Does glutinous rice contain gluten? My sister-in-law is an American living in China, and while visiting the US, learned that reducing certain foods, including gluten, seems to have an improvement in her health.

She is trying to figure out what her diet in China should look like, and noted some confusion about glutinous rice. She said that rice is on her list of gluten-free foods, but since glutinous is in the name, she assumes that gluten is added to it.

Does glutinous rice actually have gluten in it, or is something lost in translation?

No, it doesn't. Rice is always gluten free.

It just so happens that words like "gluten", "glutinous" and "glue" are words which have a common root, meaning "sticky". Glutinous rice is sticky due to a high proportion of bushy starches in the rice grain. It has nothing to do with gluten, which is a complex formed by wheat proteins, and not contained in any type of rice.

See also our list of gluten-free grains, which also notes the gluten-glutinous distinction.

Yes and no, depending on one's definition of gluten.

I don't have all the proper references on hand right now, so please forgive me if the explanation is missing the full chemical explanation (references to peptides and such).  I'm recalling all of this from memory from a presentation given by an all-types-of-gluten celiac I met several years ago.

All grains contain "gluten," but there is more than one type of gluten.  When one commonly refers to a gluten, that person is referring to the type of gluten found in wheat, barley, and rye.  (Oats are often in contact with wheat.  As a result, oats may contain enough gluten to set off a celiac and are often included on the list of banned grains.)  Rice contains its own "glue-like" properties and proteins, but it is not the same as in wheat, barely, or rye.

So your sister-in-law is safe to eat rice, so long as she only reacts to the generic "gluten."  In which case, tell her to watch out for soy sauce, as that often has added wheat.

Edit:  I can't seem to comment on my own answer post.  (I just found this site today)  Hm...  Anyway,the OP mentioned that his sister-in-law's health improved by removing certain foods, such as gluten.  The gluten she needs to avoid depends on her level and type of intolerance.  In rare occasions, one will not have a textbook case of gluten-intolerance or celiac.  My sister is a textbook celiac; I have a nonstandard gluten-intolerance.  She can eat rice; I cannot.  In short, if the gluten sensitivity is standard, consider all rice to be gluten-free.  'Glutinous' merely describes the amount of sticky starch in the grain (and possibly its fattening potential ;) ), not gluten.

Edit:  I still can't seem to respond to other comments.  @nico Rice can contain both starch and protein, same as wheat.  I was trying to say that 'glutinous' refers to starch, not protein.  If that distinction doesn't seem clear I can try to better edit the response.

P.S. This response probably has more details than necessary for a general gluten-sensitivity.  Also, if the format is not yet up to par, please be patient with me while I familiarize with the site protocol.


Does adding salt help water boil faster? I've always heard adding salt to water makes it boil faster.  Is this true?  If so, why?  If not, why do people do it?

No. The amount of salt you would have to add to water to make an appreciable difference is enormous.

Salt is added to water for various reasons: to season whatever is being cooked in it; to maintain colour; to maintain structural integrity.

its because a lot of households have hard water which has many ions and a high boiling point. adding NaCl softens water and actually reduces ion content in the tap water making it easier to boil. everyone else is theoretically  right to state that adding table salt to water increases boiling point but that is for pure water not tap water.


Is it possible to heatproof (insulate) stainless steel pot handles? I made a mistake of buying a Cuisinart 6 qt stock pot with two major downsides:  opaque lid (can't see inside) and non-insulated, metal handles.  I wasn't thinking about those features much as I was shopping and the latter now pretty much renders the pot unusable for me because I have a gas stove and the handles get so hot that I have to use a rag or pot holders and I'd rather not have to.

My question is: is there some sort of plastic putty (like Sugru) that can be applied over the handles to heatproof it ?  I was thinking maybe electrical tape but I thought that would melt.

There are a variety of heat resistant silicon accessories that will serve your purpose.
Here a couple from Amazon.com*

Duncan-2-Piece-Short-Handle-Holde
JAZ Innovations Cool Touch Lid Handle Cover

Not an endorsement of either Amazon or these products.

I've used heat shrink tubing on a couple of my pieces of cookware. It comes in unshrunk diameters up to at least 1.5" (38 mm). Put the stuff over your handle, hit it with a propane torch or oven burner, and the stuff shrinks to fit snuggly. For more insulation, you can add multiple layers of the stuff. It's available at the usual online outles.


Canned cheddar kept for many years - does it get better and for how long? Cougar Gold is a cheese made in Washington and is unique in that it is canned.  Because of the canning, it lasts indefinitely if refrigerated until opened.  I understand that cheese can become more flavorful with additional aging.  I am trying to understand how/why cheese that was sealed in an air-tight can and refrigerated would benefit from years and years of aging.

A friend of mine insists that the longer the cheese is kept in the fridge, the more crystallized and better flavored it will be.  Their website seems to back this up.

Is this accurate?  How long will this last (will the flavor continue to get better, will the amino acid crystals continue to develop)?

Cheese aging or cheese ripening is influenced by a variety of factors, ranging from the microflora to the curd, and others. The enzymatic process is the most crucial process for all cheeses, although bacteria plays a role in many varieties.

You can see the same process with certain cheeses (parmesan, amsterdam): store them properly in the fridge and they will eventually dry out and harden, while the flavor gets more intense.  Hard cheeses are already slow to ripen, taking from months to years, so the canning process definitively prolongs this process (since there are no external contaminants and limited oxygen for bacteria to grow).

As with anything, it will stop developing flavor when there's nothing else to develop: the flavor components are all already combined, so ingredients are spent. According to the website you linked it's more than 30 years, it will depend how slow does the development happens, how well sealed it is, temperature variation, etc.

Aging is a process that happens when the water naturally and slowly evaporates from the cheese. I don't think this would happen in a can.

The same reason that you can't age whiskey after is bottled.


How can i tell if a pineapple will be sweet? A lot of the times when i bring a pineapple home and eat it, i get a semi-sweet and sour taste. How can you tell when is the right time to eat your pineapple to get very sweet pineapple meat?

Usually you can tell when Pineapples are ripen, which will be sweet, when

Leaves are loose and can easily be picked from the top
The shell has golden colour (but not dark brown, these are getting rotten)
The aroma even from out of the shell is strong

A typical pineapple that is bought green and unripen, takes one to two days to ripe well. Don't put them in the fridge if you want to ripe them. Keep them out on the counter. As a street food vendor, we always keep them in the truck for one night prior to selling, that ensure the pineapples ripe enough and the juice comes out of it.

Hope it helps.

First of all there are different types of pineapple: The difference between pineapple types.

Second you need to know how to pick the ripe ones: How to Select the Perfect Good Pineapple from the Grocery Store.


Best way to measure Spaghetti/Linguini portions? What's the best way to measure how much Spaghetti/Linguini is 1-portion. I know there are tools which basically measures the diameter of the bundle of dry spaghetti. But are there simpler tricks which don't require any tools?

Italians weigh it and it's really the only fail-safe way.  Using a kitchen scale with a big bowl on top should work for just about any pasta shape.  40g for a small portion, 100g for a big plate full.  Cooked volume will depend on the type of pasta, but with spaghetti for example about 55g of dry will produce about 1 cup of cooked spaghetti.

This agrees with @Martha: 2oz = about 57g and 1 cup cooked sounds like a reasonable serving size.  Even if I would eat more :-)

I was wondering the same thing, and then I thought about it and this is the way that I do it...

One cup of cooked spaghetti noodles is one portion.  One plate or half of 2-cup bowl is about 1 cup or 125g of spaghetti noodles.  Unless you really are hungry you probably cannot eat more than 2 whole portions.

fyi...  1 portion of noodles is about 200 calories.


Can I use the juice from pickles to make bread? I finished a jar of pickles the other day and was trying to figure out what to do with the half a jar of pickle juice that was left behind so I didn't have to just pour it down the drain. I thought maybe you could use it instead of water to make bread with a pickle flavor to it. I thought it may be good for sandwiches where you're normally add pickles, or even for cheeseburger pizza crust. So, is this a completely horrible idea (like my wife thinks), or could it work?

You don't have to use water as the liquid in your bread. Enriched breads use milk and/or eggs. We have recently had questions about breads which use orange juice.

On the technical side, you have to adjust recipe a little. Pickle juice doesn't have much dissolved solids, so no need to adjust for that. However, it is very salty, so you should reduce or completely leave out the salt. The acidity will help with gluten development and also with breaking down the starches in flour to make them available for chemical reactions which produce more flavour, so this is a good thing to have. However, yeast itself has some strong pH preferences. It grows best in a slightly acidic environment, but if the dough gets too basic or too sour, it will slow down or not grow at all. I think that the diluted vinegar in the pickle water won't oversour the dough, but it would be a good idea to make the poolish with pure water and only add pickle water for the dough itself.

As for taste, I can't say that much without ever having tried it, but my intuition says that you will get a whiff of pickles, but not a full-blown taste. After all, bread made with orange juice doesn't taste like biting into an orange. I think you will notice the difference, but you will still have to add pickles to your sandwiches for taste (and they are needed for the crunch anyway). As for horrible, it depends entirely on personal taste. I am not a fan of pickles or soured breads, and wouldn't eat it. There are people who drink the pickle water from the jar; I think they will enjoy the pickle-smelling bread too. If you are a pickle fan, I think it is worth a try, if it doesn't work, you only throw out under a dollar's worth of ingredients.

I guess it might work. Check this site to see the effect of vinegar on bread (dough). Then, tell me how it tasted.


Why can soda be used as a substitute for eggs when using a boxed cake mix? When making a cake from a box mix, I see that soda can be used instead of eggs and oil. What is the science behind this, and what are the properties of oil and eggs that the soda is replacing?

Here's an example of this substitution being mentioned (from ehow)

  Reduce the fat in a cake by using soda to replace the oil and eggs, as
  well as the water. The cake will still have a tender and moist crumb,
  but will be somewhat chewier than usual. A diet soda may be used
  rather than regular soda, which will further reduce the total calories
  in the cake.

