Can I use microwave turntable glass plate in convection mode? I bought a Singer SMW25GCQ6 model microwave oven. It has convection and grill features. For baking cakes and for grilling we don't use the glass turntable plate since we thought it could cause the cakes to brown unevenly.

Is it safe to use the glass turntable in convection mode with the baking to hold the baking cake containers? I'm asking this because there is mode which uses microwave + convection for roasting chicken. So that means the glass turntable should be there and it will work for convection mode as well right?

Then how about grill mode?

Assuming you do not have access to the instruction manual, and/or the manual does not specify whether it is safe to use the glass in convection/grill mode, I would assume not.

Are there any labels and/or writing embossed on the glass?

As I described in this similar question, "regular" soda-lime glass is not heat safe.  Given that the glass was obviously designed for a microwave, it is probably tempered glass, so it can withstand some amount of heat.  Therefore, I would treat it like a Pyrex baking dish and not heat it to over 500°F.  Your microwave's convection mode likely does not get that hot, so you are probably fine with that, but no guarantees.  I would not use the tray in grill mode because even Pyrex is not broiler-safe.

In my own experience I do not have any problems using my glass turntable in convection mode. I would suggest as others do here, clean the turntable after each use.


How much water to use when cooking pasta in an Instant Pot The de facto Instant Pot manual at hippressurecooking has a page on cooking pasta but doesn't explain how to determine a proper amount of water to use when cooking pasta.

  Figuring out the liquid is easy (no sputters) The hip method for
  pressure cooking pasta does not actually measure any of the cooking
  liquid.  As noted in the recipe, only the amount of water that is
  needed for the amount of pasta to be cooked is used.  This ensures
  that there is almost no liquid left in the cooker by the time the
  pasta is finished cooking – nothing left to foam or sputter when
  pressure is released.

There follows a recipe that instructs to "Pour in the pasta, the tomato puree, and just enough water to cover the pasta".  2 cups of tomato puree.

So not much help there.  Presumably the amount of water that is needed for the amount of pasta to be cooked is related to the weight of the pasta rather than its volume—covering farfalle or rotini is going to require a lot more water per cup of pasta (but perhaps the same amount per gram) than is covering lasagne or spaghetti, because their shape makes these flat pastas more dense.

Is there a simple ratio of water to weight of pasta that will give consistent results with a variety of pasta shapes?  If not, is there a chart somewhere that gives a water-to-pasta ratio for various shapes?

You're correct, the water ratios may be slightly different between different types of noodles. In general, you're covering the noodles so that they will actually have a chance to soak up the water though, as with a pressure cooker, you don't have a chance to stir the noodles and ensure equal saturation.

When making pasta in the instant pot, you'll also need to keep in mind the layering effect of your ingredients. Tomato based sauces are prone to burns, so you want to keep them on the top of the pot. Put your noodles on the bottom, and if you feel that it's taking an excessive amount of water to cover them, you can leave the last 1/2 inch or so exposed, so long as you cover it with your tomato sauce, or some other liquid.

I heard it was two cups per 8 ounces pasta.  Cooking rarely scales linerly because volume is cubic.  But 4 cups for a lb shouldnt be two bad.  Also affecting the al dente ness would be quick release verse graudule release.


Can rasam, a South Indian recipe, be boiled at high temperatures? One of my friends said "rasam" should not be boiled at high temperatures but he hasn't given any reason for that statement.

Is it true? If so, could you give me the reason?

Yea, you should not. The principle behind Rasam is the same as the principle behind the soup. You want the liquid to be infused with the optimum flavour from the masala, tomatoes, pepper etc. Beyond that it begins to lose its characteristic taste. Even rasam that has been heated repeatedly, tastes much worse than one that has been heated just once. If you make Rasam with whole peppers like in my place, the spiciness become unbearable if you boil it too much.

never boil rasam. it becomes bland, just heat it till the fragrance comes out and it is about to simmer. if you dont believe, why not go ahead and boil at high temperature and drink it yourself. :)


Does it make sense to parboil spare ribs before you roast or grill them? I was thinking about doing it as a time saving device - any recommendations?

I can kind of go either way on this. I like to cook my ribs low and slow with smoke, which takes a couple of hours. However, I'm not sure that par-boiling will really improve this cooking time. So I'd say no for low and slow technique.

My mother boils her ribs first and then grills them. In this case, they cook in the liquid and really just finish on the grill. She puts the ribs in a shallow pan, puts some liquid in, covers in foil, and throws them in the oven. I think she does about two hours in the oven (a quick google suggests about 275). Then it only takes 15 mins or so to finish on the grill. This makes tending quite a lot easier. You can boil them ahead of time and hold in the refrigerator. It also allows you to introduce some more interesting liquids for the boiling (beer, Coca-Cola, Dr Pepper).

Par-boiling for 10-15 minutes and then grilling will help reduce some of the fat in the ribs. It will also help make them "fall of the bone" if you're grilling at higher heats. However, I don't think that 10 minutes is going to substantially affect your cooking time. I could be wrong though, as this method falls dead in between the two methods I'm familiar with.

Low boil, turn burner off and remove as soon as hard boil starts. Leave covered 50 minutes, then grill.  Try the same method for chicken quarters...and the grill does not flare all to heaven's height because much of the fat is in the boil.


Cure #1 in Brine for Brisket I'm trying for the first time to cure a second cut brisket (1.8 lbs.) to make pastrami (after curing the meat I will smoke it and then steam it). I followed a recipe from the Stanley Marianski book for a wet brine which calls for 453g (1 lb) of salt and 136g (4.8 oz) of cure #1 per gallon of water. Since I have a relatively small piece of meat, I reduced the amounts to 500 ml water, 60g of salt and 18g of cure #1. However, after I brined the meat, I started looking on line for other recipes and they all call for an amount of cure#1 much smaller than the amount recommended in the book. I understand that the amount of cure in wet brines is not the same as in dry cures as only part of the nitrates make to the meat, but I'm very concerned about safety. I have not cooked the meat yet. Can you please let me know if the recipe that I followed is safe? I didn't pump the meat but just submerged it in brine (today is day 4). Thank you!

Your question is ...did I use too much cure1...which is sodium nitrate? I dont think there is a safe and not safe limit for this..the more, the less healthy, but there is no poisoning within large margins...

Wikipedia:

Health concerns

Studies have shown a link between increased levels of nitrates and increased deaths from certain diseases including Alzheimer's, diabetes mellitus and Parkinson's, possibly through the damaging effect of nitrosamines on DNA, however, little is done to control for other possible causes in the epidemiological results.[10] Nitrosamines, formed in cured meats containing sodium nitrate and nitrite, have been linked to gastric cancer and oesophageal cancer.[11] Sodium nitrate and nitrite are associated with a higher risk of colorectal cancer.[12] World Cancer Research Fund UK,[13] states that one of the reasons that processed meat increases the risk of colon cancer is its content of nitrate. A small amount of the nitrate added to meat as a preservative breaks down into nitrite, in addition to any nitrite that may also be added. The nitrite then reacts with protein-rich foods (such as meat) to produce NOCs (nitroso compounds). NOCs can be formed either when meat is cured or in the body as meat is digested. For most people, the highest dietary source of nitrates is from fruits and vegetables and no studies have conclusively linked nitrates and nitrites to cancer or any other form of diseases. On the contrary, some research has hinted to beneficial properties of nitrites such as lowering blood pressure by slightly expanding arteries. [14] The only reason nitrates and nitrites came under such legal scrutiny is when the US Food and Drug Administration presented a brief report which stated that some adverse effect was observed on mice (“depression of growth”) when their intake of nitrites was up to 90% of daily diet.[15]


Can I use cottage cheese instead of cream cheese when making a cheesecake? If I can, would there be any difference in the measurements? For example if the recipe calls for 8 ounces of cream cheese, would it be the same amount of cottage?

I've made cheesecake with many different types of cheese and it pretty much always worked.

Of course texture and taste vary, but that's the beauty of it. Try a single cheese, see what it gives and then start experimenting mixing them.

For instance cottage cheese tends to give a slightly more "crumbly" texture. To compact it you can add some fresh cream.

Sour cream also makes a wonderful addition, and marries well with some lemon zest, taken that you like a bit of acidity in your cake.

I've also tried to add mascarpone and even gorgonzola, they all work well, and give you very peculiar mouth-feelings to combine and mix as you please, but obviously add in calory content quite a bit...

As for the amount, you an just keep the same as cream cheese.


Bitter taste of rocket pesto I've gone overboard with sowing rocket (Eruca sativa, also known as arugula, eruca, rucola, roquette, etc.) in my vegetable garden... To use up the surplus I've made some fresh salad (recommended), filling some omelets, and also tried a pesto using these leaves instead of the more common basil. My question is about the latter. Basic ingredients I had at hand:

rocket leaves
lightly toasted sunflower seeds
some matured white cheddar
olive oil
salt, pepper, chilly flakes, balsamic vinegar

While I quite liked the peppery-tasting result on pasta, my first impression was that this was quite bitter. Not bitter enough for me to avoid in future, but I would be hesitant serving this to someone else.

I've been comparing with recipes on the internet, and those do not seem to differ much. Some add a twist of lemon zest, garlic, some basil leaves, and of course the more traditional pecorino or parmesan. But I don't think enough to dilute the bitter taste.

So I am wondering if other people that have made this sort of pesto have the same reaction of bitterness? If so, do you have any tricks for me to bring down the bitterness to acceptable levels - and would you consider this to be suitable for general consumption (e.g. guests that may be used to different fare than you)?

Rocket has an inherent bitterness and not much sweetness, so any pesto you make from it will have that quality. You can try and balance it with sweetness, acidity, etc but that will only go so far. Basically, if it's going to be too bitter for someone's taste you're better off making something else, or using the rocket's strong flavors in conjunction with something like coriander leaf, cilantro leaf or basil.

Try another herb -  unfortunately only available for a few weeks in Spring - Wild Garlic leaves...makes a wonderful and not bitter pesto.. and the usual pine nuts (can be dry toasted) and Parmesan or Grana and either good olive oil or flavoured rapeseed - especially basil flavoured.. I also add smoked garlic!


