Latest Cooking Answers

Is my honey fermented?

I have a gallon of honey, stored in an ice cream bucket, that smells like sour krout and has little air bubbles all the way thru it. Should i consider it unsafe

Fat free cooking in 18/10 stainless steel cookware

I'm considering a set of stainless steel cookware from either AllClad or Inoxia Both cookwares are made of 18/10 stainless steel but Inoxia states you can cook

Unpleasant crust on bread

I'm baking ~67% hydration bread, following this recipe Kvali food dutch oven bread. The bread is baked using a covered cast iron casserole dish heated to 250'c,

Presentation - How to make a Tiramisu to be photogenic?

Sorry if this is the wrong forum. I can make a nice Tiramisu but the photo does not look good. I make Tiramisu, get a slice of it and photograph it. Challenge i

How long can I store a food in the pantry, refrigerator, or freezer?

How do I know if a given food or ingredient I have is still good, or if I should discard it? How can I best preserve a food or ingredient?

Protein in cooked vs. raw chicken breast filet

I'm a bit confused by the label on an uncooked versus a cooked chicken breast. Both mention 23g of protein per 100 g of product: If I cook the raw chicken m

How do I follow a recipe if my oven doesn't go as high as the recipe states?

I want to bake bread. I found this recipe from Alex French Guy Cooking on YouTube.. His recipe says that the oven should be 250 degrees Celsius. My oven only go

Sweet pickles for home canning

I want to substitute some natural cane sugar for white sugar, because I don't have enough of the white to make pickle recipe. The recipe calls for 7 cups of sug

Storing peaches

We are considering buying a fairly large box of fresh peaches. I want them to continue to have that fresh peach taste through the winter. Can we lay them out

Looking for 10" bamboo steamer that will last!

I've owned quite a few different bamboo steamers. First one I bought many years ago and it lasted many years. Last few I have purchased did not. We're talking n

Why does storing bread in a plastic (grocery) bag keep it fresh longer?

I accidentally stumbled upon this 'trick' a week ago when I forgot about a baguette that I bought for a party and never used. It was half-covered (loosely) by a

How do I tell if my fermented sauce has gone bad?

Related to another question of mine: I found this recipe for a lacto fermented hot sauce. Basically you take blended up chiles, 2.5% salt, water (not sure if n

How much lemon extract to substitute anise extract?

I have a anise cookie recipe that I want to convert to a lemon biscotti recipe. How much lemon extract should I use when I use 3 teaspoons of the anise extract

Question about mirror glazes and freezing

I'm trying my hand at a layered mousse cake with a mirror glaze (I guess this is an entremet?). I've read several places that it is advisable to freeze the cake

sushi rice or paste

I do what the instructions say...I rinse my sushi rice till the water is clear, I soak the rice for 30 minutes, I bring the rice and water to a boil, cook on lo

Can I use the same kind of tools to sharpen my knives as I do my chisels?

I'm not sure if this would be better suited for here or the woodworking stack, so please migrate if needed. In order to sharpen my woodworking tools (chisels

The quest for the perfect croissant

I've been practicing baking croissants for a couple months now. I'm getting the hang of it (I feel) but I'm missing a crucial step that I cannot master and can'

name of the process of heating butter to give it the special aroma

One of common toppings for fruit pierogi and several other dishes, usually sweet, is butter that has been melted and heated on a skillet/saucepan until it got a

How much is "1-2 cents worth" of yeast in an old recipe?

I'm looking through an old cookbook, ''The Art of German Cooking and Baking'' by Lina Meier (2nd Ed., 1922, Milwaukee, file on wikipedia). There is a recipe for

What's the point of hot food?

Many people prefer certain dishes and drinks to be hot (or cold). I can understand the impact it has on mouthfeel for some foods (cold pizza has a very differe

Pre-making pastilla filling

I should start by stating my actual problem: this coming Rosh HaShannah, the latest I can buy fresh meat is on Thursday, but I need to serve it the following Mo

Can I substitute a biga or poolish in recipes that call for a sourdough starter?

Can I substitute a biga or poolish in recipes that call for a sourdough starter? If so, what should I take into account? Will the resulting dough require a shor

Folding dry ingredients into the cake batter: at once or in 2/3 portions, does it make a difference?

The following is my go-to sponge cake recipe: 6 eggs 2 and a half cups flour 1 cup oil 1 and a half cups sugar 1 cup milk 2 and a half tsp baking powder cardam

Substituting invert sugar for corn syrup

I am working with a gumdrop recipe that calls for 1c. sugar and 1c. corn syrup, which is heated to 280 degrees and then blended into some other ingredients. In

Canning salsa without a hot water bath [duplicate]

I just started canning hot peppers last year. This year I am canning salsa. I boil the jars, lids, and rings just before I seal the jar. I mak

How to decide whether to reduce a sauce or thicken it?

The approach I always adopted to thicken a sauce is to reduce it so the water can evaporate, leaving a sauce that is more concentrated. Earlier, I watched a vid

Is there something about black pepper that changes while frying?

I made yellow rice after a long while, I didn't remember the recipe exactly but it was simple enough so I just winged it. Here's what I did: 4 tablespoons of o

Smoke after cooking = grease?

I really really really hate grease. I have a small house, my kitchen is next to my living room separated by a tiny hallway. I close the doors when I cook and ge

Reheating Hamburger Helper

When I make Hamburger Helper I always follow the directions exactly and the consistency of the sauce is usually good--not too thick and not too watery--but when

Is it possible to use jam instead of sugar to make a dough?

I followed this recipe to make a dough for cookies to dip in milk: 300g flour 1 egg 70g sugar 60g milk 50g butter 10g yeast However I replaced sugar with jam (