Edit: Here are some links to similar recipes

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/diet-soda-cake-recipe/index.html
http://www.food.com/recipe/diet-coke-cake-224794

There are lots of people who have a rather simplistic approach to nutrition and think that removing fat and calories makes you healthy. Then they go through recipes for things they want to eat, replace the sources of fat with something which doesn't have fat and doesn't make the result outright inedible, and declare their recipe a success. I think this is what happened here.

In a cake, eggs provide leavening, moisture, smoothness, own flavor, and enhancement of other flavors. Oil provides smoothness and enhancement of other flavors (and possibly its own flavor, if not netural). And while it is not water based, it keeps the moisture in the cake from evaporating, so it makes the cake less dry.

If you are a "simplistic nutritionist" without all this information, you can approximate some of the effects with soda. It will provide moisture, and it will also provide some leavening because it is fizzy. It will provide some flavor of its own too, but frankly, I find the rather chemical flavor of soda to be unpleasant. And it won't have any fat. In the eyes of the simplistic nutritionist, it has successfully replaced the oil and eggs while reducing fat and calories.

From the point of view of a baker, the cake will be a disaster, and won't even deserve the label cake. It will dry out quickly because it has no fat. It will have a bland flavor. Its texture will be terrible. They say "more chewy?" It will miss both the protein structure and the emulsifying agents provided by the eggs. It will be essentially an overwhelmingly sweet quickbread with no redeeming qualities. From a culinary point of view, it will be terrible.

Bottom line: under some assumptions, it is a good substitution. For me, these assumptions are so far from reality as to be useless. It is a terrible substitution.

i am NOT a good cook...but COULD do cakes with eggs, oil...etc
then I switched to the cola in the brownie idea...wow !!
flavor, moist, not dry...not as 'heavy, dense' but much lighter and much much
tastier...so those who wish to debate the science...I suggest you make a cake with just 2 ingredients...a box mix and a soda...give it a FAIR trial...don't tell the family (they won't know) until after the last crumb is consumed !!!


Botulism, Garlic, Cold pressed Olive oil and mason jars I make a product I invented called Maybe It's Marinade. Cold pressed extra virgin olive olive, pressed garlic as the base in three varieties, AoliOliO, Dill and Cayenne Pepper, garlic powder, and titch of salt. I package it in a 250 ml mason jar. I also place the jar in a celephane bag as part of its packaging. Recently, a public inspector noticed the product and sunk his teeth into it concerning Botulism risks.

I've been making this for eighteen years. No one has ever gotten sick. I designed the product to be stored in the cupboard. Using cold pressed olive, extra virgin olive oil I have never found the product to become awful, discolored, smelly, and I set some aside in my house on several occassions for months and tested it on myself and found nothing wrong.

The product is not a method of storing garlic in the oil, with the other ingredients in the recipe, it becomes a bread dipping oil, cooking tool, pasta sauce accessory.
The use of the mason jar provides a secure lid but a very reusable easy to open situation. I do not fill the oil to the top, so that the product can be shaken. Its a very interactive product if that makes sense, in the way that it's spoon accessible.

Can you provide some sort of pro and con overview? I only see articles on storing garlic in oil, not as an ingredient in a recipe? If there's a chance i will make people sick afer eighteen years, I may have to stop making it.
Thanks a heap.

As a health inspector for over 20 years, I am astounded by the lack of awareness that food safety controls are based on science and not on individual inspectors' personal fears and bad moods. Botulism control is based on some of the following facts: botulinum spores are commonly found in soil and on vegetable surfaces, botulinum grows in low or no oxygen envt., botulism has high virulence. (Virulence is a technical term for the fact that a high number of botulism victims end up dead (like Listeriosus of raw milk fame), in contrast to other food borne illnesses like Staph or Campyllobacter.) When considering the fact that botulinum grows slowly, and food borne illnesses whack people more often with weak immune systems, such as the elderly, the ill, and the very young, the food producer may have just been lucky that the product never created a problem, or the very real option that a problem was never narrowed down to the product.

As to the argument that old time recipes have been made for centuries, as in this case, (I am a bit of a foodie and Italian), the big difference is that many products were never made for mass production and or to stick around on shelves for long periods of time, and if so, any data, let alone food safety data, is unavailable for historic food products. In fact, the link between bacteria and illness was scientifically proven by Koch as late as the late 1800's. Another fact is that the CDC's data shows that outbreaks over the last 50 years are fewer, involve much higher number of victims and are more often associated with mass production and distribution of food.  My health dept. receives notices of food recalls at least once a week.

In the case of botulism and fresh garlic in oil, it's considered so risky that acidification is required nationwide.  In California, there is a state lab that specializes in evaluating botulism safety for commercial operations. (It's funded by taxes to keep cost to businesses low and is considered a public service.) I would recommend that producers contact their State health depts. and work with them to identify any and all options available for the canning and sale of any low acid food - including acidification, using dried ingredients, temperature control, flash heating (called a "kill step"). The majority of us inspectors truly focus on how to sell food safely and do not approach their jobs as stopping people from making a living. And surprise surprise we don't always think alike, just don't get me started. However, I'll finish with the following consideration of the implication that "life has it's many risks" argument that we inspectors hear often.  When it comes to death, the public, the politicians and the members of responsible industry itself does not tolerate "a little death."

The problem here is that there's always a CHANCE of something happening, and that inspector was hell bend to find anything at all so they could shut you down, and they did.
Unless (as already mentioned) you change your product to the point where it's nothing like it is now, has become no different from the bland, not worth the money, commercial offerings from the major large companies, you're left with no option but to stop production.

This same problem is hitting (and has already hit) thousand of small shops in the UK and elsewhere who produce traditional non-pasteurised cheeses, cheeses which cannot be made with pasteurised milk but require raw milk for the recipe to work.
They all had to shut down except for a very few who could get an EU exception based on the "cultural value" or whatever of their product to the "health and safety regulations".
Same with smalltown butchershops and some of their products, but at least they can go on selling the rest (but a lot of local products are gone, maybe permanently, out of a mostly misplaced fear of food poisoning caused by them (for which there never has been a documented case, it's all hearsay, rumours, and episodes with commercial products or caused by unhygienic conditions at customer sites being blamed on the products themselves when those products were in testing safe)).

Best you can probably do is shut down production and work only to order, going underground so to speak. Chances are so low of anything bad happening, in 18 years noone has gotten sick after eating your garlic (of course it could happen tomorrow, but you could get hit by a meteorite tomorrow as well, no reason to invest in a hard hat).


Beer Batter - let it rest before using or use immediately? I just purchased a deep fryer and have been looking at different recipes for making beer batter.  I noticed that some instruct you to let the batter sit for a number of hours before using it to coat veggies, meats, etc., while others do not mention this.  Does letting the batter rest make a difference in the flavor, texture, or anything else significant?

Yes, it changes the texture.  If you want it light, you need to use it quickly, as the bubbles will disappate over time.

Probably use it quickly, I would think...


What does "contains 2% or less of" mean? In the US, food labels are required to provide an ingredients list.  One common phrase on labels is "contains 2% or less of."  For example: "Pork, water, contains 2% or less of: salt, spices, sodium phosphates, dextrose, autolyzed yeast extract, caramel color."  (Bonus points for identifying what that ingredient list is for.)  Does the 2% apply to each item in the list individually, or do all the items sum up to being less than 2%?

This is sort of academic, I suppose, but I like to know what goes into the ingredients I use.

(ǝƃɐsnɐs :ɹǝʍsuɐ)

The US Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR 101.4) states that ingredients must be listed in descending order of predominance based on weight. The following exception is made in 21 CFR 101.4(2):

  The descending order of predominance requirements of paragraph (a)(1) of this section do not apply to ingredients present in amounts of 2 percent or less by weight when a listing of these ingredients is placed at the end of the ingredient statement following an appropriate quantifying statement, e.g., "Contains __ percent or less of _" or "Less than _ percent of __." The blank percentage within the quantifying statement shall be filled in with a threshold level of 2 percent, or, if desired, 1.5 percent, 1.0 percent, or 0.5 percent, as appropriate. No ingredient to which the quantifying phrase applies may be present in an amount greater than the stated threshold.

Thus, each ingredient is 2% or less of the total weight. They are also exempt from the order by weight requirement. The manufacturer is free to order the subset of < 2% ingredients however they please.

Source: 21 CFR 101.4

It pretty much means what is says: the food may contain detectable amounts of the stuff lists, but that they are present in small quantities from a nutrition perspective.

Those labels exist in the form they do because of FDA regulations (in the US, other agencies elsewhere), and the regulators set the rules in a way that is meant to be responsive to the various "stakeholders" (I loath that word, BTW), which often means they are full of arbitrary limits and goofy conditions.


How long can I refrigerate cookie dough? I made the made the mistake of making my neighbors these cookies peanut-butter-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies. Every time I see either neighbor they thank me again for the wonderful cookies, "Oh they were So Good!" hint hint

I'm breaking down and making them another batch tonight, but it got me thinking of a fun Christmas present for them. I'd like to give each of them a baking sheet, a cookie scoop, a roll of parchment paper, and a big batch of the cookie dough. Assuming the freshest possible eggs and butter, how long can I expect this dough to make tasty cookies if kept in the refrigerator? Freezing is an option too, but they're less likely to actually use it if they have to think ahead far enough to defrost it. (BTW, it is a great recipe.)

The recipe is in the link, but just in case the link dies, the ingredients are:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
½ cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Substitution ideas that might lengthen refrigerator life are more than welcome.

Since those are drop cookies, the best approach is to portion them into individual cookie portions, and freeze them on a sheet tray.  Once solidly frozen, they can be moved into a zip back or other more convenient storage container.

They do not need to be thawed in order to bake, so they still are very convenient.  Simply lay them out frozen on a tray, and bake.

It will take a minute or two longer than the regular non-frozen time.  It might be helpful to drop the temperature by 25 F or so, but it shouldn't really be necessary.

