Latest Cooking Answers

How much salt do potatoes absorb when being boiled?

My mashed potatoes are always bland. I’ve googled recipes and a lot of them say to put a teaspoon or so of salt in the water to boil them. I’m a bit

How to bake baking soda to produce sodium carbonate?

I'd like to make sodium carbonate for ramen noodles. The instructions on the web however vary greatly. One source says to bake baking soda at 350 degrees for 2-

How do I determine if my knife must be honed and/or sharpened? [duplicate]

My grandparents never altered their WÜSTHOF 4596-7/20 Classic Ikon 8-Inch Cook's Knife since buying it on Aug 1 2018. It could effortless

Why does Wusthof call Honing Steel 'Sharpening steel'?

I know that honing differs from sharpening. See this also. My grandparents must buy a Honing Steel for their WÜSTHOF 4596-7/20 Classic Ikon 8-Inch Cook's K

What is the difference between red pepper and cayenne pepper?

I read that cayenne pepper is meant to be moderately hot while red pepper is very hot. At the same time from the pictures it seems cayenne pepper is a red pepp

If you use black pepper with water will the taste disapear?

I’m Asking about the solubility of black pepper in oil and water i guess. If you use it with just oil I imagine it will taste strong. If you use it with

Does dairy-based marinade increase the amount of browning (Maillard reaction) in meats?

On Food and Cooking mentions that the Maillard reaction begins with a carbohydrate molecules and amino-acids. Dairy products are rich in carbohydrates and meats

How to cook Parmesan Cheese into a broth without making globs?

I've been trying to cook this recipe recently, but I keep running into a problem with the parmesan cheese. Basically the last step is to mix the cheese into the

How can I extract color from food ingredients that won't add flavor when making mocktails?

I want to extract color from anything like flowers, fruits, powders, etc, to make a colorful mocktail to drink! It's important that the produced color doesn't

Flour vs cornstarch for keeping fresh uncooked pasta from sticking together

I am planning on making my first batch of fresh pasta soon and have been researching all of the steps. One of these steps is to dust a bit of flour on fresh p

Chinese XO sauce substitute?

Can someone suggest a reasonable facsimile for Chinese XO sauce? I have Korean gojujang (red chili paste), red chili flakes, miso, dashi, fish sauce, anchovy pa

Can I counteract bitterness in apple sauce?

I erred in making apple sauce by not coring and peeling the apples before cooking. Now I have a large quantity of bitter apple sauce. Is there anything I can ad

cooldown chemistry of seasoning cast iron with flaxseed

So I have started seasoning cookware with thin layers of flaxseed oil as per the advice from @sheryl_canter with simply outstanding results. Thank you Sheryl! I

What green chilli is being referred to in an indian lamb sheek kebab recipe?

I'm looking at a recipe for an Indian lamb seekh kebab and it says green chilli without specifying the variety. I am assuming green chilli can mean anything fr

Can I use 100% cotton bed linen as a pudding cloth?

It's hard to find large pieces of closely knit food safe cotton where I am. (UK / EU) Can I use pieces of undyed 100% cotton bed linens with tags removed inste

Are semi-frozen meat and vegetables safe to cook?

My refrigerator maintains a temperature between 0-5 degrees C. However, I quite often find that carrots, mushrooms etc. stored in the salad drawer are either co

Ought I still buy a honing rod, if I'm buying multiple whetstones of different grits?

I know that honing differs from sharpening. My grandparents never altered their WÜSTHOF 4596-7/20 Classic Ikon 8-Inch Cook's Knife since buying it on Aug 1

Can you make coffee by boiling it?

Google results have confused me so much. I learned to make a Nescafe Classic coffee a year ago. All I would do is: Add some coffee and sugar in a mug/cup, add

How many whetstones, and what different grits, do I need?

My grandparents never altered their WÜSTHOF 4596-7/20 Classic Ikon 8-Inch Cook's Knife since buying it on Aug 1 2018. It could effortlessly slash coconut a

To boil red bell pepper or to use a grounded one?

I imagine you could add cuts of red bell pepper to a stew or you could dry it and ground it(I believe this would make it a mild paprika) and add it in that form

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

Please clarify confusion between chillies and pepper? [duplicate]

Chili and pepper are not the same thing however people just refer to chilies as peppers interchangeably. As far as I'm aware the difference i

Swedish Knife ? What is this?

I was looking at the website for Francis Batt, a French culinary boutique (my boning knife is from there, great product IMO, so I'm a fan). I noticed a knife th

Celery Soup extremely bland [closed]

I have made some celery soup following a recipe, however it is extremely bland can anybody help with suggestions of what I could add to it 1

Why is my vegetable stock bitter, but the chicken stock not?

I have exactly the same procedure and ingredients for cooking vegetable and chicken stock - of course, the latter contains chicken meat, which is the only diffe

Why is Ginger essence hard to get hold of?

Not been able to get hold of essence of ginger for a while now and wondered why??.....is there anywhere in UK that still does it or has it been discontinued fo

Will adding whole wheat flour make cookies as chewy as using high gluten flour?

I don't have bread flour or gluten and I want to bake choco chip cookies with a chewy texture and hard crust outside as well as inside. Can I use plain flour a

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

Would refrigeration lengthen shelf life for this water sweetener?

Ingredients: vegetable glycerin, purified water, citric acid, malic acid, natural flavor, stevia leaf extract, sodium citrate. Container is about 2-3 ounces.

Preventing Noodles from Sticking to the pot

I have been having this problem with my macaroni and I'm hoping that I'll finally be able to find an answer here! I make my noodles in a pot on the stove. B