fifth and set aside. Put your sliced vanilla beans into the rum. Use a funnel to add 1/2 cup of organic sugar. Use the reserved rum you set aside to top the bottle back up. Recap the bottle and give it about 20 shakes to encourage the sugar to dissolve. Set aside in a dark cabinet or pantry. Take it out and give it a few shakes every week or so. Your vanilla will be usable but not fully extracted in about two months. It will continue to strengthen in flavor out to about 6 months of age.

Once you are satisfied with your extract, you can decant some and bottle it up in smaller bottles. It's a very popular gift for bakers.

Once you have tried vanilla extract made this way, you will never want to go back to store-bought. The difference is indescribable.

You can vary the type of rum you use, silver or gold, and you can vary the sugar. I mostly stick with light organic sugar, because I think the taste is better. I like the combination of dark rum and brown organic sugar very well. You can also increase the sugar up to about 2/3 cup in a fifth bottle, but I wouldn't go above that. Sugar gives the extract more body and mellows the flavor.

Check out Wikipedia to learn more about the various kinds of vanilla beans available. I use the organic ones from my food coop, but different kinds can be ordered online or found at specialty food stores.

A number of cooking blogs have instructions on making extracts or tinctures of other spices. There is no reason not to create combination flavors.

I adequate a batch today with a 5th of Smirnoff vanilla infused vodka and 3 Tbls of Meyers rum and 6 vanilla beans (I scrappedal the seeds into the bottle before adding the bean pods) as it gives better results for custards and cakes later.  I added a little simple syrup for body.  Now the wait of approx 4 months till I can use and gift it.


Sausage exploded and looks foamy I cooked turkey breakfast sausages in a 350 F convection oven and one exploded. The stuff that came out looked a little foamy and the juices before it was cooked looked a tiny bit foamy. This may be completely normal but just want to be sure if it sounds safe to eat. The sausages were packaged five days ago and expire in two days. They didn't smell bad or anything. Thanks!

That foam is perfectly natural.

The foam is the result of meats natural protein composition. If you've ever poached eggs, or boiled lobster, or cooked a stock, you'll know that the water can become a little scummy. If you leave the pot on, that scum makes a white-ish or grey-ish foam that forms lovely looking rafts. That foam is made of water soluble protein.

In your case, you have wet sausage meat in a case. A small amount of that meat's proteins, mostly sarcoplasm and myoglobin, are going to escape from their cells and into the meat juice.

When the sausage case breaks, that juice, a mix of water and protein, is escaping into a hot oven, and the proteins are going to spontaneously denature, forming a foam much like scrambled eggs.

If anything, you should be happy- water soluble albumin foam is a sign that the sausage is full of proteins, and is definitely made of meat, and not, say, recycled chipboard.

Enjoy the sausages!

I suspect the foam is because turkey breakfast sausages have listed as their main ingredients 'turkey, water and then potato extract - the amount of protein per 2 sausage serving appears to be only 13g, along with 7 g of fat.  Calcium and salt are added, along with other nameless 'flavourings' and probably preservatives. If a sausage bursts, it's likely to look foamy when heated because of the potato starch and water combination but certain preservatives will contribute to a white or whitish foam when the product is heated (commonly seen with bacon); indicates a wet cure, or a product with a high proportion of water and some salt - it's likely the same with the sausages. Figures taken from Shady Brook Farms Turkey Breakfast Sausages - the packet also carries instructions about being careful regarding not piercing the skins, presumably because of what happens when you do - foamy stuff.


Why do my fried eggs start browning very fast? I've seen people mention how eggs shouldn't become white after they are dropped in the pan. This keeps happening to me even though I use the "water test" and my eggs keep sticking to the pan (I add oil after the pan heats enough). The eggs are already brown around the edges while the top is still liquid. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?