The real issue with holding the dough is not just food safety (you should get 2-3 days given raw eggs as the most perishable ingredient); this doesn't give you a very large window.   Eat By Date suggests 3-5 days.

It is also the loss of leavening power as the baking powder may slowly react, although the dough should be thick enough that most gets retained.

You could either freeze the cookie dough or substitute the eggs for a non-perishable item such as water + ground flax. Their are plenty of other options for seasonings if you are looking to make a variety of different cookies!! http://www.carolinaingredients.com/search/dist/3


how to whip UHT cream? Today I was making a cake for which I needed whipped cream.

The local store did not have fresh cream so I bought UHT cream, I am not sure that's the correct term in English, you basically treat it with high temperatures so that it lasts longer. Said cream is specifically meant to be whipped, or at least so the packaging states.

I used a plastic bowl and 400ml of UHT cream, straight from the fridge. As usual, I used an electric mixer, something like:

Unfortunately after 20+ minutes of mixing the cream was not starting to whip at all. I somehow managed to finish the cake thanks to a food processor that can somewhat whip cream, but the question stands. What did go wrong? Is there something about UHT cream or was I generally careless?

UHT and ultra-pasteurized creams can be whipped, but it can be more difficult than pasteurized cream. From  The Cultured Cook :

  The key to lush whipped cream is choosing lush cream to begin with. Ideally, you want cream from grass-fed cows — it has a richer, fuller taste and a lighter, fluffier texture — and cream that has not been UHT pasteurized. UHT means “ultra-high temperature,” which in turn means that the cream will be difficult to whip since it’s been thoroughly cooked and in the process has lost a great deal of its natural thickness and ability to hold that thickness when whipped. (Whipping simply incorporates air into the cream. The fat in the cream stiffens around the air pockets and holds itself up to create the fluff effect. Cold fat is stiffer than room-temp fat, which is why using chilled equipment and chilled cream is so important.) Take a look at the ingredient list on UHT whipping cream — you’ll see that it’s been thickened with carrageenan, gums, and other stabilizers to recreate the thick texture the cream has lost through having been overheated. Not exactly an ideal scenario.

Some pointers mentioned in comments above that may make a difference in how much success you have when whipping any cream, but especially UHT cream:

You need a fat content of at least 30%.
The cream should be cold. Some people also refrigerate their bowl and utensils also.
You can purchase stabilizers to add to UHT cream to help ensure proper results. Cream of tartar is one option.

Bonus #1 - Issues can occur with other heat treated products. E.g., pasteurized egg whites are more difficult to whip into peaks. While I have read that it can be done, I have never succeeded. I have also been told that cream of tartar (a stabilizer) can make it work.

Bonus #2 - The difference between UHT and ultra-pasteurization is not the process, but the container. They both use ultra high temperature pasteurization.

With UHT milk products, the sterile products are put into sterilized (aseptic) containers and hermetically sealed using a heat process. Now they are shelf stable and have a shelf life of 6 to 9 months (until opened).

Ultra-pasteurized milk products go through the same process but are put into regular milk containers (like pasteurized milk products) and must be kept refrigerated. It has an extended shelf life and should keep 2 to 4 weeks longer than pasteurized milk products (until opened).

Melt enough butter in a cup in the microwave to raise the fat content of your cream to above 40%.
It will only take a few seconds to melt, so don't go too long.
Whisk ii in quickly - problem solved!


How to rest meat but not let it get too cold? Having read this question I am persuaded that resting meat is good for its flavour. But if the meat has a good temperature straight after it's been cooked, it seems as though it will be too cold after resting it for a few minutes.

How do you rest meat in such a way that it is not too cold for eating?

Straight after it comes out of the pan it will usually be too hot to eat.  Regardless of resting or not, you can't fully taste things which are too hot, they need to come down to a comfortable temperature before you eat them.

Some things you can do to stop the meat being too cold when you serve it:

You can rest the meat wrapped in foil, this will stop it from getting too cool too quickly if you are not ready to serve once its had the time to rest.
you can rest it and then warm it again before you eat it, either under a hot grill for a little, or in an oven.
serve it with a hot sauce which will warm the meat
serve it on a warmed plate which will stop it cooling more too quickly on the table

Although I think you are worrying too much about nothing IMHO.  Even once rested the meat will still be at a good temperature, especially as you have not cut it yet and most of the heat will be retained in the middle of the meat.

What happens when you leave any food out? It gets cold. None of the suggestions furnished are helpful. For crying out aloud, foil! Reheating, foil, hot ceramic plates all have the same problem when it comes to steak - they extend the cooking process which is NOT what you want. Rest by all means if it's a cold cut you're after. Resting meat seems to be a fancy excuse to cover for serving cold food which is meant to be eaten hot.


What's this green vegetable with no leaves used in Cantonese cuisine? I read pp 13-14 of Tang Court's menu but they don't stipulate this vegetable's name.

That appears to be gai lan, or a closely related Chinese brassica like yu choy, with the leaves removed.  So just the stems.

I haven't seen (or found) a recipe for just the stems in broth, but it makes a certain amount of sense; the leaves cook much faster than the thick stems, so sometimes just the leaves are used for stir-fry.  Then you can do this with the stems.

Probably leeks. Almost all Asian meals use them. Similar to onions or cabbage

!


Can you help me get my cream pie filling stiff enough? Everytime I make a pie, I get a different result as far as the stiffness of the pie.  I am trying to perfect coconut cream pie (and other cream pies).

I have been researching Shirley O, Corriher and Harold McGee's work, and understand that the alpha-amylase in the egg yolk must be deactivated by boiling for a short time (although I also saw things like "approach a boil" to keep from breaking starch bonds).  Otherwise it digest the starch as in the cornstarch, flour or tapioca starch.  I understand that once the granules burst and release the starch chains and bond, that the process will start to reverse after the cream reaches its thickest point.  So, I am careful not to stir too much, etc.  I researched the different starches and found that cornstarch is not very heat resistant, so I looked into flour and tapioca (cassava) flour or starch.  I don't think I have looked at arrow root as much.

OK, what about the sugar?  Will too much sugar make it runny (I did try a recipe with less sugar).   What about the milk?  I use whole milk.  Is there something with the milk?  Do I need to use cream instead? I have read about using gelatin, but am not sure I want that consistency.  Surely there is a secret so that the pie will come out right every time.  HELP!

My coconut cream pie recipe uses milk (2 cups, whole milk gives a creamier flavour), 6 eggs, 1 cup sugar, and 2 tablespoons of gelatin (and coconut of course). It doesn't go like jelly, it has more of a silky consistency.

You divide the milk thusly:

2/3 cup, sprinkled with the gelatin, whisked, and left to soften for 5 mins
1 1/3 cup to make the 'custard'

Once the custard is made (i.e. sugar whisked into egg yolks, hot milk poured in after tempering), simply whisk in the gelatinised milk. My recipe then calls for cream and the egg whites to be folded in (after cooling) to lighten the whole thing.

Corn starch always works. It stiffens the pie


What's the fastest way to hull a strawberry? I often need to hull and slice large batches of strawberries.  But hulling by cutting a cone out of the top of the berry with a paring knife can be slow work.  How can I quickly remove the core (the hard white part near the stem) from the strawberry?

What do professional chefs and kitchens do to quickly hull strawberries?

I don't usually hull strawberries, but when I do I use a straw. The idea is that you push the straw up through the tip of the strawberry and it comes out at the stem. For pictures you can see http://amy-newnostalgia.blogspot.com/2010/06/hulling-strawberries-with-straw.html are just Google "hull strawberries with a straw"

I just did 16# today.  I use a tomato shark.  Doesn't waste the berry and takes out the green leaves at the same time.  Costs $1.49.


Is there a reason for storing ground spices separately (unmixed)? I always use the same spice mix for dal. Instead of taking 1-2 tsp of each, I would rather keep a special container for the dal of the ready made mix in the proportions I want.

Is there any reason not to do so? Shelf-life, aggregation, ..?

I'm aware of three reasons that you might not want to do so:

You tie up spices that you might want to use in other dishes individually
You don't always want to add the spices at the same time.
You can't always keep spices well-blended.

If you only tend to cook one dish or you leave some of each spice in reserve, the first one isn't really a problem.

The second one is a function of the dish being prepared, which I'll assume isn't the case here.

The last one is less of a problem with ground spices, but can be significant for whole seeds -- as you jostle the container with use, some spices will tend to float to the top, while others sink to the bottom.  The end result is that when you go take your measure of mixed spices, it might not have the same proportion as what you had expected.

You can partially mitigate the issue by taking your container and rolling it around on its side for a bit before righting the container and taking your measurement.  It's not perfect, but it will help in re-distributing the spices.

If there are certain spices that would be a major problem if they weren't help in balance (eg, ground hot peppers), you can blend everything else and leave that one item separate.

To cook a dish properly the meat should be cooked sequentially in different mixes of the spices. Bunging the lot in together is a modern practice.


Is condensed milk the same as sweetened condensed milk? Is condensed milk the same as sweetened condensed milk?

I have a fudge recipe that calls for condensed milk and I can not find strictly condensed milk, only sweetened condensed milk or evaporated milk.

Just to add to Marti's answer: If the recipe was written in the US within the past 30-40 (maybe more) years, "condensed" almost certainly means sweetened condensed. Sweetened is just assumed if the milk is described as "condensed". At least in the US, unsweetened condensed milk is never called "condensed", it is called "evaporated".

To boost my confidence in this answer before I posted it, I searched Amazon for "Condensed Milk". In 22 pages of results, I was not able to find a SINGLE product described as "condensed milk" that was unsweetened. I did however find several that used "condensed milk" without the word sweetened in the name of the product page, but without fail, these ALL turned out to be sweetened.

If the recipe is old or if its origins are outside of the US, I can't be absolutely positive what the author intended, but I have never seen "unsweetened condensed milk".

