Egg replacer for bread dough?

Question

I've been reading (most) questions and answers (here) about baking bread (which I love) and how to replace eggs in many recipes (which I wish I didn't need). Turns out, I too have egg allergy (not too severe) and a few of my favorite breads require one or more eggs.

So far I've seen two options, in many threads, that look promising: Ener-G egg replacer and replacing eggs with flax. However, not a single use case I've seen here is about bread. I'm looking for an option to replace 1-3 eggs in a bread dough with: 500 g of white wheat flour, 200 ml of milk, 50-80 g of butter, a variable amount of sugar (5-50 g) and 20-30 g of fresh yeast.

Examples of this dough are the Swiss züpfe, the Polish chałka and a similar recipe from Galicia (northwest Spain) with even more eggs. And so many other breads, but these are my favorite ones :)

Has anyone tried flax or ener-g on a similar bread dough?

Answer

As eggs are a very versatile ingredient: when substituting, it is important to determine whether the eggs are being used as a leavening agent or binder (or both). In recipes where the egg is used primarily as a leavening agent, I have used a mixture of baking powder (not soda), water, and vegetable oil in a 2:3:3 ratio, though you may want to experiment with the proportions depending upon your recipe. You may also need to vary the amount of other liquid in the recipe.

Where the egg is used primarily as a binder, you could use banana, applesauce, or gelatin, depending upon the recipe (obviously, you'll probably want to avoid the fruits in a savory recipe). I've used, and been thoroughly disappointed with, the available commercial "egg replacers" and don't recommend them for any purpose. I've heard of using flax, but have no personal experience with it.

However: as the father of (and resident chef for) a young child with egg and milk allergy, it is my experience that successfully substituting for eggs is very difficult. For breads in particular, I don't even bother with recipes that call for eggs or milk, and favor those that use the basic 3 (4): flour, water, yeast (salt).

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What can I add to veggie burgers to make them less brittle?

Question

I have a bunch of veggie pulp left over from juicing, and it is packed down into little patties. After mushing in some black beans, it conforms to a hamburger shape, but is still very brittle. Is there anything I can add that will make it stickier, so it won't fall apart while cooking or eating?

Answer

Wheat gluten.

Buy some powdered wheat gluten at a health food store. Add it to the mix, add some water if necessary, and stir it around in the same direction for 30 to 50 strokes. The gluten will bond and start forming long chains, and bring the whole mixture together. Nothing else really works as well.

Eggs and cheese will also help hold a veggie burger together, but only gluten really gives it cohesiveness and a springy texture.

FWIW, I can't imagine that veggie burgers made from juicer pulp will be even remotely appetizing.

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How can I make Shepherd's Pie without tomatoes?

Question

Shepherd's pie recipes usually involve cooking the lamb mince with tomato paste or chopped tomatoes from a can, for example in this BBC recipe, or this Good Food recipe.

How can I best approximate the usual taste and texture without any tomato ingredients?

Answer

The tomato in shepards pie provides acid and is the main coloring agent of the meat portion of the dish. Any other acid will work in place of it, although which you use will entirely depend on how much you want the flavor profile to stay the same. Adding lemon juice will give your pie a Mediterranean taste, adding others will result in other flavors coming to mind. You could just leave the tomatoes out and use a roux instead of the flour, that should give you about the same mouth feel just tasting onions and lamb.

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Can I put other vegetables in a manual wheat grass juicer?

Question

I'm thinking about buying a wheat grass juicer, but the fact that it only juices one thing gives me pause. Are they adequate at juicing vegetables such as spinach, kale and carrots?

Answer

Some juicers are better than other kinds for different things. A dedicated wheat grass juicers probably isn't going to juice spinach, carrots, and kale well.

A centrifugal juice usually doesn't handle wheatgrass well and in general isn't supposed to be as efficient as some other kinds for leafy greens.

A single-gear or double-gear masticating juicer works great for leafy greens, but isn't supposed to be as efficient for softer fruit.

If you're looking for something that will do wheatgrass, leafy greens, and a variety of other things - consider something like the Omega 8004. Long warranty, easy to clean, and gives good quality juice. If you need to make juice for a lot of people though, it is kind of slow for large quantities.

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How can I modify corn bread recipes to accomodate a wet filling?

Question

I am hoping to make dough cups using a corn bread style dough. My approximate recipe would be, presumably, to par-bake initially, then fill with a pot pie style liquid/solid mixture, top with a corn bread puck, and bake until it is molten and exterior browns.

Standard style corn breads I have eaten are too spongy for this kind of application, and would not be able to be pressed against the walls of the muffin pan to form the walls; to give an idea, my initial idea was to try something more like beer dough for the par-baked crust.

Is there something in between? Even if corn-bread is throwing off my search results, I am guessing perhaps there is a molten cup cake batter/dough recipe or something that can be modified to have a savory corn-bread flavor and still really stand up to baking with a liquid inside.

• How can I modify standard corn bread recipes to accomodate a wet filling?
• Am I underestimating the resilience of corn bread to not succumbing to exploding from its filling?
• Would it be possible to use a standard corn bread recipe, but then, in effect, laminate the inside with something toothsome but not too distracting in texture (for instance, egg wash might prove a good laminate, but I am looking for vegan solutions)?
  • I have done similar things with egg wash before, would a wash of flax/Chia egg produce the same result?
  • melting something like cheese on the inside might work, any vegan options spring to mind (other than daiya)?

(Vegan options preferred, but I can make substitutions as necessary)

Answer

I agree that cornbread will not have the structure you need since it's close to a sponge cake. Instead of modifying a cornbread recipe, I would recommend modifying a pie crust recipe.

A standard pie crust is approximately 3 parts flour : 2 parts fat : 1 part water. To achieve the cornbread flavors, replace some of the flour with the cornmeal, as it can serve the same purpose as flour in this case. You can also replace some or all of the water with milk or buttermilk. If you do not like the grainy texture of the cornmeal, soak the cornmeal in the liquid you choose for several hours to overnight.

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How Does a Grocery Store “Self-Rising Crust” Work

Question

As far as I understand, frozen pizzas sold at the grocery store are par-baked and then frozen, to be fully baked when they are put into your oven at home.

I noticed that some of these pizzas describe themselves as having a "rising crust." Those crusts get quite tall, an inch or an inch and a half (probably about 3-5 cm). My homemade thin crust pizza is maybe half that height.

Yet these crusts have much more in common with a thin crust pizza than a Chicago style, or the not-too-tasty bread-y imitation of Chicago-style that passes in most Chicago-style recipes and at some chain restaurants.

How do these pizzas work? I have trouble seeing how they could rise after par-baking, so are they not par-baked? How could I duplicate this crust from scratch?

Answer

I believe they use a combination of hydrogenated oils, yeast and standard leavening agents like baking powder and baking soda.

My experience is that without hydro, the super rising crusts are just tougher to make. I have settled for a medium riser but an awesome taste. I like to use yeast in my pizza crusts. Generally, chemical reactions go faster at higher temps, so yes temperature does matter...