Your pan is too hot. To perfectly fry an egg--without browning--you want medium to medium-low heat; what you want is the heat at which butter will juuuust sizzle. And don't use oil.
The easiest way to ensure that the residual white is cooked on top (assuming you want sunny side up) is to put a lid over the egg when it's almost cooked. Optionally splash a tablespoon of water into the pan (but not on the egg) immediately before putting the lid on.

I too had problems with the egg sticking - I found that I had to wait longer before flipping the egg. It seems like when more egg gets cooked, it prefers to stick to itself instead of the pan.

This will require a cooler cooing temperature. So you can almost judge what the temperature by how quickly it cooks. Pay attention by looking carefully.

When I flip the egg, it should be almost done. After flipping, I let the top cook for maybe 10 or 20 seconds to have a well done egg for my son.


How do I get homemade mayonnaise to taste like store bought mayonnaise? I recently made a batch of homemade mayonnaise, having found myself with left over egg yolk from another recipe. I decided not to flavor the mayonnaise with any mustard. The mayo ended up tasting like mostly oil. I decided not to use mustard since the store brands never taste like mustard. How can I adjust the flavor so that my mayo tastes like the typical mayo you get in stores (particularly Hellmann's brand)?

For the record, here is how I prepared the mayo:

For every 1 egg yolk I have, I added 2 table spoons of white vinegar to activate the emulsifier. Then I slowly dripped in vegetable oil until the mixture started to look a bit like yellow mayonnaise. At that point I started adding and stirring into the mixture large portions of vegetable oil until I got to my desired thickness (I like the thicker mayo). I should note that the color was still a very light yellow, perhaps not enough vinegar.

I have to make both mayonnaise and aioli every day at my job. We sometimes do R&D on off days and we spent quite some time trying to imitate our favorite gourmet mayonnaise. I think that we were successful, here are some tips:

Lemon juice comes closer to that crisp tartness that I taste in even cheaper mayonnaise. Try using the juice from lemons, limes, or both and see where that gets you.
The store bought brands don't taste like mustard, but let me emphasize that mustard is vital to getting you closer to that taste. There is a specific "tang" to store bought mayonnaise that doesn't come from the acid -- you can get very close to this tang with mustard. I use a good quality dijon when I make mayonnaise and the difference is noticeable. Keep adding dijon in small amounts and observe the change in taste. I end up 2 - 3 tablespoons to my batch.
Experiment with fresh garlic and/or garlic and onion powders.
Try adding white pepper instead of black pepper and see where that gets you.
I add a little water at the end. I find that it tones down some of the intensity of the acid and dijon.

Also, you don't have to add your acid in the beginning. In fact, I almost always add mine after the initial "setting" of the emulsification. It is easier to control the thickness and flavor of my mayo; I use my acid for my first thinning and then add oil to adjust from there.

Want the taste of store bought? Add a ton of bad stuff to it, like a ton of E-Number Additives :P

Also the emulsifying process, has nothing to do with the Vinegar, it is the Egg Yolk and Oil, Mustard stabilizes it, i recommend spending 30 Seconds whisking just the Egg Yolk and Mustard, then slowly add the Oil, and wait seasoning it till the end, as well as adding Vinegar / Lemon Juice, that way, emulsify way better, if you need to make smaller batches :)

Also the more Yellow Colour, is usually made by using "Turmeric" as it is healthy, adds Colour, but not really any flavour, just like they do with Curries or other things they want to be "Yellow" :)


How to use Bones in Soups? I have now a pile of chicken bones and I have heard they can be useful in making some food. How should I preserve them and where can I use them? Should I cut them into pieces and throw them into a new soup? What is their purpose in the soup? Flavor or something else? I am always looking for ways to cut my costs so any budget-cooking ideas welcomed!

I will outline here ways how I can cut my costs with bones:

According to Wikipedia, bones are a good source of calcium with acid boiling:

  A study determined that "prolonged cooking of a bone in soup increases
  the calcium content of the soup when cooked at an acidic, but not at a
  neutral pH".

so putting some acid there (lemon juice or something else?) I can cut my milk costs, sounds great.

more ideas like this? How should the internals be handled?

