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1rp144
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Why did my deep fried turkey turn black? Like real black: http://i.imgur.com/xL2F7K6.jpg. I witnessed what started off as a fine bird being fried today. The bird was prepared with the rub from this recipe: http://www.chow.com/recipes/10729-fried-turkey-with-southern-rub The man in charge of fryer had the oil up at 400, slowly lowered in the bird, the temp dropped, and recovered relatively quickly to around 350 where it was maintained. But within 10-15 minutes of getting the bird submerged, the legs were looking quite well done. When we pulled it up, it was black. We kept cooking it in hopes that the meat would still be delicious. Sadly, it ended up being a total loss, as it was real dry inside (my suspicion was that the dryness was due to an unrelated error --cooking the bird for too long-- 55 minutes for a 14 lb. bird --without much regard for the internal temp). The general consensus around the fryer was that the blackness was caused by the sugar in the rub. However, a quick scan of internet deep fried turkey recipes seems to suggest that a great many people put sugar on their deep fried turkeys without having this issue, leaving me unconvinced.
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Because you burned it.
| 188 |
pvje6q
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Thai curry flavors getting shellacked by coconut milk. I have tried a number of Thai curry recipes looking for a restaurant taste. And they have all gone like this, Add number of wonderful spices to the pot, developing amazing smells and flavors. Add the coconut milk, which mutes all of the flavors, coating your tongue in coconut fat, and disallowed the yummy tastes. I've even tried reduced fat coconut milk, even doubled spice ingredients, and the result is similar. Dafuq? How do restaurants make their curries so luscious and creamy, but still have all of those great flavors come through? Pls halp!
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1. salt 2. FULL FAT. 3. light "fry" of curry paste 4. some fruit sweetener like grape and pineapple
| 188 |
8pj8m9
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Anthony Bourdain dead at 61 https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/08/us/anthony-bourdain-obit/index.html
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It hurts my heart even more that Eric Ripert was the person who found him. RIP Tony.
| 187 |
fjk39n
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Do you trim the exterior parts of the dry aged meat? What's the difference in taste between trimmed and not trimmed?
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~~The outside is literally rotten meat. That pellicle, the outside, created a crust that protected the inside from getting infected with bacteria and other creepy crawlies. throw away the outside.~~ u/tineyeit posted a peer-reviewed scientific study that proved my comment wrong. Facts matter.
| 187 |
qkf2o8
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What’s the best way to wash a cheesecloth? I was wringing shredded zucchini yesterday and spent a long time trying to get all the flecks of zucchini out of the cheesecloth afterwards and the faucet was on way too long as I repeatedly rinsed it out - I hate to waste water. Is there an optimal way to wash a cheesecloth?
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I have a bunch of flour sack towels which are sturdier than cheese cloth that I use for drying foods and then throw in the laundry . It’s not a replacement for cheese cloth in all applications but is very functional
| 186 |
o43kbj
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Tempering egg for creme brulee - Is there a reason why milk is brought to a simmer then cooled down? Can we just use a thermometer to aim for a specific temp directly? Hi all! I've been messing around with creme brulees lately, and there are a lot of inconsistencies between recipes that I'd like to ask about - mostly revolving around how much the milk/cream gets heated up, and what to do with the dairy/yolk mixture afterwards. 1. As the title says, is there a point to bringing the dairy to a simmer and *then* letting it rest off the heat for a while? If we're aiming for a temperature below boiling, is it possible to just go for that temp directly with a thermometer and immediately use that to temper the yolks? 2. Likewise, after streaming the heated dairy into the yolk and sugar, most recipes opt to cook it a bit more in a bain marie. Is there another target temperature for this? Most recipes are inconsistent with how long this bain marie step should take. 3. As a followup to 2) - if we're using a very low flame, kept stirring constantly to avoid lumps, and using a thermometer to stop as soon as the desired temperature is reached.. is it possible to skip the bain marie and just do it in a saucepan? Thank you for the help!
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Scalding was a form of insurance in times when milk quality was uncertain, so while no longer necessary because most milk is pasteurised [in the US], scalding is very convenient in the case of making crème brûlée mix. Scalding rapidly heats the milk to the temperature where yolks can be tempered in, heating them gently but quickly to 140 or 150ºF, short of the setting temperature. The mix then finishes its business of coagulation in the oven. I'd rather deal with the variable of length of time it needs in the oven to set than fuss about with the precise temperature of the mix. Working everything together and then up to the coagulation temperature results in the same texture but does require constant attention during the process. It requires a low flame and constant stirring to prevent coagulation at the bottom of the pan. To me this method totally sacrifices the ease of scalding. Depending on the ratios of heavy cream, milk, sugar and yolks, the temperature at which the mix thickens is variable. And desired texture is variable. That is why you will see quite a differentiation amongst recipes. Calling for a bain marie is often included because the recipe writer is assuming a low level of expertise in temperature control on the part of the cook. It simply extends the time needed to get the mix to a desired temperature- just like in a hollandaise or crème anglaise- and minimises coagulating on the bottom of the pan. A scribbled recipe from when I was making hundreds of these a week seems to have involved a complex dance of blanchiring 640 g of yolks and 150g sugar, scalding 4 quarts of heavy cream with 150g sugar and 4 vanilla beans, tempering, putting it back on the stove to 165ºF, passing it thru a chinois, straight into an ice bath and chucking in a quart of cold milk to cool it down so I could get it into the oven faster. The result was a nice light texture. The heavy cream boiled over 9/10 because I'd get distracted and there's no one who moves faster in a kitchen than a pastry chef who forgot they had dairy on the damn stove. There's even a term for it in French, Être soupe au lait- someone who's temper is about to boil over like milk soup.
| 185 |
qyicsn
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Update: the best way to disassemble raspberries I wanted to thank everyone who helped answer my question from last week We went with liquid nitrogen, which worked great! We didn't wind up trying Pectinex, which was the other really interesting suggestion. Unfortunately, we couldn't find some in time to experiment with it. Liquid nitrogen fast froze the raspberries in a matter of seconds. They were then easy to roll apart in our fingers and pop in the freezer for storage. We were able to set up a production line and crank through 10 pounds really fast with just four people. Our previous attempts to simply freeze the berries in the freezer resulted in too much mushiness upon thawing, but the rapid freezing in liquid nitrogen resulted in much firmer bits. About an hour before rehearsal, we pulled them out and spread them on sheets to defrost. The effect was exactly what the bride was hoping for. Some other suggestions that didn't work for us or we couldn't easily try: * Freeze dried raspberry bits - As I mentioned in a comment on the previous post, these were too light to throw well. Someone suggested rehydrating them. I had a pretty good guess as to what would happen, but tried it anyways. The freeze dried bits just turned to mush in water. No good. The bride really wanted fresh anyways. * Gelification/spherification - We actually had the stuff for this from a cocktail party we had hosted. It took a little while to get the timing down so the resulting blobs weren't too hard or soft, but the bride didn't like the way they looked. She thought they seemed unnatural and would be too much like throwing little rubber beads. She really wanted fresh berries. * Blasting the berries with compressed air - We didn't have fast access to a high powered compressor, but we were skeptical that this would actually work. It seemed like it was more likely to make a mess. We got liquid nitrogen working before we were motivated enough to find a compressor and try this. * Breaking them up in an ultrasonic water bath - This sounded interesting, but we couldn't get one quickly. * Pushing the berries through a screen or mesh - Before finding/building a full mesh, we prototyped with some wire. Basically, anything that involved using pressure mashed the berries too much before breaking them apart. * Training animals to pick them apart - WTF? We had like a day to come up with a process before the rehearsal and we aren't animal trainers. * Hiring blind or disabled people from a local work program - That seemed more like a suggestion for recruiting help and didn't really assist with the process of disassembling. * Picking them apart with blunt needles - We had already tried tweezers and were effectively already using them like blunt needles anyways. It was very slow. * Using fake berries - No good. Bride wanted fresh berries. * Using a hole punch to cut confetti from leaves - The pictures of this that people shared looked pretty, but not what the bride wanted. * Using pomegranates - Nope. Bride wanted raspberries.
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You guys truly went above and beyond for this, and that is insane. I hope you're well rewarded for your efforts and for the love you put into the craft.
| 184 |
pnka41
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How do I MSG? MSG is one of those ingredients that everyone has heard of but relatively few people have actually used. I've never cooked with MSG before. My parents never cooked with MSG. It's got a reputation for being an additive that is used in fast food and Chinese food, not something that is used in home cooking. And there's a lot of misinformation circulating about MSG, so googling information about it is as likely to end up with me going down a rabbit hole about how it will leave me dehydrated and filled with xeno-parasites, as it is to give me any kind of useful information. So, let me ask you how do I use this ingredient that I have to context for? Like from what I've read is it's like salt but with more umami. So do I use it like salt? Do I use similar quantities as I would salt? Do I replace salt with MSG? Do I add both salt and MSG? Should I add it when I would usually add salt? If I'm cooking a broth should I add it at the start, or near the end? Does it hold up to heat well, or does it break down at high temperatures? Does it need heat to have an effect? Can I use it on cold dishes? Does it retard yeast like salt would? What are some questions that I'm not even thinking about asking that I should ask? Are there any dishes that I should avoid using MSG in?
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Its not a salt replacement. Use it in addition to salt, in mostly the same context. If you look at asian chefs, they add MSG at the same time as salt, but in a smaller quantity, maybe 1/4 in volume. You can even back off on the salt a little bit, due to MSG's effect on enhancing flavor.
| 183 |
saeuxr
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Should I treat other pepper varieties like black pepper and stay away from pre-ground and grind my own? I've been getting more and more into different cuisines and white pepper has come up a few times. I keep seeing videos of traditional cooks only using preground white pepper and I'm curious if white pepper is treated differently compared to black pepper. It feels like everyone on reddit thinks it's a sin to use preground spices in anything. And if white pepper is treated differently, what other peppers and other spices are okay to use preground?
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*There are plenty of Redditors lurking in the shadows, quietly using ground spices...*
| 183 |
5uhct2
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Really dumb question: Why can you cook steak to different levels (rare, medium, well done, etc), but you can't with other meats like chicken, for fear of food poisoning? ... Or can you? Is it something to do with red meats vs white meats?
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The primary concern with steak is e-coli which is only on the surface and is somewhat uncommon. Salmonella in chicken can exist throughout the muscle and is relatively more common. However you can cook chicken to, say, 140F and it is perfectly safe if it is held at the temperature for a few minutes. The concern with pork is trichinosis which is a parasite that you don't want however in the US trichinosis in commercial pork has not been a thing for decades. There are a few cases in the country a year and they are exclusively from wild animals (boar and bear mostly) as the way the animals get it is eating trash which is no longer done in commercial production. Pork is as safe as beef at any temperature.
| 183 |
djzpqi
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Can you help me figure out what I ate? It was so damn delicious. Ok folks, I know this sounds like an idiotic question, but last Sunday night my spouse and I popped in to Osteria Mamma in LA, and I was waffling on my order. I asked the waiter for a pasta recommendation. I was going for a duck ragu, when they ran out of it, so he recommended ?!? And knowing this is the sort of place where everything's good, I said sure, let's do it. It was a creamy sauce, but not Alfredo. It was ever so slightly pinkish, there were tomatoes that had a taste of being sun-dried, but not the 'chew'. Maybe they just absorbed enough liquid to get rid of the odd raisin texture sun-dried can get. I found no mushrooms, no onion, nothing that would give me a clue other than this mostly whitish cream based sauce with tomatoes in the dish but the sauce wasn't a tomato based sauce. It wasn't terribly salty, and when I reheated the leftovers in a hotel room microwave, the sauce broke, but it was still really tasty. It was a bigoli style noodle, there was no obvious inclusion of guanciale or pancetta, so I don't think it was a carbonara, and I didn't find any pieces of fish or similar, so perhaps a clam sauce? I realize that this is a total shot in the dark, but maybe one of you also loves this spot, or works in the kitchen?