However, since the reaction starts immediately, I would say it is more dependent on the amount and how long you let it work. The trick is the optimize the timing so that you bake the shape you want (i.e., fluffy and big) into the crust just as it gets to that point from the leavening (the most risen and fluffy). If you wait too long it will depress...

I read a bit about this here as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baking_powder

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How long will previously-frozen vacuum-packed chicken last in the fridge?

Question

A similar question about fish was all I found, but fish is not chicken and they have different considerations.

I buy chicken from Whole Foods that comes already sealed, and is labeled as "Air Chilled". It is not frozen when I buy it, although I am not sure if it has ever been frozen and thawed before.

My question is how long will this last in the fridge? I buy them in large quantities and freeze them to be eaten over the course of a couple weeks, occasionally I will thaw one (still sealed) and not eat it for a couple days. Is this safe?

Answer

My answer to the other question still applies: vacuum packing will not prevent most foodborne pathogens from multiplying. In the case of chicken, it will stop campylobacter (which needs small amounts of oxygen) but will not stop salmonella or listeria.

Here's how you can determine if thawed, previously frozen chicken is still safe to eat:

• When freezing, marking the freezing date on masking tape and stick it on the package
• When thawing, mark the thawing date similarly
• To determine if it's still good: subtract the freezing date from the original expiration date, and see if it's been that many days since you thawed it

This method works because spoilage is halted by freezing... but not reversed. Once you thaw, the process picks back up where it left off. A few days in the fridge after thawing should be fine, assuming you don't wait until right before expiration to freeze the chicken.

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Soup is too salty!

Question

I made a mistake with my lastest batch of chicken soup, and it's too salty to eat. Is there any way to save it?

Answer

Peter Martin at Chef Talk suggests adding sugar or cider vinegar. He also mentions the old potato trick but says it's not effective for him unless it's only slightly too salty.

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How important is the creaming process while making a cake?

Question

A few of the chocolate cake recipes I read always start with the step - mix butter and sugar until creamy. I've tried a couple of times but failed to create anything near to creamy. But a few recipes completely eliminate the creaming process, wherein the wet ingredients are added directly to the dry mix. I'm looking for a cake which has a light and moist texture. What should I do? All my previous cakes were either too airy or grainy! On a side note, no matter how much time I mix, I'm not getting the sugar to completely dissolve in the butter. Should I be adding more butter?

Answer

The purpose mixing the butter and sugar until creamy is to distribute air through the batter that will help leaven the cake in the oven. Skipping this step can create a denser cake. You want to add the air into the batter before adding the flour in order to prevent over mixing, which creates gluten; causing a tougher texture.

Beating the eggs until foamy and folding them into the batter or adding the eggs to the butter/sugar and beating until fluffy will also create a lighter texture.

The sugar does not need to dissolve in the butter, but it should be evenly distributed. This site gives a good visual on how creamed butter & sugar should look.

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What is the difference between caramelized onions and “crispy onions”?

Question

I've searched around for information on this, and seen "caramelized onions" in some places (simple enough to make), and then what can only be described as a VIOLENT reaction indicating that rather than caramelized onions, "crispy onions" are the proper accoutrement to Mujaddara.

What is the difference, and what do I need to know in order to make crispy onions for Mujaddara?

Answer

Both crispy and caramelized onions are cooked for a long time, and will be very brown. However, they are cooked slightly differently.

Caramelized onions are usually cross-cut on the onion to release its moisture, and then cooked over very low heat in a crowded pan, stirring infrequently, so that they gradually release their sugars and liquid and it turns to caramel. Depending on the onions and desired result, you may even cover them, an add a little liquid and/or sugar. The end result is very soft and very sweet.

Arabic-style crispy onions are cut pole-to-pole in order to avoid rupturing cells in the onions. They are then fried over medium heat in an uncrowded pan, stirring regularly. This lets them dry out and become brown and crispy, even burning on thin ends. These onions should be a mix of crispy and chewy, and more savory than sweet.

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Should you freeze pastry lukewarm? If so, why?

Question

I have a book about baking in general. In the chapter 'Preserving pastry in the freezer' is the following sentence (I translated it for practical reasons):

Pastry should be frozen as fresh as possible, don't let it cool completely and put it in the freezer lukewarm (at 35°C = 95°F).

There is no information why you shouldn't let it cool completely. It's the first time I've heard this (and it's a pretty famous and often used book here; it could be wrong though).

While I was searching on this site whether the question was already asked, I've found this question. The accepted answer claims the opposite.

So, I want to know if the claim in my book is correct and why or why not.

Answer

I think it's because freezing tend to dry things out. At lukewarm temperature, it's still 'steaming' a bit, which means evaporating liquid, so losing moist. If you can stop the drying out process at that point, the pastry won't be as dry as when you let it cool completely. Of course, a too high temperature can do harm to already frozen things, or would cause condensation in the package, so that there would be ice formed.

This could be the reason, and therefore, the statement can be true.

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Can I bake bread with long-life milk?

Question

My normal breadmaker recipe uses milk as the main liquid ingredient. Normally I use fresh semi-skimmed milk for this and get great results. However, at the moment I only have "long-life" (UHT treated) milk. Is this an acceptable substitute on its own, and if not, is there a way I can tweak the recipe to work better with this milk?

Answer

Yes, you can definitely use UHT milk in bread.

UHT is not usable for some applications, because its proteins have been changed by the heat. But in bread, you don't need the proteins from the milk. Bread recipes include milk to make the dough richer, so it is mostly the fat content that matters. Using UHT won't change anything in the dough structure. I even think that the usual unpleasant taste won't be noticeable, but I am not so sure about that. Still, it gets diluted a lot in dough, so if you can drink UHT as-is, you shouldn't have a problem with the bread taste.

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Baker's Math Formula System - Why Isn't the Flour Mass in Corn Bread Formula 100%?

Question

I am currently in the middle of a challenge to bake every formula in the Bread Baker's Apprentice book (BBA). This book describes a principal called the Baker's Math Formula System where all ingredients are compared to the total flour weight in the formula as a ratio. (BBA referes to recipes as formulas.) By definition (or so I thought), the ratio for the total flour weight in a given formula is always supposed to be 100%.

The author includes this analysis for each formula in the book. Just last night, I looked at the Baker's Percentage for the Corn Bread formula in more detail and found that the ratio listed for the flour is actually 51.1%. How could this be if the total flour weight is supposed to be 100%? Would this have anything to do with the fact that this is a chemically leavened bread?

Answer

I decided to try to e-mail my question to the author, Peter Reinhart. As it turns out, there is a typo in the book!

"Together, the flour and cornmeal should equal 100%. It's the flour % that's listed wrong, not the cornmeal, because the total is 14 oz and the flour is listed as 8 oz. If you divide 8 by 14 you get 57.1%, which means the cornmeal is correctly listed at 42.9% So change the flour percent -- that's a typo I can see can easily happen since 1 and 7 are kind of similar looking and easily overlooked."