Notice how dogs enjoy gnawing on bones?  Ever been to a restaurant where they serve bone marrow?

Boiling bones in water draws flavor out of them.  Most canned broth and stock you buy--beef stock, chicken stock, etc--is just this--water boiled with bones for hours.

Most literature I've read suggests using raw bones, but some recipes call for roasted bones--the ones I've seen most often involve roasted veal bones.

I've also made stock from roasted chicken bones.  The stock does still take on flavor.  It's easier to get good flavor from unused bones, though.

Additionally, I've found another pitfall.  I've tried to make stock from the leftover bones of bbq'd ribs.  This was not a good idea.  The broth had a savory flavor, as intended.  Unfortunately it also had the background taste of bbq sauce.  Now, when I do make stocks, I'd consider using leftover bones, but

there have to be enough bones leftover (otherwise I get very little stock for my time or it's weak on flavor)
the bones can't be "tainted" by other flavors (like bbq sauce)

To answer your original question, try this:

start with a pot of plain water
put about 4 lb of bones in per gallon of water while it's still cold, add ~1 tsp of vinegar per gallon of water
Once the water comes to a boil, lower the heat so that it's just simmering

this keeps the stock from getting cloudy/white (which doesn't taste bad, just looks worse)

leave boiling for about 6-8 hours, minimum.  Longer is fine, but you won't get too much more at this point.
turn off heat, allow stock to cool fully, strain it for the bones, refrigerate

you can speed up this step by putting the pot in a sink full of cool water
do NOT put a hot pot in your fridge.  It will heat up the fridge significantly and just make the food in there go bad.

Use this to

make soups
make sauces (reduce it first)
as a substitute for water in savory dish preparations (i.e. make rice with stock instead of water.  Be creative here)

The main benefits here are flavor and nutrients, but I just do it for the flavor.  Cutting bones up does improve the extraction process, but if the marrow is exposed already (most beef/veal bones will be) you're fine.  If you save old bones, freeze them until you have enough.  Don't bother trying to make stock with the bones from one chicken.

If your bones are the ones from the legs you cooked for two hours, then you can't use them.

Bones are a source of gelatin. Gelatin is what makes stock have a good, slightly slippery texture. This is why they are used in cooking. But when people talk of putting bones in a soup, they mean that you use raw bones with bits of raw meat hanging on them (the meat makes for good taste). These are simmered for a long time to make a stock. The stock is then used to make a real soup together with meat and vegetables.

Cooking with stock is great, but it isn't a low-cost option. You need bones with meat, herbs and often vegetables, which you discard. It is also time consuming, because it takes a lot of time to get a small quantity of good stock, and you have to babysit it and skim off the scum. Practically everybody today uses stock cubes, or another flavorful liquid instead of water, or makes a one-pass soup by cooking the actual soup for longer time with plain water. Alternatives 1 and 3 don't taste as good as a stock-made soup, and alternative 2 is non-traditional, but all of them save lots of time and a bit of money.

As for the cooked bones, everything solvable which was in them has already leached into the water the first time they got cooked. You can and should throw them out; there is no use for them at all.

I also doubt that the occasional soured soup will provide enough calcium to cut off milk. In fact, milk is a very good budget food, offering excellent nutrition for a small price. Feel free to add lemon juice to the soup - it tastes great and could increase your calcium intake a little bit - but this shouldn't be a reason to stop eating other calcium sources.


Whipped cream without a mixer? Is it possible to make whipped cream without a power mixer? How? Can it be made with a stick blender?

Whipped cream was made for centuries before the mixer was invented. :)

You can do it with simply a balloon whisk. Things that may help though:

Very cold cream (not freezing)
Very cold bowl and whisk (put them in the freezer for 20 minutes prior to using)
Copper bowl

The process is simply to start slow until you see bubbles form, then speed up until you see the whisk begin to leave trails in the cream, then go full speed ahead until just before it starts to look soft and billowy. At this point you can add your sugar and continue whipping until thickens and firms up to form soft peaks.