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We could only speculate. Have you tried calling the restaurant and asking the next time you get a chance? Even if it's not the same server, I'm sure whoever you get could nail down what you might have had if you describe it to them.
| 183 |
pnh1nt
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Differences among light soy sauces So I understand the difference between light and dark soy sauces, but I was shopping at my local Asian grocery this past weekend and was sort of surprised at the options for light soy sauces from the Pearl River Bridge brand: https://imgur.com/a/g4yG2yL * Superior Light Soy Sauce * Golden Label Superior Light Soy Sauce * Premium Light Soy Sauce * Delicious Light Soy Sauce I'm sure the differences aren't significant, but I'm curious about the nuances of each that would make the company produce them individually.
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I'm a Singaporean Chinese who's been cooking for many years. Soy sauce come in different grades. The very cheapest stuff (delicious light soy in your case) works well for stir frys and other applications where the soy sauce is heated, but you might want to get a more expensive type if you are using the soy sauce for dipping. The most expensive stuff is normally used for delicate steamed fish etc. Well, don't worry- get something that is in the middle of the price range(maybe around 3 dollars a pop for the superior one), and it works well for both dipping and stir fries. ​ edit: just to clarify, you can use the expensive stuff for heated applications, just that it would be a waste of expensive soy sauce.
| 182 |
flk6ei
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Why don't coffee recipes that have sugar not call for salt? Basically every hot cocoa recipe I've ever seen calls for a bit of salt to help bring out the sweetness. I've never seen any coffee recipes even ones that call for sugar, vanilla, cream etc. (similar to hot cocoa) never include salt.
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I was a barista for like 6 years before I moved into baking full time. I always used to salt my simple syrups. I just think baristas never really thought about salt the way cooks do.
| 182 |
9zfl3a
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Anyone want to explain to me how I overcooked a 21 lb turkey in 2 hours? Mostly in the title and i'm pretty frustrated. Dry brined the turkey yesterday into today. Was expecting it to roast for roughly 4-5 hours at 300F. Put it in, waited a bit, went back to bed for an hour and a half. Woke up to a breast internal temp of about 165, about 15 degrees higher than what I was aiming for, about half way time wise than I was expecting. Anyone have any idea as to how this happened? Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving, hope the rest of yours turn out better than mine!
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A few things may have caused this: 1) Dry brine turkeys cook much faster than wet brine since (to my understanding) it’s not drawing in extra moisture like wet brine does. I’ve used a dry brine the last 3 years and expect the turkey to be done in 2.75 hours at most. 2) heavier birds (over 18lbs, for example) have thicker bones, and can cause a disproportionately heavy weight. So you might have expected to roast it longer based on weight, but the portion of meet needed less time. 3) your thermometer was against a bone when you measured the temp. The bones heat faster than the meat, so make sure you’re getting an accurate read. The thickest part of the thigh is a good place to measure. And a hot oven like others have mentioned.... hope it still turned out tasty!
| 180 |
f1ti16
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Does anyone in the UK have advice to get American 'biscuit dough' ? I want to make burger bombs (as a surprise for my boyfriend, we cook dinner for each other every valentines) and I have no idea how best to do it as the recipe just says pre made biscuit dough(american). I have no idea how to replicate this in the UK, advice heavily appreciated !!
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I'd suggest this recipe: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/08/the-food-lab-buttermilk-biscuits-recipe.html Key point-work it cold. I put the butter and the dry mixture in the freezer for a while before adding it to the food processor. If at any point anything starts warming up while I work it all goes into the freezer. If not baking the biscuits immediately I place them on (cold) baking sheet in the freezer and then transfer them to ziplocs after they are fully frozen. They make in advance and bake from frozen very well.
| 180 |
oq7w8t
|
Asking a chef about their technique/ recipe Would it be inappropriate to tell a restaurant chef that they made the best Italian food I’ve ever had (including in Italy) and then ask if there are any specific cookbooks they recommend to hone in on the techniques they use? I know that techniques/recipes are a “secret sauce” per se and don’t know if that is an appropriate question. For what it’s worth I am an average joe, not in the restaurant industry and live on the other side of the country. But after having it I just want to learn to cook like that.
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As a Chef. First I would take it as a compliment. Second I have no problem telling people what I do. I'm not going to give exact measurements but a rough idea. If there is a book I know of that may help them, I'll recommend it.
| 179 |
xz8700
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Stupid but Ernest Question: Why does raw meat have to be refigerated if it's going to be cooked anyways? I understand that you should store food in the fridge and freezer to slow down and prevent the growth of harmful bacteria, pathogens, viruses, etc. , but why do we store raw meat in the fridge? The meat is already full of bacteria, thats why we cook it. And cooking it kills the bacteria does it not? So why do we store the meat in the fridge to prevent bacteria growth if we're just going to cook it to kill the bacteria?
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Bacteria and other pathogens can produce toxins that cooking can not remove. Also, your meat will be gross.
| 179 |
1tvd4o
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Is there such thing as 'illegal' restaurants or meals that chef's use methods or ingredients not FDA approved? I was watching Mind of a Chef and David Chang was mentioned cooking over open coals (or some form of) was illegal in New York. Do Chef's ever leave their restaurant and practice these techniques for profit under the radar? For example, you don't see medium rare chicken in America however it is common in Japan. I'm assuming the rules are so because the average chef can harm someone if not done properly, but masters can responsibly perform these tasks.
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I went to a yakitori place with a friend in Japan. Medium rare chicken... cooked outside, raw inside. It goes against my western upbringing I say. It's safe, else they wouldn't serve it in Japan she says in Japanese. It goes against my western upbringing but I'll eat it I say. Aaaaaaand two days later textbook case of salmonella. edit:formatting and wtf spelling
| 178 |
gajk4c
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i want to try butter extract. should i add it to my chocolate chip cookie batter *instead* of vanilla extract, or should i use both vanilla and butter extracts? i usually make chocolate chip cookies using almond flour. the recipe usually uses vanilla extract. one time i used banana extract instead of vanilla extract out of neccessity - i had run out of vanilla extract, and it was delicious. now i bought butter extract, i want to try it when baking chocolate chip cookies. should i use it instead of vanilla extract or use both vanilla AND butter extract? i literally just realized vanilla extract is just like any other extract - just another extract flavor. i never thought of or used other extracts - i thought of vanilla extract as a staple without thinking about what it is. clearly i'm not a chef! any advice appreciated.
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Cookies aren't particularly picky about hydration so doubling extract isn't going to hurt them. As such, the only question is your flavor profile. Do you want butter and vanilla flavors? Use both. Personally, I think chocolate chip cookies are very rich and wouldn't necessarily want a strong additional butter flavor but whatever, they're cookies. Even bad ones are gonna be edible. So go for whatever you want.
| 178 |
yfvdae
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How did I manage to scratch a stainless steel pot with a nylon spoon? I just bought brand new calphalon stainless steel cookware and made some pasta sauce in one of the pots. I was stirring it with a nylon spoon. After I finished cooking I noticed some light scratches. I know (from reading online) that stainless doesn't care about light scratches and it's fine, but I'm a little peeved because I thought nylon was safe for stainless cookware and it's a brand new pot. So what gives?
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You said you cleaned it hard. Certainly green and sometimes blue scrubbies can scratch stainless steel. You said you used Barkeepers' Friend and said it is non-abrasive. I have news for you. It is abrasive. Not a lot, but it is. So is toothpaste. Your nylon spoon is possible. The frozen garlic or seeds from the tomato are possible but less likely than cleaning scratches. If you want your pots really clean then there will be fine scratches. If they bother you clean as you do and follow up with a less abrasive substance like toothpaste or a cookware polish. Those are still abrasive, just less so.
| 177 |
eaa0t4
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Had a donner kebab today from a small family place. They served it with a deep red, spicy chilli sauce kept warm on the grill. I tasted a lot of black pepper in it but didn’t notice any vinegar. It was incredible! Any idea what it might be?
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It might be pepper paste. In Turkey the sauce for donner is made using spicy red pepper paste & tomato paste as the base. Theres also a lot of black pepper and cumin added, but not vinegar.
| 177 |
x9bzmx
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I can't believe it's not butter, but wtf is it? What the fuck is "organic buttery type flavor:"? Found in "Lesser Evil Popcorn" Supposedly it's diacetyl-free, unless there are variants of the product, but I can't find anything explaining what of "butter" they use, and what ELSE they might use.
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Flavorist here! I’m a chemist that actually makes the flavoring for products like these so I can shed a little light here. Regarding your questions about Organic Natural Butter Type Flavor, it is as you mentioned an oil soluble liquid made up of a solvent (such as organic safflower or coconut oil) and natural chemicals (ketones, fatty acids, esters, etc). Natural in this context means that these chemicals are extracted from natural sources and not synthesized in a lab. The “Type” notation means that the flavoring itself does not actually contain any chemicals that were extracted from butter. They just come from other natural sources. Regarding your question about why not just use butter, well A. Butter is expensive B. Flavors are extremely potent so you need so little of it to make an impact (like vanilla extract which you would never drink straight) C. Flavor loss tends to happen during processing and flavors are formulated to help. If you have any more questions feel free to ask and I’ll try my best to explain. I see a lot of negativity about “flavors” and “chemicals” but there are a lot of regulations and rules in this industry and we’re all not out to poison you!
| 176 |
ipior7
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How to Deal with the general workings of a large wooden cutting board, and how to clean as you go As I have become a better home cook, I run into the problem of knowing the means of how to keep clean in the kitchen. My main problem comes as I have gotten a large 15-pound wooden cutting board. How exactly am I supposed to use it without lugging it to the sink to clean every time? Do you wipe it down with paper towels or a rag in between uses? Is there some sort of sanitizer solution that people use for this? Do people flip it over to have a meat side and a non-meat side? Also more generally, should I be using this many paper towels to keep things dry in the kitchen (I feel as though using a towel for everything would be unsanitary). How many rags do you have in the kitchen, and what do you do with each of them? (right now I have one for wiping down generally/ and for dishes, and one that I use to wipe between cutting board uses, and one to keep my hands dry). Is it okay to throw them in the dishwasher to sanitize them once i'm done with them? It's probably not that confusing, and I'm making this a lot harder than it actually is, but can someone with a little more experience with culinary best practices guide me through this?