Why are Cinnabons so soft and moist? This is a question about the science of baking. What factors contribute to the softness and moistness of the Cinnabon® brand cinnamon rolls? Particularly, I'm interested in:

The type of flour to use (e.g. cake, AP, bread, etc.)
The amount of water and other liquids (i.e. the effects of hydration)
Leaveners
Cooking temperature and time
Additives
Process/technique

I'm not sure whether you meant cinnamon rolls. If so: These are made of yeast-leavened dough which is quite soft. (Yeast-leavened dough is also part of toast, pizza, bagels, some kinds of donuts etc.)
In addition, it's a kind of not-so-fine puff pastry (Danish pastry): Between two layers of dough there is a layer of solid fat (like butter). I think that the fat will make the yeast-leavened dough "extra" moist.

To make a simple yeast-leavened dough you need water, (plain wheat) flour, salt and yeast. Some other pastries require sugar, fat (e.g. butter), replace water with milk, et cetera ...
The flour needs to have gluten otherwise the dough cannot hold the tiny air bubbles that the yeast produces and the dough won't be able to rise. Plain wheat flour suits perfectly for this purpose. But it has a disadvantage: If you store the pastry wrongly, the pastry will be frumpy. (1)

Just pick a nice receipe of cinnamon rolls and you'll see :D

If you want to know more about cooking and stuff: "Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food" by Jeff Potter (O'Reilly & Associates). Seems to be a nice book for geeks :D

(1) Source: "Kochen für Geeks" - somehow I could not find the chapter about yeast in the English pendant.

To bake anything where I am located I have to use King Arthur all purpose flour.Everything turns out soft and the way I want it.Different flour in different regions makes a big difference.


Are the Keurig K-Cups safe? I have a Keurig machine at my home and in my office at work.  I use them roughly 1-2 times a day, but today I started to think about the Keurig and those K-cup packages they dispense water through. I have done some research about if it is safe to consume what comes out of their product and the only answer I seem to find is that some parts of the machine can contain BPA/has been in contact with BPA and other parts do not.  (Hot, pressured water meeting the plastic k-cups)

Granted it has been approved by the FDA, I would assume it is safe to use it...

Seeing as the answers I have found are rather vague, can someone provide more insight on if the Keurig & K-cups are safe to use?

According to the Keurig website:

  K-Cup® and Vue™ packs do not contain BPA and are constructed using FDA-approved food safe materials. We also use FDA-approved food safe materials in our K-Cup® and Vue™ brewing systems, and neither system contains BPA within its water paths (as of January 1, 2010 for our K-Cup® system).

I therefore would definitely say you need not be concerned, and if you are worried about BPA consumption, make sure you have a newer machine!

Even if they are BPA-free, that doesn't mean they're safe. Plastics still gets into the coffee Keurigs produce, as well as aluminum:

Health Effects of Aluminum Exposure
The lids of K-cups are usually made of aluminum which may have some health effects when exposed to acids and high heat like coffee. Prolonged exposure to aluminum may cause some problems in your brain. It has been linked to Alzheimers, anxiety, autoimmune diseases, and even depression.
While oral exposure is usually not a problem if ingested at high levels there may be a problem.
This is the same reason why you shouldn’t wrap your food in aluminum foil before cooking or baking. Some of the foil leeches into your food and can be problematic with spicy or acidic food at high temperatures.
Aluminum is significantly more likely to leech into foods at high temperatures, and in acidic and liquid foods like coffee.

Also, as the inventor of the K-Cup®, John Sylvan, said:

I feel bad sometimes that I ever invented the K-Cup… It’s like a cigarette for coffee, a single-serve delivery mechanism for an addictive substance… They’re kind of expensive to use; plus it’s not like drip coffee is tough to make.


Reusing pickle brine So I just finished a jar of home-made pickles. They were excellent! Not too salty, a bit spicy, very good. They were so good that I'd like to get some more pickles out of that jar. I was thinking of pickling some eggs in that same brine. Is reusing brine ever done? Are there any reasons I shouldn't do it? I've never heard of this being done, but I don't see why not.

While reusing brine is probably fine in many cases, it's tricky from a food-safety perspective.  It seems like there are lots of threads on the internet these days about reusing "pickle juice," and there are great reasons to take your brine and use it in some recipe for salads, dressings, sauces, etc. that you'll consume soon after making (or at least sterilize by cooking).

But reusing brine to make more pickled foods?  That's another issue entirely.

If you've made homemade pickles or canned goods, you know that most reputable recipe sources have huge disclaimers saying: "Warning!  Always be sure to follow recipes exactly, and do not deviate from the given proportions."

If you make traditional lactofermented pickles, you need a certain salt concentration to inhibit growth of dangerous microbes in the first few days of fermentation.  After that, the acidity created by fermentation will prevent anything bad from growing.  If you make "fresh pack" pickles or refrigerator pickles, you depend on a certain concentration of acid (usually vinegar and/or lemon juice) and salt to prevent bacteria growth.

Particular concentrations of acids and salt are critical to keep your food safe, especially if you plan to store it for more than a couple days, even in the fridge.  Refrigerator temperatures slow the growth rates of bacteria, but they don't stop a lot of bad things from growing completely.  If you drop a bunch of fresh vegetables in old brine and come back in a month or two expecting pickles -- you'll probably have some great-tasting stuff.  But it could also be carrying harmful pathogens.

The main problem is that brine has salt.  Due to osmosis, salt will draw water out of things with high water content (like vegetables, eggs, fruits, and just any food you might think of pickling).  If water is added to your brine as it "leaks" out of the added food, you reduce the salt concentration as well as the acid concentration, perhaps leaving an unsafe solution to make further pickles.

Pickling recipes know this and will build in extra salt and/or acid into most recipes, knowing how much water on average will come out of particular foods.  By adding a second or third or fourth batch of food to that solution, the brine will become increasingly watery.

Boiling or heating the brine -- as suggested in other answers -- probably doesn't help much.  Your pickling brine was already designed to prevent growth of pathogens, with proper concentrations of salt and acid.  You shouldn't be worried about pathogens in the brine, but rather pathogens in the new food you're adding.  Cooking your new food first can help, but that sometimes ruins the texture of many pickled foods.

Also, even boiling the food many not be sufficient if the reused brine gets too weak.  Botulism bacteria, for example, has spores that are not destroyed even at boiling temperatures.  With proper acidity (and salt), they won't grow.  But if you mess with the recipe, they could.  At even lower acid levels, you could grow all sorts of stuff, Listeria, for example.  At refrigerator temperatures, it might take a few weeks or months to grow to dangerous levels, but long-term storage is exactly what people tend to do with pickles.

The only way to reuse brine safely would be to ensure that your new brine has the same characteristics as the old one: especially equivalent acidity and salt content.  If you really know what you're doing -- i.e., are an experienced pickle maker and understand how to vary recipes while ensuring safety -- you might be able to calculate how much salt and acid to add to keep your brine safe while adding new food.  (Trying to re-ferment lactofermented pickles is unreliable, so I'd discourage that route to obtain new acidity.)

In the vast majority of cases, reusing pickling brine won't result in any problems, especially if you keep it in the refrigerator and only put the new food in for a few days.  Commercial brines, in particular, often have excess acid and salt beyond that necessary to ensure safety, so reusing them once may be unlikely to cause problems.  But it's actually not a safe practice unless you know what you're doing, particularly if you store the new food for any length of time.  Whatever you do, do NOT leave pickles made from reused brine at room temperature, even if you've heated the brine and resealed the jars.  Without the guarantee of proper acidity, you could end up with botulism toxins or other dangerous spoilage bacteria.

If you get concerned about bad bacteria growth just think outside the box. add a bottle of Frank's hot sauce, some sliced onion and garlic to the brine, pickling spice. red pepper, black pepper and sea salt. I use mine over and adding more vinegar will make them more potent. I love apple cider vinegar. But get creative with flavors you enjoy.  Eggs,  cabbage,  sausages  ( fully cooked  ) onions, beets, garlic, it's all amazing and healthier with a good pickle.
Enjoy!


Why does my bread collapse in my bread machine? I have a bread machine and when I follow the recipes in the included booklet that came with the machine, the bread rises for about an hour, but the collapses back on itself and comes out rock hard and, usually, undercooked (doughy). I've tried adding flour, which helped a little, but didn't cure the problem.  When I bake bread in the oven (hand-kneading, etc.) it comes out just fine.

Some additional info: I've had similar problems with chocolate-chip cookies.  Recipes that work perfectly for other people collapse in our kitchen (even the recipe from the Nestle chocolate chips package).  My only theory is that since we live one block from a very large lake the air is somehow more humid, or dense, or something.  Adding almost twice as much flour to the cookies has make them stay up, but now they taste "cakey."

Does anyone know what might be going on and what I could try to help the problem?  I'm stabbing in the dark, since I don't know the science behind what's going on.

It may be because of the type of yeast being used.  Quick-cooking bread machines (1 hour cycle) typically requires "instant" yeast which rises much faster.  Standard-cooking bread machines (2-3 hour cycle) need regular yeast, which is active longer.  It sounds like you're using instant yeast in a standard recipe; thus the yeast stops working before the bread machine gets to the second rise cycle.  Under-cooking may be because the resultant dough is denser than the machine expects, thus doesn't heat through in time.

Unfortunately the trade names for "Regular Active Dry" yeast and "Instant Dry" yeast can be very confusing.

I've been baking bread for awhile now and have been all through the problems, and dealt with them all.
A couple of tips;
Use Wessex Flour, it's the best you'll find and there all good for bread machines, not all flours are.
Always keep your Yeast in the fridge and don't keep it too long.

Hope this helps
Michael


What does it mean when dough is referred to as "short"? I saw this term pop up in a quiche recipe concerning the crust - How can you tell if the problem is too little/too much shortening, or too little/too much liquid? If it's out of proportion, can it be "fixed" without creating an inedible cardboard thing?