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What bones for beef stock

Question

I finally may have found a somewhat local source for veal bones and want to start making stock in earnest. I've done chicken and turkey stocks before but for those I use entire carcasses. I've browsed around a bit and haven't really found any concrete info on what bones I should be using.

Before I make the trip to the butcher (he's about 30-40 minutes away) I'd like to know what to ask for. I've seen a couple references to avoid marrow bones a bit, and some references to neck bones, but I'd love to read/learn more about exactly what I want.

My goal is a rich nicely thickened (gelatin) stock that I can use for a delicious soup, or as a base for my sauces.

Thanks!

Answer

To get that gelatin you're looking, you need joint bones and lots of them. The back, neck, tail are great for that. If you've ever made Ox tail soup you'll know what I'm talking about as you'll get a really thick coating on your tongue from the gelatin that is disolved from the tail's connective tissues.

The reason for avoiding marrow bones is because it can make for a cloudy stock if the marrow gets broken up and the fact that marrow bones don't generally have the highest amount of connective tissues. Cloudy stocks also are caused by boiling of the stock instead of simmering.

Typically when making stock bases, you want them to be as clear as possible so you can use them for just about anything. A cloudy stock doesn't make a consomme look very nice. However, if you are just going to use the stock in items which don't demand a high amount of clarity then don't worry too much.

When you go to your butcher ask for knuckle bones(joint bones) and chine bones(back bones) as your first choice.

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Cheesecake Cooking Time Change with Pan Change?

Question

I've made many cheesecakes before using a 9" spring-form in a water bath, and have always loved the result. For a party coming up, I'd like to make individual-sized cheesecakes using a muffin/cupcake pan (Including liners). So the question I have is what do I do to the cooking time?

All the recipes I've found for muffin-pan cheesecake say about 30 minutes (for example: Cupid's Cherry Cheesecakes). But the recipe I plan on making (a modification of White-Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake) has a cook time of 55 minutes (in a normal spring-form).

So, what I was thinking is to only bake for 30 minutes. I don't want to open the oven too often to check (and risk cold-shocking the cakes), so I'd prefer to get some insight. I'm also planning on doing a water-bath below the muffin pan.

What do you think?

Answer

The 30 minute cooking time is somewhat similar to my experience with mini-cheesecakes in a muffin tin, although I would recommend checking between 20 and 25 minutes with a toothpick. In my experience mini-cheesecakes were cooked until set entirely in the middle, but if your recipe is for an NY-style cheesecake that seems to wobble a bit, things might be different.

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Is it okay for cork to look a bit “moldy”?

Question

I just opened a bottle of "white red wine" (a Blanc de Noirs) from 2010. I must confess, I really don't know much about wine.

The cork looks weird to me, as if it was "moldy". It's a bit blueish-green around the edges. The wine smells pretty good, and the cork doesn't smell bad as well.

Is there anything to worry about?

---

The cork looks like this – click to enlarge:

Answer

The cork is normal. Over time, some of the pigment chemicals will embed themselves in the surface of the cork, starting by the edges. To my eye, the resulting zone has a bluish brown color. For a full red, the cork will turn a brown-purple, and eventually black. All of this should have no relationship to whether the wine is still good.

Some things to look for that will signal a bad bottle:

• A change in color of the wine (e.g., pale yellow turning deep gold)
• Indications that air entered the bottle or wine leaked out
• The smell or taste of wet cardboard in the wine
• An ammonia-like smell from the wine
• A vinegar taste

Hopefully none of these applied to your wine.

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Is it safe to consume packed tea leaves after their expiry?

Question

Is it safe to consume packed tea leaves after their expiry? After all they might have lost their flavor, but can they be harmful in any way?

Answer

Yes, generally, especially if you've kept them in good conditions. (If the package has been open and it's damp and they might've grown a little mold, that's obviously bad.) The expiration date is for purposes of quality, as you've noted; it doesn't indicate anything about safety. So give them a quick inspection, see if there's enough flavor left for them to be worth using, and go for it.

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Can I use a stoneware 9x13 pan instead of a metal 9x13 pan for Caramel Rolls?

Question

I decided to make some caramel rolls for treats for work and realized I only have one metal 9x13 pan. I have a couple 9x13 stoneware pans, but I've never used them for something like caramel rolls before.

Can I use the stoneware pans in the same way I'd use a metal pan or do I need to do something different to get the rolls to turn out well.

Thanks!

Answer

If your caramel rolls are the kind with a sticky, gooey mass in the bottom of the pan that is flipped upside down out of the pan, then I would say that the rolls won't really get good and caramely in a stoneware pan. You'd be better off baking one pan of rolls at a time in the metal pan. While one pan is rising and baking, just chill the other part of the dough... either plain in a bowl, or prepared into a log that only needs to be cut.

If the caramel rolls are more like a cinnamon bun, then the stoneware dishes should do fine in a pinch. This is assuming they are glazed stoneware and not terra cotta. Cooking time will increase a bit as the stoneware will take longer to heat up (it will also retain the heat longer when removed from the oven).

You could always just go out and buy some foil pans. I do that when I make rolls (caramel, cinnamon, and sticky) for the local fire company's carnival. They go through 17=20 dozen rolls each year.

I know baking rolls can be a lot of work, so what I have found to be very helpful, is to make the dough the night before baking. Cover with cling film, and let it have a slow rise in the fridge all night. (you will get improved flavor too.) The next day, divide the cold dough up and prepare as usual. They will take a little longer for the rise in the pan after shaping, but it sure is a lot easier on you.

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Mushy sushi surimi texture?

Question

I've noticed a difference between most places when I go out for sushi compared to when I make it myself.

The crab sticks / surimi in maki rolls when I go out seem to have a much more mushy texture - however, I haven't found much information on what to do differently to achieve this.

Could it be that they chop it up and mix it with mayo or something?

Answer

You can kind of knead them a little with your hand. Just roll them on the board to break up the "fibers"

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Best way to rehydrate dry black beans so the skins are not hard but beans are soft?

Question

I have a recipe for rehydrating red beans that says you should boil them briefly (2 min) then soak them overnight (6-8 hrs) to rehydrate them so that the skins aren't hard.

Is this advisable? Is there a better option? Does it make any difference?

Answer

If you soak your beans in brine (3tbsp table salt per gallon of water, or 1.5% salt by weight) it'll help soften the skins by replacing calcium and magnesium ions in the skin. After soaking for 8–24 hours, drain and rinse. (Source: Cooks Illustrated, login required). Harold McGee in On Food and Cooking also mentions this (p. 488–489) and suggests 1% salt by weight. McGee also mentions that 0.5% baking soda will further reduce cooking times (but may lead to unpleasant taste & mouth feel).

Alternatively, Cook's Illustrated also reports that dried kombu can be used to similar effect, without needing the soak.

Even after brining, taste them when nearly done cooking: you may need to add some salt—it doesn't always penetrate that far into the beans. At least, that's been my experience.

