Latest Cooking Answers

What effect have bay leaves in a meat/tomato sauce?

A bolognese-type sauce recipe I usually do uses ground beef, canned tomatoes, onions, carrots, chilli, garlic and bay leaf. The bay leaf gets cooked with the re

Sous-Vide shrimp, minimum time and temp for safety?

It seems that the Internet has not quite caught up with sous-vide technology, I'm getting a lot of conflicting information by Googling. I am making Gumbo for s

Are my dried moong dal beans bad?

I have some moong dal that I bought at an Indian market a few months ago. I've stored them in a sealed tupperware container. When I opened them today (to make t

Chinese crispy beef with minced beef instead of slice steak?

I've read up on a fair few recipes for Chinese crispy beef, but they all call for a beef steak to be sliced up, such as topside, rump, sirloin. But I cannot fin

Will chocolate cake be edible if I added one cup of water instead of two?

What will happen to chocolate cake if I added one cup of boiling water instead of two, and I did not realize it until it was baking? Will it be edible?

Rice for paella

The recipes recommend calasparra or bomba rice. Neither is easy to find. My pantry has long grain Basmati, short grain Kokuho, and some Arborio. Which one is th

Is it possible to "ripen" mushrooms after it's picked?

Quite recently my world was shaken when I learned that the common button mushroom and the much larger portabello mushroom are both the exact same species, Agari

Issue starting a sourdough starter

I'm making my second attempt at a sourdough starter. I tried once in the past and I now know that I just didn't stick with it long enough and had a bad bread re

If uncooked rice is soaked for 2 days, is it still safe to eat (after it's cooked)? [duplicate]

I completely forgot I soaked the rice on Monday night. It was completely submerged in water. Left at room temperature. If I cook it now, would

Is it safe to boil water in a microwave?

Our electric kettle broke. So this morning I used the microwave to boil water for the first cup of coffee. Only thing is - the water in south Africa is not re

How can I control humidity levels when curing salami?

I have a problem with a fridge I am converting to a curer, namely high humidity. I have read a similar question on this forum, however my problem is slightly mo

How to Store Fresh Herbs

What is the best way to store fresh herbs like parsley or cilantro? I find I have about the same luck with them whether they are left in a plastic bag or I put

Eggs sticking to the pan

Everytime I fry eggs, in any pan, it sticks. If I add oil or butter it helps, BUT if I go to make a second egg, it sticks unless I add more butter or oil. And w

Why doesn't any of the Instant Pot recipes I find use the preset buttons (Rice, Bean/Chili, etc.)?

I bought an Instant Pot pressure cooker recently. One of the features is its "Smart Cooking Programs" that can program the settings with the touch of a button.

Hot pink spots on surface of ham steak

I bought a frozen ham steak (natural pork from local farm/meat processor), and noticed when I went to cook it that there is a bit of very bright, hot pink on th

Kassler vs Pork Shoulder vs butt

I need to cook pork for a large party. Due to price and amount issues I would prefer cooking kassler (pork neck) but the recipes I found for pork discuss almost

How to tell when water reaches 100 degrees Fahrenheit without a candy thermometer for the purposes of disolving gelatin?

I found a recipe for a gelatin desert I'd like to try. But there was one step I don't feel prepared to tackle: In the meantime, in a small sauce pan heat &f

Why are wire beaters becoming more common in hand mixers?

It seemed to me that most hand mixers in the past used centre post beaters. They seemed more sturdy and durable, thicker construction. I saw one recently by K

Best container for making sauerkraut

We've tried this a few times. First time we used an old ceramic container and it started sheding on the inside and ruined it. Next time we used a new metal garb

How much citric acid should I use to preserve mayonnaise on a cups/ml ratio?

I was thinking of making mayo for sandwiches to get me through the winter and was wondering if I could make fairly large batches that would keep for a long peri

Why cook stewing meat low and slow?

I know that you're supposed to cook cuts like beef chuck at a low temperature until they reach a high enough internal temp for the collagen to melt, which is wh

My crumb cake topping isn't working

I used margarine instead of butter and the margarine was mostly at room temp. So I used a pasty cutter turned the bowl but the mixture just got thicker and thi

Can I re-process homemade applesauce canned in a boiling water canner that is too thick and pasty?

The lids sealed well, but I think the apples were not juicy enough (maybe too tart) and the color of the applesauce after canning is slightly green. It's been l

Food safety with broken glass in dried tomatoes

I have a very large jar of dried tomatoes and somehow the lid broke so that broken glass fell into the tomatoes. Is there any safe way to be able to eat them?

Moldy bread smell but no mold?

I have Nickles brand multigrain bread. 2 slices of it are just stale. The others though smell moldy but I don't see any mold whatsoever on any of the slices. Th

What ingredient or method causes a mixture to be a bread versus cake?

Sometimes I try to make a bread but the texture comes out more like a muffin even when I use a loaf baking pan. I have even tried premixed bread (similar to pre

Substitute double cream for butter?

I have a lot of leftover double cream and I was wondering if I could substitute it instead of butter in a biscuit recipe? I know it's a different consistency, s

How to remove garlic smell from refrigerator/ice maker

Is there a certain cleaner or chemical that will remove a lingering garlic odor from an ice maker or other food processing equipment? About a month ago, my wif

re:salad dressing shelf storage [duplicate]

can I process salad dressing for shelf life in a water bath or pressure canner and if I can how long is the process time, I can't find out any

For salad dressings, replacing mustard with lecithin as an emulsifier?

So every time I make a salad dressing, I can't help but rely on mustard (or sometimes mayonnaise) to emulsify the mixture. However, oftentimes, I don't want mu