Advice: Buy a hand-mixer at least! :)

Update - Yes you can whip it with a stick blender. I would be careful to avoid over- whipping with this method though. It might be easy to over-do it, and you'll start to make butter.

I add powdered sugar and vanilla extract to my homemade whipped cream.
The starch within the granulated sugar stiffens the cream to "stand alone" and also the granulated sugar is ok enough to prevent the cream from feeling "grainy".

Some cooks use a small little bit of nonflavoured gelatin to assist the cream hold its form for a extended period. However I do not just like the style it imparts to the cream. I take advantage of one tablespoon of sugar and a couple of teaspoons vanilla per cup of "Heavy Whipping Cream". I use "Extra significant Cream" since it contains more solids and whips up thicker.


Is it safe to defrost cooked meat and eat it (without reheating) Say for example I had some marinated cooked chicken that I put in the freezer. Would it be safe to defrost this cooked chicken and put it in a sandwich without reheating it through first?

I know it's safe to eat cake out of the freezer, but I was wondering whether meat was different.

There is no mention on the fact sheet of needing to recook previously cooked, frozen chicken. However, be mindful of proper defrosting techniques, as not doing so may open the food up to contamination.

research shows that it is safe to eat cold chicken if it is cooked and stored in the freezer and then defrosted


How long does yeast live after baking? I am pretty sure I know the answer to this, but I need to know for sure to settle an argument with someone... Is yeast still active after the bread has been baked and cooled?

Yeast dies at about 130-140F.

Bread is done baking at 200F or so.

Almost all the yeast is dead when the bread is done.

Edit
I wrote "almost" because in the context of cooking nothing is ever 100%. Not all alcohol boils it off a sauce. Not all microbes are killed. Etc.

The longer and hotter you cook the more are killed until there are too few to be an issue. We're content if 99.99% of bacteria or yeast are dead - but there are always a few that survive.

As an example- Russian kvass is made by putting well toasted black bread in water with a little sugar until it is carbonated. There is enough yeast alive in the bread even after baking and well toasting.

There must be some live yeast in it because that's how they make wine in prison. Store bought bread seems to be a lot doughier though, so maybe that's why. I've never been locked up, but my friends and I were bored and made wine with a couple slices of bread, sugar, and crystal lite; it worked very well.


How long do I have till my chili garlic sauce spoils? First post on this exchange so I hope this is appropriate!

Anyway, I don't cook much, so I made something simple following this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSSF4O4o2eE Since I love chili.

Anyways, I have it bottled, and I didn't refrigerate it the past few days. If it's been on the shelf (and stays on the shelf) how long do I have till it goes bad? I cant really tell...

And, since it may be a lost cause for my current recipe, how can I lengthen its shelf life for the future? Recipe looks pretty simple, can't imagine adding anything that wont mess up the intended flavor.

Ingr:

1 cup vegetable oil
1/4 kilogram garlic, chopped
15 pieces bird's eye chilies (add more if you want it spicier)
2 tablespoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3/4 cup water

1 Pour oil in a preheated pan, add the garlic and let it cook for 5 minutes.

2 Add the chilies, brown sugar, salt and black pepper. Allow to cook for 5 minutes over low heat.

3 Add water then let it simmer and cook for 30 minutes or until the garlic turns dark brown. Mix occasionally to prevent the garlic from burning.

This is absolutely unsafe - it's a botulism risk. This isn't a matter of it going bad in the sense of becoming obviously spoiled and unpleasant to eat, it's a matter of it being a safety risk - it could look totally fine, but send you to the hospital.

What you're making should not be kept unrefrigerated at all. It's safe for short periods refrigerated, or essentially indefinitely in the freezer. The FDA's ultimate conclusion in this document on vegetables and herbs in oil is 4 days in the refrigerator. They do say that 10 days in the refrigerator is safe if it's 3-5C, and the recommended fridge temperatures are indeed 40F/4C or below, but many fridges are warmer than that, at least in spots (nearly 30%, according to that paper).