Quick summary:

1. Create 1–1.5% salt (by weight) brine, approx 3tbsp table salt per gallon of water.
2. Sort (remove rocks, deformed and damaged beans, etc.) and rinse dried beans. Drain rinse water.
3. Soak rinsed beans in brine for 8–24 hours. Beans will noticeably swell.
4. Drain brine, rinse beans again.
5. Cook beans normally. Towards the end of cooking, season to taste.

You want to season towards the end of the cooking because it results in creamier texture and also eating some beans which haven't been heated to boiling for 10 minutes is ill-advised due to phytohaemagglutinin.

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What are macaron “feet”?

Question

This question mentions macaron "feet". What are macaron feet?

Answer

Take a look at this photo:

The feet is the ruffle on the edges.

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Uses for fondue broth?

Question

I had meat fondue last night: beef, chicken, and shrimp cooked in a simple vegetable broth at the table. When we were finished eating, the broth was thrown away. I could only help but wonder: are there any typical dishes made with the used broth?

Answer

I would use this broth to make soups. It would make a great base for a number of soups such as scotch broth, but also for using for the stock for making other soups such as lentil or whatever you fancy.

Good luck!

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Thermometer Precision in Different Temperature Ranges

Question

I need a thermometer for a variety of different applications. As such, it has to be fairly precise (plus/minus 2 degrees) at different temperatures. Do I have to worry that, if I buy a thermometer which has a large range (0 to 300 C, for example), that it won't be sensitive to small changes in temperature near 40 C?

Answer

There are several type of thermometer. Since you didn't specify exactly what you will be using for the thermometer It's hard to tell which type you are getting. However the two most likely kind you will use are bulb thermometer and bimetal thermometer.

The way bulb thermometer works is there is a liquid inside of a thin tube. Heat expands the liquid so the higher the heat the more it expands. The liquid is calibrated to expand to the markings on the thermometer.

However, the sensitivity of a thermometer does not depend on it's range but rather on several different factors:

• The size of the bulb on the thermometer. If the bulb is smaller it absorbs heat faster thus expanding to the appropriate notch on the thermometer faster.
• If the walls of the thermometer is thinner, it will also result in the heat being absorbed faster.

A bimetal thermometer operates on the principle that different metals contract and expand to different degrees when exposed to temperature changes. Two strips made of different metallic materials are fused together as a spiral or rod. The strip will wind, unwind or bend as the temperature changes because one of the two materials in the strip will contract or expand to a greater degree than the other will. The free end of the strip is attached to a pointer that will indicate the temperature.

Once again because the dial moves base on the expansion (this time metal) which will stay constant, the range of the thermometer will not be affected.

Please note that over time these metal might degrade and lower the sensitivity of the thermometer but that is an issue of the longevity of the equipment.

Also note that is it harder to read the smaller changes by the human eyes if the range is larger since is scale is smaller but that has nothing to do with it's sensitivity.

EDIT:

If by chance you are refering to the uncertainty of a thermometer or how "incorrect" a thermometer can be, as Rumtscho mentioned, the uncertainty is usually given in the specs of the thermometer and you will need to do some research to find the one that will fit your needs. Just for example Tel-Tru boast an uncertainty of just +/- 1/10th degree Fahrenheit for it's products. You can usually find this sort of information on the product's website.

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What common household drink will remove burning from mouth?

Question

Ya, just ate something spicy and my mouth is on fire. I tried drinking water and that didn't help. I also tried orange juice, and that didn't help.

Any ideas?

Answer

You need something with fat or alcohol. The burning is caused by capsaicin, a molecule found in peppers, which is not water-soluble. If you go for the alcohol, you'll need something with higher percentage, not a beer, and it might result in more burning. It is easier to drink whole milk, especially because you might need lots of the drink if it is too strong.

You option beside a drink is eating bread. You want a soft, fluffy bread like a baguette. If you chew it for a longer time, it will absorb some of the capsaicin covering the inside of your mouth, like a sponge cleaning a pot. For best results, you can combine: bread first, milk afterwards.

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What ingredient adds the sweetness on Croissants in Europe?

Question

I'm travelling in Europe right now, and in France, Spain, and Italy I've had croissants and similar pastries. Unlike the ones I've had in America, these have a bit of sweetness to them - my intuition is that something like honey or agave nectar has been drizzled on top, either before or after baking. Does anyone know for sure? I'd love to try baking pastries more often when I get back home.

Answer

In Rome I was informed that I was eating a croissant with honey on top (after informing my host that I had a honey allergy). It had the sweetness that I suspect you're experiencing. To help you determine if we were trying the same thing: the croissant I had was shiny and slightly sticky on top, and it seemed more like it was brushed on top rather than drizzled. That would support @Carmi's answer that it was brushed on with the egg. It was definitely honey, though, not sugar syrup.

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Cooking Cheap Cuts of Beef

Question

I've been trying to find a relatively quick way to prepare eye of round "steaks" (really just slices of a roast), so that they are tender and juicy, but not falling apart. The goal is to avoid having to cook an entire roast, which takes a lot of time and results in a lot of leftovers.

At first, I sautéed them in a pan, and they came out tough and leathery. I then tried to marinate them in a simple mix of olive oil and lemon juice for 30-45 minutes beforehand, and to tenderize them with a hammer. This, too, resulted in a tough, dry piece of meat. My greatest success with this cut has been to braise it in red wine for 60-90 minutes, though it was still unpleasant to eat.

Has anyone else been experimenting with cooking slices from an eye of round roast? If so, what have been your failures and successes?

Answer

Eye of round can be difficult to cook. A roast tends to produce the best results, but it can be cooked in steak form as well. There are a couple of directions you can go.

First is to cook it as a steak, but do not take it past Medium Rare. Marinate before cooking. Slice it thinly after cooking, across the grain. Serve with sauce. Think London Broil.

If you like your steak more done, then I wouldn't recommend cooking it as a steak. Instead, make Swiss steak out of it. Or better yet, country fried steak (yeah, forget I said Swiss steak). If you pound/macerate the meat, it will be pretty well tenderized, and you will get a good meal out of it.

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Does adding salt when soaking dry beans toughen or soften the skin of the bean?

Question

I have heard opinions on both sides of this. The the latest answer on this site, says salt softens bean skins quoted Cooks Illustrated (I can't see the article, but I trust CI), while another answer says salt hardens the beans' skins.

In case is varies by bean, I'm interested in:

• Kidney Beans
• Black Beans
• Small Red Beans

So which is it? Inquiring Minds want to know.

Answer

Soften. Other things that typically are added with salt will tend to toughen the beans, but it isn't the fault of the salt. For decades, chefs have circulated the oral tradition that adding salt hardens beans, but it's a myth.

