Latest Cooking Answers

What are different methods of preserving chillies?

I've been given three chilli plants: Bulgarian Carrot Jalapeño Scotch Bonnet I'm not going to be able to use them fresh before winter arrives. What m

How can I tell if homemade ginger syrup has gone bad?

I made some Ginger syrup using the liquid I boiled the root in for candy. It's just water and sugar. I put it in a plastic liter bottle (from soda water) in the

What non-alcoholic liquid can I use to store Ginger, both cooked and raw?

I've read that storing Ginger in wine vinegar or vodka preserves it. Is there something non-alcoholic that will do the same thing?

What is levure equivalant in America?

We have a chocolate cake (brownie) recipe from France and calls for a packet of levure. We have been putting in yeast but not sure if it is wrong or right. Ye

My ciabatta dough hasn't risen after 2 hours!

I mixed my ciabatta dough 2 hours ago, and it's barely risen at all. I put it in a greased plastic container in the hot water cupboard, and marked the level to

What is the minimum temperature yeast will be active?

We all know that warmer temperatures mean more yeast activity (provided a food source), and that yeast survives freezing, but what is the minimum temperature y

Quick flavour for fresh popcorn

I'm a great fan of popcorn, and I recently acquired a popcorn maker. It's the sort that spins the kernels in a drum and heats the metal until they pop. However

Can German Potato Balls be frozen?

Can they be frozen, before being cooked, for a week? I'm making sauerbrauten & potato balls for 25 people, and thought if I could make them a week earlier a

What is 'adequate' refrigerated space for a single person [closed]

I have appeared to be dragged into an argument with my landlord about refrigerated space and he mentioned about having adequate space in a com

What would be the effect of doubling the egg in this bread?

A lot of my bread recipes are for two loaves, I never want two loaves, I usually barely make it through one. I like this recipe a lot: • 3/4 cups warm wa

baking time versus number of items in oven

I doubled a recipe for apple cake, and filled two 13x9 pans. Into the 350F wall oven they went. Recipe estimates 50-60 minutes. 60 minutes later, probe comes o

How can I evenly grill a thin steak on a skillet?

When I fry a thin (1/4") beef steak on a skillet/pan (iron, but not cast iron), I face the following problem: The steak bends, becoming slightly irregular-dome

Rice with worm and possibly their eggs

I bought a bag of brown rice from a store. After having opened and used for a while, I found there were moths flying in the house. At the same time, I found wor

Beef mince (ground beef) smells like vinegar

My wife bought some beef mince (ground beef) from a shop. It looked red. When she fried it, it give off an aroma of vinegar. Is it spoiled?

Should I add vegetables and spices in the stock-making stage of pig-knuckle soup?

I'm toying with the idea of making some soup - just a simple one. The recipe call for boiling/simmering a pig-knuckle for about four hours together with a laur

pb&j taste like soap

So I got some scented dish washer soap the other day and my wife used it the first time the other day in the dish washer including by sandwich container. Today

Is there a way to stop marshmallows from melting off the stick?

Does anyone know of a good way to keep marshmallows from melting off the roasting stick when making smores? Not just sliding off, more like when you use a hot r

Is it necessary to only boil vegetables (or chicken) or can they be pressure cooked and later be boiled for the flavour to seep in?

I was following this recipe (I've pasted it at the bottom of the question) for which the cooking time mentioned is 30 min. Although for me, it took around 45 mi

Spices storage conditions [duplicate]

I have seen in a lot of places that spices and dried herbs need to be kept in an airtight container. I have several container that are virtua

How does "BHT added to packaging material" actually work?

This is not a question about the merits of BHA or BHT (butylated hydroxyanisole or butylated hydroxytoluene). It is a question about how BHA/BHT work when "add

How to set the temperature in a refrigerator without proper indication on the dials?

My refrigerator is old, I don't know how old. I am unsure on how to set my dials.

What would be a good substitution for powdered milk in cereal cookies?

In a TV show, a recipe was used that its main ingredient was corn flakes. I don't know if it has a name but it calls for caster sugar, butter, corn flakes and m

What do I need to consider when upgrading to a 40 quart mixer?

I have a cookie business. Currently I'm using a Kitchenaid 7 quart mixer and can only make 50 cookies at a time. I'm thinking of upgrading to a Hobart HL-400 40

Did I just almost start an oil fire?

I wanted to make some burned onion rings, so I chopped up some onions and let it cook in oil on the stove. Heating the oil was taking a long time so I decided t

Choux pastry (Chocolate eclairs) doesn't rise

Last time I tried to make Chocolate eclairs (similar to cream puffs), the choux pastry just sat in the oven and basically fried. It didn't rise/grow and so I c

Can you warm biga in a microwave?

This might seem like barbaric question, but is it possible to bring refrigerated biga up to "frisky" temperature in a microwave, without damaging it? I'm too i

Help! I sliced my flank steak along the grain, is there a way to still have tender meat?

I don't know how to cook beef, I'm really not a meat eater; however, I prepared a recipe from memory and I was in a rush and I thought I remembered reading to s

How can I improve my fried rice?

I'm an amateur cook with almost no experience (never taught by my parents, first time cooking on my own was first few days living on my own), so I'm studying ve

what shall I do about this ground meat? [duplicate]

I left some ground meat in the refrigerator on a plate uncovered for 2 days, would it still be good to use it doesn't look like there is anyth

Freezing whole strawberries

I'd like to freeze strawberries for winter, I read online that a method is to sprinkle sugar on them and put into a zip-lock or plastic bag or an air-tight cont