Latest Cooking Answers

What's the difference between a French oven and a Dutch oven?

I've been haunting the discount cookware sites looking for Le Creuset pieces that won't put me in the poorhouse. I found two pieces that are similar size and pr

What kind of dishes use fresh coriander fruits

I grew some cilantro in my garden and allowed some of it to go to seed. Most commonly, I've seen the seed pods dried and ground. Where I live at least, the fres

Vinegar and battered chicken?

I made a recipe for crispy shallow-fried battered chicken. The recipe called for a little vinegar to be added to the chicken after drying and seasoning. This di

Is there a method for desalinating bacon?

Bacon contains a rather large amount of salt which can pose problems for people who are trying to find ways to reduce salt in their diet. Is there some method

How do I diagnose and adjust my bread recipe?

Our family has maintained a sourdough start for several decades. It has great flavor, but we use it mostly for pancakes. I've tried making bread with it several

Dutch oven cooking

I'm looking to improve my dutch oven cooking skills. What is the best source for proven recipes and good dutch oven techniques?

Why do some mangoes ripen without changing flesh color?

I frequently buy batches of mangoes to sun-ripen. 5% of these mangoes retain yellow flesh (and do not darken to orange) even as the fruit ripens (and becomes ta

What’s a good alternative to rice wine vinegar?

I find it difficult to source rice wine vinegar for recipes. I can usually find “rice vinegar“, “rice wine”, and “white wine vineg

How do I fix overly yeasty kefir?

My milk kefir grains now produce kefir with a very unpleasant yeasty/bready flavor. I've tried feeding it for a while, on the assumption that the yeast/bacteri

What kind of cooling garnish is like ice cream but doesn't melt?

In a related question, I asked about plating with bread for sampling chili. Here I need to find a cooling, as in take the heat off the capsaicin with fats, garn

Culinary uses for honeycomb?

On a whim, I bought real honeycomb (not the cookie type dessert) from a local shop. I tried eating it plain, but the wax makes it unpleasant and chewy. What ca

Where can I find a quality comparison for Zwilling Knives?

I'm trying to find comparisons between various knives from Zwilling. I know the difference between the lines: JA Henckels International tends to be of differen

Is Anise a substitute of cumin

I need cumin for everything I make, but its not available where i recently moved. However anise is available, and someone told me that cumin can be substituted

What is the proper volume to weight conversion for Bisquick?

Most recipes that call for Bisquick have volume measurements, but I've read it's better to measure most dry ingredients by mass (not to mention more convenient

Temperature of tandoor for making naan

What is the temperature used in a tandoor for making naan or kulcha? I know it's higher than 500 deg. F [260 deg. C], but don't know the exact range of temperat

What should I do with too-dry vanilla beans?

A few weeks ago, I bought a few vanilla beans to make mint ice cream. I only needed one, so I put the other bean back into the glass container it came in. Today

Best way to reheat pizza

Whats the best way to reheat leftover pizza? We usually use Boboli Crust with our own toppings, or sometimes we have frozen pizza.

What are different ways to roast Bell Peppers?

I was wondering if anyone had any tips for roasting bell peppers so that they get a nice blacked skin. I live in an apartment, and if I were to put the peppers

How to distinguish nutmeg freshness?

Does nutmeg come with a good-before date? How long can nutmeg stay good? Is there a way to 'see' (observe) how old the nutmeg is? I'm asking because I bought a

How can I dice vegetables on a small cutting board?

I have a fairly small cutting board - about 8.5" x 12.5" (22cm x 32cm), and I am finding it difficult to dice vegetables, especially the onions, without stuff g

How to make my meatballs more solid

I've been following a recipe for meatballs but they are far too loose for putting on the bbq. I thought I could maybe put them in the fridge before cooking the

What does gluten "do" in baking?

I saw many questions regarding converting baking recipes towards gluten-free, and it seems it's not an easy process. But none of the questions I came across hel

Mixing baking ingredients separately

Why would one need to mix the dry ingredients (flour, salt, soda) separately and before mixing into the liquid (butter, sugar) than just mixing everything into

How long is it safe to drink coffee after brewed?

How many hours/days would you recommend to drink coffee (after brewed) and consider it safe? (For example if you don't want to waste it). What is the difference

Does sesame seed oil taste like toasted sesame seeds?

When you have sesame seeds on a toasted bun, is that what sesame seed oil tastes like?

Why do drinks drunk from a glass instead of a bottle taste differently?

Cola drunken out of a glass instead to a bottle/can taste differently to me; it is much better. Is this due to more aroma smelled by your nose when drinking out

How much of the oil will stay in french fries?

Is there a fixed percentage of how much of the oil used to frying french fries will stay in the served french fries? I guess that it depends on things like di

Wondering if the bottle of wine I have is still good or not

During my move to a new place, I found a bottle of wine that I had kept in my refrigerator that was dated 2004. It was still sealed; it didn't look like anythin

Homemade Kahlua - something missing

Basic recipe for homemade Kahlua on the Intertubes is lots of sugar, some coffee, high alcohol content something or other, and vanilla. Some minor variations o

Are smoked pork chops from the butcher safe to eat without any further cooking?

I bought a smoked pork chop from the butcher yesterday, and assumed I would cook it like any other pork chop, but after looking at it, it seems like it may be e