Several scientific studies verify that adding salt to the soaking water for dried beans will reduce the cooking times. The first and most cited article, originally published in 1977, can be found here. As mentioned in the first answer you cited, the fine folks at Cooks Illustrated found in 2008 that 3 TBSP per gallon of water produces soft skins while not over-salting the interior of the beans. Since you can't see the full article, here is the science according to CI:

"Why does soaking dried beans in salted water make them cook up with softer skins? It has to do with how the sodium ions in salt interact with the cells of the bean skins. As the beans soak, the sodium ions replace some of the calcium and magnesium ions in the skins. Because sodium ions are weaker than mineral ions, they allow more water to penetrate into the skins, leading to a softer texture. During soaking, the sodium ions will only filter partway into the beans, so their greatest effect is on the cells in the outermost part of the beans."

Harold McGee's NY Times blog (August 9, 2008) also notes that adding salt early enough will allow complete penetration of the bean, which improves flavor.

On the other hand, things typically added with salt -- particularly sugar and calcium-rich products -- tend to toughen beans (and the salt gets the blame). This toughening effect is most notable in baked-bean recipes using things like ketchup, molasses, and BBQ sauce. You can bake these beans for days, yet the beans will stay whole and firm. The actual mechanism for this effect is not clear; one hypothesis currently circulating seems to be that these products stabilize the cell-cell "glue" (e.g., Shirley Corriher says so on Good Eats "Pantry Raid III - Cool Beans", transcript online here), but I could not find any peer-reviewed study specifically verifying that hypothesis.

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Should maple syrup be stored in the refrigerator?

Question

Is there any reason to store maple syrup in the refrigerator? It tastes better when it's a little warmer.

Answer

I'll assume that you're talking about pure maple syrup in a glass container; if it's that adulterated pancake syrup then it's probably riddled with preservatives, so any advice here doesn't apply.

Pure maple syrup can and will grow mold on the surface if left in a cupboard. There are several reports of this happening, and although several of those people say that it's OK to simply strain the mold and re-boil the maple syrup, (a) I wouldn't chance it, and (b) that process is hardly any more convenient than simply taking it out of the refrigerator a half-hour earlier and letting it come up to room temperature.

Maple syrup should be stored in the refrigerator. It doesn't have to be, and it will probably take at least a year for it to grow any mold if left in the pantry. But it will last longer in the refrigerator; I've seen refrigerated jars 3+ years old without any mold.

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Does adding salt help water boil faster?

Question

I've always heard adding salt to water makes it boil faster. Is this true? If so, why? If not, why do people do it?

Answer

No. The amount of salt you would have to add to water to make an appreciable difference is enormous.

Salt is added to water for various reasons: to season whatever is being cooked in it; to maintain colour; to maintain structural integrity.

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What are the impacts of common pizza dough errors?

Question

I'm diving into the world of making pizzas from scratch, and I'd like to take a systematic approach to the possible mistakes I could make with regards to the dough.

What impact do each of the following errors have on the final taste/texture of the pizza crust?

• Quality (using old yeast) and quantity (too much/too little) of yeast
• Too much or too little water to flour ratio
• Overworking or underworking the dough
• Too much or too little resting time of dough

Answer

I don't see anything in the question that is peculiar to pizza dough. Anything I answer will apply to any kind of yeast-risen, glutenous dough.

The goal with any such dough is a well hydrated protein matrix that has been arranged in sheets that will trap the gas produced by yeast.

• If the yeast is dead it won't be able to produce gas and your bread will be somewhere between a cracker and shoe leather- depending on how thick you roll it out.
• Using too little yeast is not the same as dead yeast. If you use too little yeast (within reason) they will take a long time to reproduce, eat, and blow up your stretchy proteins. They will be producing a lot of flavor during this period. This will generally taste good.
• If you use too much yeast (within reason) the yeast will act very quickly. This is nice for speed but it will result in a much less developed flavor. Neither is a problem so you can choose for yourself.
• Using too little water will result in not enough gluten development and a dry, or crumbly dough. The dough won't hold gases and there will also not be enough steam when baking so the dough will be more dense.
• Too much water and you have a batter that can't be worked with.
• Over working a dough isn't so much of a concern. It is possible to over knead but it is hard to do. See: Possible to over-knead dough?.
• Under working the dough will result in less gluten development and very similar results as using too little water- basically you will have unleavened biscuit dough. The exception is if you are following a "no-knead" recipe. In this case the dough is allowed to rest for days which lets the protein sheets form on their own.
• Resting the dough is necessary both to relax the protein mesh that you created as well as to allow the yeast a chance to blow it up with some CO2. Not long enough and you won't be able to roll out the dough because it will be too tight and it won't be risen because the yeast haven't eaten. Too long and the bubbles will coalesce into large open cavities. A good rule of thumb is "doubled in volume". Usually about an hour but this is highly dependent on how much yeast you use, how much water, and the ambient temperature.

The end result is that you don't need to worry about most of these things. The biggest mistakes I see people make is making a dough too dry or simply not kneading enough. It is easier to add flour than water so put in less than the full amount of flour, knead for a while, if the dough stays too sticky then add a bit more flour and knead in.

As answers to other questions have said- you want a dough that is "smooth and elastic" it isn't sticky and looks homogeneous. After just a couple tries you will get a feel for how wet that means and you'll be an expert.

For pizza dough in particular- almost as important as the dough construction is the baking temperature. You want to cook it as hot as you can. 500F in an oven or on a grill. It will only take 5-10 minutes. The fast hot cooking will do a lot for your crust texture. It makes the difference between a crispy, chewy pizza crust and a soft, bready (and soggy under the toppings) crust.

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How is boiled rice different from steamed?

Question

I recently got into a friendly argument with a coworker about how rice should be prepared.

I insisted that the goal was to steam the rice- too much water and it would boil into a soupy pudding.

She claimed that her uncle's family in a little village in India boils their rice with a lot of water and pours off the excess. She says that the rice is "fine". I don't believe her.

Is it possible to make rice that isn't a sodden mess by boiling it? If so, how does it differ from steamed rice?

Answer

It is possible to boil rice without it essentially overcooking, you just have to be careful with your ratio of water to rice and the timing. It doesn't surprise me that your colleague's uncle's family cook rice well using boiling, as they probably do so every day and are well used to the ratios, timings and temperature of their cooker.

Boiled rice is generally softer and stickier as it is a more 'violent' method, which means more water will penetrate deeper into each grain and release more starch. Steaming is gentler and so results in firmer, more separate grains.

In both methods, washing the rice sufficiently can also make a big difference to the final result. Unwashed, boiled rice is far more likely to be soupy and mushy than rice that has been thoroughly washed as there will be more starch floating around.

The standard 'Western' style of boiling rice usually results in the water boiling off by the time the rice is cooked. Your colleague's family's method no doubt works, but the timing would need to be spot on to prevent mushy rice.

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When can I not substitute Romano for Parmesan?

Question

I noticed that good Romano costs 1/3 as much as good Parmesan.

I know that Romano is aged much less than Parmesan is and that accounts for the difference in cost. However, the flavors of the two are very similar to me.

In what situations would it be important to use only Parmesan instead of substituting cheaper Romano cheese?