We have a past question, Botulism, Garlic, Cold pressed Olive oil and mason jars, covers in more detail exactly why this sort of thing is a botulism risk. It is possible to make it safe with just garlic and oil, through a very specific process (see for example How to make garlic oil in a safe way...tomorrow), and the same also works with certain herbs and oil, but that won't help you with your chili-garlic sauce. As the PDF linked from there says:

  The acidification procedure was developed for garlic, basil, oregano, and rosemary. Do not use it with other vegetables or herbs until the
  appropriate research has been conducted.

When confronted with this sort of advice, people often point out that things like this have been made by people all the time in the past, and they never got sick. It's true, many people never got sick. But it's also true that people have gotten severely ill from this sort of thing. Unless you want to take that risk, you have to go with the strict guidelines.

Check out jamie olivers how to make chillie sauce... he keeps his for a year as long as you put in a steralized kilner style bottle... also fresh stuff will keep for 10 days to 2 weeks


How dangerous is it to refreeze meat that has been thawed? I've often been told by people that I shouldn't refreeze meat (particularly hamburger meat) once it has been thawed.  However, this seems a little silly to me.  I can't imagine how meat that hasn't been bought fresh and local could find its way to my kitchen with out thawing and being refrozen a couple of times.  How much damage can one more thawing and refreezing really do?  Can it really be that dangerous disease wise? Or is this just one of those urban myths?

In theory you could thaw and refreeze as many times as you like, though the changes in temperature would definitely alter the quality of the meat's taste and texture.

What matters most is how long the meat has been in the so-called "danger zone" speaking from a temperature perspective. The "danger zone" is defined as being between 41 to 135 °F (5 to 57 °C).

Here is an excerpt from The Professional Chef, by the Culinary Institute of America:

  Foods left in the danger zone for a period longer than four hours are considered adulterated. Additionally, one should be fully aware that the four-hour period is cumulative, meaning that the meter starts running again every time the food enters the danger zone. Therefore, once the four-hour period has been exceeded, heating, cooling, or any other cooking method cannot recover foods.

I take issue with those who say there is no danger. There is ...

Leaving for a trip, I bought frozen foods - vegetables and sausages - and kept them in a freezer bag on the train journey, imaging they would not unfreeze ...

Wrong - they did.

On arrival, I immediately refroze the defrosted foods, then cooked them properly (and very thoroughly) the next day, straight from the freezer (the meat correctly thawed in a microwave) and ate them straight away ...

I am lucky to be alive to tell the tale.

I had very bad food poisoning, tingling at the extremiites, trembling, and other syptoms, but, unfortunately, was unable to retch and get rid of the food that way. I had to wait for it to pass.

I spent a grisly few hours, and am convinced I survive because of an iron constitution : I am rarely ill, never suffer from food- poisoning, and eat all sorts of things which would flatten a mere mortal.

Take it from me - whilst it may be possible to safely refreeze under certain conditions, don't risk it ... ever !

Better safe than sorry !

Ian


What temperature should eggs be when I beat them? When I beat egg, I notice a difference with the surrounding  temperatures. I have heard that we should beat eggs at room temperature, but in my country the  temperature is high and I can't  follow the tip! Will I yield a fine result  if I beat them when cold?  What should I do?

**my experience  **

I noticed that cold eggs beat better, but it is against the baking rule.

Assuming you're talking about beating egg whites, the best results are obtained with fresh, cold eggs (as you noticed).

Warmer (or older) eggs will gain volume quicker, but the resulting foam will be less stable. Since nowadays everybody will likely beat the eggs using some form of mechanical mixer, the time factor is now irrelevant, while the foam stability appreciated.

The "baking rule" probably originated when refrigeration and mixers weren't around.