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I have 2-3 towels at a time in the kitchen and probably 20 in my linen closet. 1 for drying clean dishes, and the others for wiping my hands, cutting board, etc. As it gets dirty, I’ll swap it for a new one if needed. Towels go in the laundry and wash with bleach. I wash my board with soap and water every time I use it then oil as needed. It is a bit clunky but I’ve gotten the hang of it by now.
| 176 |
xmnwot
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What order should you do things in a fried rice? Hi all, just something I’ve been mulling over lately and would like to know what others think. Let’s say I’m making a fried rice of some sort and I want it to have a distinct garlic & ginger flavour. Should I be frying these in oil right at the start? And should I transfer these out of the wok prior to cooking my eggs? What if I want little diced carrots - they take time to cook down and soften. When do I throw those in? And spring onions… they burn easily, do they go in with the garlic and ginger? So many questions! I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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This is my ordering. Oil first, then eggs. Take out eggs and set aside.Meats, if you use them. Cook and then when done, take out and set aside. \- Garlic \- Hard Vegetables (carrots, broccoli) \- Onions \- Rice (Day old) \- Soft Vegetables (peas, mushrooms, baby corns) \- Add back Eggs and Meats \-Spring onions \-Soy Sauce, Pepper, Chilli. Eggs and Meats you want to do them first so they are seared a little in oil, rather than just boiled or steamed with everything else. Unless it's something like char siu (bbq pork) which is already cooked. I'd add them near the end. Also, with things like carrots, you want to slice them quite thinly so they don't take very long to cook. I would never dice them to a size where they are chunky and take longer. Basically you want to cook everything at the highest heat, for the shortest amount of time. So separating them and doing them in order gives them the best chance. Garlic I would add at the beginning, but you want to add other things as soon as it starts browning so it doesn't burn. Spring onions, right at the end. They just need a little heat for them to give their flavour. This ordering is basically the one used when my family had a chinese restaurant. Have fun! (Edited, cos my formatting went weird first time. And typos! Edited 2 - I moved onions so they go before rice. I forgot that I like them a little caramelised. And it's hard to remember the order sometimes without doing, as I usually rely on muscle memory!)
| 176 |
zow6mv
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When cooking beef steaks is it possible to reduce the red coloring without overcooking or are those always directly correlated? My mom absolutely knows the red isn't blood or anything like that but some past memories make it mentally hard for her to eat anything under medium well. I'm planning our Christmas dinner and am wondering if there are any techniques to change the color so she could fully enjoy it without affecting the flavor.
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The best advice I can give is to break it down. If youve ever been to a hibachi place, do that. If not, basically you are going to do about 75% of your cook in whole form. Then you do a quick large dice on it and sear the edges so you can’t see the internal, and they are bite sized pieces so she won’t have to cut it open to see the color. A butter baste will make it finish much more smoothly and a great chance to add flavor
| 176 |
dkj86j
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My girlfriend said its my "turn to cook" (i can't cook), what should i do with these 2 duck breast fillets i have? I bought some asparagus and have some new potatoes here, what else do i need? Will pop to the shop if i need anything else. I'm awful at cooking and looking for something easy to follow that won't overwhelm me. Thanks in advance guys. I'll post pictures of my failure afterwards lol.
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Learning to cook will be one of the single most rewarding things you do in your life. Please don’t think that simply because one meal goes pear shaped you can’t do it. You can, it takes practice. When I was dating I would usually make a meal before making it for another person. You don’t really want to be rushing around and stressed at that time. The advice on how to cook the dock below is good. You should do that the week before making it for anyone else.
| 176 |
eubaz3
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Is it safe to leave your oven on overnight at a low temperature like 200-250F? I'm thinking of popping a brisket I cured into the oven before I go to bed and and having it ready by lunch tomorrow.
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Yes that’s fine. Unrelated though, a smoke/gas detector and a fire extinguisher might be a good investment anyway.
| 174 |
x7z5kt
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which soysauce brand should i buy; kikkoman or lee kum kee? was looking the one that is more versatile in the term of flavor cuz ill use it for both japanese and chinese cuisines but well.. i was and still am confused to pick one cuz there were so many soysauce brands in the store *decided to narrow it to those two infamous brands and still unsure which one to choose, and that's why im here
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Serious home cooks are definitely gonna want the soy sauce that matches the cuisine they are cooking. You definitely want a **Chinese light soy sauce** for anything recipe that is even vaguely Chinese and just says “soy sauce” in the ingredients. The best average cheap brand in my humble opinion is *Pearl River superior light soy sauce*. I’d use this in western dishes that just say “soy sauce” too. Japanese soy sauce is darker and richer and certainly is the best for any Japanese food. There are lots more! Check this out: https://thewoksoflife.com/soy-sauce/ (Edited out an example I think I got wrong)
| 174 |
rq4dzn
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Is it better to wait for a pan to heat up before adding the oil, or oil it first and then heat it? And what's the reason why? Thank you!
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If the non-stick properties of the oil are your priority, then you will probably want to heat the pan, then add the oil. This is because heating the oil along with the pan in some cases can expose the oil to enough heat, for a long enough duration, to start the process of polymerization. The longer you heat the oil, the more thick and gummy the oil will become. Even very slight polymerization can ruin your chances of avoiding eggs or delicate fish sticking to your pan. If utilizing the oil’s anti-sticking properties is not of concern, such as when you’re using a non stick coated pan, it’s arguably more beneficial to heat the oil with the pan for a few reasons. For one, the oil will help to displace some of the heat from your pan to help prevent warping and preserve the quality of the non stick coating for longer. Hope this helps :)
| 174 |
izbe5x
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Am I able to flavor steamed foods by putting ingredients (i.e. bay leaf) in the steaming water? Got me a rice cooker, got me a steaming tray for the rice cooker, wondering if I can put a bay leaf, star anise, maybe garlic into the water. Would the vapor catch the flavor and impart it onto the food? If so, what are some recommended options/combinations?
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Not really. Certainly not very strongly. Once the surface of the food gets considerably hot, condensation on the surface of the food slows down. You are attempting to set up a distillation setup whereby volatile compounds from the water evaporate from the water and condense on the food. The problem you face is that that once the food starts to heat up, your condensation mechanism that condenses volatiles and water onto the food starts to fail. Also, the weight percentage of your volatiles will be very small compared to the weight percentage of the water in your steam mix. Unless you bring up the weight percentage of your aromatic ingredients in your boil to a quite high fraction, most of your steam will be dilute water. You'll be evaporating loads of volatile compounds into your kitchen which will perfume the place up quite significantly and probably lead to palate fatigue as your olfactory bulb gets overloaded by the smell of what you want to impart to your food. If you take that food into another room that isn't perfumed by your boil and eat it there it'll be underwhelming because your senses will be dead from the aromatic sauna you just subjected yourself to. Smoking your food with the aromatics of you pursue would be more effective. Instead of attempting to condense the aromatic compounds onto your food as it warms up, you will be depositing particles from the smoke (phenols, etc) onto your food and the rest of the interior of your chamber instead of attempting to condense vapor onto the food. You'll get a significantly different flavor profile, but you can deposit smoke particles over hours because the food temp doesn't matter for the condensation mechanism which is why low and slow smoking/bbq is so impactful to the aromatic experience. Whenever I attempt to apply aromatics I am thinking about how much of the impression is imparted to the food vs. how much is blown off into the room. I find that olfactory fatigue can easily have a much more powerful deadening effect on my senses by the time I sit down to eat than the weaker effects of imparting aroma directly to food. If you are dead set on using steam as a heating and transmission mechanism, try resting a bouquet garni or scatter your aromatics directly on top of your food being steamed. At the very least condensate forming on the bouquet garni and moisture dripping down from the lid which can solvate some of your aromatic compounds and wash them over your food instead of immediately diluting them hugely before attempting to distill them onto your food. Do not steam at a high rolling boil as this will increase the rate of steam escaping your vessel and blow a larger fraction of your aromatics out into your kitchen. Instead you want to see only a lazy escape of steam from your vessel which would indicate that you have enough steam production to provide a high temp atmosphere inside the vessel but low enough evaporation rate that you can have some condensate hanging around dripping aromatic compounds from your directly applied herbs onto your food. Don't overload your aromatics directly onto the food. I believe that you risk dissolving too much of the astringent water soluble compounds from stuff like herbs onto your food if you put too much on.
| 173 |
bjilem
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Can I use cool whip or rediwhip for a coconut cream pie or should I make my own?
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Make your own. It's like 3 minutes of work and you have a better end product.
| 173 |
vi6wqa
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I'm making ganache for donut dip, should I add butter? I'm making ganache for donut dip, should I add butter to my ganache? Ganache have endless possibilities, especially for donuts. From Dark Chocolate Ganace to White Chocolate Ganache, you can literally any flavorings to them. However, it comes to mind that many people mentioned about adding butter to their ganache, my questions would be: 1. Is butter necessary in ganache? 2. How much the butter needed in dark chocolate ganache and white chocolate ganache?
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Say ganache again
| 173 |
ozh6az
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Other than chopping fresh fruit, how do I get the taste of onions out of my cutting board? Nothing worse than strawberries with a hint of onion or garlic. Are there any good ways to get these flavors out of my cutting board?
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I make a paste with baking soda and water and scrub. The baking soda will neutralize the smell as well as being abrasive.
| 172 |
x2vw36
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Pad Thai variants My wife likes Pad Thai. We really like the stuff from certain restaurants. We used to do the Street Kitchen kit, but it's different from the restaurants. It's a much more fish-saucy flavored one. We like it okay, but we like the restaurant version more. This past weekend I went to an Asian market and got ingredients and got to work trying to make the sauce. The first one was fish sauce, oyster sauce, tamarind paste, brown sugar and rice vinegar. This one came out tasting almost exactly like the Street Kitchen version, so not what I was aiming for. I tried adding some Sriracha in a second version, but that definitely wasn't the flavor I was looking for (not bad, just not what I was aiming for). In doing more research, I've come across mention that some restaurants (I'm assuming in America, but not in Thailand) add a good bit of ketchup to their sauce. Is this the secret ingredient I'm missing? I don't normally use ketchup (I use ketchup on meatloaf and that's it, and I haven't made meatloaf in years), so I don't want to buy it if it's not going to get me what I'm looking for. I've also heard of pulverizing dried shrimp and adding that to the sauce. Not sure if that's my secret ingredient? Just looking for the restaurant secret.
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Authentic pad thai recipes do not use any tomato products. The sauce is just a combo of tamarind juice, palm sugar and fish sauce. Also buy sweet dried daikon/radish and use chopped roasted peanuts (not peanut butter). For American Thai restaurant style pad thai, you should check Jet Tila's version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBSmCwUXZF0 I also like this Pailin's Thai cooking videos, although I've never tried her pad thai recipe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F86GfZIph8o
| 172 |
az9mmk
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Should I undercook dried black beans if they will be cooked again when added to a recipe that calls for canned beans? I'm making a chili recipe that calls for canned black beans, however, I would like to start with dried black beans. Since canned beans are fully cooked, should I fully cook the dried beans first? Or should I undercook the dried beans so the 20 minutes of cooking that the chili requires completes the cooking? Or - another idea - fully cook the dried beans, but add them at the end of making chili rather than the beginning?
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Never undercook the beans regardless. If they end up under cooked, it pretty much ruins the whole dish. Over cooked, really no big deal in chili. Specially if the second cook is in chili, beans tend not to suck up too much water when the solution is acidic so they won't get much in there.
| 172 |
wo0sk0
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Can I reuse homemade pickle juice to pickle vegetables again? Yesterday I made fridge pink pickled onion by putting the cut up vegetable in an unsterilized glass jar with spices and lemon juice and then added boiling white wine vinegar. I let them rest for a couple of hours outside the fridge and then half a day in the fridge and we then ate them for dinner. They were so delicious my family finished them and asked me to make more, with my mom insisting I added a chopped onion to the jar of pickle juice and let it rest in the fridge overnight. I complied, but I'm concerned that the lack of sterilization may not only impact the quality but also could create a health hazard. Is it safe to reuse the pickle juice once even without sterilizing jar and cap? How many times can you do that before it being too dangerous? How can I tell if the pickle became a health hazard? Smell?