No, the two products are different.  As the names imply:

Condensed milk is strictly reduced milk
Sweetened condensed milk is reduced milk with considerable sugar added

See Can evaporated milk be converted to sweetened condensed?  You can easily modify the condensed milk with additional sugar.


How can I fix my tasteless baked flounder? I fixed flounder fillets in a bed of yellow onions and mushrooms in a 425°F oven -- as the recipe says -- and the fish does not taste like anything. The Hollandaise sauce did not help either. Is there anything that I can do to improve the flavor or is trashing it the only option?

Most fish is pretty mild, and flounder is no exception. You shouldn't expect it to have a terribly strong flavor of its own; that's why you've made a recipe that cooks it with onions and mushrooms and adds Hollandaise sauce. If you eat it with all of that, it'll taste like mild fish with mushrooms, onions, and Hollandaise - hardly tasteless. If you think even with all the other stuff there's not enough flavor, you might want to add a bit of salt; salt increases our perception of flavors, and if you're used to it, undersalted food will taste bland. But otherwise, it sounds like you just don't like fish, mushrooms, onions, or Hollandaise sauce and you should make something different next time.

And maybe this is subjective, but I can't imagine that this could possibly be so tasteless that you'd rather throw it away than eat it, accepting that it's not your favorite food.

Flounder is my favorite fish, flakey and mild.  Imagine putting onions and mushrooms with let’s say Fresh Mozzarella… to harsh, you lose the wonderful mild flavor.  IMO flounder is best when kept simple.

2 to 3 tbsp. of EVOO coat the fillets and center in shallow small pan.  Dice a tomato and surround the flounder.  S & P with ½ tsp. of chopped parsley (optional).  Sprinkle top with Paprika (optional but delicious).  3 Tbsp.  of dry white wine or dry vermouth.  Lightly cover with foil and cook in oven 400 deg. F for 10 mins, remove foil and cook for another 5 mins.   A squeeze of lemon with it comes out and that’s it.  Generally there will be a lot juice in the pan from the fish and tomatoes.  Make enough rice or pasta.  My husband who is a big fishy fish eater loves this dish.  I get a big yumooo from him when he is finished.

Variations:  Add some diced red pepper to the tomato.  Press 1 garlic clove add to the tomatoes and add some shrimp.  Add chopped spinach to the tomatoes.  Instead of rice or pasta, add “toasted” not just dried bread seasoned bread crumbs the last 5 mins.  I thinly sliced 3 Brussel sprouts and sprinkled on top with a dollop of butter.   Whatever you choose, don’t add too much and overwhelm the fish.  Simplicity is key.


How can vegans alleviate the effects of spicy food? It's well-known that if you eat spicy food, you can neutralize the flavor (and thus stop your mouth from burning like a forest fire) by drinking milk.  This is due to casein. Simply drinking water or something cold does not achieve the same effect.

But I'm vegan, so I don't drink milk. So what else can I consume (that's vegan) to quickly neutralize spicy flavors?

This is not a duplicate of How can I wash down spicy food?, as the advice there concentrates on dairy products.

I have done no testing of this at all but I was surprised to find on this site that they recommend trying a spoon full (or cube of) sugar.

  Perhaps the easiest way of calming down a flaming mouth is by sucking on a sugar cube or holding a teaspoon of sugar in your mouth. This helps by absorbing the spicy oil that is coating your mouth, as well as giving you a different, strong taste to concentrate on. A bit of mind-trickery and science combined!

Other things I've eaten in the past include starches, like bread or rice.

Here's a fun infographic and most of the items on it are vegan:

from here

You don't have to drink it for it to work; it just has to be in your mouth. Is that against the rules? I'm not vegan nor am I lactose intolerant, I also don't drink milk but I'll ask for a glass if this needs doing (and then spit it out).


How to keep fresh lemon juice for a week without a change in its taste? Are there any way to preserve the juice of lemon for, say, one week without a change in its taste?

Even deep-freezing it makes it little bit bitter!

I do not think that there is a better way they not to squeeze the lemon until you need them :D

Regardless, if you want to do testing and are concerned about the bitter notes that develop , I recommend  doing the research with grapefruit instead as it turns bitter is a matter of minutes and has a much stronger bitter flavor then the lemons do.
That way you at least have a shorter turn around time.

You need to freeze them and You can find all tips here http://drinklemonwater.com/ways-to-preserve-lemon-juice/


Where does the chlorine taste in yogurt come from? My parents used to make yogurt some years ago. When they tried to make some last month, it turned out very firm and smooth in appearence, but tasted like chlorine.

The taste is so strong that even strawberries couldn't get rid of it. Since then we have not tried making yogurt anymore.

Is the chlorine taste related to some fermentation level/age? Quality of milk?

Obs.: Though the chlorine taste was very strong, it wasn't sour.

Strangely enough, I do live near Campinas (where UNICAMP belongs), where water once was contaminated by human hormones! (Note the source is not in English.) I'm noticing the local water smells very strongly of chlorine; I wonder they're adding water to milk before selling it, or if the cows are drinking the water...
I will try buying milk from different towns to test my theory.


Mixing condensed and evaporated milk for fudge? Before anybody says this is a duplicate, I'm not asking about the difference between the two milks; I already know that. What I'm looking for is a way to lessen the sugar content of sweetened condensed milk without changing the texture of the final product too much.

Nestle makes a 50% less sugar version of sweetened condensed milk, but that isn't available within 50 miles of my home, so I'm trying to find a different solution

If I use half sweetened condensed milk and half evaporated milk, will I end up with lower-sugar sweetened condensed milk or will I end up with a watery, useless product that can't become fudge?

This is the label information from the reduced sugar sweetened condensed milk made by Nestlé:

That suggests to me that there is more to creating a lower sugar sweetened condensed milk than simply reducing the sugar. I have made sweetened condensed milk from evaporated milk (goat's milk actually), and I found the experience a bit more advanced than simply slowly stirring simmering milk, and the sugar seemed very crucial to the operation. Cajeta with powdered goat's milk? Or evaporated? (Experiment Results)

For comparison sake I looked at the ingredient list for regular Nestlé sweetened condensed milk (La Lechera). The ingredients of that product are milk and sugar.

I won't go so far as to say that it can't be done as you hope, nor will I say that the fudge wouldn't be tasty, but I have serious doubts.

If you have normal milk and some time. Then you can cook the milk for a long duration of time, constantly stirring so that it doesn't burn. Keep the sweetness lower as compared to your need as the reduction in volume will normalize that. It will really take a long time but the taste will remain awesome.


How to know if frozen clams are good when cooked I have some live clams in the refrigerator that I would like to freeze because I will not be able to use them in time. My question is, how will I know which are good when I steam them later. Will they open up like live clams even if frozen and will the bad ones stay closed? Otherwise, how can I tell which are good when cooked? Thank you.

Per

http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodstorage/a/clamstorage.htm

  Do not freeze clams in their shells. To freeze clams, shuck them,
  being careful to save their liquid. Rinse with salt water (1
  tablespoon of salt to 1 quart of water), and place in a container with
  the reserved clam liquid and additional salt water so they are
  completely covered. Frozen clams will last up to 3 months at 0 degrees
  F. Thaw frozen clams in the refrigerator before using, and never
  refreeze them.

While About.com is not always the best, in this case their information passes the gut test.  Frozen clams certainly would be killed, and so wouldn't open upon steaming.

The thing about never refreeze is almost certainly a palatability issue, not a safety issue, as long as they stay in the safe zone (under 40 degrees F) and are not unfrozen for very long--but clams are highly perishable. I would exercise considerable safety.

Sadly, I found conflicting information saying freezing them in the shell is okay--but they didn't offer any detail at all, so I its hard to give credence to:

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/freeze/clams.html

despite their being a university sponsored site.

Being conservative, I would cook then freeze.

People you need to be carefull who you listen to about how to eat frozen shellfish,the best way to eat clams frozen is to boil them frozen for sure they will still open but just as good as live. clam man


Why are my stir fried pea sprouts too stiff, and turn into lumps? I'm trying to make stir-fried pea sprouts as seen this photo), but without the mushrooms.

I used this kind of pea sprouts:

First I wash and soak them in salt water for 15 mins. I know that I mustn't overcook these pea shoots. 2nd I turn my stainless steel pan to high heat. 3rd I add oil and Shaoxing wine. 4th I add the pea shoots to the pan, and stir fry for under 30 seconds.
But they're too stiff/starchy to even chew. When I chew them, they turn into lumps that I can't swallow.
Is the kind of sprouts the problem? Are another kind of sprouts sold in Hong Kong?

I don't make the Hong Kong recipe, but I often cook Thai-style pea shoots in the spring.  And for that matter I often made them when I lived in California, so origin is not your problem.
One thing I did find is that there's a huge difference in pea shoots based on age. Tiny, 3-day old pea shoots, also called "pea sprouts", are the kind you want to flash-fry:

Pea shoots that are a bit older, like a week or two old are also eaten:

However, these are a lot more fibrous, and need to be blanched before frying.  I don't know what you bought, but it really sounds like you got older pea shoots.  Species might also make a difference; the ones that Asian markets sell are usually snow pea shoots.  If you got some other kind of pea shoot, like English peas, it's possible that those are also more fibrous.

The problem might well be that you have too much salt present in the mix. Pulses need salting after cooking - if you ever cook chickpeas (channa dal), lentils (e.g. toordal) or similar items, you need to cook until soft before adding any salt otherwise they become inedible hard lumps.
Try just rinsing the pea shoots in water before cooking, salting to taste (usually in Chinese cookery with soy-sauce or oyster sauce) in the final seconds of your process.


Why do some sorbet recipes call for egg whites? Frozen sorbet recipes are generally simple, with only a few ingredients. For example:

fruit puree
water
sugar
egg white!

Why is the egg white present? And why is this not consistent in the sorbet recipes from a single author; what would make you put egg white in one sorbet but not another?

From a food blog:

  I often use egg whites to emulsify (smooth) my sorbets. I have also used lecithin and xanthan gum to great success when trying to not add extra liquid or worrying about someone who is allergic to egg whites.