"Shortness" in dough refers to its tenderness, which is influenced by the amount of fat as well as sugar. If your quiche recipe calls for a short dough, it would be referring to a higher ratio of fat to flour since pastry for quiche typically doesn't include sugar.

Both fat and sugar minimize and break down gluten development which results in "short" protein strands and thus a more tender result.  As the fat is rubbed into the flour, glutenin (providing strength) and gliadin (providing elasticity) are coated with the fat which acts as a lubricant to keep the two from being able to link together forming gluten when liquid is added to the mix.

The higher the amount of fat in a dough the more tender it will be.  If you want a dough to be flaky then you'd leave the fat in larger particles which will blister to form flakes.  If you want a dough that will be moisture resistant to fillings (such as a quiche) then work that fat in finely so that it will be less likely to absorb moisture during and after baking.

Quiche crusts (and crusts for other custard based pies... pumpkin, sweet potato, custard, etc) should first be blind-baked for the crispest crust in the finished result.

As for "fixing" a pastry dough...it's usually easiest and best to simply start over.  Water is added a little at a time to avoid adding too much.  If too much water is used then more flour needs to be added but with the excessive flour and water then comes additional gluten.  If you get a pastry dough too wet, I would be inclined to rub some additional fat into flour and then add that to the first dough rather than just flour alone.  Too little shortening will really only be noticed after baking and that's going to be determined through how tough or tender the dough is.

Keep in mind that toughness also depends on the amount you've handled it.  Short doughs typically can't be handled too much because the higher amount of fat means that they will warm and get sticky.  It is best to refrigerate to firm up the fat rather than add flour as the flour simply dries it out.  The tender nature of the dough from sugar means that in some cases they can be impossible to roll out and transfer to a pan.  In this case they are usually put into the bottom of the pan and then patted out across the bottom and up the side.

If used in an example for a simple pastry, then i think it would be referred to as flakey and melting in the mouth. Pastry’s should be ‘short’ as they have a crumbly texture, flakes in your mouth, and is very soft. Hope this helps!


When to use convection/fan bake vs bake Are there any general rules to follow when choosing between bake and fan bake to cook something in the oven? What effect does each have and what are the advantages and disadvantages of both?

To clarify: forced-air (a/k/a "convection", a/k/a "fan bake") ovens rely on a fan to circulate the air in the oven.  The fast-moving air substantially enhances the rate at which heat is transferred to the food.  It is particularly good where you want the surface to brown, such as roasts and breads; it is not as good for more delicate items, such as custards and cakes, which can set too quickly or get dried out.  For cookies, it depends on what effect you want, but many standard types do well in forced-air ovens because the fan helps ensure that the whole oven stays at a uniform temperature despite the presence of several trays.  (Of course, the tray closest to the heating element will still cook faster than the one farthest away, so you will still have to swap them partway through.)

The general rule for using the fan is to set the oven temperature 25 degrees F (15 C) lower than what the recipe calls for using in a regular oven.  Even then, don't go strictly by cooking time, as ovens vary; rather, be sure to check on your food regularly to see how fast it is cooking.  You may need to cover your food to prevent over-browning, or perhaps adjust the oven temperature.

Fan bake is better. It bakes things evenly and makes sure there is no raw spots.


American recipe using 'a can of tomato sauce' I have an American recipe which lists a 'can of tomato sauce' as an ingredient.  Does anyone know if this just means chopped tomatoes or is an actual sauce maybe onion, garlic, tomato, seasoning?  Do we have an equivalent here in UK?

I pulled out some cans of tomato sauce to answer your questions. The details are listed below, but it looks like they are generally diluted tomato paste with spices. If you can get tomato paste (canned or in a tube), that should get you the consistency that you want.

The ingredients as listed on the Hunt's brand are:

  Tomato puree (water, tomato paste),
  water, less than 2% of: salt, citric
  acid, spice, tomato fiber, natural
  flavor

Shop Rite brand (a supermarket house brand) contains:

  Tomato concentrate (water, tomato
  paste), onion powder, garlic powder,
  citric acid, natural flavorings,
  dehydrated bell pepper

And a can of Rokeach brand (a kosher food processor) tomato sauce with mushrooms contains:

  Tomato puree (tomato paste & water),
  mushroom, modified potato starch,
  peppers, cottonseed oil, sugar, onion,
  apple cider viengar, garlic, celery,
  white pepper, bay leaves and citric
  acid.

I found out that tomato sauce used in an American recipe is  passata (typically in a carton)


What is the difference between genoise sponge and victoria sponge? Just wanted to find out the differences between Genoise sponge and Victoria sponge. In particular, I was interested to find out which one turns out softer.

Here are the 2 recipes for comparison.

Genoise sponge - http://eugeniekitchen.com/chocolate-swiss-roll/

Victoria sponge - http://utry.it/2013/11/decorated-coffee-swiss-roll-with-step.html

The Victoria sponge recipe has you mix the egg white (albumen) mixture separately from the yolk mixture and then fold them, while the Genoise sponge has you beat the eggs whole. I was under the impression that the Victoria sponge method would turn out a much softer sponge because of how much air is worked into the whites. Is that true?

If I recall correctly the differences are slight, but significant.

Both have a subtle, delicate flavour with an exceptionally light texture.
The Victorian is usually regarded as the healthier, lighter of the two, but I believe this is mostly due to the Génoise usually being rendered as a layer cake with a lavish buttercream filling, though if I remember right it can also be used as a base for madeleines and ladyfingers. The Victorian can be baked thin and carefully rolled with cream for Swiss rolls.
The main difference is the Victorian slices disorderly and 'crumby' while the Génoise retains its form neatly.
Both are accompanied well by, and are traditionally served with hot beverages namely tea and coffee.

The Italian creation is undecidedly the more complex one to prepare.

You're right about separating the egg whites and beating them separately aerating the mixture further, but I'm not certain if it would make a noticeable difference in case of sponge cakes but I'd love it if someone could comment on this.

By aerating almost any application of baking that calls for such method, the end product is almost always going to be more delicate if done properly.

Here are a couple of tips I learned in Culinary school on how to beat egg whites:

Use clean utensils (of course right).
let the egg whites come to room temperature (OR you can let a blow torch "lick" the outside of the bottom of the mixing bowl while the machine is running to raise the temperature of the stainless steel bowl or glass to body temperature, 'No hotter', this is how confident experienced professional bakers do it).
Once you start to whip the egg whites, don't stop unless to briefly check the consistency of the product (soft, medium, or hard peaks).
use can also use a 1/2 tsp. to 1 tsp. of cream of tartar to every 5 to 10 oz. (weight) of egg whites, to help facilitate the whipping process as well as the structural integrity of the final product.
If you are trying to incorporate sugar, at approximately the halfway point of whipping the egg whites (this will take experience to know when this is) add the sugar "slowwwly" (literally a light dusting along the sides of the mixing bowl as the machine runs until almost the end of the process).
Also by the way, each egg white of a large egg should weight just about 1 oz. (weight) and the yolk is about 0.66 oz. also weight.

Now to help answer your question:

In school I also learned a saying called "Mise en place" which in French (depending on the dialect) means: "Everything in it's place."  I say this because, before you invest all your undivided attention into the process of whipping those egg whites.  You are going to want all of your other processes/tasks/steps in the recipe to be complete and ready (in their place) preserving as much of the whipped egg whites as possible.

Next and probably the most important (if you're already skilled at whipping egg whites) is; the process of folding the whipped egg whites into the other part of your recipe.

Here is a link to www.craftybaking.com that explains how this is done.

I hope some of this information is useful and helps you out in the baking department.


black residue left at the bottom of bowl after eating honey bunches of oats When I was eating honey bunches of oats with milk the other day, I noticed a black powder-like substance at the bottom of my bowl. Does anyone know what this is?

The company says that it is grain dust. Yes, I contacted them to ask when I found the same powder in my cereal. I've seen many, many different types of grain dust in my life, and none were anything like that black powder. Needless to say, I don't believe the given "explanation," so I stopped eating the cereal

My daughter discovered some black residue with the bottom of her cereal bowl she brought it over to show me and used a magnet off the fridge and it was moving inside the bowl I think if they are adding this magnetic material of any kind it should be illegal they're getting away with using stuff that is cheaper for them to use than actually adding something of more natural value for for the body shame on this company we will not be buying any type of cereal products I assume that everything probably has a little of the stuff in it


Can you estimate how long it takes to reduce a liquid? In a lot of recipes, there is a step that includes reducing your liquid. In most sauces, this isn't a problem, since you just need to thicken it and that's something you can see and doesn't take a long time.

However, last week I was making a base for a sauce, that included water, vinegar and white wine. The recipe asked me to reduce it till it was about 1/3 of the original amount. I didn't think it would take as long as it did and as a result, everything was ready except the sauce.

Is there a way to calculate how fast something reduces? I can understand it would depend on the ingredients, on the surface area and on the temperature, but assume that I know these variables.

If you're boiling something rapidly, and it's not in a terribly deep, narrow pot, then essentially all of the heat output of the burner is going into turning water into steam. The latent heat of vaporization of water is 2260 kJ/kg, so if you want to reduce something by a volume V, and your stove has power P, the time required is:

t = V * (1 g/mL) * (2260 J/g) / P

If V happens to be in mL, and P is in W (J/s):

t (s) = V / P * 2260

This would be modified slightly if you're using a really tall, skinny pot, since the convection within the pot, from the bottom to the top of the liquid, would be less efficient, with more heat transferred to the sides of the pot and out into the air, but I doubt you're actually going to try to reduce something like that. The P here is the effective power; for example, a gas burner wastes a lot of heat out the sides, so the advertised power will be higher. See TFD's answer for approximate efficiencies.

If you don't know the power of your stove, in all honesty, the easiest way to measure it would probably be to just see how long it takes to boil away a given volume of water, and work backwards. To get an accurate result, you should not boil a pot dry - once the water is a thin enough layer, the heat transfer might start working differently, with the pot itself heating up more, and water splattering. So you could, for example, put in a liter of water, boil away at the stove setting you intend to measure until it's substantially reduced in volume, record the time, then pour it out to measure how much you boiled away. At this point, knowing the power output might be overkill, though; you can really just measure the time per volume reduction, and use that, unless you care about the power for other reasons.