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Yes, in my experience store bought pickle juice is good for 1-2 more picklings. Just keep everything refrigerated. If you're worried about it add some more salt and a plug of vinegar
| 172 |
wqbqqu
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does anyone know how to get the crispy edge on dominos pan pizza i tried pizza pans for pan pizzas, my cast iron ect I use my oven on the highest (could be the problem, I assume dominos pizza over is 700 f or more). maybe its alot of oil? other deep dish or pan pizzas dont have that crunchy exterior dominos has and i want to incorporate it in some way to my pizzas i make at home 🥰
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This is the holy grail of pan pizza recipes. https://www.seriouseats.com/foolproof-pan-pizza-recipe Here is a video of the chef (Kenji Lopez-Alt) who created the recipe displaying the techniques. https://youtu.be/HukqEjCPkhU Tl;Dr. Finish it on the stovetop to achieve the desired crispyness
| 171 |
onkz7e
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Why isn't astringent considered a separate flavor? Eating astringent foods or liquids causes a dry puckering mouthfeel that you get from many unripe fruit, red wine, skin of some grapes, some berries etc. Some less sweet citrus fruit also have this flavor. Black tea is astringent as well. It makes your mouth dry and is a very unique kind of flavor. You simply cannot describe it as sour or sweet or salty or spicy or bitter or savory. It is its own thing. Some regional languages have their own word for describing astringent foods. For example, in the South Indian language, Tamil, the word "thuvarpu" is used to describe astringent flavor. Question is - why isn't this considered a legit flavor type? Is it because it is obscure? But tons of people drink tea and red wine and eat berries and citrus.
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Meaning of words is always debatable but the reasoning I would guess is that astringent is the sensation of the tissues in your mouth constricting. It's a reaction to a chemical like, capsasin "hot" isn't a flavor its a sensation. I might be wrong, not a scientist but personally I refer to it as a flavor all the time. Like your taste buds detect salty or sweet but your whole mouth goes numb and shocks from schezuan peppercorn or burns from peppers
| 171 |
ac7b89
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Why do frozen fish fillets tell you you take the fish out of the plastic and then wrap it in other plastic to thaw? Why can’t you thaw it in the original plastic?
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Vacuumed packed fish lacks oxygen which is a good environment for botulism to grow as the fish thaws. It is unlikely that anyone would cook fish to a high enough temperature to kill the botulism as it can survive being boiled in water for minutes before dying. Obviously not all fish has botulism and I've thawed fish in the vacuum sealed packs before but it's a precaution.
| 170 |
vvfds8
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frozen spinach says "must be fully cooked". Does that mean I can't use it for smoothies? I've never noticed this before when I've used frozen spinach in the past. I have two different brands right now and they both say must be fully cooked. I can't imagine that anything horrible could happen, but my biggest concern is that I'm pregnant so I'm wondering what the danger could possibly be. Listeria?
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Honestly I wouldn’t eat large amounts of spinach if you’re pregnant because the large amounts of oxalates in the spinach will decrease your mineral absorption and you need all the minerals you can get during pregnancy. If you want greens try other low oxalate greens like kale.
| 170 |
5d8056
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Chicken Pot Pie - Forgot to sautee onion and it turned out as a *very* happy accident. Why did it improve things so much? We've been eating the same pot pie for ages: chicken breast, carrots, frozen peas, celery, peas - combine together in pot, cover with water, boil till chicken is cooked, drain. Separately cook onions in butter, stir in flour (to make the roux) salt, pepper, celery seed. Once roux is formed mix in chicken broth and milk - cook till thickened. Then mix the two together with pie crusts yada yada bake, eat, be happy. But today we just forgot to cook the onions in the butter and just went straight to making a roux. When it came time to put everything together we decided to just add the raw yellow onions in and hope that they got properly cooked in the 30-35 minutes of baking between the two crusts. Figured it wouldn't be horrible. The result, though, was a HUGE difference - it tasted amazing! There was a much deeper richness to the sauce and the onions had been properly cooked enough to not be raw and yet still firm. Honestly it's the best pot pie I've ever had. Maybe that means I'm a naive child, but we're really happy with the food - and we're the only ones eating it so that's got to count for something. My questions is...why? Why did not sauteeing the onions in the butter prior to forming the roux make such a massive difference? Are the onions inhibiting proper roux formation? Is sauteeing the onion reducing it's flavor too much to be able to detect it? I'm really curious about this because this was one of the happiest culinary surprises I've had in awhile. Thank you for any help you can provide.
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One avenue people aren't exploring. Maybe it's not the onion. Maybe it's the roux. Maybe you weren't getting a nice toasty roux when sweating onions into it.
| 170 |
63kmdk
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If Corn is from the New World, why is Corn Starch So Prevalent in Chinese Cooking? About half of the Chinese recipes I see online seem to include corn starch somewhere in them. Is this a new development, or is the corn starch replacing an ingredient which would be found more commonly in China before trading with the Americas?
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*I replied to the same question on here about 10 months ago, quoting for convenience.* Bean starch and rice flour is found in older Chinese recipes for lots of applications. Maize was cultivated in China during the 16th century but they didn't have a process for creating cornstarch until the 1940s (imported technique from American patents). However, velveting was not popular until recently because, in turn, modern stir-fry didn't exist until the 17/18th century. Cooking fires were often not hot enough and cooking oil was expensive. In the late 19th century, stir-fry became mildly popular in big Chinese cities as they really started to see a population explosion and the demand for street food started to skyrocket. Stir-Fry came to america in Buwei Yang Chao's book How to Cook and Eat in Chinese (1945), where he indeed uses cornstarch. However, there were exclusion acts in place preventing any new Chinese immigration, so it wasn't until The Liberalization of American immigration policy in 1965 that we saw a real explosion in Chinese cuisine here and, by then, cornstarch and stir-fry were on their way onto restaurant menus everywhere. By the mid-70s, Chinese restaurants were opening all over america serving a new mix of cuisine we now know and love with all of it's goopy, shiny, cornstarchy sauces coating lightly crunchy what-meat-is-this-again?
| 169 |
zzfd62
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I put a butt roast in my slow cooker for pulled pork but it won't pull apart. Internal temp is 177F. Did I overcook it? Does it need more time? It's not pulling apart at all. Does it need to sit at a high temp for longer? I had it set on high for 4 hours, which is what I've done in the past. I don't remember if I've used butt roast previously or just shoulder roasts, but I've never had a problem shredding it.
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When I smoke pork butts, I cook them until about 203 F. It may seem like a lot, but that's when all the connective tissue melts away and the meat is easily shredded. As long as it's a pork butt and not a tenderloin or something, it should be ok going a lot higher.
| 169 |
d8kdtw
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How do you make scrambled eggs silky rather than fluffy and creamy? I’m not a fan of really fluffy and creamy scrambled eggs, I prefer them silky. Problem is, I can’t seem to make them silky. I thought scrambling them low and slow would help, but not much. It also doesn’t help that I hardly ever find silky scrambled eggs in cafes or restaurants. Here’s a picture of the best silky scrambled eggs I’ve ever had. They’re heavenly. Hope it’s not a dumb question, I’m really just a complete beginner at cooking. Thanks!
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I prefer my eggs this way too, the low and slow rule doesn't apply here. Keep the pan heat high (but not so high that the eggs brown right away), pour the eggs in, and the eggs will immediately start to cook. Have a spatula ready in your hand because what you'll have at this point is the very early stages of an omelette. Start "scrunching" the omelette from the outside edges in, doing some light separating and scrambling. Your goal here is not to stir, but to separate into ribbons almost, and you're leaving the cooking a bit uneven on purpose so that some sections are wetter than others, it will create the "silky" mouthfeel. If you like it a bit less wet flip it once or twice. Move to the plate while it still looks a little too raw, the high heat you cooked it at will continue the cooking process on the plate. The whole process takes 30-45 seconds depending on the heat, pan, and number of eggs so be quick! It takes some practice but this is my absolute favorite way to make silky scrambled eggs.
| 169 |
8ugwmx
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What are the types of salad dressing? First, sorry for this stupid questions. I live in Asia and foods here dont usually include salad dressing as their ingredients or sauces. So yea, im pretty confused about the type of salad dressing because there so many types. So last week, i went to some western restaurant and only order foods with salad dressing. Ceasar salad = the dressing is a bit salty but there are two types, one is white colour, one is orange-ish colour. Burger = the dressing looks kinda between green and yellow, seems like they added some pickles and chopped onions, it tastes sour. The salad from kfc = taste sweet, im not sure whats the ingredients but it has carrot, raisin and lettuce? I bought a mayonaise myself. At first i thought this is the same white dressing as the ceasar salad i wrote above but its sour, the white dressing from ceasar salad is salty. So yea im pretty confused about the taste, is all salad tastes salty and they just add something to change the taste and colour of the dressing? Also, i saw thousand island dressing in the store, what does it taste like? Sour, sweet or salty?
