Latest Cooking Answers

How do I make my sorbet thicker?

I made lemon sorbet and have already churned it but the consistency is too runny. I churned it a minimal amount using a food processor (I've done it this way be

Is there really a difference by throwing the vanilla pod in as well?

Recipes with milk and/or cream (panna cotta, ice cream, pastry cream, ...) often ask for the seeds of a vanilla pod (in Europe at least). A fair proportion of t

Had a small oven fire, how do i get the smoke smell out of the oven?

I was baking a buttermilk pie. I accidentally spilled it as i pushed the oven rack in. The oven caught fire. Now there is a slight smoke smell in the kitchen. I

Can vanilla pods be blended into a paste?

As recipes using vanilla seeds often request the pod to be chucked in the pot, I'm thinking there must be no unappealing flavors in the pod itself. I've seen v

Why do steamed avocados taste like eggs?

Today, I was steaming some kale, and decided to try steaming some avocados as well, so I added them for the last 2 minutes of steaming (out of approximately 6 m

Balancing out saffron taste, chlorine/latex taste

I am cooking a chickpea stew and clearly used too much Saffron (high chlorine taste). Does anyone know what I can use to balance out or mask the flavour?

How to chill a compote?

Our apricot tree is overloaded with apricots this year so I have been trying out a variety of different apricot recipes. I am particularily enjoying an apricot

Thinning Tomato paste

I have been experimenting with making my own condiments over the paste few weeks and there is one thing I cannot get correct. The tomato paste has a thicker g

Cooking Chemistry: lemon juice/soymilk buttermilk substitute turning bitter and 'rising'

I made a soup recipe the other night (mainly potato, spinach, and veggie broth) that called for buttermilk. I substituted soymilk and lemon juice, reading onli

My olive oil didn't solidify in the fridge. Is it fake?

After reading about scandals involving adulterated (and sometimes fake) olive oil, I decided to test a bottle of Bertolli olive oil. Bertolli in particular has

What does it mean to broil 4 inches from the heat for x minutes?

I was looking at some recipes online and it said 'Broil 4 in. from the heat for 1-2 minutes or until lightly browned.' Does broiling mean a specific temperatur

Cooking Sweet Potatos in the Microwave

What are the recommended times for cooking sweet potatoes in the microwave? Microwave wattage associated with those times would be appreciated as well.

How can I make crispy chips?

I made potato chips by following this recipe, but they didn't come out crispy. What is the accurate temperature for frying chips? Note (from Jefromi): my best

What meat should be used for Bolognese?

Bolognese sauce is a recipe that has earned my disrespect, despite me always keeping a pound of supermarket ground beef in the freezer ready to make it. You se

Using nuts in pavlova meringue

I want to use ground nuts in a pavlova meringue, but I am having difficulty deciding what cooking technique would be best to use - recipes for meringue with nut

What is the 'best' flour to use for brownies?

Cake, Bread or AP? My goal is a 'chewy', 'moist' brownie. I have always used AP in the past, but am wondering if an alternative flour might improve the final re

Is having an extending blade near the knife handle a serious risk when cutting food?

Here's an example of a very typical knife design: Look at where the arrow points. That's a blade part that extends from the handle orthogonal to the knife ax

What is the best technique to put icing on plastic?

I'm going to attempt to do is bake a cake for my daughter's first birthday. The cake is going to be based on this recipe, but I want it to look more like this o

How to cook chicken franks?

I have some chicken franks (sausages). How do I properly/completely cook them to include them in spaghetti and omelettes? Thanks.

What is the difference between a gugelhupf pan, a bund(t) pan and a rodon pan?

I searches around a bit and found that the same manufacturer often offers forms under all three names, so I don't think this is a synonym. Also, I found a forum

Is it incorrect when someones says you can lower acidity with sweetness?

It is commonly known that if your food is too acidic, you lower the acidity of the food by adding something sweet. Is this correct? Acidity can me measured by

What is the lowest possible temperature for stewing meat?

If you want to stew meat low and slow, how low can you go and still get collagen break-down? And would there be any advantage to stewing at the lowest possible

Cooking dried corn

I'm trying to cook some dried corn that normally is meant for popcorn. I've soaked it 36 hours using bottled water and then rinsed it multiple times with tap w

Why does making instant coffee in the microwave taste burnt?

First off, I did see this question about reheating the coffee in a microwave oven, but the answer merely suggested that stale coffee tastes bad irrespective of

How can I add yogurt to a quickbread recipe?

I stumbled upon a recipe for Yogurt-Zucchini bread, and I like the idea of adding yogurt to other quickbread recipes for the texture and flavor, especially whol

Baking time difference in pyrex versus metal

What baking time is optimal for recipes that are done in pyrex for banana bread versus metal baking dish?

Why is my zucchini bread mushy?

I just followed this recipe. My only changes were to add walnuts, and some allspice. After the 50 minute baking time, it was still quite gooey, so I kept it i

When and why would one infuse flavor into sugar for baking?

Listening to The Splendid Table today, the first caller asked how to infuse flavors into her marshmallows. The answer provided was essentially to infuse the su

Fixing Sticky Seasoning on Cast-Iron Pan

I screwed up the seasoning on my cast-iron pan. I forgot to flip it upside-down, so instead of that hard, smooth surface, it became sticky and gummy. Is it pos

How can I use these new findings on tomatoes to my advantage?

A new study appears to suggest that the characteristics that make a tomato most appealing when choosing one at the store also make it the least appealing when b