Here's a list of things influencing max volume and stability:

Age: as eggs age, their pH increases: around 7.6 when laid, 9.2 after just three days. Lower pH is better for stability.

Temperature: temperature at the time of beating does not really make a difference, but if you refrigerate the eggs you'll delay protein denaturation, increasing stability. Heating the white to 58 °C for three minutes increases the foam formation ability, but over that protein denaturation will ruin everything.

pH: adding a bit of acid (citric, tartaric) will help both volume and stability. Citric acid can also help with keeping the foam white.

Water: adding water (up to 40% of weight) will yield a less dense, slightly less stable foam

Sugar: adding it will slow foam formation, and yield a denser, stabler foam.

Yolks and fats: Avoid. A single drop of yolk can reduce the final volume by two thirds.

Copper bowl: lengthens the time needed, but will yield a stabler foam.

Salt: shortens the time need, but will yield a less stable foam and increases syneresis (weeping).

On a side note, there also is a myth that older eggs are much better for macarons, but it has been debunked.

The higher the temperature is, the better for beating. In fact, some applications which require the eggs to really hold their foam well, like mayonnaise, are very hard to get done with cold eggs, so are made with eggs in the 50 - 85 Celsius range, frequently over a water bath. If you are talking about pure yolk, I seem to recall that 72 C is the optimal temperature, I don't remember coming across such a number for whole eggs.

Also, the recommendation is not simply about beating. Egg coagulation is pretty complicated stuff and depends not only on the final temperature your egg reaches, but also on the speed at which you warm it up. Then there are other side effects like not wanthing to mix melted butter or chocolate with cold stuff. Your results are always smoother if you started baking with room temperature eggs than with fridge temperature eggs (although the difference can be too slight to notice in some coarser applications like pound cake).

I don't know why your eggs seem to beat up better when cold. One reason could be some kind of observation bias. Another - I am speculating here a bit - is that your eggs age quicker if kept on the warm counter, so if you buy them and hold them around for a week, I can imagine that the less-aged eggs from the fridge create a nicer foam than the half-liquefied eggs kept at room temperature. If your environment is so hot that this makes a difference, try baking with fresh eggs only, or store in the fridge and take them out 24 to 48 hours before baking.


Why didn't microwaving a stainless steel spoon set my kitchen on fire? I am a new, and newly sleep-deprived, dad. As such, I didn't think twice about taking a big, shiny, stainless steel spoon and sticking it right in a baby bottle sterilizer. ("I want this supplement to be scooped with a sterile instrument!")

Now, a bottle sterilizer consists of a large, sealed, plastic box into which you put a bunch of water. Put it in the microwave, and it's basically an autoclave. I sealed that sucker up and let 'er rip at 1300 watts. I then walked away and down a flight of stairs.

When I came back to my kitchen, everything was fine. The 3-minute microwave cycle was done, and my stainless steel spoon was apparently sterilized. Nothing was on fire, and the microwave seemed as happy as it had been. I, however, was mortified--and puzzled. I've read that only pointy surfaces cause problems in microwaves. But my spoons are fairly pointy, especially at the handle end:

Right now, I am provisionally chalking this up to God. But I must admit that I don't find my explanation quite thorough enough. Does anyone have a more specific accounting?

Metal has a lot of potential issues in the microwave (electric charge buildup + arcing, and microwave reflection). There are too many variables to make general statements like "such-and-such metal is safe" or "smooth objects are safe" with confidence, hence the sweeping guaranteed-safe blanket advice to not put metal in the microwave.

The reason it didn't cause issues for you is likely the fact that it was insulated in a plastic container (thus preventing arcing to the microwave walls / magnetron) and that you also had some water in there to absorb any excess reflected energy (and maybe electrical energy through physics that I don't understand, but don't quote me on that one).