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# **Salad Dressing Popularity** Top ten salad dressings in restaurants: 1. **Ranch Dressing**(Buttermilk, mayonnaise, salt, garlic, onion, herbs \[chives, parsley, and dill\], and spices \[pepper, paprika, and mustard powder\]) 2. **Vinaigrette**(Oil and vinegar, commonly flavored with herbs and spices) 3. **Caesar Dressing**(Parmesan, lemon juice, olive oil, egg, Worcestershire sauce \[anchovy\], garlic, salt, pepper) 4. **Italian Dressing**(Oil, vinegar or lemon juice, chopped bell peppers, onion, and garlic with sugar or corn syrup, and a blend of numerous herbs and spices including oregano, fennel, dill, salt and pepper) 5. **Bleu Cheese Dressing**(Mayonnaise, sour cream, yogurt, blue cheese, milk, vinegar, onion and garlic powder) 6. **Thousand Island Dressing**(Mayonnaise based with oil, lemon juice, orange juice, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, vinegar, cream, chili sauce, tomato purée, ketchup, or Tabasco sauce and finely chopped pickles, onions, bell peppers, pimento, etc.) 7. **Balsamic Vinaigrette**(Vinaigrette made with Balsamic vinegar) 8. **Honey Mustard Dressing**(Mayonnaise or oil and vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, and spices) 9. **French Dressing**(Oil and vinegar based with ketchup, mustard powder, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, and sometimes finely chopped onions) 10. **Greek Dressing**(Olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, mustard, sugar, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper, sometimes crumbled feta cheese) ## **Other Contenders:** **Buttermilk Dressing**(see Ranch Dressing, a type of buttermilk dressing) **Catalina Dressing** (Oil, red wine vinegar, ketchup, sugar, grated onion, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper) **Chinese Chicken Salad Dressing**(Asian vinaigrette with rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and Asian herbs and spices) **Citronette** (Vinaigrette made with lemon juice instead of vinegar) **Coleslaw Dressing** (Mayonnaise, vinaigrette, cream, sour cream, buttermilk, sweetened with sugar) **Cream Cheese Dressing**(Softened cream cheese, oil, vinegar or lemon juice, herbs and spices, salt, and pepper; or Softened cream cheese, heavy cream, sugar, lemon juice, liqueur \[amaretto or sherry\], pinch salt) **Creamy XXX Dressing** (XXX Dressing made with extra sour cream and mayonnaise) **Cucumber Dressing** (Cucumber, yogurt, garlic, olive oil, white vinegar, dill, salt, and pepper) **Dorothy Lynch Dressing** (Like French dressing with celery seed and other flavorings \[condensed tomato soup\]) **Ginger Dressing** (also called **Sesame Ginger Dressing**or **Sesame Dressing**, an Asian salad dressing made with oil, seasoned rice vinegar, minced garlic, ginger, sesame oil, chili sauce, scallions, sesame seeds, soy sauce, peppers, honey or sugar, and water) **Green Goddess Dressing** (Mayonnaise, sour cream, chervil, chives, anchovy, tarragon, lemon juice, salt, and pepper) **Japanese Salad Dressing** (Peanut oil, rice vinegar, water, ginger, minced onion, minced celery, ketchup, soy sauce, sugar, lemon juice, minced garlic, salt, and pepper) **Louie Dressing** (for Seafood Louie salads - Mayonnaise based, with red chili sauce, minced green onions, and minced green chile peppers) **Mexican Salad Dressing** (Mayonnaise, crema, milk, onion powder, garlic powder, cilantro, lime, lemon, minced chiles \[Chipotle, Jalapeño, Serano\], cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper) **Miso Dressing** (Miso, Dijon mustard, water, lemon juice, peanut oil, sesame oil, ginger, green onion) **Peanut Dressing** (Peanut butter, water, rice vinegar, soy sauce or fish sauce, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, chile sauce) **Poppy Seed Dressing** (Oil, white vinegar, sugar, mustard powder, grated onion, poppy seeds, salt, and pepper) **Russian Dressing** (used in Reuben Sandwiches - Mayonnaise, ketchup, horseradish, pimentos, chives and spices) **Spinach Salad Dressing** (Olive oil, bacon grease, white wine vinegar, mustard, honey, minced shallot, minced garlic, crumbled bacon, salt, and pepper, usually served warm) **Tahini Dressing** (Tahini, olive oil, tamari, rice vinegar, lemon juice, ginger, garlic, salt, pepper) **Thai Salad Dressing** (Nam Chim or Nam Prik - Garlic, fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, and chiles) **XXX Vinaigrette** (Vinaigrette flavored with XXX \[raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, bacon, basil, Champaign vinegar, Dijon mustard, green peppercorns, Parmesan cheese, Sherry vinegar, etc.\]) **Yogurt Dressing** (Buttermilk dressing made with yogurt)
| 168 |
8vovis
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What’s with mixing cake batter like it owes you money? Can someone explain this black magic? Except for bread you’re generally advised to be super gentle with flour so that you don’t end up with a tough finished product. How is it that you take a mixer to cake for two or three minutes and it’s not even remotely tough or chewy? It’s springy but not rubbery. Is gluten magically different in cake? If I did the same thing to pancake batter I could use them as bouncing frisbees. Thanks!
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Cake flour has a protein content of ~8%. Bread flour has a protein content of ~14%. Cake has fats and sugars and eggs, massively enriching the end product but also inhibiting gluten development. Cakes will still have some gluten development, but an order of magnitude lower than a rustic sourdough boule. If you add butter and eggs to bread (like brioche, yum!) the enrichment agents will lead to a markedly softer and less chewy end product than just straight flour water salt and yeast. There are a lot of things you can do to alter gluten development, and they're all pretty delicious!
| 167 |
xqhk6o
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Donut sugar glaze that sets bone dry, cracks off like dried mud, sorta waxy semi-translucent finish? I'm a celiac so I sadly can't just go out and buy the donuts w/icing I'm describing. I'm looking for a recipe that makes that 'been sitting out air dying for a week on the counter' type of waxy, hard, breaks off into distinct chips, zero moisture sugar glaze you can get on fast food or grocery store type donuts. I have tried various recipes found online in the past to no avail; so far all my attempts end up with the sugar remaining very liquidly, sticky and goopy to the touch, or becoming rock solid like ginger bread house icing sugar. What is the trick to getting that semi-hard breaks into flakes middle ground?
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I am also gluten free. I made these donuts a few months ago! I used this recipe from Gluten Free on a Shoestring (I LOVE her recipes). It has the glaze recipe at the bottom. From the photo, it may be hard to tell, but the glaze has hardened and the texture was pretty darn close to krispy kreme icing.
| 167 |
wc2ifc
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*Emergency* Fish monger sliced squid head vertically in half - can I still make fried calamari for a date tonight? As the title says, went to the fish monger for some squid to make fried calamari for a dinner date tonight. I usually clean my own but couldn’t be bothered to get my hands stinking. I just rinsed the squid and realized the fish monger cut the head vertically when he cleaned it so it will be unable to make rings when I slice it up. The date is in less than 2 hrs and I don’t have a backup appetizer…is non-circular fried calamari acceptable??
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Well, if your date is upset that it's calamary sticks, and not rings; Maybe this is the last date?
| 167 |
kpq3fw
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What stock do chefs use? Do kitchens generally make their own stock? Or do they buy it in, if so what do they buy? I'm UK based
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Former line cook here with several years of experience cooking at the Michelin level (mainly French and also scandanavian and peruvian, all michelin-rated). For nearly everything that required stock, we would use chicken stock, which was made from scratch every day. Chicken stock (or labeled as "CHX stock") is light enough to elevate many dishes, stews and sauces, and not heavy enough to overpower them. That's not to say that other stocks are inferior (dashi, beef stock, etc.); chicken stock is just more versatile and cheaper to produce. Dashi is extremely easy to make, but is trickier to use in western cooking, unless you are doing fusion
| 167 |
jlso86
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Why does beef that has been simmered for hours taste better as leftovers? I’ve noticed that whenever I make a dish that is basically beef simmered for multiple hours, it always tastes better the next day. Examples of this have been phở (which is beef bone broth and brisket) and ragù pasta sauces (usually I use chuck). Why does this happen? Does something happen to the food when it sits in the fridge? Note that for both of these examples, I store the noodles separately from the broth/sauce, so it’s not like the flavor gets a chance to seep into the noodles. Maybe it’s just a mental thing, but I’ve also noticed that this does *not* happen for non-beef dishes - for example my chicken phở and carnitas taste pretty much the same (or slightly worse) the next day. It also only applies to beef that has been simmered - stir fry dishes taste the same to me as leftovers. Is there a reason why I think specifically only slow-cooked beef (and not anything else) has this effect?
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Refrigeration allows for all of the various flavours in a dish to migrate into the cooling protein and starches. The collagen that broke down into gelatine during cooking cools around the meat solids. As this happens, the various flavour compounds get trapped. With ground meat this is amplified even more because there's even more surface area which helps flavour compounds to disperse. The same goes for starches. As it cools down, the starch goes through a process called retrogradation and the molecules begin to rearrange and realign themselves into a crystalline structure again. As it does, same deal, flavour compounds from the surrounding sauce are trapped inside the structure.
| 167 |
u3zlf1
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I experimented by letting my canned soup sit for 1 year past its best before date and then compared it with a soup i had just bought (which is 2 years away from its expiration) I could not tell much difference in terms of texture but the expired one clearly tasted more salty and looked murky. Both are same brands. How do you explain this difference
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Commercially canned soup will be microbiologically safe forever as long as the can remains sealed. However the ingredients will dissolve and degrade over time and the flavor will definitely go down hill. TL/DR: There will come a time when you won't want to eat it, but it still won't kill you.
| 166 |
d43p51
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How can I make hummus whiter (have a lighter color)? In my search for perfect hummus I learned a lot of things, but I never understood what causes hummus to turn whiter when all ingredients are combined and **how can I maximize this effect**. Does anyone know more about this reaction? Is it the acid from the lemon / citric acid? Is it the cold from the ice / ice water? I am about to test a method that combines these two potential factors: mixing water with citric acid and putting it in the freezer up until it just starts freezing, then directly adding it in the hummus preparation process.
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Not a scientist, but I’m pretty sure it’s the air that gets whipped in when you grind everything that lightens the color. Hard to see any of this working...maybe try making it with a different bean if you want a different color?
| 165 |
qi4qai
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Tips for roasted vegetables wanted! I find that veggies like broccoli and brussels get too crispy before they get tender. I want a better mix of the two. I like to use oven/toaster oven/air fryer (IP attachment lid). Is my temp too high? I usually use 375.
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Most people here telling you to pre-blanch or steam, which is basically what I do - except I'm lazy AF, so the veggies go in a 400F hot roasting tray with a splash of H2O, covered with aluminum for 15 minutes or so to steam themselves, then uncovered and finished. Maybe a bit of broiler to get them just to the edge of burnt for supreme flavor.
| 165 |
r19xg6
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How do I make green beans softer? I'm in charge of green bean casserole and Mac n cheese this Thanksgiving. I wanted to elevate both of these dishes from the usual, so I found an excellent home made gbc recipe. It calls for fresh, blanched green beans. I made a small test batch a couple days ago, and my husband is not thrilled with the crunch of green beans. Neither was my sister. Myself and my son loved it. Unfortunately, most of the people present on Thanksgiving are used to canned green beans. I don't wanna use canned, lol. So, how can I Make the green beans softer? Blanche them longer? Saute them first? Bake them with olive oil? Please advise!
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Weird take and it’s not what you asked, but if a majority of the people like the canned stuff and don’t appreciate the better dish, maybe save your time and effort and just make the canned stuff 🤷♀️ I get wanting to make a better dish but sometimes it’s wasted on certain people.
| 165 |
o3p4p1
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Real questions being asked here. How to crack open an egg with one hand?? Just want to feel a little cool. Any technique/tips? Just for the record, I normally crack open eggs by hitting them together, it always breaks only one of them, and the last one on a flat surface…duh. Saw it somewhere don’t remember.
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I learned using the golf ball trick. You use two golf balls to practice the motion of splitting the egg apart. Took all of five mins to master the technique. I can't remember where I read about the golf ball trick but here is a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfHqdc4pbbs&ab\_channel=FoodWishes
| 165 |
snye9s
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Tails on shrimp Why are the tails so often left on shrimp in shrimp dishes? It makes sense to me if they’re being eaten as a finger food - the tail provides a little handle - but when I’ve ordered shrimp pasta or shrimp and grits or something like that in restaurants, most of the time, the tail is still left on. What is this about? What benefit does the tail provide that outweighs the drawback of having to pull it out and eat it separately from the rest of the dish?
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Presentation is important. A tail off shrimp isn't pretty. There are things eaters are used to eating. In some cultures eating bony pieces of meat is common and good. In my country of origin, there are places that cook bone in that are made to be able to debone easily and some are the hack it and gnaw like other asian countries.
| 165 |
nr0tcg
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What do you call “food” that is made as an ingredient for a bigger recipe? (Examples below) What’s the word for things like caramelized onions, pickled stuff, and black garlic etc? They’re things you make only as an ingredient for a more complex meal.. they are usually storable. What are they called?
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"Mise" is common, as in "mise en place" which is a general term for all of your "prep". I like to refer to individual items on a dish though as "components"
| 164 |
mup9jx
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Can we refrigerate cake batter? I need to make about 20 cupcakes. But I can make only 6 at a time. Has anyone tried refrigerating batter for 24 hours without adding baking powder and baking soda and adding them before baking?