Trying to deduce the power of the stove from, say, the temperature of an empty pot or of the burner without a pot on it (assuming it's electric) would be difficult; you'd have to deal with the heat transfer between metal and air, and the convection in the air.

Dependence on ingredients shouldn't be significant - you're still just boiling water, unless there's a substantial amount of alcohol, in which case the latent heat of vaporization will be different. Pure alcohol has a latent heat of vaporization of 841 kJ/kg; I haven't found a good table for mixtures.

For solutions, as I noted in the comments, the latent heat of vaporization should be that of water, plus/minus the heat of solution of the solutes (I forget which direction that's measured in). The most common solutes are probably salt and sugar, which have heats of solution of 70 and 16 J/g, respectively. (I found this table, and converted.) The next most common thing I could think of that might be present in substantial concentrations is citric acid; this paper reports a heat of solution of -57 J/g. In all these cases it's small compared to the latent heat of vaporization of water, so pretending the liquid is water should be a good approximation. It's possible that things change if you're reducing really far: heat of solution does depend on concentration. That is, things are different thermodynamically (statistical mechanically?) in a nearly-saturated sugar syrup than in slightly sweet water.

Forget all that allow 20 to 30 min. It's then thick enough to use.


How long can I keep a leg of ham in the fridge? How long will a glazed ham last for?

I have a ham, which I glazed.

It was in a vac pack, and does not expire for 2 months.

Since I have removed it from the vac pack, glazed and cooked it. How long will it last in the fridge?

Also what is the best way to keep it?

And how should I store the remainder in the freezer? Cut it up into steaks? Cubes? etc?

Update:

My question from last year, still not really sure what to do. I have a 10kg ham in a vac pack (not frozen). It says use by 2nd of January. I'm going to glaze and cook it. So how long can I keep it in a fridge?

Also what is the best way to keep it?

Added some photos for clarity:

And after cooked (couldn't help but try a piece)

The official answer is generally only a few days for meat in the fridge ...

Ham can be different, as it's salt cured, so depending on the salt content can last longer without freezing it.

As for freezing it, it really depends on how you plan to use it:

It's most convenient to cut it up in the same way that you're going to use it, so that you can just pull it and use it easily
For maximum storage time, the less surface area (larger pieces) the better.  Diced ham will get freezer burnt much faster than just bagging a 1lb chunk.
As with freezing most meats, you want to double wrap it to prevent moisture loss (and freezer burn).

So, I'd go ahead and ask yourself how you envision using it up, and how quickly.  For instance, if you think you'll make a pot of ham and black bean soup in the next month or so, go ahead and dice it now and freeze it, and you can just pull and dump it when it's time.  If you like ham steaks, slice them up, wrap and freeze those -- you can always chop it up further to fold into a casserole once it's thawed, if you have to.  If you have so much that you think you're going to get sick of ham and need a break, freeze it in a large chunk ... but you'll want to give it a day to defrost in the fridge so you can actually cut into it when you want to use it.

It is fine, most people are not familiar with a fresh ham, being it is the leg of the pig used for cured ham, it will last another week or so, when you go to cook it, wash the rind, make some slits with a sharp knife to have the fat render and the crackling get crisp, it takes awhile as it is fairly big so brown it for 20 minutes at 350 d F drop the heat for 3-4 hours at 325 d F, seasonings are find, but the meat will not get much, maybe the night before get it ready make some wholes with the same knife you use on the rind, slice up a few cloves of garlic and insert them into the meaty portion and the roast the next day, if it get to brown, cover it with foil to prevent it from burning, I have not had one in years, my mother usually got one for Easter, it will last awhile, leftover are very possible.


How do I get my chocolate chip cookies to turn out thick and soft? How can I get my chocolate chip cookies to come out thick and soft?  I always use real butter; is this a problem?

I've found the key to be chilling the dough. If you can get it really cold, put it on room temperature baking sheets, and put it in a well preheated oven, you get a lot less spread and therefore a considerably thicker, cakier cookie, which I also prefer. If I mix the batch in my KitchenAid, I'll put the metal bowl in the coldest part of the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour before portioning and baking, with great results.

Do not overmix dough and you will get nice cookies :)


Newly seasoned carbon steel pan sticks when cooking After doing reasearch I decided to try a less expensive pan when buying a 12".  Bought a Paderno and did a mix of seasoning with organic flax seed oil.  I did about 5 coats on the stove top per instructions (heating, adding small amount of oil and rubbing it down with paper towel, heat/ cool / repeat.  For good measure I also tried rubbing the entire pan with oil and cooked in 400 degree oven for 2 hours and let it cool in oven for 2 hours.  The 2 times I've cooked anything in it (eggs with onions) everything sticks.  Never had this problem with my small de Buyer crepe pan.  One chef recommended 11 coats, I think I've got 7.  Wondering now if I put on too many coats of oil or if this made in China pan is just an inferior metal.

High temps and flaxseed oil (essentially linseed oil) don't mix so I'd be suspicious of using flaxseed oil for seasoning. Try using a different oil and see what happens. The baked coating may then be less sticky/grabby.


Is granulated sugar (American) the same as caster sugar (UK)? I have an american cake recipe which includes 'granulated sugar', would this be uk caster sugar? It is for the stage when you beat in with the butter?

I'm not familiar with the naming conventions for sugar in the UK so I apologize if I become patronizing.

Granulated sugar is the every-day table sugar here.  It's what I grab a spoonful for my cereal and such, and it is the kind used in almost all of the baking I've done.  Is caster sugar what you usually have around?

Caster sugar is called "super-fine" sugar in the States.  It is finer that granulated sugar but not as fine as powdered sugar (icing sugar for the UK right?).

Honestly, I can't say that I've ever bought any as I usually only see granulated and powdered, but Wikipedia tells me that "Castor sugar can be prepared at home by grinding granulated sugar for a couple of minutes in a food processor."

That being said, if you're just beating it into butter than I would think the caster sugar should be perfectly reasonable for the job.  Though I agree with bikeboy that you should go by weight if you use a substitue.

Running around This Site, I found that there are aprrox 7oz(200g) per cup granulated sugar, and 6.5oz(190g) per cup caster sugar.  So you would actually need more sugar if using caster sugar, as it is less dense.  Obviously not a lot though (200/190=1.053).

1.) Caster Sugar is closer to (US) Powdered Sugar than (US) Table sugar.
    (AU) Raw Sugar is more coarsely ground than (US) Table Sugar; Close relative to Turbinado          in color and granule size.
    Powdered Sugar is what you will find on the outside of Donuts, funnel cakes, zeppoli's, beignets and pfeffernusse cookies. (I don't think that's what you're looking for.)

2.) What is packaged here in the US as RAW SUGAR is actually bleached completely white and then tinted towards brown by adding back some molasses. I'm not sure if it's the same process overseas.


Baking yeast breads in gas oven? There are only 3 rack settings in my gas oven.  I have baked on the top rack and my bread is raw. Which one should I use to cook at 350f for 35-40 min.

I have a gas oven as well, and have found that baking on the middle rack, using a pizza stone helps bread bake more evenly. Additionally, as User22259 suggested, adjusting the baking time until the internal temp of the bread reaches about 220-degrees will get you a perfect product every time.

Turn the temperature up. 350F is not hot enough for bread -- try something more like 400F (200C). Also, check that your oven calibration is accurate -- see this answer for ways to check it.


Adjusting cookie recipes for high altitude When baking cakes, I often find that there are instructions for high altitude, which usually is just a matter of adding some extra flour.

I understand the concept of high altitudes having less atmospheric pressure, which then allows baked goods to rise more easily (too much), and thus the addition of flour.

However such alterations are not often provided with cookie recipes. What is a good way to know how to adjust cookies for high altitude, or if such an adjustment is even necessary?

There is a fairly detailed answer to this available here.

It appears that the answer depends a little on the type of cookie.  If you have a cookie that has a great deal of air in it you'll have the same problem as cakes do.  If you are working with a very dense cookie that can't really fall (since there isn't anywhere to go). At that point you're just down to watching baking times and temperatures, which are easier to monitor.

For one, water boils at a slightly lower temperature at a higher altitude, which means that you need to cook things longer, because once water reaches boiling, the temperature doesn't increase, so the effective cooking temperature of water is lower. Similar changes need to be made if you are trying to fry foods.


How to get that crispy skin on a roasted turkey or chicken I love making roast chicken, but I don't seem to be able to get the skin to crisp to that nice mahogany color, like this:

Some of the things I have tried:

butterfly and roast at 500 (Alton Brown method)
pat dry and brush with oil before roasting at 375
flash under broiler
brown breast on the stovetop in a very hot cast iron skillet before placing in oven

results: #1 & #2 don't seem to work at all -- The skin cooks but it doesn't crisp. #3 only the peak of the breast gets seriously brown. parts further from the broiler are less and less brown. #4 just the parts touching the pan brown

I do have an in-oven thermometer, so I know the temps are correct

UPDATE: added #4

Place bird on a rack over a pan.  Salt skin, do not add oil or marinade.  Place in refrigerator, uncovered, for up to two days.  This will help remove moisture from the skin, which will allow it to crisp more readily in the oven.

One of the problems with using the broiler to brown the skin, is your chicken isn't equidistant from the broiler, so your breast will burn if the rest browns.

A few ways I've gone about ensuring properly crispy skin.

Separate the skin from the meat prior to cooking. This will let more of the fat render out and allow the skin to dry out quicker. I actually put oil and spices underneath the skin to achieve this.
Brown the chicken either before or after cooking it. If you have a cast iron skillet as in the picture there, that works really well. Cook the chicken to proper temp, get your skillet really, really hot add some oil when the oil starts to smoke, toss the chicken in (so you don't cook the actual meat much more).
Buy a blowtorch (a proper one from the plumbing section of a hardware store). Cook chicken slowly to right temp and then blowtorch the skin. Serious suggestion... Alton Brown suggested it even in one of his podcasts. Also see here.

