Latest Cooking Answers

Bitter Cucumbers

I was watching a cooking show and the chef made the comment that if you use a large basic cucumber (not hot house, persian, kirbys, english, etc.) before you pe

Why throw away so much sourdough starter? Tartine Book no. 3

this is the first time I've use this site to ask a question: I've been meaning to bake some sourdough bread for a long while. I've been just hung up on the rec

Can dried shrimp be used as a substitute for shrimp paste in a recipe for thai curry paste?

I'd like to make my own thai red curry and green curry pastes but both of these call for shrimp paste which isn't widely available in my country. I do have a p

How long does yeast live after baking?

I am pretty sure I know the answer to this, but I need to know for sure to settle an argument with someone... Is yeast still active after the bread has been bak

How can I achieve large bubbles in my bread? [duplicate]

No matter what I do, my recipe produces bread that is pretty dense, I get none of those nice huge holes in the crumb. My recipe goes like this

Questions about making hard kefir cheese

I am attempting to make hard kefir cheese in a cheese press. Unfortunately the cheese press I purchased did not come with specific instructions. I was able to

Can you cook a 25 lb turkey in an oven that is 9 inches from the bottom rack to the heating elements?

I am trying to find out how big an oven has to be to cook a 25 lb. turkey. There is a new double oven on the market at Sears that has the two ovens about the s

Can you make sourdough starter without throwing any away?

I'm curious if you can make the sourdough starter by adding flour to it, in a sense doubling the volume each time. So many recipes I see in books and online re

Substitution for fresh corn

I have a recipe for sweet corn bread and it calls for fresh corn and it is very hard to find fresh corn in winter; can it be replaced with frozen corn?

Is there a name for the mushy sludge that forms around/beneath meat as it cooks?

I've found the terms "aspic" and of course "drippings" and "gravy", but I don't think any of those quite describe what I'm asking about — for example

Vegetarian gluten free savouries

What can I substitute in patties that require one cup quick cook oats for absorption when I am making them gluten free. Is there something other than oats?

Canned tomatoes for fresh

Can I substitute canned tomatoes for fresh ones when making soft tacos? Should tomatoes be drained, seasoned, added to meat mixture or served with lettuce, sou

What can I substitute for tomato juice?

I have a daughter who is allergic to tomatoes, but there are so many recipes calling for tomato juice. What can I use to substitute for tomato juice?

What's the difference between fresh and frozen blueberries for baking?

A recipe I have has a review that states that frozen blueberries in a blueberry muffin are absolute garbage and only fresh ones will give you that desired taste

Flavour in different cuts

I read somewhere that different cuts of beef have different flavour intensities. The general trend was that the more the muscle was used (ie: rump), the more fl

Why would I buy a rice cooker?

A friend of mine I'm getting an apartment with next year said that we should invest in a rice cooker. I'm fairly adept in the kitchen and don't come from a fami

Is Bami Goreng the same as the dish labelled as 'Singapore Noodles' in the United Kingdom

In the UK, Bami Goreng or Nasi Goreng appears extremely rarely on far-eastern take away menus however almost all menus offer Singapore Noodles described as a

Can you make jerky from stewing chickens?

Can you make jerky (for humans) with stewing chickens? Stewing chickens (older chickens) are supposed to be extra flavorful, and tough, but I don't know if the

Is it safe to not wash mushrooms?

Most chefs stress the fact that white button mushrooms, and others, should not be washed to be cleaned. They say to either lightly brush them or just pat them w

Can seasoning be eaten without being cooked?

I use the steak seasoning for cooking steak (season on steak before being cook) I love the seasoning so much that, even after fully cooked, I still add a lot

How do I clean deep burns in my oven?

So our apartment has an oven that, without fail, creates considerable smoke when we use it. And we've been trying to clean it as best we can with baking soda a

How to bake large batches of bread

I want to make a double or triple batch of of this Italian bread recipe that I have. It's for a bread similar to what they serve at Macaroni Grill. My problem i

Is this coconut spoiled?

Just cracked open fresh coconut. Water is sweet, meat is thin, bland and soft. As a kid years ago, coconut meat was very firm and thick. Is this soft, bland

What exactly is 'osobaya sayanskaya' in House of Cards S03E03?

In the S03E03 of House of Cards, the Russian president brings this vodka for the US president. Is this real or just a made up vodka since I couldn't find any re

Microwave rice cooker vs low-end electric rice cookers

So, at my parents home we had a two part microwave rice cooker which created relatively dry rice in my experience (though I only used it myself a couple of time

Bear in a crock pot

My brother-in-law gave me a big hunk of bear meat. It's approximately 5 lbs in a cone-like shape, so a good hunk of meat. I'm curious to use a crock pot on it:

Can I successfully freeze raw cabbage?

How long will an half of raw cabbage last in the freezer? Had leftover after making stuffed cabbage rolls, will be making corned beef & cabbage for St. Padd

How do I know if food left at room temperature is still safe to eat?

If I left food out of the refrigerator for some period of time, is it still safe? If I left it out too long, can I salvage it by cooking it mo

Can I put chicken marinade on chicken after it was almost cooked?

Can I put uncooked chicken marinade back on chicken after it is almost finished on the BBQ or roasted?

Thicker gelatin layer at the bottom of the dish

When I make Jell-O (fruit-flavored gelatin or jelly), I often get a patchy skin of "thicker" gelatin on the bottom of the dish. The color is the same, but the "