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There are some factors to consider here- It depends somewhat on kind of cupcakes you’re making... sponge cake or something light will hold better than carrot cake or something more heavy. You’ll have better success if you DON’T stir or re-agitate it. The aerated emulsion that is good cake batter is pretty delicate, so if you stir it up a lot to do a second batch they won’t have the rise of the first batch. And you’ll develop more gluten, so they’ll be tougher. I wonder though, do you need to hold it for 24 hours? They’re cupcakes, not 8”+ rounds... Obviously the fresher the better, but only making 20 cupcakes is only 4 rounds in the oven... that’s, what? Like an hour and a half of oven time? Unless you’re using an Easy Bake Oven? I didn’t think you could fit 6 of anything in an Easy Bake Oven.
| 164 |
odoiim
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Why do professional chefs drizzle olive oil on finished plates? I get the concept of "fat-soluble flavors," but a lot of high-end restaurants and cooking shows by professional chefs seem to finish their plates with a drizzle (sometimes a lot more than a drizzle) of olive oil. What is this for? Presentation?
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Good olive oil is rich and buttery and slightly bitter. It help round out and finish alot of plates that lack fat or richness. Think grilled carrots or fresh mozzarella. Unfortunately the practice is in a state now where people will drizzle nearly anything on the plate to 'finish'. It needs to be good to great evoo. Nothing else.
| 164 |
5ucn44
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What should I test? Hey /r/askculinary! Kenji here from Serious Eats/Food Lab. I'm looking to have some fun in the kitchen and wanted to get some suggestions for cooking questions to try and test! Are there any culinary capers you've always wondered about? Techniques that make you scratch your head and say "why?"?* I know a lot of you would do this on your own if only you had the time, but fortunately specialization of labor makes it my JOB to test the stuff you don't have time to test! Shoot and I'll make sure and give ya credit if I manage to test and answer your question! *grammar question: if I end a sentence with a question mark in a quotation and the sentence itself is also a question, do I put two question marks with a close quote in between like I did there?
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Pickles. I want Pickles that make you go damn...but there is a million ways to go achieve pickles. I want the crunch, the tang and the deliciousness.
| 164 |
ysfzzk
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What to do with about 30lbs of cilantro? Made an ordering mistake and I now have 20lbs of cilantro. I know I should have been more careful but mistakes happen and now I'm trying to make the best of it. I often use a few bunches of cilantro by mixing it into my salad greens but 30lbs is uncharted territory for me. Not sure it would work as a pesto or pasta filling. I could make some into ice cubes for adding into soups & stews but that won't make a big enough dent. So what to do?
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Cilantro and spinach “pesto” Chimmichuri sauce Share with neighbors Please post a photo. Cilantro is light so I cannot imagine how MUCH you must have!
| 163 |
qn7q84
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How do I get proteins to take up more marinade flavor? I’ve tried marinating chicken and beef and I leave it in the fridge overnight but when I cook the chicken I feel the flavor is only on the outside and nothing inside even if I use a fork to allow marinade to get inside. Is this normal? Should I be doing something else?
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Marinades penetrating into proteins is a myth. Marinades function as a tenderiser and as a flavour enhancer *but* they only penetrate mere millimetres into the surface of meat. Even when left for longer periods of time- which has its own drawbacks. When protein is left in a marinade for longer periods of time, the acid in them can produce unwanted flavours and textures. Too long and the result is a mushy texture on the outside and a relatively unaffected inside. You can also use a syringe to inject the marinade into larger pieces, but that method may result in uneven cooking and increased moisture loss. The best bet is to cut proteins into thin pieces which will increase the surface area where marinades can actually penetrate. Brining on the other hand does work. Salt will penetrate a protein through osmosis- seeking an equilibrium of salinity. The protein will gain liquid and salinity and at higher concentrations will begin to break down and tenderise proteins. A brining solution will penetrate and take flavours along with it- but only compounds that are water soluble like garlic and onions- most spices are fat soluble so they won't penetrate via brining.
| 163 |
ut49in
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Can I make ahead and store a bechamel sauce? Want to make a pizza with white sauce after work but won’t have the time to make the sauce from scratch. Would there be any issues with making it the day before, especially if I plan to add cheese to the sauce?
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Yes. Make the white sauce as normal (without cheese, though you can do it with cheese in if you like, it'll probably be easier without), put it in a container, lay clingfilm on the surface to prevent skin forming if you care about lumps, and place in a bath of cold water (preferably with ice) so that you can cool it asap. Then refrigerate until needed. Then, reheat, bring to above 82c if you're in Scotland - I don't know what laws the bacteria follow in your country - and add in your cheese, you may have to add a little extra milk or cream to get the consistency correct because the sauce will thicken up a lot.
| 163 |
bz0eaq
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Newly Sharpened Knives Go Dull Immediately I have a Shun classic santoku knife and a Wusthof classic chef's knife, each about 8 years old. When I got both of them, they cut like butter. I honed them regularly and every so often would take them to get professionally sharpened. The last couple of years, however, they are so dull they have been rendered practically useless. I've tried sharpening them on a whetstone, and while I'll get a quick couple of nice cuts with it, it goes dull immediately. And even the last couple times I had them sharpened professionally, they would dull after one use, and honing steel wouldn't do much for it. Is there any reason why these knives no longer stay sharp? I thought they were supposed to last a long time. And, could having them sharpened incorrectly (either by the professional or myself) end up "destroying" the knife to the point of no return? I'd like to take them back to a professional but again, they have been collecting dust in our kitchen and we've since been using $20 chefs knives that are currently performing better.
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If you can get them sharp on a whetstone but they dull very quickly, after a few cuts, it’s most likely due to you having a wire edge or burr, that then breaks off or folds, which causes a quick and abrupt decrease in sharpness/cutting ability. Try to use progressively less pressure and flip sides often towards then end of a grit stage, and run the edge through the edge of a cutting board to break off the wire/burr.
| 163 |
9mgql3
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What makes dining hall chicken breasts so dry So I am writing a report on my university's dining halls and wanted to know what is it about college dining halls where chicken always comes out dry from when you grab a peace from the hotplate/steam tray thing. What practices could be implemented to avoid this occurrence from happening?
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Overcooking/high hold temps. Perceived moistness is usually a function of actual juices retained by the protein structure + fat + rendered connective tissue (like collagen). Chicken breasts have very little of the latter two, which is what makes it so tender and succulent when cooked just right, but so terrible when overcooked. Above a certain temp/time, all the retained juices are just squeezed out by the contracting proteins, leaving it dry and mealy. If you boil a chicken breast (so obviously plenty of external moisture), you will still get a dry piece of meat.
| 163 |
yznq3g
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What are the cherry chips in the Betty Crocker cake mix? I have a family member who loves the Cherry Chip cake mix. Grocery stores never have the mix and i prefer baking from scratch anyway. I was wondering if anyone knew what they were, when you google “cherry chips” you get bags of chocolate chip style cherry candy melts. Being able to order a package of these cherry things would be way more economical than ordering cake mix every time she wants something. Edit: do you think they’re just crushed candies? I can’t get my hands on a box to check lol.
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Perhaps https://shop.kingarthurbaking.com//items/cherry-jammy-bits-16oz-rte#
| 162 |
9mn2rf
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Why do french recipes throw away the aromatic veggies via a sieve? Julia Child's recipe for beef bourginion for example tells you to sieve the carrots and onions through a sieve, leaving only the gravy. Why do you do that? I find the carrots to be quite tasty.
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Once you've cooked them into the stew for a few hours their flavour has been put into the juices, and as a by product they ahve been overcooked and have a very mushy texture. You can therefore remove them without impacting the flavour of the dish. Personally, I kind of like the texture of the veg, and they act as a useful bulking agent to let the meat go further.
| 162 |
ioi9ti
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How clean is clean when it comes to checking if a cake is baked? So I've recently started to venture out of my usual cookbook and decided to get into cakes. However the overanalyzing that took place making a fruit cake gave me so much anxiety. When you stick a knife/skewer in the cake how clean does it need to be? Are we talking straight-out-of-the-drawer clean or is a tiny bit of batter enough for it to finish baking by residual heat?
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No batter, crumbs are fine. The toothpick method isn't the best but it is a great learning tool. Take a look at the edges of your cake. Are they starting to pull away from the sides of the pan? Yes means it's actually a touch over baked, but it's another good way to make sure it won't be raw. Look at the top of your cake before you test it. Does it jiggle? If it's cracked - does it look wet at all? If you touch it (gently!) is it firm and spring back or does it feel spongy and leave fingerprints? Fruit cakes, like quick breads, are really wet cakes to begin with so the toothpick can be a little misleading. Touch is usually the best way to tell if they are done.
| 161 |
rw1eku
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Home made mozza sticks get all blorpy and ooze when fried. Advice? Historically whenever we make mozza sticks we'll cut them up into finger-size, then it's just the usual flour, egg and crumb. We've tried chilling them a little before frying but to no avail. The crumb isn't thick enough, or the cheese gets too hot and just oozes everywhere and makes a mess. How do I make them more better? Yes I can buy premade but .. bleh, and we're doing keto for the next little while to slim down a little. So, our crumb will just be ground pork rind this time. Dunno if that makes a diff.
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Freeze them. Blorp (more easily) avoided.
| 161 |
hsc1vs
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Been trying to make whipped cream for far too long, tried EVERYTHING, but it keeps going straight to Butter. What can I do? (Details below) I've been using cream collected from Buffalo milk, never older than 4-5 days. I've tried everything, hand-held mixture, beating by hand, making sure cream and equipment are ice cold. Every time I whip the heavy cream it turns to Butter damn near instantly. I know how to whip, done it before with whipping cream, it just won't seem to happen with heavy cream. What can I do?
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If Buffalo milk has twice the fat cow milk does (google) I would assume the cream just has too much fat. Maybe add water or some of the milk to loosen it?
| 161 |
sk32bn
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Parmesan rinds in soup. How is it possible that I somehow screw this up every time? Seems pretty straightforward, right? Put the rind in the soup, summer, and voila. But every time I try this the rind ends up being this gooey blob that I have to fish out before serving. How exactly is the rind supposed to impart its flavor? Am I simmering too hard or not hard enough? Is it supposed to stay firm the whole time or dissolve completely? It must be one or the other, and not the unsightly mass I always end up with.
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It is not one or the other- the gooey blob is what you should expect. I eat the gooey blob- chef’s treat.
| 160 |
bm7vy1
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Why is my dad’s cast iron pan so smooth?? My dad has had the same cast iron pan since college, so nearly 40 years. It is so smooth on the bottom (the sides are a little wonky though) and practically nonstick. He uses it ALL. THE. TIME. He cleans it with chain mail sometimes, sometimes a dishrag. He got me my own (the Lodge brand) for my wedding a few years ago and I’m wondering if it will ever approach the smoothness of my dad’s and how I can facilitate that process. Also, if you know how I could refinish the sides for him (I’m thinking for Father’s Day), please drop your tips. here’s his pan
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Top tip! Do not touch his pan - don't try to refinish it!!
| 160 |
zdkl63
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Is there anything that freezes like alcohol (but isn’t alcohol)? My friends mom makes the these margarita drinks that are essentially just tequila and margarita mix poured into a Tupperware container and then put in the freezer. Since the alcohol doesn’t freeze (or only partly?), the margarita has this perfect slush consistency - straight out of the freezer. The thing is, I don’t drink anymore. Is there anything non-alcoholic that you could substitute that would have similar properties? Or am I stuck just making smoothies in a blender?