Edit: Something else to consider. You mention that your mother never had this problem. The chickens today might have more fat than the ones your mother used. The skin won't brown completely till the fat itself renders out. Giving it time to do that, separating the skin, and making sure the surface is really, really dry may help. You really want to reduce the amount of moisture that is on/around the skin.


GMS and CMC ratios in Ice Cream I was exploring a variety of online sources and I stumbled into the emulsifier Glycerol Monostearate (GMS). According to Wikipedia it is commonly used in ice cream to make its texture creamier.  I also noticed that it's commonly used with Carboxylmethyl Cellulose (CMC).

I have a Kitchen Aid ice cream maker accessory and one of common problems I have is that I feel like the overrun is very high and the ice cream is crunchy.  I wanted to try to address these issues with these additives.  Unfortunately, they're not mentioned in the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream book. ;)  Information on the internet is relatively sparse as well.

Does anyone know the appropriate proportions for these ingredients in a French-style ice cream (with eggs)?

After some more research, I stumbled onto this post. The "standard ice cream" recipe linked from there uses 0.4% of a "stabilizer blend" (8g out of 1950g of ingredients).
GMS and CMC would fall into the stabilizers and emulsifiers category.  I used 7g of GMS and 1g of CMC, which seems to be a fairly common ratio in recipes using these ingredients.
The post itself says "standard" ice cream has 0 to 1% stabilizers and emulsifiers, which at least provides an upper bound:

One can very generally place ice cream formulas and their constituent components within the following ranges:
Milk Fat: 10–16%
Egg Yolk Solids: 0–2%
Nonfat Milk Solids: 9–12%
Sweeteners: 12–16%
Stabilizers and Emulsifiers: 0–1%
Water: 55–64%

The challenge is calculating the amounts of various components in the ingredients that are added.  I can say that I made delicious French Vanilla Ice Cream (with GMS and CMC) using that basic recipe  and the Kitchen Aid Ice Cream accessory.

You do not need those additive for home-made ice cream; just practice some more or use a different recipe.

To answer your question:
Those two additives are (mostly) used by commercial ice-cream makers either as a emulsifier (GMS) and thickener (CMC), i.e. instead of properly churning the custard at the proper temperature; and that will also help the ice-cream survive less than ideal storage conditions (will not melt at higher temperature).

There are recipes that can be google with GMS and CMC, and both additives are easily available for home-use.

Edit:

For example, one recipe (http://www.khanakhazana.com/recipes/view.aspx?id=589):

1 liter Milk
1 cup Sugar
3 tbsp Cornflour
2 tbsp GMS powder
1/4 tsp CMC Powder
vanilla essence 1/2 tsp,
1 cup fresh cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar

After looking at the above recipe, it looks like the CMC and GMS more or less replaces the eggs (and custard)

Good luck with that.


What's the name of the black-brown decoration sauce used in French cooking? When my boyfriend and I visited France a few months ago, I noticed that a lot of savory dishes were drizzled with some black-brown colored sauce on top (see picture I took, which is a plain risotto). The sauce tasted fairly sweet and not salty.

My best amateur guess is that this is some sort of reduced sugary balsamic vinegar sauce, but it does not taste acidic at all. Maybe the vinegar evaporated while reducing?

It is most probably crema di balsamico, a quite popular condiment, even often only used for decorative purposes. It can both be used with savory dishes, but also with sweet dishes, as in e.g. ice cream or gelato.

Traditionally, crema di balsamico is made by reducing grape juice and optionally wine to the point where the sugar in the grape juice starts to caramelise and then deglaze the reduction with balsamic vinegar. Convenience products are often pepped with food colouring and thickening agents.

If it tastes fruity it could be a coulis.


Can I cook chicken in the over after leaving them sitting in the oven all night? I put some wings in the oven last night and then forgot about them and my roommate turned the oven off. They weren't fully cooked but is it still okay to fully cook them now and eat them or would it be better to throw them out?


Safety and quality of low-price imported beef sold in US supermarkets As a recent resident of Southern California, I noticed in a supermarket very impressive looking sirloin strip steak for $4.99 per pound. Regular prices in other markets range from 10.99 to 29.99. The beef at this incredible price is from Mexico.

Is this beef safe? Does anyone has experience with the quality of Mexican beef?

Exporting meat into the United States is not a simple or easy matter.
From the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS):

Checklist for Importing Meat, Poultry and Processed Egg Products
This checklist is provided as an overview of the steps needed to be taken when you want to import meat, poultry, or processed egg products to the United States.

Products must originate from certified countries and establishments eligible to export to the United States.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) restricts some products from entering the United States because of animal disease conditions in the country of origin. For information on restrictions related to animal diseases and information about APHIS, contact the APHIS Veterinary Services, National Center for Import and Export.
Countries and establishments become eligible following an equivalence determination process by FSIS.
Imported products must meet the same labeling requirements as domestically-produced products.
After filing the necessary forms for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and meeting animal disease requirements of APHIS, all imported meat, poultry and processed egg products must be presented for inspection by FSIS at an official import establishment.

Mexico is one of 33 countries that can legally export meat to the US. In Mexico there are 74 companies authorized to export to the US (As of May 3, 2017).
USDA Source
Also from the USDA Website:

So, in the United States, beef from Mexico has been determined by the US Government to be as safe as domestic beef.

It should be good. They're not excellent cuts, but great for marinading.
Mexican beef has always been a cheap, but easy to work with choice for me.


Why did my organic chicken come out like rubber after roasting? I had two chicken halves that were frozen. I thawed them out most of the way.  I put olive oil and rosemary and sage on them, placed them into a dutch oven with the lid off and a bit of chicken stock in the bottom, and put the dutch oven into the oven at 375 degrees until the inside of the breast was done (according to meat thermometer).

The chicken came out chewy and rubbery.  It was still moist, but just almost inedible.  Can I blame the chicken?

It sounds like your chicken was simply overcooked.  If you used a built in pop-up timer, these almost always are set to a temperature which will overcook your poultry.

Some authorities recommend cooking white meat to 170 F (77 C), but this will leave your chicken dry and overcooked.

My personal preference is to cook white meat to about 158 F (70 C) in the oven, and then let carry over cooking bring it up a couple more degrees while it rests.  This should leave your white meat much more succulent.

Similarly, dark meat should be cooked to a temperature (to my preference) of at least 165 F (74 C) although it is much more tolerant of being overcooked.  This can be tricky when roasting a whole chicken.

Some things you can do help cook a chicken more evenly:

Cut it into parts, and roast the parts (obviously, this is ideal as each can be removed when done)
Use a high quality probe or instant read thermometer, in the thickest part of the breast or thigh, to get an accurate internal reading.   To ensure accuracy, check a couple of spots, and apply the lowest temperature.
If you don't want to fully cut it up, butterfly or "spatchcock" the chicken
Brine the chicken (although I personally prefer simply to not overcook in the first place)

Your chicken had "woody breast syndrome".  The Wall Street Journal wrote an article last year on this new phenomenon.  The bigger the chicken the more likely it is to have this condition.  Overcooked chicken would be dry and stringy.  Your chicken breast sound like "woody breast" chickens.


If the recipe says simmer beans for 3 hours, can I just turn up the heat and cook faster? I just got home from work, and tonight is my night to cook. Unfortunately, I just realized this recipe for Mexican beans says I should simmer the beans for 3 hours. I'm too hungry for that, but I really want to eat these.

Would be okay to skip the simmering? Or is there something else I can do to produce the desired effected?

You probably want to just use already-cooked beans, from a can. (Hope there's a store nearby.) Then you just have to cook as long as it takes to let the flavors mingle; half an hour is plenty.

If you happen to have a pressure cooker, you can cook dried beans much faster, something like 20-30 minutes. See for example this recipe - you can add back in whatever seasonings you like from your recipe.

But otherwise, there's no way to speed up cooking dried beans - boiling water doesn't get any hotter than 100C, and it just takes time for them to slowly soak up water and cook through.

Any chick peas I have cooked after soaking seem to get soft enough in about 20 minutes of simmering after bringing to the boil.  Any longer and they are mush!  Cooking for over and hour seems crazy!?


Can "Canning" be achieved with "vacuum sealed" bags? Upon reading the question If I vacuum seal a food product like beef stew then boil it in the bag, would it keep un-refrigerated? and the answer provided https://cooking.stackexchange.com/a/69423/6279 I agree that 'normally' it would not result in making something shelf stable. But My question is COULD you (by putting the vacuum sealed bag into a pressure cooker) achieve the results of canning in said bag? I found some speculation on this question here but I am unsure of the conclusion...(given the sources)

(disclaimer: I've only heard of people doing this, not done it myself.)

Yes, it can be done. You're looking for retort pouch canning. Various places will sell you the bags, and you can vacuum seal them with a chamber vac, though you may need an upgraded heat bar. Then you can process them in a pressure canner (or preferably autoclave).

I'd definitely follow the normal reheating recommendations (the boil it 10 minutes bit) before eating. I don't think USDA has home canning guides for retort pouches.

Retort pouches are boilable now the when pressure cooked it will expand and a possibility of bursting during the process is not impossible but if you put enough pouches in the pressure canner it will prevent pouches from expanding too much and avoid bursting


How do I keep a hot meal fresh for several hours? In three days, I will be picking up two fully-prepared chicken dinners - with potatoes, cole slaw, and a pre-packaged dessert - from work to home for my wife and I.  I've done this before and it came out fairly well.

The problem is, I know for a fact that I will have to keep these dinners, which are cooked on-site shortly before pickup, in my office from 1pm to 5pm, and take them home on the bus, which could on a bad day mean that I won't be home with them until 6pm - a full 5 hours of sitting out at room temperature (or outdoor temperature, whatever that might wind up being in springtime).

I know that we can make these meals warm again in the oven or microwave, and that the Styrofoam container they'll be in will help too, but are they safe to eat after sitting out for such a long time?  And is there any superior way to transport them to eliminate spoilage?

Refrigeration! They should be cooled to refrigeration temperature as soon as possible after pick up.  You can do this in a cooler with ice, if you don't have a refrigerator.  A portable cooler will allow you to take the dinners home on the bus.