And another one:

  Others swear by whipped egg white for a creamy consistency

So it seems it makes ice cream creamy. I guess there are other ways to create the same effect. And maybe you don't want to have the same effect across all recipes.

Well I do not know anything about Frozen sorbet recipes or egg white as much. BUT... acti white is a replacement for egg white. And I have experimented with acti white in candy. And evety time the acti white was present, the texture I got in the candy was more "spongy" and the appearance of the colour was also more "milky".

So perhaps the egg white is only called for in certain recipes to give a different type of texture that is required for that specific recipe.

Aslo see something I looked up that proves my experience to some degree:

"Eggs are binders which help hold all the ingredients together. Eggs contribute liquid to a recipe and thus serve as a toughener, especially the egg white portion. Egg whites, as mentioned, are often used to produce a light, airy texture, and yolks contribute to the color, flavor, and texture of baked products. But, too many egg whites, such as in a reduced-fat cake recipe make it dry. Including at least one whole egg helps to tenderize. Eggs can also act as leaveners especially when egg whites are beaten separately. The yolk functions to emulsify fat and liquids due to its lecithin content."


When you cook spaghetti, do you add olive oil to the boiling water? Many people (at least in Germany) think that Italians add olive oil to the boiling water for spaghetti. However, Italians tend to tell the opposite (from my experience).

So, can you please state objective reasons for or against adding olive oil to the boiling water for spaghetti?

Yes, it is true that we don't add oil to the boiling water. I'm not aware of any good reason to waste extra-virgin olive oil that way! Some oil is always added at the end, over the sauce, when the pasta is already in the plate! It has to be raw, so that it retains its fruit nuances and texture.

If you are doing cold pasta salad and want to avoid sticky pasta, adding oil in advance won't help. You have instead to wash pasta under cold water to wash the starch away (you can put the pasta in the colander directly under the running cold tap).

Ok people here you have it. Finally the answer to should there be oil in the pasta. When my family and friends hear I am putting together my macaroni salad everyone asks me to make enough for them to take some home. This tells me what i am doing is the right way. Everyone loves my pasta. This makes me an expert. Therefore in my expert opinion YES you put a small amount of oil in the water to boil pasta. Rapid boil the water add salt and oil. The oil will mix with the rapidly boiling water and not sit on top as some may seem to think. Cook till desired texture. Then remove and drain and rinse in cold water.This stops the cooking process. Leaving the pasta in warm water ends up over cooking the pasta. Some think the oil does not allow your sauce to stay on the pasta. A good rinse resolves that myth. The oil helps with boil overs sticking and clumping and you wont have to stand there and stir, you can go on and cut your veggies or open your wine. Now you know the answer.


What type of sherry is typically used when cooking? Not having used sherry before, what is the type used when a recipe just calls for "sherry"? I see cream sherry, dry sherry, and very dry sherry at my local grocery store. Does brand matter much?

Cream sherry is very sweet - likely too sweet for most recipes that don't explicitly mention it.

If a recipe simply calls for "sherry", it usually means dry sherry, as that's the most common kind of available.  In fact, I don't think I've ever even seen "very dry" around here.  So I would definitely stick with the dry.

As for brand, if you see several different bottles all labeled sherry, I don't think it matters too much which one you pick - at least if you're using it for cooking and not drinking.

P.S. If you're using this as a substitute for rice wine, the commonly-accepted substitute is indeed dry sherry.

I truly don't think in Asian recipes,which tend to be historical, sherry from Spain isn't the answer.  I'd stick with indigenous rice wines from Asia if you're looking for an authentic taste.


Problems with my technique in making a Belgian Liege Waffle I have been following a very nice recipe to the dot. However, I encounter some problems. My final texture is more similar to a bread than a waffle.

Is this because I use trimoline instead of honey? Some recipe use baking powder / diet sprite, what is this for?

Also, could I freeze the dough after I mix it with the pearl sugar? How long could the mix dough stay in the freezer?

The reason why your Liege waffle has breadlike texture is that it is supposed to have a breadlike texture.

While currently in America, waffles tend to have a uniform texture with small variations, and everybody has come to expect waffles within this range, in Europe waffles are any dough or batter baked in a waffle iron. I have waffle books which contain waffles made from batter, cookie-dough-style dough, bread-dough-style dough, and others. They are all baked in a waffle iron, but their final texture ends up being similar to bread, cookies, etc., becasue this is how dough works.

Traditional Liege waffles are a type of waffles made from firm yeast dough, like bread. And the texture is more similar to bread than to a standard American waffle. You didn't do anything wrong, you got the result intended by the recipe author.

If you don't like this type of waffle, you should search for a different recipe.

Sift flour baking powder and salt, seperate eggs, beat yolks add heavy cream, keep beating, stir in flour combo until smooth. in seperate bowl beat egg whites until stiff, fold into batter, refrigerate for half an hour. pour into preheated waffle iron serve with butter and honey.  mmmm yummmm, thats just me though


tamagoyaki eggs sticking to the pan I've gone through many boxes of eggs trying to cook tamagoyaki, that's Japanese rolled omelet. It uses a rectangle frying pan which is the same as an ordinary frying pan, but rectangle shaped.

In short, you put a little oil in, put a layer of egg in and roll it up. Then repeat.

I've tried low heat, high heat, medium heat, taking it off the heat, small hob, large hob, pre-heating without oil, pre-heating with oil, a small coating of oil, soaked in oil, waited for it to set solid, rolled as soon as it started setting and every recipe and every youtube video guide on tamagoyaki - everything.

The results are always the same: It sticks to the "non-stick" pan and it falls apart.

What's the secret?

Here's a basic successful tamagoyaki instructional video

Here's my result

Are you sure that the "non-stick" properties of your square pan are still OK. The pan in the picture looks pretty tired.

I also note that the pan in the "successful video" has a ridged bottom. This gives more surface area to the bottom of the pan and gets more heat up into the egg mixture to cook it.

I can’t tell from picture but if that is a non stick ceramic coated pan that you have had awhile, i’d ditch it. I have yet to have a ceramic non stick pan that lasts. When THEY start losing their non stick attributes they are really bad.


What's the difference between a souffle and a mousse? I thought souffles would be baked, while mousses would be only whipped, but I've seen recipes for cooked mousses before. Is this just a case of using the wrong name for the wrong recipe or are there important differences between them?

There is no strict delineation between these two terms.  Either can be savory or sweet.

Some common differences are:

Mousses may get their foaminess from  from plain whipped egg whites, a meringue, whole eggs, whipped cream, or  something else; a souffle is always leavened by whipped egg whites.
Mousses (except for some seafood mousses, which are gently poached) are rarely cooked as a whole dish; souffles are always baked to get additional rise.
Mousses are almost always served cold; souffles are usually served hot, immediately out of the oven to retain the additional rise they get in the heat of the oven.

One might consider souffles a type of baked mousse, much as quiches are a specific type of tart, but that terminology is rarely used.

See also:

Ochef

You can demould the mousse but the soufflé doesn't demould.


Aftertaste when making gummies We currently make medical marijuana gummies and are experiencing an aftertaste on some batches. People describe it as chemical/metallic/dry. We have been using the same ingredients (modified potato starch, sugar,corn syrup, citric acid, sodium citrate, flavoring and cannabis extract).

Has anyone had any experience with this?

If you use a different strain when you make your gummies, that can affect taste and dryness for sure.


How to cook a pork sirloin roast? I picked up a pork sirloin roast yesterday, it's a little over three pounds.  I've never cooked one of these before and I am not sure what to do.  My seasoning plan is salt, pepper, thyme, and rosemary, and I might poke a couple holes for cloves of garlic as well.  My cooking plan is 8+ hours in the crock pot on low, with about an inch of water in there.  Will this turn out OK?  I'd like a tender and moist result, obviously.  Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

I don't think a pork sirloin roast will stand up to that kind of cooking very well.  That is a very lean piece of meat, which does not lend itself to long cooking times at low temperatures.  That type of cooking is best reserved for cuts of meat with lots of fat and/or connective tissue.  If you put a pork sirloin roast in your cooker for 8 hours on low, you're going to have one tough, dry piece of meat when you are through.

You would be better served by cooking it in the oven at higher heat, for a relatively short period of time, like 400F for an hour or so.  Bear in mind, you're not going to get to a fall-apart tender state with a sirloin roast.  This isn't a pork butt with which you're dealing, which you'd take up to an internal temperature of 195F or more.  Rather, you're going to want to target the safe temperature, and no higher.  You want the meat to be juicy.  Cut into thinner slices to achieve maximum tenderness.


How do I "evaporate" milk? I have a recipe that calls for evaporated milk.  How can I make "Evaporated Milk" (from raw milk), or a reasonable substitute for the canned evaporated milk found at the supermarket?

Very easy. All you want to do is to remove the water through heating. As you are not going to can it, you don't have to sterilize it afterwards.

The only concern when evaporating milk is to not end with a layer of scorched milk solids on the bottom. First, start with homogenized milk (you don't want to risk undissolved fat swimming on top of it). If you want the pure milk flavor, heat it to 70°C and wait until you are left with half the initial volume. This takes several hours, depending on the quantity of the milk. My great-grandma usually did it overnight.

If you don't mind a "scorched" taste, you can do it much quicker. Take a very big pot. It should be at least 6-7 times higher than the milk depth, because the boiling milk will foam up a lot. The width is up to you, but the wider the pot, the quicker it will go. Bring the milk to a vigorous boil. Use a setting which is just hot enough to sustain boiling, too much heat will increase the scorching. Stir all the time. You need maybe 10 minutes of stirring, again depending on quantity of the milk and pot width. You are aiming for the same rate of evaporation - you should be left with half the original volume, or somewhat less.

You don't have to add sugar to evaporated milk, the sweet taste is caused by the heating. Especially the boiling-evaporated milk is quite sweet, because you get some caramelization.