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You could look up recipes for a granita. It’s an Italian dessert that you pour into a container and put into the freezer, taking it out every so often to scrape with a fork until you have a crystallized sorbet sort of consistency.
| 160 |
vtdet4
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How do caterers prepare make-ahead pasta dishes? Hi all, Went to a wedding anniversary party over the weekend, where the food was a huge buffet provided by a local caterer. One thing that I noticed is that the buffet included pastas. I tasted a few of them, and they were so much better than any pasta I've ever made after reheating it again. The sauce was nice and creamy, almost as if it was freshly made. I'm assuming these caterers make all the dishes in their own kitchen ahead of time, and then reheat it before serving. How are they able to keep their pasta so creamy and delicious? If I reheat some leftover pasta that I finished in the sauce, the sauce will lose its creaminess and become dry, I'm assuming because the pasta is absorbing the liquids in the sauce.
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When making pasta restaurants will cook pasta ahead and cool it off. When it comes out of the strainer lay it out on a sheet pan so it lays flat. Two schools of thought next. If you don't oil your pasta and let it cool like this the starches will make them stick together, but a quick dip in warm water before saucing will loosen them back up. Doing this will allow the sauce to adhere to the noodle better than if oiled, but in a catering sense it will soak up more sauce too because it sits so long. Or, do oil your pasta when it cools. It won't stick together cause food lube. Sauce won't soak in as much because the oil coat.
| 160 |
4xihc2
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This is a weird question, and I feel sort of evil for asking it; but are there any type of fish or other seafood that you can keep at home in an aquarium, that you can also eat - and that maybe even reproduce?
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~~Hydro~~Aquaponics with Tilapia is quite a common setup, you could maybe do it with some species of catfish, trout or perch also. Snakeheads are hardy and would work, but they're carnivores, so you'd be spending more to feed them than they're worth.
| 160 |
hwkncf
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Why does my meat always turn gray instead of brown when cooking? Hello I’m a beginning home cook and I have always had trouble with cooking any red meat instead of turn a nice deep brown it turns just an ugly gray. I was wondering if this was me under seasoning or if it was that I didn’t have my pan hot enough. Any advice would be very appreciated!!
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Could be a few reasons why: - Make sure to preheat your pan and then add an oil with a high smoke point before adding the meat. If you’re using cast iron pan bring it up to temp slowly to ensure it’s properly heated through. Canola/ grape seed/ avocado/ rice bran oil all work great for this purpose. Typically for a steak or similar protein you want to see the oil just beginning to smoke before you add the meat. With that said, be sure not to burn the oil or you’ll get a bad flavor. - Make sure to avoid overcrowding your pan. Too many things crammed into a small pan will end up steaming rather than browning because the juices that are released during the cooking process don’t get a chance to evaporate quick enough. Moisture in the pan = steam = grey meat. - Avoid salting your protein too early before cooking. Salting meat and letting it sit for awhile will draw moisture to the surface. This is fine but make sure you’re patting in down with a paper towel before you add it to the pan. Too much moisture on the surface will steam the meat rather than brown. Hope this helps!
| 160 |
l32pwi
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Is there a limit to how long you should keep your chicken wings in buttermilk? So I’m making wings for an event tomorrow. I just put the chicken wings in the buttermilk and left it covered in the fridge. I’d do it tomorrow morning but I’m on a tight schedule so I probably wouldn’t be able to do it in the morning. I also won’t get home tomorrow until rough 8:45pm. So the wings will be in the buttermilk for roughly a whole 24 hours. Could anything bad happen from leaving them in this long? I didn’t really know what else to add to the brine so I also have some chili flakes in it and that’s it.
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Samin Nosrat has made her buttermilk chicken technique popular - including marinating fir 24 hours - so you should be fine. https://www.saltfatacidheat.com/buttermilkmarinated-roast-chicken
| 159 |
o92vkx
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How do you deal with all the jars of things you need to keep in your refrigerator? I like to cook "authentically" (whatever that means) from lots of different cultures. So I buy a lot of ingredients. I'm not sure when I'm going to use the pomegranate molasses and rose water again, but they can just sit in the pantry. The problem is that most of my fridge is full of various things that take up valuable real estate. So, so much stuff. Doubanjiang, jerk sauce, capers, sambal, harissa, bacon grease, sun dried tomatoes, gochujang. I could go on, but I don't want to get up and actually check the fridge now. I have a dorm fridge and chest freezer downstairs. The dorm fridge doesn't really work for much but drinks, so it gets ignored. I could and have put stuff in there, but I also get inspired when I see the ingredients. Does anyone have a strategy? They just take up so much space so inefficiently.
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This night be slightly nutty, but if you cook smaller portions of these sauces, see which ones freeze well and then use a silicone ice cube mold to freeze individual portions. Then you can keep the frequently used ones or sauces that don't freeze well in the fridge and when you cook, toss in a cube of whatever sauce you need from the larger freezer.
| 159 |
nap44i
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Is it possible to get a crusty caramelized patty with a nonstick pan? So I made a post about how to get the crusty patty and most said that I need a cast iron pan or stainless steel. I tried looking for a good price in my country and for ME its a bit expensive as a poor student. Anyway, what I want to know is that when the users told me I should get another pan does that mean that nonstick is impossible for a crusty patty or just super hard. If there is a way with nonstick can u tell me until I save enough?
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It's generally not advised to use high heat on non-stick pans, as it can degrade the coating. At minimum it could shorten the non-stick life of your pan, at worst it could ~~leach some nasty stuff into your food~~ release fumes you probably don't want to breathe. Do you have thrift stores or second-hand stores where you live? Used cast irons pans can often be found for cheap and can be easily restored if they're not in great shape.
| 159 |
4ft4hc
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So I guess MSG isn't as bad as people made it out to be so what are some good uses and guidelines that I should know about its use?
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It's not that it "isn't as bad," it isn't bad at all. It just is.
| 159 |
gfdhcr
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How do you organize your spices? By use? Alphabetically? Putting most paired together? My spice shelf is a mess and I end up digging around for a while before finding what I need. How do you do it?
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I just mix them all together in one large jar. Saves so much time and space! Seriously though, alphabetical is the only way to go. I do have to redo it every couple months because my kids are dumb, apparently.
| 158 |
7ioj81
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My boyfriend is sleeping but I want to bake cookies and don't know how to turn on his oven. I just realized that up until this point in life, every oven I've used was digital. It's a really old oven (his dad's late-mother's kept mostly for sentimental reasons). I think the brand is Roper. I tried turning the knob to 350 but smelled a strong gas smell and didn't want to accidentally blow up the apartment. Do I have to let it ignite like a burner or just turn it to the temperature I want?
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I actually own a very similar oven by the same company. The pilot for the oven needs to be manually lit, even though the burners all have a standing pilot light. 2 step lighting procedure: Once you have a lighter ready First, turn the dial to 550 degrees (all the way up). Next, open the oven door, there is a small hole on the deck of the oven, near the door opening. This is where you light the pilot. You should see/hear the flame catch from there. Happy baking!
| 157 |
r3zrwy
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Why was one of the chicken breasts chewy and difficult to shred? I'm used to baking tenderloins but decided to try baking chicken breasts for only the 2nd time. I baked using an aluminum cooking sheet lined with parchment paper. After they were done I checked the temperature at 3 points (the thickest points) and got 175, 183, 184. I always shred then afterwards. Most of them were dry and stringy stop they were easy to shred. But one of the breasts seemed very different. It was difficult to pull apart. I ate it later and it was noticeably chewier. I was afraid this breast may have somehow been undercooked, but is there another reason for its texture? It seems unlikely this was uncooked since even the thickest parts of the breasts were more than hot enough.
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There's a condition plaguing commercial/factory farm chickens called Woody Chicken Breast. The specific cause isn't yet known, but it's suspected it's tied to the rapid growth since it's especially prevalent in broilers. It's an abnormally in the muscle tissue that affects the texture and quality of the meat, specifically the breast meat. It's become such an issue that there are roughly half a dozen studies investigating the root cause and how to mitigate the problem. Buying chicken from sources you know to be free range, quality chicken farms will help, as the issue seems to be limited to factory farm chickens. Edit: you out the bit about hormones, as (at least in the US) they're banned, but the rest is still accurate.
| 157 |
9wkrqm
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what happens if you use blender wand on a bunch of eggs like if you were making merang but instead you fry them like a fried egg? i wanna do this with a bunch of eggs (whites and the yellow bit too) then pour the froth into egg rings and fry them up but my wife says its a stupid idea and wont let me so i figure i would find out if 1) this is already a thing and 2) if it would work or if its just a bad idea (and why) i figure if the internet tells me its ok i might be able to present my argument to her again i was also thinking of chucking in some curry powder (keens) so its all yellow and spicey
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You get a puffy omelette. But seriously. Is wife a code word for mom and dad?
| 156 |
rjwl05
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Would it be possible to make "whipped cheese" if you used heavy cream as the liquid component of a sodium citrate-based cheese sauce? Yeah, so this is based on a weird dream I had last night where I was in a science class and made whipped cheese. But I woke up and wondered...would it work? I like using sodium citrate to make cheese sauces, and usually I just use water or milk as the liquid component. Of course, depending on the ratio of liquid to cheese, you can affect the thickness of the final sauce. So what if you used heavy cream, let it cool, and then tried to whip it in a mixture? Would it work? Obviously the liquid to cheese ratio would need to be enough so that the sauce was still thin and runny when cold. I don't even know what application I would want whipped cheese for, but would this be at all possible? Or is this just a weird dream I had?
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What I am really confused about is why we are heating the cream at all. Whipped cheese is just cheese mousse. You use heavy cream, a soft cheese, and some salt and pepper or whatever. Whip up the heavy cream, food process your cheese so it's smooth and fold it in along with the salt and pepper. I've done this with Feta, Goat, and Blue Cheese You can do it with cheddar also I guess.. make a basic cheese sauce, allow to cool, fold into the whipped heavy cream. But anyways, look up Cheese Mousse recipes, as this is what you want.
| 156 |
olx80r
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Can I use msg on steak? If so, how much should I use? I’ve never used MSG and have heard that too much MSG makes the food worse. I’m grilling a tomahawk steak that’s about 1.3kg in weight so I was wondering how much MSG I should roughly add to the steak?
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You might want to look into making some "Super Salt". It's a game changer for things such as this. https://www.businessinsider.com/cooking-with-msg-supersalt-2017-2
| 156 |
tbcax1
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How do I cook a Skirt Steak on grill for fajitas? I know it seems pretty common sense, but mine never come out right. It would be good if I were eating it as a regular steak, but for fajitas it is far too chewy and hard to chew through. I marinate the whole skirt and throw on grill on about medium high heat with the lid down, flipping every 2 minutes. I think for fajitas there should be no pink no? Maybe I should take a mallet to them. What should my internal temperature be? Currently it comes out like a ribeye. I need a fork and knife to cut my ribeyes and have to chew a bit as they are so tender and juicy. This is how my fajitas are turning out and i think they should cut and bite easier. Any help appreciated ty!