Answer

It's a different flavor. Romano is sharper, more grassy; parmesan is nuttier and sweeter. I actually prefer romano where I have a lot of other strong flavors. If there's other sharp flavors in a dish, such as olives, chili pepper, or capers (e.g., puttanesca), I'll go with romano which seems to stand up better to the robust flavors. For something with a more subtle flavor such as a ragu bolognese, butter or cream-based sauces, risotto, etc. I feel that a good parmeggiano reggiano can stand up to the other flavors in the dish without overwhelming them.

If cost is your main concern, I've had some parms from Argentina that are actually pretty good. Reggiano is definitely better, but depending on what you're using it for, it might be an option. I wouldn't use it in something like a risotto or fettuchine alfredo where it plays a key role in the dish, but if you're just grating it on top it will work fine. An in-between option is Grana Padano, which is advertised as a "budget" substitute for reggiano. In my experience, it's pretty good, but where I live it's only a little cheaper.

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Shelf life of a yogurt product

Question

I made kubideh kabobs with saffron rice for my fiance and I last night, and it was a huge success. However, my fiance wished we had some mast o khiar (yogurt-cucumber sauce) to go with it, as what we would normally get from a kabob takeout place. Now, given that this is the first time Persian food has ever been made in this house, I have concerns about any reasonably sized batch of this yogurt sauce being consumed in time. Assuming that all of the following ingredients are fresh and well within their use by date, roughly how long might this be safely stored in a refrigerator? The common components are plain yogurt and seedless cucumber. The latter might be diced or grated. Fresh mint is a commonly found, though many recipes do not use it either. Any advice would be most welcome!

Answer

Mast O Khiar, as you mention mainly consist of plain yogurt and cucumbers and most recipe do not require much more than that. Because of such, the shelf life for the yogurt product will be the shelf life of the yogurt itself. If it is a store bought yogurt, then the shelf life should be about 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Make sure to store the sauce in an air-tight container. Most tubberware should work. Those soup containers from Chinese takeout orders work perfectly.

EDIT: After a bit of a debate in cooking chat, I decided to change my answer a little. The reason I said 2 week is because personally I had eaten 2 week old Mast O Khiar. However it could be recipe dependant so it could be different for a different recipe.

However it is very easy to tell whether yogurt OR cucumber is bad.

Mast O Khiar should have a very fresh/clean aroma. When yogurt turn bad, it releases a rancid smell. If it smells bad, dont eat it.

If you see fuzzy mold it's a good idea to throw it out.

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How do I defrost frozen flour tortillas?

Question

There is a wide variety of suggestions about how to thaw frozen flour tortillas. What works best?

Answer

If you are freezing the tortillas yourself and don't mind putting in a little extra work in the beginning to get more convenience later, I would separate the tortillas with waxed paper (actually I use the paper sheets that are waxed on one side, intended for bakeries). What this buys you is the ability to pull out one or two tortillas as you need them.

They will defrost just fine in the pan that you are going to warm/brown them in anyway.

If you customarily run through a dozen tortillas, then you probably don't want to bother. But if that is the case then you probably aren't freezing your tortillas in the first place.

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Using whey from yogurt to make ricotta

Question

My girlfriend and I make a large batch of yogurt every week, and have done so for more than a year now - we just eat a ton of the stuff. THis leaves a lot of leftover whey which we used to just throw out. This past week I took my first swing at making mozzarella, and noticed that the recipe suggested not throwing out the whey, but rather using it to make ricotta by boiling it. I ended up throwing out the whey from the mozzarella anyways because it was a tiny batch, and we had to make yogurt anyway.

So, we made the yogurt, and my girlfriend saved they whey for me. I've been simmering it for a few minutes now, and it doesn't appear to be working. Nothing is curdling. I'm wondering if its a function of not having anything acidic in it? I tried adding a quarter teaspoon of citric acid, but still nothing is curdling. At this point I'm curious to play with it, so I may try simmering it all the way down into gjetost.

So really i guess my question is, outside of being less acidic, is whey from making yogurt different from whey from cheese making?

Also as a note, we use 1% milk.

Answer

Yogurt whey cannot be used to make ricotta.

With most cheeses, including mozzarella, the milk isn't boiled. The casein proteins are bound up with some of the lactose and almost all the fat to make the curd. The whey for such cheeses contains the rest of the lactose, tons of vitamin B, and almost all the albumin.

The albumin proteins are water soluble when they haven't been denatured. They also denature at a higher temperature than the casein does. Therefore, they almost all wash out of the curd with the whey. Bringing mozzarella whey to a (almost) boil denatures the albumin which precipitates out and can be strained to make ricotta.

When making yogurt the milk is heated to 190 or higher and then cooled. This is precisely to denature the albumin. The extra protein gives the yogurt a lot more structure.

However it means that there is no protein left in the whey- mostly lactose, lactic acid, and vitamin B.

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Converting oven recipe to slow cooker

Question

I have a casserole recipe that I generally cook in the oven. I'd like to try it in my slow cooker for several reasons: convenience, timing, opening up the oven for another dish. Is there a general rule of thumb to convert the directions for the oven to an equivalent for a slow cooker?

Answer

Roughly speaking, the low setting on a crock pot is 200 degrees, and the high setting is 300 degrees.

Crock pot time vs oven time 4-6 hrs on low = 15-30 min oven 6-8 hrs on low = 35-45 min oven 8-18 hrs on low = 1-3 hrs in oven

In addition to the liquid notes above, you may want to make these changes as well:

• reduce the amount of whole/leaf herbs by half
• add ground spices during the last 30 min of cook time
• you may prefer to brown meat before cooking in the crock pot; it's a flavor & fat issue
• add rice or noodles in the last two hours of low cook time

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Quinoa in a Rice Cooker?

Question

I’ve recently discovered the loveliness of Quinoa, and the joy of buying it in bulk at Costco, so I’ll be making a lot of it in the near future. I’m wondering if I can use my rice cooker to make the Quinoa. Has anybody done this? Does the ‘fuzzy’ logic in the machine prevent it from doing anything other than cooking rice and steaming veggies? I hope not, but I also don’t want to ruin a good kitchen tool finding out either. Thanks!

Answer

I've cooked white rice, brown rice, wild rice, whole Oat Groats (2 brown rice cycles + a little extra water on cycle two) , rye groats, Khorasan wheat (kamut), barley, Spelt, and numerous other seeds in my fuzzy logic rice cooker, but never Quinoa. It seems to me the white Quinoa seed benefits from a short cook time, and a long post-cooking expansion time. A rice cooker doesn't do that very well. The red Quinoa I can also get is tougher, and might like being cooked like brown rice. That said, I haven't tried it. It's certainly possible that your rice cooker could make passable Quinoa. I suggest you give it a try on a small batch. If you like the result, post that here, and I'll try it too.

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How do I make a “baking powder” substitute in a pinch

Question

Every once in while we run out of "Baking powder".

What would be a good receipt for a substitute that you have used that works well.

Thanks!!

Answer

On the off-chance that you have no baking powder, but you do have baking soda and cream of tartar, you can make your own baking powder:

• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon corn starch (optional)

Mix it all together and use it immediately.