I've heard that some people simply put milk on a large pan or container and leave it there for some hours to naturally evaporate without heating it up or anything. Did anyone here try that before?


Why are berries so expensive? I am trying to eat healthier with less processed foods and I'm a pretty smart guy to begin with. But I can't figure this out for the life of me - why are berries so expensive? I love things like boysenberries and blueberries but I almost choke when I see their price in the store. Why are berries expensive?

It is a combination of many factors. To sell you one perfect apple, one perfect bunch of bananas, or one perfect half-pint of berries requires:

the land to grow on
workers to plant, tend, weed, and pick
transportation to market
loss allowance for fruit that's bruised or spoils in transit
loss allowance for fruit that spoils while at the store and people won't buy it

Many of these factors are objectively higher for berries than for applies or bananas, especially given their short shelf life and tendency to bruise.

This puts a floor on the price growers and stores can charge. Then on top of that, they are delicious and healthy, so at least some people will pay that price. This removes downward pressure to sell them at a loss to get you in the store.

A better question is what can you do about it? The answer is generally to use frozen berries (they don't incur the spoiling and bruising losses) or to eat berries only when they're in season locally and eat other kinds of fruit the rest of the year.

I think berries are getting more and more expensive because it takes tons of water to grow berries and slowly we are losing water on this planet so it costs more to water them. also if you are buying organic ones from a local farmer that is amazing but is probably more expensive because its organic so they rot faster because there is no pesticides witch is great! i do know that it is possible to buy cheap healthy food you just have to do a little researching at stores near you and maybe if you are up for it you could start a little garden in your yard.


What can I do with 2 lbs. of pecans? I just bought 2 pounds of pecans from a friend who received them from a fresh source. I know of all kinds of regular things to do with pecans, but short of making more or bigger dishes that happen to have some pecans in them, what are good things to do with 2 lbs of pecans?

I should mention that I'm vegan, so veg-friendly suggestions particularly welcome.

I'm not sure why the rush.  Pecans are not a cheap ingredient where I am, and I actually have to slow myself down from using too many.

A perhaps unusual preparation is to grind your pecans and coat whatever your main is with them as if the pecans were bread crumbs.  This could be done with egg plant, for example.
As an omnivore I really enjoy fish coated with ground nuts.

One of my favorite ways to do green beans is to roast them under a broiler with onions and pecans until all ingredients are toasty and golden.

Pecan pie is one of my favorite desserts, and with a replacement for heavy cream my recipe could be made vegan.  Google appears to agree that this is a definite option for vegans.  Another excellent recipe if you can save your pecans for fall is a pumpkin pie base with a pecan pie topping.  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  So decadent.  There are many options out there.

I rarely make cookies without pecans.  In fact, my ideal cookie is pecans held together by cookie dough.  I love pecans in muffins.  They also taste good in quick breads - zucchini, banana, and many others.  You can also grind the pecans and use them with white or whole wheat flour in a bread recipe.


How to make homemade ice cream with a chocolate swirl My favorite ice cream flavor has swirls of gooey chocolate running through vanilla ice cream.

What do I have to do to reproduce this effect with homemade ice cream?

I tried adding chocolate sauce near the end of churning but it was too thoroughly churned in. I have tried swirling the chocolate sauce in manually with a spoon after the churn but before freezing but the syrup mostly just floated on top.

I am using a simple syrup based chocolate sauce.
What technique should I use to produce my chocolate swirls? Does the consistency of the syrup play a role? Would some other chocolate sauce work better- such as hot fudge?

When I've done this in the past, I did two things differently.

I used more of a fudge sauce that would thicken and get somewhat firmer when cold.  Like a fudge sauce or such.  Syrup just mixes too easy.
Mixing a swirl into a deeper container like the churning tub proved somewhat diffcult.  As I tried to swirl, it would mix instead.  Instead, I spread the ice cream in a large cake pan, poured the fudge over, swirled in a bit with the knife and then set it in the freezer for about 1 hour.  Then when everything was pretty firm, I scooped it up into the final container in as large of sections as possible.  It worked great.

This is probably very hard to reproduce

Commercial ice-cream is nearly fully frozen, but still in a semi-liquid form, and then put through an augured dispenser into the packaging tubs. The auger can exert great pressure

At this point injectors add colouring and flavouring for swirls which flows with the ice cream into the tub (similar technique to striped toothpaste)

You could try using an auger based juicer (without filter screen) or auger based meat grinder?


How long should I bake a whole sweet potato for? How long should I bake a whole sweet potato in the oven for versus an 'ordinary' potato of the same size?

There is no real difference in the timing - a good hour, hour and a quarter in a hot oven does the trick.

It depends on what your preference is or what you are cooking. If I want a firmer texture, roasted or sliced I shoot for 30 minutes give or take.  If I want a soft texture, mashed potatoes or soup then I will cook them around 45 minutes.  Of course it will always depend on the width of the sweet potato.  If I am cooking both potatoes and sweet potatoes, I will fist put the regular potatoes in the oven first, then 20 min later add the sweet potato. To test, pierce with a fork not a knife.


Delay time in cooking brined meat I'm taking my day and a half brined chicken breast out of the brine today.  Unfortunately I can't cook them for 2 days since I won't be home.  Is it okay to cook brined meat at a later date?

You'll be 100% fine, as long as you store it like you would store any other raw products, same rules pretty much apply, but you can probably get a few more days of life out of it because of the higher con

you can cook it later if refrigerated, if not keep it in a cool spot like a veggie cellar and back in freash brin.


Drying store bought bread for stuffing I am drying a loaf of sourdough on my counter. There is a lot of it, so I will need to store some of the dried cubes. My question is, how do I store it and how will I know if it is no longer good to cook with? Also, is it better to just put it in the oven to dry it rather than on the counter?

There are two types of bread for stuffing.  If you're aiming for the dry type, a very low oven would be better.

If you have room in your freezer, that would be a good place to store the bread you're planning to use later to make stuffing.

I just left a loaf of sourdough from T. joe's, chopped into big-ish cubes, overnight on the counter in one layer on a pan. They were dried the next morning and everyone loved the stuffing I made with it, so that's the way to go. Not really complicated. As long as your bread is dry/stale, your stuffing won't be too mushy, especially if you toast off the top


Should rice be started in cold or boiling water? There are two main methods, either putting the rice into water already at boiling point, or putting them in cold water and then putting on the heat.

Which method is the best to cook rice?

Does it make a difference if you add rice to cold or boiling water?

It doesn't make much difference. A few things to consider and also why I use cold water.

Once you bring the water to a boil you need to turn  it down to a simmer. Adding cold rice at this point can thriw off this process.
Rice is typically cooked based on ratios of volume. Boiling the water first won't effect this unless you lose track of it and the boiling causes your water content to reduce.
Lastly rice cookers these days are set-and-forget and boiling the water first is an unnecessary step.

All in all boiling your water first is not a problem but doesn't add any value.

the second method is better than first because it's enhanced the taste of rice and rice become larger than its original size.
     if you cook biryani its good to put rice first into cold water than in putting hot water due to this look of biryani was very awesome.


Egg substitue in enriched breads I'm making Kolaches (a Czech semi-sweetened dough with a sweet filling), but I'm challenging myself to cook vegan, and therefore can't use an egg.  I've got a bunch of recipes, but all of them are semi-enriched, i.e. have egg, milk, and added fat.  I've got replacements for everything else, except the egg.
What are things people have used for eggs in yeast breads.  It shouldn't need to be a binder or leaven, just enrich.  I've seen suggestions for sweet potato, just add oil, tofu.  Anyone have any experience with enriching yeast doughs without eggs?

I use ground flaxseed and water, which is a common egg substitute - I prefer the flavor of the "golden" or yellow seeds .vs. the brown ones (and unlike the brown seed grower's propaganda, I do taste a difference) but either will work for the egg substitution - chia seed is evidently another common substitute.

I consider it unsafe (or unwise) to assume that the only function of the eggs is to "enrich" - I find that the "same" bread made with or without eggs behaves quite differently in terms of how it rises, so I would suggest sticking to a substitute that gives you more complete functional replacement, rather than, say, "add some oil."

I'm not myself a vegan but I have baked things with keeping vegans happy in mind. As such I have worked with eggs and with ground flaxseed and water, and so far I consider the flaxseed mixture as good of an egg substitute as I have used, though still not the same as (nor indistinguishable from) actual eggs.

We generally use milk as substitute for eggs in eggless cakes. Maybe you can try that.


Storing Unopened Mozzarella I have an unopened vacuum packed ball of Mozzarella.  How long can I keep it refrigerated before it goes bad? I'm getting mixed answers.

My best advice would be to adhere to the manufacturer's guidelines, and push them at your own risk. Cheese doesn't usually go bad "all at once" but you can definitely get sick from eating spoiled or moldy cheeses.

The most common notice I have been able to find for various brands available for ordering online reads something like this:

  Freshness is assured in unopened package until the date stamped on the front of the package.  Use within 3-5 days after opening or freeze up to 2 months.

Though, I have a bag of mozzarella in my freezer right now, which I purchased at the local supermarket, for which the manufacturer's note states it can be frozen up to 6 months.

Generally, the expected shelf-life of Mozzarella cheese depends on many factors, including:

How the cheese was produced. Some methods spoil faster than others. Typically low-mosture cheeses last much longer (some claiming 6 months or more).
The packaging. Some mozzarella (like other cheeses) comes in specially designed packaging that claims to prolong the life of the cheese.
The temperature of storage. Frozen cheese lasts significantly longer, around 6 times as long.

Refrigeration and vacuum sealing allow a cheese to be not spoiled for a very long time.  Add to that the fact that most cheese are very low in carbs.

The only thing I'd worry about is the degradation of the product -- it doesn't matter how long there is no bacteria if the product starts becoming chewy or brittle or separated.  I don't think this will apply too much to mozzarella.

So with respect to your example, I'd go with several years as my answer (unless you see air being generated in the package..).  But make sure to check on the texture during your experiment to determine if the proteins are starting to break down.  This can be a simple as a taste test, since again, I'm not worried about the bacterial part.