I am frequently experimenting with pushing the limit of product spoilage. If the room temperature is 22C, and the dessert is not a specially capricious substance (e.g. whipped cream of very good quality), it will be completely intact. If the room temperature is like 27C, it should still be fine, but you may notice a flavor change after reheating (then again, cooling down and reheating changes flavor often, for whatever reason). Closed containers are important.


What are East Coast Chinese Chicken Wings marinated in? Does anyone know what the Chinese Restaurants on the East Coast (in the US) use to marinate their chicken wings? I was told by one owner that they use 10 different ingredients but she wouldn't tell me what they were. Do you know if they parboil them before deep frying them?

The secret of the perfect Chinese chicken wing, is to barbecue it. First to marinate the wings with soy sauce, garlic glove for one night. Barbecue it when almost ready, to brush some honey onto the wings. Taste like heaven. Juicy and tender inside, sweet and crispy outside( the honey will help create a little char on the skin).


What can I safely put between my cast iron skillet and induction glass top stove to prevent scratches? I moved into a new flat and it comes with a brand-new induction glass top stove. Unfortunately, it seems like the glass rather easily scratches: There is already a visible scratch in it (likely caused by me, but I have no idea what caused it). This is why I don't want to put my Lodge cast iron skillet (with a rough bottom) directly on it. I've found several pages stating that I can easily prevent scratches by putting something between the cast iron skillet and the glass top, such as paper towels, newspaper or parchment paper, as long as I'm not going for a very high heat sear.

However, that is mostly the purpose of my cast iron skillet: To sear meat at very high temperature.

Has anyone used any of the above objects successfully as a protective layer between cast iron skillet and induction glass top, while searing at very high temperature? Or is some other sort of layer even more preferable?

You could use a thin disc of copper...

Copper has a much higher melting point than does aluminum (1,984ºF or 1,084ºC vs 1,221ºF or 661ºC), is not ferromagnetic, and a thin (.025" or less) sheet should not have a profound effect on the magnetic field induced in the iron skillet.

I have not tried this method, but it is scientifically plausible as well as cost effective at about $25.

The copper surface could be sanded smooth and could be used in a similar way as a heat diffuser. It should get no hotter than the bottom of the cast iron skillet, since the induction 'burner' should not induce any magnetic field in the copper sheet itself. The only heating of the copper would be from conduction or radiation from the cast iron pan.

Wolf induction rangetop; have been using parchment paper for iron skillet. Heat range has not exceeded 4 dots (I call that "medium".) Scorching of paper ultimately leads to replacing. Seems reasonable and cost/effective.


How to obtain rennet? I want to make some homemade mozzeralla and I know that I need rennet but I am at a loss at how to obtain it.  I also don't know which type I need out of the artifical or natural.  Is there a way to make it for myself?  My searches are turning up conflicting information and I am a little lost in the woods here.

The easiest way where I live to get rennet is to buy Junket tablets at the grocery store. If they have it it's near the ice cream toppings. You can buy it online from the company. It's very cheap and although not 100% pure rennet it works just fine for the variety of cheeses I have made. The box of tablets comes with reliable recipes for a variety of cheeses and ice cream.

Online cheese making suppliers can sell you "higher quality" rennet that is much more expensive. This may make sense for you- especially if you are buying from them anyway for specialized bacteria or mold to make a particular cheese like swiss, etc. I can't recommend one in particular but they are easy to find.

You can make your own. I wouldn't recommend it. Rennet is an enzyme used by calves to digest their mother's milk. Historically, when a calf was slaughtered the correct stomach (I believe the first) would be chopped up and soaked for some time in water. The stomach was then removed and the water with dissolved rennet would be used to make cheese.

If you have access to a calf and have a tougher constitution than I you could certainly try this.

Nowadays rennet is mostly recombinantly produced. For those opposed to our genetically-modified-bacteria-friends non-recombinant rennet can be found. Vegetarian rennet derived from vegetables or mold with similar properties is also available. Recombinant is, of course, much less expensive.

A few sites online, but i usually buy liquid rennet on E-Bay


Name for a master "cook plan" that describes how you prepare and serve all courses of a meal I'm writing some software and could use some help (from some experts!) naming something. In cooking, culinary arts, etc. I have to imagine that there exists a concept where you, the chef, have a master "cook plan" for how you will execute a particular course, meal, set of servings, etc.

Meaning, you know what you want to cook for a particular meal: you know the ingredients, the recipes for each component of the meal, the timing of when you need to start prepping, cooking and plating each component, etc. A master plan. A "cook plan" for the entire theatre of operations so to speak.

This cannot simply just be a "recipe", as to me, a "recipe" is a sub-component of this plan as it takes ingredients in as input, processes those ingredients and produces (as output) just one component of a meal.

I'm talking one step above an individual recipe: a plan that covers everything you will do to produce all the courses of a large meal.

Is there a word for this in the culinary world?

Recipes or formulas lead to a prep plan or a daily prep system in a restaurant or commercial kitchen.  This plan is used to delegate work, ensure ingredients for individual recipes and dishes are prepared in an efficient manner, and to minimize waste.

The name of the software system you describe sounds like a Quality Management System (QMS).
Give your QMS any name YOU CHOOSE, it's standard in the software biz. Microsoft calls their operating system - 'Windows', word processing application - 'Word'...

A Quality Management System (QMS) is a set of internal rules that are defined by a collection of policies, processes, documented procedures and records. This system defines how a company will achieve the creation and delivery of the product or service they provide to their customers.

A quality management system (QMS) is a set of policies, processes and procedures required for planning and execution (production/development/service) in the core business area of an organization (i.e., areas that can impact the organization's ability to meet customer requirements).

A quality management system (QMS) is a collection of business processes focused on consistently meeting customer requirements

A quality management system (QMS) is defined as a formalized system that documents processes, procedures, and responsibilities for achieving ... objectives. A QMS helps coordinate and direct an organization’s activities to meet customer and regulatory requirements and improve its effectiveness and efficiency on a continuous basis.


Beef Bourguignon Wine Question I'm hoping you can help me with an issue I have. I had a co-worker whose spouse made a very large pot of Beef Bourguingnon. It was delicious. I found out she had used Ina Garten's recipe. You can find it here Ina Garten: Beef Bourguignon.

I made it to the recipe, with the exception that I couldn't find pearl onions, so I used regular. My co-worker's batch was excellent and there was just a hint of wine. Mine tasted extremely boozy. I think I even let it cook a little longer than the recipe called for, hoping the alcohol would cook out, but it didn't. It was very strong.

I'm not a wine guy. I don't drink it and don't know anything about it. The co-worker didn't know which wine his wife bought. I probably grabbed something red colored, possibly a cabernet sauvignon, because I know a guy that drinks it and I probably recognized the label.

Can you guys tell me if a different red wine would taste less boozy or do I just need to reduce the amount of wine in the recipe and up the amount of stock? Thanks for the help.

Edit: By 'boozy' I meant it had a strong alcohol flavor to it. It could partially been stronger because of the tannins one of you guys said was heavy in the cabernet. Also, I attached this recipe, because the co-worker told me the one they handed me was Ina Garten's recipe. I just read through this one and the one I was handed uses much more wine. I know I've experienced in the past where a chef will have two version of a recipe posted around the internet, where they've improved it. The one they handed me and it said it was Ina Garten called for adding all the ingredients back to the pot and then adding a small bottle of wine. I think it was 750ml. You're supposed to then add beef stock to bring the level of liquid up to right below the top of the beef. I didn't have to add much beef stock. Looking at this recipe, it says 1.5 cups. So the version I had basically adds 2x the amount of wine. That could very well be the issue, though the co-worker made the same version with the same ratio of wine I did, so I guess it's also the type of wine used. I probably need to use one of the types you guys suggested.

After Deglaze the pan with the red wine and cook on high heat for 1 minute, scraping the bottom of the pan. but prior to adding the beef stock, reduce the wine to almost a syrup. Most of the alcohol will be driven off, along with most of the water. When the, relatively large volume of beef stock is added, the concentration of alcohol will be greatly reduced. You may need to add additional liquid to make up for the missing wine and You may need to adjust how the garlic is handled, so to not over cook at high heat.

Edited to remove wrong chemistry.

By reducing the liquid contents you should boil off virtually all of the alcohol.

The phase diagram for water-ethanol is shown below which I copied from here. The ethanol-water ratio is on the X-axis and the temperature of the liquid and vapor is shown on the Y-axis.

The gist is two-fold.

First by distillation you can't get more than about 95% ethanol. Ethanol and water form an azetrope which is about 95% ethanol and 5% water and boils at 78.2 degrees C (173 Fahrenheit).

Second for liquids with much more water than alcohol than water, the evaporating vapor will have more alcohol than water. So the more you boil the liquid contents down the less ethanol will remain in the liquid.

So for your recipe to reduce the alcohol follow the recipe till the part where it says

  "Deglaze the pan with the red wine and cook on high heat for 1 minute, scraping the bottom of the pan. Add the beef stock..."

At that point you can boil down the liquid by 1 cup to say 2.5 cups get rid of most of the ethanol. Then add 1 cups of water to replenish the total amount of liquid and follow the rest of the recipe.

If you boil off more than 1 cup then there will be even less alcohol remaining.

Note that the alcohol is also further decreased since you simmer uncovered with the onions and carrots in a later step until the liquid is reduced.


Is it ok to store open cans in the fridge? I'd been taught growing up that you should never store canned food in the fridge in the open can. Is there any scientific basis to this, or is it just an old wives tale?

What types of foods should not be stored in their can once open? Would olives, for example, be harmed from this sort of storage? Or only more acidic foods like tomato paste or pineapple be affected?

Short answer: storing food in an open can is normally safe for a short period, but inadvisable.

Longer answer:
There are three main issues with storing foods in an open can.  They are metal oxidation, contamination, and funk.