Reference: http://frugalliving.about.com/od/condimentsandspices/r/Baking_Powder.htm

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Is there a close substitution for shallots?

Question

I can't really find shallots and i'm short on time.

Are there any close substitutions for shallots?

Answer

Depends on what you're doing with them. Shallots have very fine layers (allowing them to blend into sauces and dressings), and have a flavor between garlic and onions.

If you're mincing them fine and sauteeing them or whisking them in as the foundation for a sauce, I'd suggest substituting pearl (boiling) onions or the white parts of green onions and maybe half a clove of minced garlic.

If you're slicing and frying them, regular onions should do, although I'd look for smaller ones and slice thin. Red onions have a flavor more like shallots than yellow or white ones, but may add an undesireable color to the dish.

If you're chopping them, or cooking them peeled and whole for Southeast Asian cuisine, again pearl onions are probably the way to go.

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How to avoid getting the pizza all watery?

Question

When I cook pizza it gets all watery. There's literarily water formed on top of the dough. I believe it's released by the mozzarella, but I'm not totally sure.
Any ideas how to avoid this?

Some more information: I'm cooking at around 230C (according to the oven, who knows!) with an electric oven. No stone, just the metal tray. The pizza has exactly the same shape as the metal tray (which is a rectangle, just as the oven).

According to my last experiments, the source of the water is definitely the cheese. I'm cooking the dough, then adding the tomato sauce, then adding the cheese and the water doesn't appear until the cheese-phase. I tried all the possible mozzarellas that I can get at the supermarket with the same result.

Answer

There are a number of factors that can contribute to a watery pizza:

• Cheese If you think the cheese is the culprit, you can try using a "low moisture" mozzarella (these are dry to the touch on the outside). If you are using a "fresh" mozzarella (these usually are sold in a brine), e.g., classic mozzarella di bufala or mozzarella fior di latte, I recommend slicing the cheese as opposed to grating the cheese. The idea is that slicing the cheese will produce less surface area, and thereby reduce the amount of water that leeches out. Also, I recommend dabbing the cheese slices with a kitchen towel to remove any surface moisture. If you use this method, it will also help to cut the cheese in very thin slices, since that will release more moisture before it touches the pizza and it will also reduce the amount of cooking time.
• Tomato Sauce I recommend making the sauce yourself. As opposed to simmering the tomatoes/sauce on the stove for a long time, I prefer making a light tomato sauce that actually cooks on the pizza itself. I quickly purée the tomatoes (canned are fine) in a food processor and then let them strain in a fine mesh colander for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. That gets rid of a lot of water (the tomatoes lose about half of their volume). Throw in some minced garlic, chopped basil, and season and it is ready to go on the pizza.
• The Cooking Method Since my home oven doesn't get as hot as a traditional pizza oven, I always "blind" cook my pizza without the cheese. In other words, I throw the dough, add the sauce, and then cook it with just the sauce for 4 or 5 minutes. This allows any extra moisture in the sauce to cook off. I then remove the pizza, add the cheese, and then broil it until the cheese is melted and browned.
• The Dough If the dough ends up becoming soggy, you can always compensate by making it a bit thicker.

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How can I get frozen egg whites out of the ice tray?

Question

I read in Can raw eggs be frozen? that you can freeze eeg whites and use them later.

I saw this suggestion about using an ice tray to make frozen egg white cubes (which makes it easier later on when you want to use a few eeg whites out of a frozen batch).

My problem is, the frozen cubes won't come out of the ice tray! They seem to expand or for some reason stick to the tray very hard. I needed to melt them by running the back of the tray under hot water to get them out.

Obviously I can't use any oil or anything like that in the tray to prevent sticking.
Any suggestions?

Answer

So to sum up, so far, we have:

• use a silicon tray, there should be no problems there.
• put the tray in warm water for a short while and they would let go.

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Baking bread with spelt flour, without using a bread pan

Question

I ran out of "normal" wheat flour a few days ago, so I had to bake my bread with the closest thing - spelt flour.

I noticed the dough was a lot stickier than when using wheat flour, and when baked, the bread came out flat (like a thick pancake). The taste was fine, but because it was so flattened out, there was a lot more crust than usual (and the children don't like crust).

I usually bake my bread directly on the baking plate, not using any bread pan, and for wheat flour, that works fine. Do I need a bread pan to prevent the bread from running out, or is there something else I can do?

Answer

Although similar, spelt has more protein and less starch than wheat flour. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat#Nutrition

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelt#Nutrition

This means that it will create a great structure but won't absorb as much liquid. This would result in exactly what you saw- it was sticky from water and protein and too loose to hold its shape but baked with a good crust.

The recipes I have seen use a mixture of flours that includes spelt.

Try adding less water.

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What determines sweet potato softness?

Question

I often make stews with sweet potato. I prepare it by cutting it about 1/2 to 1 inch every time, and stewing it for about 30-45 minutes.

I make sure to keep everything consistent but sometimes it ends up as hard as apple, and other times it turns to mush.

What makes the difference? The age of the sweet potato? The variety? Something else?

Answer

Edit: If cooking longer softens the potatoes, then this isn't what's happening. In that case, well, you just need to cook longer. The main variable is probably temperature (maybe the pot isn't actually all hot for all 30-45 minutes), followed by variations in cut size and in the firmness of the original potatoes. But the rest could apply to some readers too!

I'm going to take a wild stab at this. It can explain this sort of thing, but it does depend on how you cook your stew. The following is a quote from On Food and Cooking (excellent book!), one of my favorite discoveries from reading through the sections on fruit and vegetables.

It turns out that in certain vegetables and fruits - including potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, carrots, beans, cauliflower, tomatoes, cherries, apples - the usual softening during cooking can be reduced by a low-temperature precooking step. If preheated to 130-140F/55-60C for 20-30 minutes, these foods develop a persistent firmness that survives prolonged final cooking. ... Firm-able vegetables and fruits have an enzyme in their cell walls that becomes activated at around 50C (and inactivated above 70C), and alters the cell-wall pectins so that they're more easily cross-linked by calcium ions. At the same time, calcium ions are being released as the cell contents leak through damaged membranes, and they cross-link the pectin so that it will be much more resistant to removal or breakdown at boiling temperatures.

So, if you started the stew from cold (or drastically reduced the temperature by dumping in the sweet potatoes and other things) and had it on low heat, so that it took a while to come up to temperature, then your sweet potatoes may have been in that 50-70C range where the enzyme is active for a while. So maybe while your length of cooking time is consistent, your time before simmering isn't; that could depend on how cold the ingredients were before adding, the pot you used, whether you got exactly the same setting on your stove, the temperature in your home, and so on. (I know you said this isn't it, but having larger chunks of sweet potatoes could conceivably contribute to that too; the inside would take longer to heat up, so you could end up with a firm interior, and the softer part on the outside could get rubbed off.)