I'm not a chef, and I'm not a food scientist.  Since the interweb answers are vague and generic, I get the impression that general rules apply, and that the consequences are not that bad.


Should I brown meat for stew? I always look through the comments on recipes I find online that I want to try. The comments are usually helpful and give great tips on how to make the dish even better!

I recently found a great crockpot beef stew recipes and in the comments, there was some debate on whether to brown the beef before putting it in the crockpot or not. The recipe did not call for browning the meat prior to putting it in the stew. Some reviewers of the recipe said it was absolutely necessary to maintain the right flavor. Others argued that not browning helped keep the meat tender.

So, what are the advantages of browning the meat before? What does not browning it first do?

To brown or not to brown?

Browning ingredients (both meat and vegetables including the aromatics) before doing a braise or stew (which is what slow cookers do) helps develop depth of flavor, through the Maillard reaction where proteins and carbohydrates react together to create a myriad of flavorful compounds.  Vegetables that are high in sugar, such as onions or leeks, and even carrots may also have some caramelization, where sugars react with each other, again creating flavorful compounds.

Especially with beef, these deep browned flavors are often what people associate with the product, and what they expect to taste.

On the other hand, browning almost by definition overcooks the outside of meat well past well done, so it is somewhat drier and tougher, although this can be mitigated by a long braise   Some experts recommend browning only on one side of cubed meat, to compromise between getting flavor development, and getting good texture.

The one thing browning or searing doesn't do is "seal in the juices"; that is a myth that is well de-bunked.

The choice to brown or not brown is one of taste and balance.  It is traditional in many recipes, especially of Western European heritage.  There are many traditions where browning is not as frequent, including true Mexican cuisine and many Asian cuisines.

Choose what seems most appropriate and tasty to you in a given dish.  Personally, I like the flavor development, and almost always opt for browning.

total nonsense, western tradition. Recipe after recipe said brown the meat for a tagine..all it did was dry it out. Even the mighty Oliver agrees, try it without browning. Just let you meat/balls absorb the spices and flavours of  then tagine overnight and then slow cook them to Heaven. Oh forgot my wife is from Fez


Substitution for egg to bind hamburger mince My wife is having pregnancy cravings for (homemade) hamburgers, but has developed a prenatal allergy / intolerance to egg.

What is a possible replacement for egg to stop a hamburger pattie from collapsing into mince during cooking?

Have you tried not adding egg? In my experiments, egg is needed when you add breadcrumbs, but if you just form some ground beef into a patty and fry it, it doesn't fall apart. Hm, let me clarify that. If you take a single blob of ground beef straight from the styrofoam and press it in a patty press, it doesn't fall apart. If you take two pieces and put them next to each other in the patty press, it does fall apart as you cook it. So when I need to add an extra bit, I add it on top. That works. So there is at least one way you can make a hamburger without adding egg. Now, if you wanted to mix spices into the beef, then you might have a problem. I'll admit that. Better than nothing, though.

Time for some molecular gastronomy. Transglutaminase ("meat glue") should work perfectly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transglutaminase


Why does salt prevent soy milk from curdling in hot coffee? As many people have experienced, soy milk will often curdle in hot coffee. I've experienced this myself with both instant and fresh coffee, and with my homemade soy milk (not my favorite soy milk brand from the store, which has a few extra things).

There are many people out there with the same problem, which is typically blamed on the acidity of the coffee, acid being well-known as a coagulant:

http://www.thekitchn.com/why-does-soymilk-curdle-in-hot-148329
How to prevent curdling in a local vegan coffee creamer- aka- Post Apocalypse hippy coffee creamer?

One day, I tried adding salt to my coffee, knowing that it is said to reduce bitterness (ref). That day, my soy milk didn't curdle. On each day thereafter, if I added a pinch of salt to my coffee before adding the soy milk, it wouldn't curdle. My heating procedure has remained the same: mix instant coffee with boiling water to dissolve, add cold soy milk, stir, then microwave until hot again.

What chemical interaction could plausibly result in salt preventing the curdling of soy milk?

I can't find any definitive answers to this question online. All the discussion I could find are speculation.

Factors that cause soy protein to coagulate are heat, acidity, and the presence of magnesium or calcium salts. Additionally the proteins are more likely to curdle if they are heated very quickly.

I will assume that you heated your coffee and milk identically with and without the salt. If you had changed the order of adding boiling water, for example, it could have prevented your curdling.

If you have hard water then there will be a good amount of calcium salts in your water. Coffee itself also has a good bit of magnesium. These salts will coagulate soy proteins more readily than acidity.

Sodium chloride does not cause soy proteins to coagulate. Sodium chloride ions will replace calcium ions- this is used in water softeners and soaking beans.

My suspicion (which to prove would require more experimenting than I have time for right now) is that the sodium ions are preventing the calcium and magnesium ions from coagulating your soy proteins.

Add a little bicarb to your soy milk, no more curdling :-)


What are the pros and cons of storing bread in various locations? Why should/shouldn't I store my bread in the fridge/freezer/breadbox/plastic bag/etc?

Storing bread in the freezer you can store for several days and keep it soft.

To eat, remove from the freezer and put in the oven.

Bread lasts longer out of the refrigerator.


Substitute For Cream of Tartar I recently bought tartar sauce instead of cream of tartar as my recipe said. The thing is I can't decide if tartar sauce is the same thing as cream of tartar.

Please advise whether I can use this as a substitute or if there are other substitutes or a recipe for cream of tartar.

Cream of Tartar is potassium bitartrate in the form of powder. It is acidic, and is used in cooking mainly to stabilise meringue.

Tartare sauce is a mayonnaise-based sauce made using cornichons, capers, and tarragon or dill. It is usually served with seafood.

The two items are completely different and cannot be substituted one for the other.

Another good substitute for cream of tartar is a little pinch of salt, especially for stabilizing egg whites.
Enjoy!


When using puff pastry in the base of a savoury pie, do you need to blind bake it? I am making a chicken pie. I've made it before with just a pastry shell on top but I'd like to line the dish with pastry this time.
Will I need to blind bake the base of my pastry first? Is it then also necessary to seal the pastry with egg?

A Google search led to Pepperidge Farm's recipe for Chicken Pot Pie. Since they are the big name in the US for puff pastry, I tend to trust them.

They recommend lining the pan with a defrosted, lightly rolled sheet of puff pastry and pricking it with a fork before blind baking covered with aluminum foil for 25 minutes at 400F (~200C). Don't use pie weights, that will interfere with the 'puff'. They don't call for any egg wash or seal, and I can say from experience with the stuff that it isn't necessary.

They fill the baked bottom layer with the chicken filling, add a lattice top of puff pastry, then bake the whole thing (on a sheet pan or cookie sheet) for 45 minutes (or until the filling is bubbly and the lattice top is brown and puffy).

Be ready to put aluminum foil along the edge if it seems to be getting too brown.

No need to blind bake if you put your mixture in at room temp.


Are smoothies and milk shakes the same things with different names? I put banana and milk in the blender, and drink it when everything gets mashed up properly.
I call it milk shake with banana.

Is that called a smoothie?

Is there a difference between milk shakes and smoothies?

For smoothies, the main body of the drink is fruit that has been blended with some limited quantity of liquid or ice. Typically, one of the fruits is banana, and other fruits (berries, strawberries, kiwi, etc.) are added for flavor. They often include a sweetener of some sort, such as honey or turbinado sugar.

Milk Shakes are typically composed primarily of milk or ice cream, and may include limited amounts of fruit for flavor. They also usually include some sort of sweetener, such as sugar syrup or malt syrup, or a flavored syrup such as strawberry or chocolate.

The general principle is that smoothies are mostly fruit, milk shakes are mostly milk. For your drink, I think it being a smoothie or a milk shake depends on the proportions of the ingredients added (i.e. more banana means smoothie, more milk means milk shake).

Based on the general principles from above, you could call your drink either a milk shake or a smoothie and be correct. That said, the original Banana Smoothie, as recorded from 1941 on this smoothie fact page, included two big ripe bananas and two and one-half cups of milk. Since that seems to be exactly what you're making, I'd say that your drink is a smoothie based on the original definition of the term.

I think that's a smoothie, but if you put ice cream in there you'll have a milk shake. :)


What is the correct ratio to make self-rising flour? I have a recipe that I've used a couple of times that asks for self-rising flour. Unfortunately, I only have regular AP flour where I am right now.

I know self-rising flour is a mixture of AP flour and baking powder, but I don't know the ratio.

I've found some estimations online, but they vary quite a bit.

How much baking powder do I need for 1 kg of AP flour?

For 1 cup self-raising flour, add 1½ tsp baking powder+ ¼ tsp salt to 1 cup all purpose flour. (http://www.joyofbaking.com/IngredientSubstitution.html)

Edit: Calculation added by Sebbidychef:

According to http://www.jsward.com/cooking/conversion.shtml 1 cup of un-sifted all-purpose flour is equal to 120g.

Therefore 1000 divided by 120 is 8.3 recurring (1000/120=8.3).

8.3 multiplied by 1.5 (1 1/2 teaspoons) is 12.45 , so let's round it to 12.5 (12 1/2 teaspoons or 4.167 tablespoons, rounded to 4 tablespoons), (8.3*1.5=12.45). In metric this is 45g of baking powder.

8.3 multiplied by 0.25 is 2.075, so let's round it to 2 (2 teaspoons), (8.3*0.25=2.075). In metric this is 10g if salt.

So for 1kg of flour you will need 45g baking powder (4 tablespoons) of baking powder and 10g (2 teaspoons) of salt.

1 cup of AP flour to 1.5 teaspoon of baking soda.


Can I always use butter instead of margarine when baking? Some recipes says use butter or margarine, some say use butter and some say use margarine. My question is, can I always use butter or does margarine have some property that butter doesn't when baking?

