Latest Cooking Answers

Spring rolls splitting when frozen

I was wondering if anyone knew why my spring rolls split when I freeze them? They are a larger spring roll, filled with veges, noodles & meat. I wrap them i

Is a "cup" on a coffee maker always 6 oz? Is this a standard in the US?

Our coffee maker instructions often refer to a "cup" of coffee. These cups are whats marked on the side of the coffee maker showing how much water is in the res

Is it okay to use aluminium foil instead of parchment paper while baking cookies?

I don't have access to parchment paper or even butter paper for that matter. I just read on a website that it'd be okay to use aluminium foil as long as I apply

Why is my homemade pork sausage rubbery?

We just made some pork sausage and fryed up a patty to check the spicing. The taste is fine but the patty is rubbery in texture. What did we do wrong or not a

Is steam lost in boiling negligible?

If I bring 20 ounces of water (2.5 cups) to boil in a kettle, and promptly remove it from the heat, is the amount of water lost (by volume/mass) a negligible qu

Mixing liquid ingredients to "just combine" to dry ingredients for muffins

When baking muffins and adding the liquid ingredients to the "well" in the dry ingredients, the recipe says "to just combine". Does this mean not to add the wh

How to Make Canned Coconut Milk Separate

My friend wants to make coconut milk separate so that she can use the cream for whipping. Can anyone suggest a way of accomplishing this? Edited to add: I aske

How can I keep my jam from overcooking while I process it?

As we've rolled into fruit season this year I've started canning up some jams using a traditional boiling process in my big stock pot (though I'm getting pretty

Do I need to baste an injected turkey?

This evening I intend to grill a 3 pound turkey breast over indirect heat. I've brined the turkey and am intending to inject it with a butter injection concocti

Which BBQ grill is better: cast iron or steel

I am going to buy a BBQ and I am torn between a cast iron BBQ and a stainless steel BBQ. What are the advantages and downsides of each?

Can I substitute Ener-G Egg Replacer with Orgran No Egg?

I'm interested in hearing any success (or woeful failure) stories on the behavioural differences between these two products. I've only found Orgran No Egg avail

Replacement for pop rocks?

I'm a big Heston Blumenthal fan and I'd like to try one of his recipes, which requires pop rocks. The problem is that I live in Brazil and nobody seems to have

What are the preferred uses for different sharpness of cheddar cheese?

As I eat nachos and cheese with some medium cheddar (dipping the nachos into melted cheese,) I notice the cheese is congealing differently than sharp cheese doe

How safe is it to harvest wild sassafras?

I am interested in trying to incorporate wild sassafras (roots, mostly) into my cooking. I have established definitively that the plants are sassafras, and not

How much experience is needed to work in a restaurant?

I've always thought it'd be cool to work in a restaurant as a chef or own one (though I could be sorely mistaken). I'm speaking of small town, mom and pop kinds

Copper/Bronze Frying Pans?

What are the downsides of using a copper or bronze frying pan as opposed to stainless steel or cast iron?

Sponge cake: excessive cooking time

I haven't baked anything for over a decade. But the other day I decided to have a go at doing a Victoria sponge. As a result, I now have lots of questions. But

How do I make raw peanut butter creamy?

I bought fresh ground peanut butter, and it's great and all, and I really like it for peanut sauces, but I really just want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich a

How to get glacé icing right on a cake?

It sounds simple enough. You take some icing sugar, wet it, mix it up until it's smooth, and then cover your cake with the stuff. The problem is, when I do thi

Are Garlic cloves supposed to be put as whole or as chopped up pieces in a soup?

Once I was making soup with a friend and the recipe called for a few cloves of garlic. She was ready to throw the garlic cloves into the soup whole without cho

Soaking liver in milk: in or out of the fridge?

When soaking pork liver in milk for 2 hours, should I place it in the fridge or at room temperature? I'm worried it might go bad, as my room is pretty hot in th

Aged steaks cooked as medium but came out looking well done

My partner and I always go to steak restaurants, tonight we went to a pub for a steak, I ordered a medium fillet mignon which is what I always order. The steak

Short term storage of bechamel

How far in advance can I make a bechamel sauce before using it without having to cool, refrigerate and reheat. For instance if I'm making a creamed spinach dis

How to make a New York cheesecake with a super creamy, silky texture?

I've been baking New York cheesecake for a few years now and, with the help of various recipes and some experimentation, I've been able to get pretty close to t

How to convert normal sponge to chocolate sponge

I have a recipe for a normal Victoria sponge. I also have a huge box of Swiss hot chocolate powder. (The kind you sprinkle onto hot milk to make drinking chocol

How to trim a cake so it's level?

If you cake is too domed, you can just cut the top off, right? Thing is, I tried this, and now my cake is taller on one side than the other. So it's still not

Cocoa vs chocolate

OK, this has been bugging me for a long time... According to our cookery teacher at school, chocolate contains three ingredients: cocoa, sugar, and milk. If you

Recreating a Mexican spice blend I have bought

I previous bought a pre-made spice blend from a health food store which I absolutely loved however its $5 per 30g which is pretty expensive so I was thinking I

Cooling and diluting over-reduced stock down with cold water

I've just had a brown chicken stock on the simmer for the last 8 hours, not planning for that long but got called out. Nonetheless, the liquid has reduced by ab

How to make softer scones?

I used the scone recipe from here, but the scones turned out really hard and dry. What should I have done differently? More butter, more milk. Less cooking time