Oxidation.  As commenters have observed, cans used to be made of tin, which is toxic.  Modern cans are made from either steel or aluminum.  If the contents of the can are acidic, cans are lined with a polymer (plastic) inner layer.  If that layer is broken -- say, by a major dent in the can or by using a knife to scrape out contents -- then the acid can get to the metal and, over time, corrode it, and some of the now-oxidized metal will dissolve into the food.  As far as we know, the oxidized metal is not toxic, but it tastes horrible.
Contamination.  Any open container of food can become contaminated when an airborne water droplet (tiny -- microns wide) containing a nasty microbe drips or settles into it.  The major biological culprit here is Listeria, which can grow in any moist environment, including spaces refrigerated below 40F (5C).  Also, if juices from your raw meat drips onto an upper shelf, which later gets wiped inadvertently into your container of ready-to-eat food, you are likely to get Salmonella or E coli.  This risk can be mitigated if you keep your raw meats on the lowest shelf, but not eliminated.  Also, it is worth noting that contamination through this pathway is a relatively rare event -- but even so, it is not worth the risk.
Funk.  Have you ever put an ice cube in your beverage and notice your beverage tastes strange?  The chemical compounds that give food their flavor tend to be volatile (meaning they will readily leave the food into the surrounding air).  Also, the mustiness of a refrigerator/freezer is due to volatile compounds produced by mold and mildew.  Foods that are wet and/or fatty can be molecular velcro to these compounds.

The seal of the seam is done by soldering to make air tight. Once the can is opened with the can opener, it start getting oxygen and start the process of lead oxide formation. This becomes a poison after a few days. The food poisoning can happen consuming any acidic food from the open can in the refrigerator. This should be stored in a plastic container with the airtight lid.


How do I get rid of bugs in rice? Can you please suggest to me how to prevent rice from getting very small black coloured insects, they are really irritating us by spreading total house and bothering my little kid a lot. I am from Hyderabad, India.

If you can, put all grains you buy in impenetrable containers as soon as you get them home, and freeze them. Keeping rice (or any other grain) in the freezer for a full day will help. Keeping the grain in the freezer for a week will kill just about any creepy crawly that's already in the rice, the impenetrable container will keep new visitors out. Glass or hard plastic containers (like tupperware) are impenetrable, Ziploc style bags may not be.

If you don't have room in the freezer for all of a new rice purchase, go ahead and repackage it in the impenetrable containers, and rotate the containers until they have all had at least a full day in the freezer (a week is better).

Get rid of anything that already seems like a breeding ground. Thoroughly go through all of your food storage space, get rid of anything infested, put all you can save into impenetrable containers, and consider a (hopefully) one time use of a pesticide.

Also, the cooler you can keep the stuff that the bugs like, the better. Bugs that are well fed and warm are happy, happy bugs.

One more thing. I don't know if it actually works, but it can't hurt: Try putting a few bay leaves in each container of rice. It's a bit folklore-ish, but the countermeasure has been touted for decades, maybe longer.

I assume you soak the rice before cooking and get rid of anything that floats?

Add Boric Acid ( brought from a medical shop) 400 gms for 50 Kgs is more than sufficient, to the rice and store it.  Slowly all the insects will die or leave. In telugu they area called mukka purugu they will leave or die and you can wash out.Even when you wash the rice before cooking these insects float on water and you can remove them.  This is also effective for white insects which come in rice.  store it in a place where moisture is less and water does not touch rice. I have been practicing this for few years.


Even heating: skillet thickness vs. electric element size I've recently started transitioning to stainless-clad aluminum-core skillets, and one oft-compared property of various offerings is the thickness - generally a thicker sandwich contains a thicker aluminum layer and thus has a greater ability to spread the heat evenly across the cooking surface.

But how much does this matter, if a skillet is placed on an electric coil element which is almost as large in diameter as the flat area one cooks on?

Anecdotally, I've noticed that a "relatively thin" (maybe 2.2mm) inexpensive Calphalon 10" skillet seems to perform fine on a 6" coil, even for high-heat tasks like searing meats.  Contrastingly, an 11" (3qt) All-Clad 3-layer saute pan of the recent "not the way they used to make them" 2.75mm or so thickness shows a definite cold region where it extends well beyond the coil to meet the vertical sidewalls.

I've recently upgraded to an almost 8" element, and am shopping for a 12" skillet which will have a cooking surface around 9" in diameter.  Given the poor performance of the large saute pan, I'm tempted to try to track down one of the few offerings that is still 3mm or more in thickness.  But given that the cooking area will barely extend beyond the coil, I wonder if it's worth nearly twice the price I'd have to pay for a 2.2mm thick one?  Granted, a 3mm pan would probably perform a lot better than a 2.2mm one if used on the 6" element.  Or going to another extreme, designs with thick aluminum and only a thin stainless lining like All-Clad MC2 would presumably have the best heat transfer, at some cost in durability.

Electric oven spirals turn on and off continuously, and the temperature of coil depends on the ratio between periods of cooling and periods of heating.

Thicker skillets act as accumulators of heat, allowing smoother transitions between those periods. They heat up slower and cool off slower, thus making temperature more consistent.

Another voice for thicker frying pan bottoms is that it prevents them from warping as much – metal contracts and expands on temperature changes. Cheap pan will warp after a while and stop forming a good contact with electric stove spiral, resulting in uneven cooking.

Hope this answers your question.

when it comes to even heating nothing beats cast iron! its better for you adds and retains flavor and iron which is a common defiecency. other skillets have there place in the world. i was given fourth generation iron skillets griddle the works. I only have 3 steel sauce pans and one teflon egg skillet.
i know cast iron is out of style but if you maintain them correctly. your grand kids' grand kids can be using them. that is a investment of 4 lifetimes


Why is my pumpkin pie filling separating from my cake mix? I decided to mix pumpkin pie filling into a mixture of spice cake mix. I mixed the filling in well and in every try, the filling stays in the middle, with the cake moving to the outside.

I am wondering why this happens and if there is a way to control this separation, since I am seeing more cake moving to the top and just a thin layer on the bottom.

Update:
I did not alter the cake recipe and i just pored the pie filling directly from the can into the completely mixed cake mix. Mixed them together and pored into the pan. I did not change the baking time or temperature.

I wonder if this has something to do with the density of the cake vs the pie filling. This may be a similar phenomenon as when chocolate chips or nuts sink to the bottom of a brownie during cooking.

I am not entirely sure how to solve this but one thing to try would be to mix the pie filling with the wet ingredients for the spice cake mix and then mix it all together. My hypothesis is that the pie filling isn't incorporated into the cake mix well enough (even though it may look well incorporated) and mixing it with the wet ingredients thoroughly may allow the eggs (i'm assuming eggs were involved) to set the mixture as a whole more evenly.

This is similar to replacing eggs in a cake with applesauce. That ratio is about 1/4 cup of applesauce to 1 egg. On a basic level, applesauce is simply an apple puree. That's pretty much what pumpkin is as well. So try reducing the number of eggs based on the aforementioned ratio.


Do I need to boil filled jam/chutney jars? I want to start making chutneys/jams at home, but am unsure of exactly how to proceed. Friends I've spoken to
have said to sterilize the jars, then just put the hot jam/chutney in, and some online recipes seem to say this too - http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/7565/marrow-and-ginger-jam . There are also a good number of recipes which need an extra step- boiling the sealed jars (eg: http://www.freshpreserving.com/guides/IntroToCanning.pdf ).

Is one method better than the other? Does it depend on the recipe? Ideally I want the least amount of hastle (ie: boiling the jars after filling)

Recipes for preserving tend to be very specific.  They're calibrated to balance factors like pH and sugar content in the final recipes, and of course to minimize the risk of spoilage.  In general, you should always follow the steps as written in your recipe.

What I've generally observed is that jam-type recipes don't always include the final boiling step because the jam is already cooked (edit: and because per rumtscho, the sugar content is generally high enough to be inhospitable to bacteria).  That differs from canning fresh fruits and vegetables which are largely raw.  The purpose of the boiling step here is to kill off pathogens before they get a chance to settle in and spoil the contents, as no matter how well you clean them, there are likely to be some spores, bacteria, etc. remaining.  Even a tiny initial population can grow and spoil your preserves over the length of time they'll be put away.

So, initial sterilization is always required to clean the jars themselves.  The second boil pasteurizes the  contents.  If you've already done this as part of your preparation, as with a jam, then it most likely isn't required.  It probably won't hurt, especially if you plan to put up your jams for an extended period of time (i.e. months or years) but you'll have to weigh the convenience of skipping that step against the potential risk of spoilage.

That said, let me state again for the record that if your specific recipe says to include the final boil, then there's likely a very good reason, and you should follow that instruction.

You need to avoid infections so you should clean the jars in very hot water and then dry them
out. You could use a warm oven for this if you're using glass. However, it only has to be
warm, not at a cooking temperature. If you can't do this, you can let them dry normally but
you should ensure they are as dry as you can.

Everything will be quite hot so be careful, definitely a good reason for getting a Jam funnel as that will make life a heck of a lot easier when it comes to putting hot jam into hot jars.

Don't make the jars too hot as you don't want them to cool rapidly and then shatter.

If you are using flip top jars rather than screw top jars, you must take the rubber seal
off (thinking Kilner style jars here) as you can just pour boiling water on those and dry
them.

You should also consider getting wax discs to put over the jam/chutney if you are leaving
it for a while. This is probably more for jam than chutney due to the different ingredients
used.

I recommend going to your local home store and looking at the home cooking aisles for
the funnel and discs. I recommend also getting labels rather than using a permanent marker
if you can as its easier to re-purpose the jars later.


making scalloped potatoes, need to be in oven for 3 hours,what temperature should I have them on I need to put scalloped potatoes in the oven for 3 hours, what tempterature should I have them on?

I found a recipe for slow baked potatoes that has the potatoes in the oven for 3 hours set at 350F. According to the author:

"The accepted practice is to bake potatoes for an hour. But here's how long to bake a baked potato if you want it to be nutty and soft: three hours, yes, that's no typo, it really is 'three' hours. The skin and flesh are both completely delicious when slow-baked for a long time."

Recipe here.

However, I am unsure whether this theory holds true for scalloped potatoes. Most scalloped potatoes recipes I came across had the potatoes being baked in the oven for ~1 hr at ~350F.