Margarine has less fat than butter, but it doesn't give quite the same flavor as butter does. You also have to be careful what KIND of margarine you are using.  Tub margarine has a higher water content and can ruin your baked goods and the stick margarine can have a lot of trans fats in it.  If you really want to get detailed into the differences, check out this site:

http://www.baking911.com/pantry/fats.htm

I agree with everything stated on that site in the fact that butter, in my opinion is far superior in flavor and texture than margarine.  I have yet to meet a dish that butter didn't improve the taste over margarine.  But there is the thing, it really is a lot about taste.  A good quote from the site about margarine:

"Not great for baking: does not allow foods to become flaky, rather more cakelike; does not spread as well as lard or shortening; adds a greasy taste. However, some bake with it all the time and have great success; it's a matter of taste."

If you use butter instead of margarine in a cookie recipe then the cookies will burn on the bottom because that is what happened to me when I was doing a cookie recipe.


Can tomato paste be substituted for tomato purée? A recipe for meat loaf from an Australian book (apparently terminology differs from country to country) calls for 1 cup (250 mL/8 fl oz) of tomato purée, and 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce.

Wikipedia's article on tomato purée claims that the main difference between purée and paste is the thickness, whereas tomato sauce has a different taste.

Can I substitute tomato paste for the tomato purée? If not, is it because the taste, or the amount of water, differs?

If so, how much "triple concentrated" tomato paste should be substituted for a cup of tomato purée?

Edit: the tomato paste ingredients are: concentrated tomato (98%), salt. Link to the product page.

I'll weigh in on this one, having extensive cooking experience on both sides of the pond. The terminology is indeed confusing when it comes to tomato products. By tomato sauce they don't mean canned tomato sauce like you get in the states, they actually mean ketchup! As for puree there's two types, one is just what it means, pureed tomatoes in a can, and the other is super-concentrated like what in the US is called tomato paste and comes in a tube.

Given it's this recipe is asking for 250ml of puree they must mean the canned stuff, as adding that much concentrate would be hideous. To replicate UK/AU style tomato puree I'd use a can of tomato sauce with a half mini-can of tomato paste to thicken it up a bit. That still sounds like a bit too much liquid for my taste.

Alternatively you can use my mom's technique and add a can of concentrated tomato soup to the mix, it makes a great meat-loaf!


Can I add extra eggs instead of xanthan gum? I want to convert my grandmothers pie crust recipe.
The whole recipe is:

3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/2 cups Crisco (butter flavor)
1 egg
1 tsp vinegar
5 Tbsp cold water
Mix flour, salt and Crisco till pea size pieces. Beat the egg, add the vinegar and the cold water to it. Add liquids to the flour mix & blend, handling it as little as possible. Refrigerate for several hours.

I want to use coconut flour instead of regular flour.
Can I add extra eggs instead of xanthan gum?

If you want a flaky crust: No, you can't. A flaky crust is made from small pieces of gluten sheets formed when part of the dough reacts with the water, separated by melted fat blobs. The idea of making a crust with coconut flour instead of normal flour is already risky: it will give you some kind of crust, but nowhere as good as a normal flour crust. Maybe it is worth doing it in the case of food allergies, but not just for the flavor.

Provided that you want to make a flaky crust, you need the non-fat dough part to stick together well in sheets, and the fat dough part to form an uniform soft paste. If you use coconut flour, you need a protein to make the non-fat dough part stick together. As the wheat flour is missing, you can't use gluten. The only substitute I know of which indeed does make something sheet-like is xanthan (also, it does bind, but not as well as proteins do). Other proteins, like the ones in egg whites, will indeed bind your coconut flour, but the amount needed will be so high you will have dominant egg whites creating tough, leathery "layers", not crispy at all, and tasting very much of eggwhite. And I say "layers", but they won't be layers the way you would get them with flour, it is more likely to disperse with the fat part in irregular shapes, not flakes. This is if you only use egg whites; yolk will make the matter worse here.

The fat part of the dough will be even worse. The coconut flour won't absorb the fat, building a smooth paste. It will mix with the fat, but will stay in its way when it melts, preventing it from creating the very thin pockets needed for flaky crust.

Conclusion: I doubt that you can make any kind of flaky crust without flour. Xanthan may give you a not-so-good approximation; just eggs will give you nothing.

If you want a shortbread crust, you are better off. You don't need the gluten structure in the water part and the smooth starch of the fat part. There are lots of shortbread recipes which include substantial amounts of nut flours for flavor, although they tend to stop at 1:1 nut flour to wheat flour at most. I guess that you can go with nut flour all the way if you must, but then expect a crust even more crumbly than usual. Xanthan is a good ingredient to hold it together in this case, although it won't give the texture of a wheat crust. Additional eggs will work too (slightly beaten, but not whipped), but they will make it less of a crust, they will wet it a lot and push it in the direction of batter. Try using whites only, and drop the water altogether. For better, more tender texture, add starch, for example corn starch. And because you are already moving into batter direction, you are risking a dense, soggy crust. Add just a little big of baking powder to prevent it (not the same amount as for cake, maybe 1/4 of it), this will make it a bit more bisquit-like.

you can certain convert the recipe uscing coconut flour, but remember that the coconut flour is "wetter" the the other, so you can use coconut flour but perhaps you should add less butter, or less water... and why vinegar? i have never known that we can use vinegar in dessert recipes..
sorry for bad english, but i'm italian!


Can I use a tagine on a glass cooktop, and do I need a heat diffuser? I somehow ended up acquiring not one but two tagines recently. Unfortunately, I have neither a gas nor charcoal stove (the ideal cooking surfaces for tagines, AIUI), only a smooth glass cooktop.

I've already tried using the W-S tagine, with a heavy cast-iron skillet as a makeshift heat diffuser. It worked out okay — the dish turned out great, but it took forever to cook, much longer than previous times I've cooked the dish using a cast iron Dutch oven. In the end, I had to turn the heat to high so that the dish would finish in a reasonable amount of time. This also resulted in stripping the seasoning from the skillet, which I'd rather avoid every time I want to cook a tagine.

Is there a better way to use a tagine on a cooktop?

Should I be using some sort of heat diffuser (which variety?), or can I place the tagine directly on the burner, and just keep the heat low? I'm hesitant to try the latter: both tagines have a small rim around the bottom, so the area of direct burner contact would be very small.

Should I give up and just stick to using the tagines in the oven?

My name is Tom Wirt, with Clay Coyote Pottery.  I'll try to shed some light on the intricacies of clay cooking pots, especially tagines.

You can use any flameware tagine directly on the glass stovetop.  This includes, Emile Henry, Le Crueset, and Clay Coyote flameware.  These are pots with either a metal base (Le Crueset) , or a type of ceramic called flameware (Emile Henry, Clay Coyote which is formulated and made to take direct heat.

Normal stoneware clay pots and earthenware pots will not do this.  Stoneware should never go on a direct heating source, gas, electric or glasstop.  It will crack with or without a diffuser.

Earthenware ceramic pots, typically identified by a reddish clay color and some absorbency by the bare clay (typically the bottom), do need a diffuser and should be started over a low heat.  They can crack if used over sudden or too high a heat. Remember that these pots were originally used over charcoal fires.

Metal, obviously is fine.

The flameware ceramic pots, are designed for direct heat and are actually especially good on glasstops as the top spreads the heat better than electric or gas.
Clay is a insulator, not a conductor.  Thus the heat doesn't spread much, but, with a highly liquid food like a tagine, the liquid spreads the heat.  Basically a tagine is cooked at a simmer, even though the pot would take the heat.
Induction stoves require a metal plate with ceramic cookware to turn the electromagnetic force into heat.

You can find more info on my blog.

The instructions for my Jenn-Aire gkass top recommend or require an abdolutely flat bottomed pan.   My tagine and others I have seen have an indented bottom.  Just an observation.


Do I thaw frozen sea food before cooking? Do I need to keep prepared frozen sea food frozen before cooking?  I purchased cod, shrimp, and scallops.

If this is just raw seafood, and not already prepared, heat and serve meals, keep frozen until use.  Thaw (ideally in the refrigerator), then cook. If they are meals already prepared (with other ingredients), simply follow the package directions.  Many of these items are cooked from frozen.

Scientifically, cooking any frozen food directly should waste some of its value and change the taste and seafood is not an exception.

Reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_food#Quality
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5fa4/7b747878f686a658134760b7811b0e2172d1.pdf
http://www.adafsa.gov.ae/English/Awareness/topics/Pages/ThawingFrozenFood.aspx -Look at Cook it frozen method


Should I boil canned food in water? Do I have to boil canned food, specially tuna can, in water for twenty minutes?
I think it's necessary to prevent food poisoning by botulism. However, currently that I am in Europe, I have not seen a written passage on tuna can to advise people to boil the can before consumption, or did I miss to see such a thing?

No, you should not need to boil your canned food. Most canned foods have already been heated to boiling — or higher — temperatures to kill all microbes as part of the canning process. Seafood is heated to temperatures even higher than boiling and canned under pressure.

Canned food is, by definition, sterilized and hermetically sealed so unless you believe the seal on the can is compromised, canned food is safe to eat as-is.

If you don't trust that it was properly canned, or you think the can's seal is broken, then simply don't eat it, boiled or otherwise.

It's interesting to note that canned food over 100 years old has been opened and — despite losing its flavor and nutritional value — deemed safe to eat.

You definitely need to boil the can in order to prevent yourself from possible poisoning. It's not about trust or truth it's about your own safety.


How do you make 'Rabri'? It's an Indian, or to be more specific, Bengali pudding. Its milky with sheets/pieces of something akin to 'hard milk'. I've never seen a recipe for it and the Wikipedia article is vague indeed.

There's a recipe at Indian Food Forever, although I've never made it, tried it, or even heard of it before, so I cannot attest to the validity of the recipe. A quick Google search for "rabri" will turn up a few more links to recipes in the first page of results.

http://www.indianfoodforever.com/desserts/rabri.html is a link to a recipe for Rabri I hope this is a help