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Pro chef 20 years. It’s not the marinade or the cooking method. It’s the way you’re cutting it afterward. Cut against the grain with a very sharp knife, into very thin strips. Sear on a hot grill or pan for a few min on each side, high heat. I pull them from the grill around 126 and rest them to 136-140 or so. Should be pink but not red for ideal tenderness. A bit past midnight rare, but not really a full medium. Slice them across the grain about 1/8-1/4 inch. Probably as thing as you can with home tools.
| 156 |
vra4wp
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Why do people say to cut corn in a bowl (or two, one smaller and upside down)? It seems more dangerous and bad for your knife than just using a cutting board. And it doesn’t go everywhere on a board
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I use Jaques Pepin’s technique. Hold the cob in your hand. Position the knife at an angle to the cob and the knife slides very easily and neatly through the corn Easy to find a video: how to cut corn off the cob: link:
| 155 |
8r3iki
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Quick question. When I hand cut peppers and onions with a knife they stay fresher and last longer then when sliced on a deli slicer...I notice when I use a slicer they end up getting alot of moisture and get wilted... Why?
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I think your knife may be sharper than the blade on your deli slicer. When cutting with your knife you’re properly cutting with minimal bruising so moisture stays in the onion. Most of the cells stay intact. Using the slicer you might be ending up bruising and crushing more than you are cutting cleanly.
| 155 |
zynm1y
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how to reduce the acidity in spaghetti sauce? What is the quick and simplest way to reduce the acidity in spaghetti sauce?
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If you mean raise the pH to make the sauce less acidic, use baking soda. If you mean, reduce the acidic *flavor*, but leave the pH un touched, sugar.
| 153 |
jekda5
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Is there a way to cook small fish (like these frozen smelt I got) and have them turn out delicious, without frying them? Bigger fish are just great grilled or in the oven but I can't seem to find many highly favored ways to make small fish without frying. Any explanation welcome.
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I toss them in salt, pepper, olive oil and then coat them in cornstarch. Then arrange on a mesh oven tray and turn on the convection function of the oven. Gets really crispy.
| 153 |
xn6n65
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What’s the correct way to drain fat from ground beef that’s fried? I like to make this banh mi beef bowl and sometimes there’s too much fat from the ground beef and it waters down the ponzu sauce that I add to it preventing it from thickening and coating the beef. What’s the best way to drain the fat? Are you supposed to just pour it in a pasta strainer into the sink or is there a better way to do it? Also when I do pour it out it coats the sink and is hard to clean off. Not sure what to do with the fat after it’s drained.
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Don't pour it down the sink, that can mess with your pipes, as the grease will solidify when it cools back down. I usually pour the grease into an empty can, then throw it into the garbage once it's full.
| 153 |
e43b93
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UPDATE: I have to prep churro batter for 300 people this weekend. Am I able to make it tomorrow and hold it for the weekend? My boss said I should’ve just made it at the event I was working, so I did and made enough for at least 180 churros. Deep fryer was not working so I had to fry in the pot I made pate a choux in. Came out really well actually. Unfortunately, event was a dud and only like 100 people showed, of which few (sold 6 lol) got churros. So I do hate my life but I learned a lot so I guess that’s cool
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Time to make churro bread pudding with a ganache glaze!
| 152 |
fu4raa
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Ways to instill depth of flavour with plant based ingredients? Hello! This is my first post here. I hope everyone is safe and well. I live in New Zealand so we’re all in lockdown so I’m trying a lot of new recipes and trying to improve my technique. I rely heavily on stock cubes (Massels) in most of my cooking. I use stock in soups and curries, and reduce it into components of other meals (like jackfruit for tacos for instance). I made this recipe tonight https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/bean-and-grain-stew-with-garlic-and-chiles And it blew my mind because it didn’t use stock but it was DELICIOUS and tasted very pro and complex. It had lots of different techniques which I have never done before, like cooking dried beans and then leaving them to cool in their cooking liquid before using them, simmering garlic in oil until it’s brown, pickling chilli in vinegar, and blackening onions in the pan and then cooking them into the liquid but discarding the onions themselves. As a result (and also as a result of a lot of oil and salt, to be fair) this stew was amazing. I was hoping there might be other awesome techniques like those I’ve listed above that I can use to add depth to dishes without resorting to stock. I kind of feel like I’ve been ‘fake cooking’, if you know what I mean. I would be very grateful for any suggestions. Also my meals are all vegan so I’m looking for techniques that use plant based ingredients. Thank you in advance.
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There are great vegan traditions in both Chinese and Indian cooking. Take a stroll through those and see what you find. grossly simplified, classic Indian cooking relies on a masterful use of spices to enhance the flavors of simple foods while Chinese cuisine is more focused on umani producing foods like fermented beans or mushrooms. Same thing goes on to a lesser extent in European cooking with tomato based sauces providing the umani hit. if you have some lentils around see if you can find a dal recipe to try. You may have to substitute or eliminate some spices, not going to ruin anything. they often sauté some onions and garlic at the end and mix it in in a step called tempering which introduces another jolt of flavor. Try to find a simple Chinese stir fry that uses mushrooms in a secondary role. They also are masterful at tofu recipes. Sometimes you need access to special sauces but you don’t need it all the time. You’ll want to have ginger and garlic around and of course, soy sauce. there’s a whole big world of delicious culinary traditions formulated by people who rarely had access to meat. Go out and explore it!
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gj0ysq
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Increasing 'chew' of hot fudge? I've been on the quest to make a super chewy hot fudge. After a couple of different recipes and misses (runny sauces, seized chocolate, etc.), I landed on the Smitten Kitchen Hot Fudge Recipe (recipe below if you don't want to click the link), which came out wonderfully. 2 tablespoon (30 grams) unsalted butter 2/3 cup (155 ml) heavy or whipping cream 1/2 cup (170 grams) light corn syrup 1/4 cup (50 grams) packed dark-brown sugar 1/4 cup (20 grams) cocoa powder 1/4 teaspoon fine or table sea salt 6 ounces (170 grams) semi- or bittersweet chocolate, chopped, or 1 cup semi- or bittersweet chocolate chips 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract Combine the butter, cream, sweeteners, cocoa, and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Simmer on low, stirring, for 3 to 5 more minutes after everything has melted, then remove from heat and stir in chopped chocolate or chocolate chips. Stir in vanilla. However, I would still like to experiment with making this recipe (or any hot fudge recipe, really) 'chewier' - basically going for that very rich and chewy mouthfeel when the fudge cools down on ice cream. Does anyone have any suggestions? Simmer the initial mixture for longer, etc.?
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Use a thermometer and make sure your cream/sugar mixture hits 235F (soft ball stage) when you cook it.
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ulv50r
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Does cooking kill all harmful bacteria even if the meat was left out at room temperature for a few hours? I have read the defrosting frozen chicken on the counter overnight is not a good idea because bacteria will grow but if I cook chicken to 165 degrees where theoretically all harmful bacteria die out, does it matter that chicken has more bacteria than a safer method of defrosting (like through the refrigerator)
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I'm a Chef. Do not thaw your meat on the counter overnight that is too long. IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE HOME you can thaw it on the counter for a few hours until it is thawed. Just keep checking it and put it in the fridge once it is thawed and still cool. Now LOTS of people are going to disagree with me. But I'm 58 and have been thawing my meat on the counter my whole life and I've never gotten sick because of it. Just be sure you are going to be home so you can monitor it and put it in the fridge once it is thawed.
| 152 |
ys9i0q
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What to Do with 15lbs of Imitation Cheddar We ordered extra melt and got this instead. Vendor gave us a credit and said keep the product. We have 3 15lb bags I was given one. It doesn't taste bad, but it won't really melt at all. I was thinking pimento cheese but it just feels kinda low effort. Looking for suggestions!
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Put it in a sauce. The extra starch and emulsifiers will make a very stable emulsion. Some ideas: Beer Cheese Soup, Brocolli Cheese Soup, Sauce Mornay with cream and no roux, or warm appetizer dip with cream cheese/quark and whatever veggie/meat bits you want to add. You could also bowl chop/food processor it with real cheese and make a cold pack type cheese spread.
| 151 |
z35m6o
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I fucked up the green bean casserole. Is there any possible way to fix this? I cooked the green bean casserole and only now realized I didn’t cook the green beans before doing the casserole. Dumb mistake- any way to make the green beans soft after the fact?
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Bake it again tomorrow 😂
| 151 |
puhvcz
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What is this soy sauce given with out takeout from the local Catonese/HK restauarant? Hoping some people familiar with Cantonese/Hong Kong style cuisine can help. I often order from a local joint that makes Peking duck and Roast Pork Belly (that you can see hanging on hooks at the front of the restaurant). Each time I've ordered take out from they give like a type of soy-sauce in small little containers. But it's much sweeter and is more aromatic (like five spice or maybe black bean?). It's not thick, it has a watery consistency like regular soy sauce. Does anyone know what this 'soy sauce' is or know what the recipe is? It's definitely not specific to the joint I go to because other HK-restaurants I've been to have it too when you order take out.
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cantonese person here, the soy sauce used to serve with roast meats is seasoned soy sauce. this is the same type used to make braised soy chicken (豉油鸡). it is sweeter, much like the way char siew is the recipe is: light soy sauce (4 cups of soy sauce reduces to 1 cup) brown sugar sliced ginger shaoxing/hua tiao jiu rice wine handful of spring onions white sesame oil (if you cant get white sesame oil, normal is fine) \*\*optional 1 star anise 1. in a low-medium hot pan, fry the sliced ginger and star anise until fragrant. turn the heat UP and add shaoxing when its hot so the alcohol will evaporate off when it hits the dry-heated pan. it should sizzle a bit. 2. add soy sauce and brown sugar. mix thoroughly as if you're making a very fast stir fry. turn the heat down to medium and let it simmer (barely bubbling) and REDUCE. 3. once it's reduced down, turn OFF the heat and add a handful of spring onions + a touch of sesame oil. STIR EVERYTHING then wait. you add sesame oil last because it reacts very strongly to heat and is better when stirred through otherwise it will lose its full profile (think japanese miso) 4. once it's cool, taste it again. honestly i leave mine overnight to cool before tasting. you can use it to make lots of cantonese dishes like steamed fish or chestnut mushroom stew. it keeps in the fridge for 6 months++ as long as your container (glass) is clean. I did not list spice portions since it's up to a personal taste. I like mine with more ginger and less sweet, but you might like yours sweeter. To commenters below, dumpling soy sauce is chinkiang black vinegar, chinese rose wine (玫瑰露酒) and light soy sauce. Served with very thinly sliced ginger. If you don't have rose wine you can skip it but it adds that sweet aroma that makes it different from just vinegar and soy.
| 151 |
x5llzn
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I bought some fish from the local farmer's market. The fish has no labels and I forgot what I just bought. Hello community, The title pretty much explains it. I bought some fish that I never had before. I got home and realized nothing was labeled and forgotten what the hell I just bought. Maybe y'all can help me figured this out. Based on the suppliers website I was able it narrow down to these 4: 1. Pompfret 2. Sheepshead 3. Pompano 4. Amberjack Here are the pictures: Fish #1 * Side 1: https://imgur.com/aWcfHYj * Side 2: https://imgur.com/llNtH7T Fish #2 * Side 1: https://imgur.com/Vh6Kyou * Side 2: https://imgur.com/HYOPW51 Fish #3 * Side 1: https://imgur.com/93dQNur * Side 2: https://imgur.com/wNqULZc Any help would be appreciated.
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1 and 3 are amberjack. 2 is sheepshead. ~95% sure
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