350° for amt. time, check slice. Also use greased, Pam fine, whatever vessel using!!!


Regarding cutlery and industrial dishwashers This question I recently got a variety of cutlery for my school's cafeteria. However, after purchasing the cutlery, I realized that it may not be able to be washed by an industrial dish washer. These are for a relatively large school, and so, I assume, that an industrial washer is used to clean the countless spoons, forks, and knives. My only concern is that once they come into circulation, they may somehow deteriorate after being washed, or taint the food that is being eaten. Do I need to be careful as to what kinds of cutlery I buy, or are all metal cutlery okay to use?

The dishwasher shouldn't be a concern - if anything it will be a little gentler on your cutlery.

Industrial washers work on a very short cycle (~2mins vs 2 hours).  Although "industrial" they actually clean a lot less than a domestic machine - home users expect  to put things in filthy and come out spotless and dry-ish. In a restaurant dishes are pre-cleaned.

That there's only about 20 seconds of cutlery sitting in salted water and steam(vs20-30min) makes a big difference.

Additionally, domestic powders often have abrasive agents, while this is uncommon in commercial kitchens where liquid-based systems are the norm.

The operating temperature is only about 5c higher so won't make much difference.

The main difference with restaurant grade cutlery is that it will be guaranteed to last a certain amount of time and manufacturers are careful about this because a restaurant is definitely going to look for their money back.

I'm no professional, but I have heard, mostly through family and friends, that anything with wood, because porous and can crack, warp and deform, should not be washed in a dishwasher.  My mother says no pots and pans or professional knives.  However, I got a nice set of pots and pans and they are holding up nicely.  I would put them in the dishwasher for several washes and just take a look.


When is a Utility Knife to be preferred over a Chef's or a Paring knife? A Utility knife is a kitchen knife that is midway in size between a Chef's knife and a Paring knife.

Although I own a Utility knife, I don't believe that I have ever used it except when my Chef's knife was unavailable. I took a look around to see what uses I might have missed. Wikipedia says (without citation) that this knife is "derided as filler for knife sets" which squares with my experience. A few links call this type of knife a Sandwich knife because it is, ostensibly, good for cutting sandwich cheese and meat. Here's what one source says:

  The utility knife is good for cutting larger vegetables and sandwich
  meats that are not large enough for a chef's knife

I have a hard time swallowing this because, whether I'm chopping very small items, say Kaffir lime leaves, or large vegetables, say an aubergine, the Chef's knife still feels most comfortable in my hand.

Can someone help me picture a legitimate use for this knife where a Chef's knife or Paring knife wouldn't do better?

There's no question that a 4 or 5 inch utility knife is going to see a lot less use than your chef's knife or your paring knife, both of which have innumerable uses.  The utility knife is a lot more specific, really being for cases where the paring knife is too short and the chef's knife is too heavy or thick.  I have a 4" utility knife, which (of course) I got for free with a 6" Sabatier chef's knife.  It gets used a couple times a week, for:

scoring onions in order to mince them
cutting limes in half (a chef's knife seems like overkill here)
splitting small peppers
slicing large California shallots
cutting cheese

... and similar occasional, accessory uses.

Part of the problem with the 4" utility knife is that it's really a dwarf 6"-8" utility knife.  The 6" or 8" utility knife, now commonly called a "vegetable knife", is far more useful; the long, thin blade is excellent for making paper-thin vegetable and fruit slices, and can be used as a fileting knife if you don't have one.  At the 4" size, though, the utility knife is useful only for cutting things which happen to be small, and only if you don't already have a more general knife dirty.

If what you're really asking is "can I get rid of this knife?", the answer is "yes".

Usually utility Knife used for general purpose but when you have specefic task e.g - Slicing a Potatoe, Removing hull from Strawberry, removing skin from a fruit then you shoud go fo Paring Knife.


How to make cake mix less sweet I recently made a simple box cake, the one where you just add water and oil to the mix, but once I ate it I thought that it was way too sweet. I looked up how to temper this sweetness, but the best I could find was a suggestion to add lemon rind or - I assume - lemon essence (to a vanilla mix cake), to try and balance the sweetness. Is there a better way to do this? The best I could think of is to add flour, but the website also said not to do that as it would make the cake ingredients disproportionate. What could I do instead?

There's not really anything easy you can do. Even adding lemon zest or essence isn't really going to help; it'll just give you a lemony but still sweet cake. I suppose theoretically you could add sour things, since that does tend to balance out sweetness, but it's tricky since acid will interact with the leavening. A sour icing, or a sour sauce to serve it with, might be a better bet in that vein.

So unfortunately, you'd be best off shopping around for cake mixes that are more the level of sweetness you want. You might be able to use the nutrition facts to help get a sense of how sweet they are before you buy them.

Replace some of the cake mix with flour. It's basically just cake mix but without flavour, so it could replace some of the sweetness. It's what I do at home and tastes perfectly fine.

The amount you replace really depends how sweet you want the cake to be. I replace half of the cake mix so that I can use the other half next time.


Why did people start using CO2 (instead of e.g. oxygen) for carbonated drinks? I am curious about why those who invented carbonated drinks chose to use specifically carbon dioxide in the liquid, instead of some other gas (say, oxygen).

(Obviously they wouldn't necessarily have been called "carbonated" if some other gas had been used, but that is besides the point.)

Is there some reason such as that CO2 does not dissipate from a liquid as fast as other gases, or something else?

CO2 tastes good! Carbonated water is actually a weak carbonic acid solution; this is what you taste. It's like "salt and pepper", but for water.

Slightly acidic water is usually popular, hence lemon juice is sometimes used to taint a jug of water in times when no carbonated water is available.

Carbonated water releases CO2 bubbles for many minutes after pressure is released (dissolved carbonic acid reforming), which is an important presentation effect that other gases do not generally have.

In many countries the local water supply is slightly alkaline (due to limestone rock being very common), and this can leave a bad after-taste, and make food in your mouth taste soapy. The addition of weak acids to water helps with neutralising this effect.

Around the world, some lucky towns have natural springs with effervescent water (carbonated water), and man-made carbonated water is just imitating this. In history people have often travelled great distances to try effervescent water, so its popularity is well recorded.

Nitrogen is used for water pressurisation in brewing and cooking as it leaves little or no taste, and generally does not form other chemical compounds. It's used mainly when bubbles are required, but not an acidic taste.

Oxygen is unsuitable for water pressurisation as very little can be dissolved at normal soda pressures, and it has no taste, but may readily form unwanted chemical compounds.

In the 18th century, Joseph Priestley was the first person to document this manufacturing discovery. He noted precisely that it tasted good, and that it was similar to the German Selters water. He was discovering "airs" (gases), and uniquely identified quite a few different gases. CO2 was the only one he listed as tasting good. His cheap source of CO2 was the fermenting grains from the nearby brewery.

As a wrestler in highschool I of course was restricted from drinking carbonated beverages furring season,. This is what first made me question why CO2 not O2? When I presented the dilemma to my ex-husband NASA science teacher (who by the way might have been a bit fried from the 70's...) Told me " well instead of a borring explanation how bout I give a demonstration" so as a crude representation of one of the possible issue he opened a soda, shook it until it was flat the poured some in a test tube. Now in the same tube he had a glass pipet inserted and started pumping pure O2 into it. As I watched it bubleing and such I was thinking to my self, "what the hell does this prove?"  But then he took a torch and lit the oxygen rich liquid sugar syrup that is soda and showed just how violently a powerful hydrocarbon, like monosaccharide, reacts in the presence of extra oxygen... So in summary, flavor and texture aside, it's just impractical to have huge factories producing pressurized oxidized hydrocarbons for the enjoyment lil kids at the supermarket!


Why do brassicas like cauliflower or brussels sprouts sometimes taste bitter, and (how) can I avoid it? Cauliflower or Brussels Sprouts sometimes taste slightly bitter after cooking. Is this some mistake in the way they are cooked or is that just the vegetables themselves?

All the vegetables form the Brassica family have a bitter component to their flavour. Brassica is the family that includes cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli and Brussels sprouts.

You can actually remove quite a lot of it by leeching it out in to the water, or by using salt. Remember that this means you're also losing some of the nutritional value, though that doesn't matter too much.

You can also try ot mask the bitter taste with the sauce/dressing. Something like a cream sauce, or even barbeque flavour will usually mask the bitterness quite well, while letting the cabbage-ness come through.

CAULIFLOWER doesn't have to taste strong.   I steam it in the liners from cereal boxes in the microwave.  Just cut the cauliflower into a bit larger than bite-size pieces, place them in the bag and run water into the bag.  Pour out the water, then fold the end of the liner under and pat the veggies so they are level in the bag.  Steam it for about 3 minutes in the microwave for a 3/4 filled bag.  NOT bitter at all.   Add cheese sauce over it when serving.

Also SPINACH is devine cooked this way.  Omit pouring the water into the bag.  Just steam it for a couple minutes.  Then put butter and salt and pepper on it.   Yum.  I also steam CORN ON THE COB, BROCCOLI, and SLICED YELLOW SQUASH this way.   The timing for corn on the cob is 3 minutes per ear.  Broccoli, the same as cauliflower, and squash a couple of minutes.  I've been doing this for 25 years and am very healthy.


How does the number of eggs affect a cookie recipe? If a chocolate chip cookie recipe calls for two eggs and I add three eggs, what will the effect be on my cookies?

Likewise if it calls for two eggs and I only put in one egg what will the effect be?

Eggs contribute to better texture, leavening and they extend shelf life. More eggs = moister (sp!) cookie. Eggs are also crucial in building structure. They are about 75% moisture, 12% protein, 10% fat and 2ish % sugar.

The white provides strength, stability and moisture.

Yolks, where all of the fat is in an egg, increase richness, tenderness and flavor.

Therefore, if you put an extra egg, you will get a chewier cookie. I do it all the time. If you put less, you will get a more crumbly cookie.

The more eggs, the more cakelike a brownie or cake recipe will become.
The less eggs, the more moist and dense it will be.
Eggs cause fluffiness.