In fact a cursory search just happened to turn up this paper regarding sterilization of metal objects in a microwave, which mentions:

  Arcing back to the magnetron and damage to the microwave oven are prevented by placing a radar absorbent material within the oven and with proper insulation of the item to be sterilized

And you've got both of those things: A radar absorbent material (the water) and the insulation (a perfectly sealed plastic container).

The type and shape of your metal object is probably unrelated to the success of your accidental "experiment".

As an aside: It's worth mentioning that in the case where a microwave oven does catch fire, the NFPA mentions that 17% of those fires involved the housing/casing of the appliance itself as the first item ignited, where the danger is presumably excess energy reflected back to the appliance, rather than arcing (magnified by poor design or older microwaves that didn't have as good of an ability to absorb reflected energy). That's why, for example, the authors of the sterilization paper linked above included a radar-absorbent material, strange and unpredictable reflections off of metal can easily put the microwave under uneven energy loads it wasn't designed to handle (see also thermal runaway).

And of course, there's also issues with defective appliances or design flaws as well, e.g. that old GE spontaneous microwave fire lawsuit. While the causes of those fires aren't really related to the OP's situation, the point is making blanket statements about metals and such is further complicated by the potential for poorly designed or defective appliances.

Also, this answer isn't intended to say "insulation + water = always safe", it's just intended as an explanation for your specific experience. Even "safe" is flexible: A microwave fire doesn't necessarily lead to a kitchen fire or a burned down house or an injury, e.g. I suppose you could call a microwave fire hazard "safe" if you were standing there on the ready with a fire extinguisher and protective clothing.

Microwave ovens are made out of steel.  There is no danger of putting any metal of any kind (steel, copper, aluminum, etc.) in a microwave PROVIDED IT IS NOT VERY THIN.  Foil is much too thin, and even much thicker, but still thin metal like the trim on the glass lid of a rice cooker is too thin.  When microwave EMR is directed at thin metals, the waves reflect back and forth quickly between the top and bottom surface, and the metal quickly both overheats and generates a strong static electric charge, creating a fire hazard.  For most intents and purposes, the rule is 'no foil in the microwave,' not 'no metal.'  However, as I said, I have seen the thin metals used as trim (but not bonded to a thicker layer of metal) cause trouble as well.


How can I reduce the richness of my homemade chocolates? Context: I've recently gotten into making homemade chocolates. So far I've just been melting the stuff in a microwave according to directions and putting it into molds along with whatever filling I feel like. While I think the results taste perfectly fine, I've been getting the complaint that they are "too rich" (whatever that means). Before I go and do experiments that might result in chocolate that I won't even eat, I thought I would ask here...

Question: Is there something I can mix into melted chocolate to reduce the richness like water or milk, and will I have to expect it to interfere with it hardening in my molds? Am I just going to have to get less-rich chocolate to mix into or replace the chocolate I'm currently using (Wilton's light cocoa candy melts), and if so, what kind should I choose?

What you are using is not chocolate in the strict sense, it is a highly engineered product made to be easy to use by the home cook and taste similar to chocolate. I would advise against adding anything - this kind of product has been balanced by armies of food technologists to behave just like it does. If you start changing it by adding stuff, you will probably start getting trouble using it (e.g. it could curdle, or start sticking onto the molds, etc.) or the final texture will be weird, or both.

If you want to keep the ease of making your molded chocolates, you can just switch brands of mold-intended chocolate product, until you have found something that the eaters enjoy. Alternatively, you can get into standard chocolaterie, where you have limitless options. It will however require the committment to learn how to do it properly, to invest in tools and ingredients, and to find out which recipes you and your giftees like. If you can imagine developing a pasion for that, go for it! Or if you are unsure, try a simple tempering once or twice and see if you feel drawn to getting it right and delving deeper. If not, the premade products you are using are your better option, even though they cannot be personally tailored to people's tastes.

Keep doing it the way you are if you are enjoying it. Use a little heavy whipping cream, or some butter or almond butter or add fruit flavor or something. Richness comes from too much cocoa packed into one bite, so anything to spread it out and keep it delicious.