Latest Cooking Answers

How long can you freeze raw chicken before it seriously affects its taste?

The dramatic effects of freezing something almost always has an immediate impact on taste. But it seems like the longer something is in the freezer the worse i

Perfect Hollandaise every time using a blender/food processor?

I was a cook at a cafe recently that was buying in Hollandaise. I started making the sauce from scratch following the same basic procedure each time but got var

How to prepare butter for baking when time is limited?

From my experience, the best way to use butter when baking is to let it soften to room temperature. However, sometimes one is short on time and must use the mic

Why does frozen bread sort of taste different?

If I buy a packet of bread: And put it in the freezer, in it's packet, when I take it out to defrost it tastes different, sometimes drier as well. Why is th

How the heck did people in the olden' days learn to beat eggs and other laborious tasks?

Did they have whipped cream in the olden days before electricity? I think that they might have. I'm sure I've seen a portrait of Henry VIII munching some of t

What can I do with shredded wheat shreds?

At the bottom of the box of shredded wheat squares, there's quite a bit of 'loose' shredded wheat; it used to be in cereal form and is now just loose. What int

TV Programs like Good Eats

I have become a fan of Alton Brown and Rick Bayless, both have shows on television that are immensely educational and entertaining, are there any other shows li

Converting Peppermint Marshmallow Recipe to Raspberry

I have the following peppermint marshmallow recipe that I know works well: 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for dusting the marshmallows' surface and

How long can you keep chocolate, and what is the best way to store it?

For instance, I have some bars of Valrhona I use for chocolate tarts and pastries, but I haven't been doing the dessert thing in a while. How long does chocola

What is the best time and temperature for taste when cooking a salmon fillet in the oven?

I have an Atlantic salmon fillet in my frig at the moment, but I really have no idea what the normal cooking temperature and time are for a salmon fillet. What

What can I use to flavor savory chicken stuffing instead of onion?

I made the mistake of thinking I had more onions than I did (those orange bags filled with old onion skins look fuller than they are), and now I don't have any

culinary difference between dill and fennel

Many salmon recipes use Dill (Anethum graveolens) as the usual ingredient as condimentary herb. In my place, I have fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) available outdo

Non-stick spray substitute

What would be good substitutes for non-stick spray? I've heard butter or vegetable oil. Would something like Crisco work?

Does preparation of food change the nutritional content with respect to fat type?

I apologize in advance for my lack of knowledge in how a fat comes to be saturated, and perhaps therein lies the answer to this question. However, due to my wif

What are good instructional cooking TV shows?

In the spirit of Aaronut's comment on my answer to TV Programs like Good Eats, what are good shows for people to really learn about cooking (the science behind

How necessary is it to marinade meat before making jerkies?

So I just got myself a dehydrator, for the purpose of making jerkies. I was thinking of just seasoning the meat lightly instead of marinating them, which takes

Grate positioning for charcoal grill?

When cooking on a charcoal grill, does it matter how far the grate is positioned above the charcoal? If so, how high should it be?

How do I hand-roll homemade pasta made with egg?

I have a very simple recipe for homemade pasta dough (one egg to 100g flour, some oil), and found this worked great on my first small batch. I mixed it in a sta

What is the difference (practically) between different types of rennet?

I recently started cheesemaking and I purchased some vegetarian rennet from an online retailer. I believe it's microbial (it's a clear liquid, slightly more vis

How do I press avocadoes to make avocado oil?

Avocado oil is expensive and I've been trying to figure out a solution to make my own. I'd love to make a press (I do woodworking) but I haven't found anything

What does beating eggs actually do (chemically speaking)?

When I look at a lot of recipes, any eggs usually have to be beaten before they're added. If it's all going to be mixed anyway (and well, in dough for example)

How to prepare Stevia leaves for consumption?

I have a Stevia plant growing on my deck and I'd love to use it in a recipe. Does anyone know a way to use Stevia leaves?

How can you pipe hot melted candy into free-form shapes?

I recently made free-form candy swirls out of chocolate-like coloured candy. When I got to the point of putting it into my disposable plastic piping bag, I had

Beating Egg Whites with Granulated Sugar Added for Tapioca Pudding

I've been making tapioca pudding from a recipe that calls for 2 egg whites to be beaten with 1/2c of sugar until soft peaks form. Out of quite a few tries for

Making jerkies less salty

So yesterday I made my first ever home-made jerky. It tastes great (I suppose I followed a good recipe). However, it is quite salty. I thought I didn't use a l

What is 'Bread Improver'?

I purchased a bread maker years ago and am happy with the bread I make with it. I was at a cooking supply store and saw Bread Improver for sale in a jar, appare

Do oven door liners commonly need replacing?

The first time I used the "self clean" setting on this oven, the strip of padding around the oven door ... puffed out? Heat leaks out ever since, even to the p

Recovering from Over Salted Sauerkraut

I recently finished my first batch of sauerkraut and tasted it only to find that it's way too salty. In referencing the original recipe, I realized that I used

Using carob as a substitute for cocoa

I've found a source of powdered carob. I've read that it is a substitute for cocoa, and I was wondering how this works out practically. Is it a one-to-one subst

Is there a substitute for dashi?

I adore Japanese cooking, but when cooking for vegetarians, I don't want to use dashi (bonito) stock. However, if I just omit it, the result doesn't taste authe