Latest Cooking Answers

How to efficiently remove the food particles stuck in the scrubbing pad?

Food bits get stuck in this. Simply washing it under tap doesn't help. How to efficiently remove the stuck particles from this scrubbing pad? Don't have a dish

Will double-action baking powder lose potency if not baked immediately?

I use double-action baking powder to make waffles. If I bake the waffles immediately, they rise nicely. However, if I bake the waffles more than 3 hours after m

Frozen and Unfrozen Chicken: what's the difference?

I see some chicken places advertising that their chicken has never been frozen. The suggestion, I suppose, is that never-been-frozen chicken is better. Is there

Making chili less oniony

I made chili last night and it is way too oniony. I know you can use potatoes to make things less salty; any advice on making already made food less oniony?

Kneading and rolling fondant icing without air bubbles

I recently did a short cake decoration course and we rolled out fondant to prepare cake boards and then cover the cakes with fondant. The work surface there was

Brown Basmati rice -- How to prevent mushiness?

I have been cooking regular white Basmati for years and have perfected the method to get it to perfection (solid, tender, not mushy). Recently, I decided to t

Can you cure fish in jar?

Since it will be cold for some time, I was thinking of using my detached, unheated shed to pickle some veggies. But another thought I was having was to actuall

What is considered to be an ideal roasting time and temperature for Cauliflower?

If I just want to make the simplest roasted cauliflower, what is the best temperature and roasting time? I have never roasted it, only boiled and fried it befo

Best bets for fresh fish for sushi/sashimi?

Assuming a big city on the Easter Seaboard in the U.S. with a fresh fish market, what would you say are the best bets for sushi-grade freshness when it comes to

sprig of thyme dry substitute ratio

I have a recipe that asks for 2 sprigs of thyme. How much dry thyme do i use as a substitution for the fresh? Or what does 2 fresh sprigs of thyme measure, a ta

long term wine storage

I'm planning storing some wine over a long period of time. I'm not sure about the exact duration, but I'm thinking of either 25 or 50 years. What should be tak

Extraordinary Beef Gravy?

I recently overcooked a rib roast – not badly, but into the “well-done” class. The roast itself was still OK – but the gravy…the

How to bake burger buns so that they expand horizontally instead of expanding vertically?

We are trying to bake burger buns and we usually play the rounded individual dough on the baking tray and use another baking tray to press it down to flatten it

How do you determine whether a coconut is young or not by knocking on it?

I've seen some people knock on a coconut to determine if it is young or not. Sometimes they knock with their knuckles, or with a machete. How do they do that?

What kind of cookware can melt in a microwave? Is it safe to eat food cooked in a melted cookware?

We were trying to prepare a chocolate cake using a Panasonic Microwave. We set the oven to auto mode for cake preparation. There was a time for preheating (180&

How to evenly spread butter in each square of a waffle?

We made large Belgian-style waffles tonight and I found it incredibly difficult to evenly spread the butter in each square. In fact, it was so time consuming, b

Why to add garlic for pickles?

My mom uses to add 2 or 3 garlic cloves for each pickle jar when pickling something. She says that by this way she will prevent them from being overpickled, an

What is the benefit to using a paper filter in a moka pot?

I saw a picture of this method being used in a magazine from Hong Kong. A cafe gave a short description of brewing with a moka pot. They placed a small, circu

How should one prepare beef heart?

I've got one in my freezer. The whole heart. After a cool defrost... How should I cook this heart o' cow? Steaks are the only application that come to mind.

What ensures big holes in my bread?

Is it a high hydration rate? Minimal kneading? High-protein flour to hold hydration?

Saute potatoes without burning them

I had a soup recipe that asked me to chop up onions, carrots, and potatoes and then saute them together until soft. However, when I tried, the potatoes ended u

How to clean and maintain cast iron lids

I have a number of cast iron lids that fit skillets, dutch ovens, etc. Most have the little cone-shaped spikes on the underside to collect and return moisture

Can you freeze avocado in a dish?

I already know you can't freeze an avocado and have it come out usable. Is this mitigated at all, however, by the avocado being in a dish? The specific example

Can Grapeseed oil be considered edible after it has passed the expiry date?

We have an un-opened bottle of grapeseed oil that got buried away and never used. It has 'best by 3/31/2012' on the label. Should I just throw it out or is it

How many times can vinegar (after soaking onions in it) be reused again for soaking the fresh onions?

How many times can same vinegar (after soaking onions in it) be reused again for soaking the fresh onions? Do I need to take any special care w.r.t Vinegar for

What hole size to prefer in the bread for what reasons?

I have seen someone asking how to get big holes in a bread? and then someone else asking how to get small holes in the bread? Why would someone like big holes

What temperature does the Maillard reaction occur?

There seems to be a lot of disagreement about the temperatures and conditions under which the Maillard reaction can occur. Cooking professionals reference all

American equivalent for British chocolate terms

When the British recipe calls for plain chocolate do they refer to cocoa powder, chocolate syrup, cooking squares, or Nestle style chips? Is it unsweetened, se

How to save a dish with an onion paste base which tastes like raw onion paste?

I was making a dish that requires the use of onion paste. Usually I'd fry the paste, but I had a bunch of other stuff that needed to be fried too, so I put that

Implied cooking temperatures on food packaging

Every time I follow directions I see instructions like this: Bring water to boil Stir in pasta Return to rapid boil Cook for 6 minutes for al-dente I set the s