Sweet potatoes do also vary some in firmness, but certainly not by that much. It could still be a factor, though, in combination with the rest! In any case, if you want to avoid the firm potatoes, I'd try making sure to get everything heated up quickly.

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What job is the fat doing when I prepare bread dough, and what to expect if I use the wrong amount?

Question

I've been baking bread for years and no longer really measure the ingredients. But I'm no expert on the science of what I'm doing. I add fat (lard) because I've always added fat.

What job does the fat do? And if I have long been using too little or too much fat how would this affect my loaf?

And then, writing this up, I'm also wondering about yeast. I guess if I use too little yeast I am going to get a loaf which rises insufficiently. But what would be the consequences of using too much yeast?

Answer

Amongst other things, fats help moderate/impede gluten development, by not allowing water to activate the proteins.

Too much yeast and your dough will be flabby and over-risen.

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When using melted butter, is rendering (clarifying) always preferable?

Question

I was looking at this question:

How do I butter popcorn without making it soggy?

And it got me wondering: is there any instance, either using melted butter for popcorn or in some other application, where simply melted but not clarified/rendered butter should be used?

Answer

Essentially clarified butter is butter that has all it's water and milk solids removed. All that is left is butterfat.

Pros and Cons of Clarified/Rendered butter:

Pros:

• It can be stored longer than regular butter
• It has a higher smoke point so can be heated higher without burning
• Does contain negligible lactose for those lactose-intolerant

Cons:

• Effort. It requires so time to melt the butter, boil off the water, filter out the milk fat, and resolidify the butter again.
• Taste. Because the milk solids are filtered out, it has a milder "butter" taste than unclarified butter. Of course it will still be much more rich and buttery compared to regular vegetable oil.

With this information in mind, I will leave it to yourself to decide when you should and should not use clarified butter.

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Why marinade meat with acid or enzymes?

Question

This might sound like a queer question, but why do we marinade meat with acid / enzymes? Given that marinading doesn't tenderize meat, it just turns the outer fibers into mush and releases the juices when cooking? Why not just go with a flavored brine instead?

In other words: Why is it customary to use such marinades, and why is it commonly said that it tenderizes the meat?

Source Shirley Corriher:

http://www.finecooking.com/articles/marinades-flavor-tenderize.aspx

At first, water molecules are attached to and trapped within this protein mesh, so the tissue remains juicy and tender. But after a short time, if the protein is in a very acidic marinade, the protein bonds tighten, water is squeezed out, and the tissue becomes tough. If you've ever tried marinating shrimp in highly acidic ingredients, it's likely that you're familiar with this result.

Also

My experience with tenderizing enzymes mirrors that of Dr. Nicholas Kurti, a famous Oxford physicist who tried tenderizing a pork roast by injecting half with pineapple juice, leaving the other half untouched. A noted chef, Michel Roux, was to judge on television which side was better. After cooking, the half treated with pineapple was total mush and looked like a pile of stuffing. Not surprisingly, Chef Roux preferred the untreated half.

Answer

Hardly a queer question. We marinate in acidic liquids because it tastes good, really. As Alton Brown said in the Good Eats episode, "Raising The Steaks":

"Acid doesn't tenderize meat nearly as well as enzymes. But acids can help you tenderize your own food. That's because acids taste tangy, and tangy tastes tell our saliva glands to do their stuff, and saliva is full of enzymes."

As that same episode shows, we generally don't marinate in enzymes, as it would turn meat to mush, and not in a good way.

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Can I use flour to make a carrot soup more thick?

Question

I made a carrot soup without the use of a blender as described in previous question link. Which was to chop the carrots and onions really small. The problem is that the result is quite watery.

In the recipe for goulash, I use flour to thicken the soup, in the frying stage. Can I do something similar here? Or will it ruin the taste. I was imagining throughing in some flour with the carrots and onions as they fry.

Answer

How much flavor the flour adds will depend largely on how long it fries with the veggies.

The longer it fries the nuttier it will taste- until it starts to burn of course. If it doesn't cook for long enough (it doesn't take long) it will taste raw which is not pleasant.

You should cook your veggies until they are done and then add your flour and cook just until it starts to smell nutty. I assume this is similar to what you do with your goulash.

Overall- I think that the flavor of even a fairly dark roux would work well with an onion and carrot soup. You could even use this to salvage your already watery soup by making a roux separately and wisking it in.

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Why are these mushroom stems leaving a long, skinny fiber behind on the cap?

Question

I was pulling the stems out of some mushroom caps today - we save the stems and make broth out of them - when I discovered that some stems weren't coming out all the way. Have a look:

Mushroom fanatics out there: Any idea what causes this? Is there something wrong with these mushrooms? Am I being paranoid because I just read this question?

Answer

Jefromi's comment is spot on. I wouldn't be paranoid. The stem probably just didn't feel like coming out and hung on the head. This is completely normal and unless you picked these mushrooms yourself, I would never worry about that.

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Fondue without Gruyere cheese

Question

Can you give me some good tips how to prepare Fondue without Gruyere/Racclete cheese? Do you know good recipes based on Gouda or other cheeses?

Answer

It's not a true Fondue but I've done something very similar by taking a white sauce base made with 50 / 50 wine and milk. You then melt in lots and lots of cheese and you get something very nice and similar to a fondue. You can pretty much use any reasonably melting cheese you like although a strong cheddar is very nice. For something really interesting add some Mozzerella and slowly melt it down and you get a wonderful stringy finish.

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Can I use a rice cooker with flavored rice boxes?

Question

Can I use a rice cooker to prepare something like Rice-A-Roni's Four Cheese rice? Or what about the Uncle Ben rice boxes? If not, is there a way to get something that tastes similar without using the boxes?

Answer

It is possible to use a rice cooker to prepare rice from boxes but it is not optimal. These box rices typically call for the mixture to be first browned in butter before adding water and flavoring because it is not all rice. There are bits of pasta in the mixture too. The rice cooker is able to cook it but the result probably will not be as good.

It is very possible to flavor white rice with seasoning. I often like to flavor my rice if I plan on making fried rice or if I am lazy and don't feel like making anything but rice. If you want to imitate a specific flavor, you need to first find out exactly what that flavour is and put that seasoning in the water that cook the rice. Often though there might be some flavors that can't be added until afterwards. Such as the cheese flavored rice you mentioned. Cheese and rice cookers don't mix. You would make the rice then later add a cheese sauce that you made.

Please note that one main difference that might occur is slight difference in moisture content. From the box rice I've made on the stove in the past, I know it is a bit more "wet" than rice made from a rice cooker. In my answer here, I explained how a rice cooker works. Essentially it will continue to cook until all the water has boiled away.

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How Many Times Can I Use A Salt Block

Question

I've been reading up on Himalayan pink salt blocks. I am mainly interested in cooking with them, like cast iron. But, I noticed that they are a bit pricey, about $40 to $70. It also seems that they die after some usage.

My question is, how many times one can cook with a salt block before they are unusable?

Answer

I think the cost effective-ness and worth it portion of the question is quite subjective since there isn't a way to directly compare salt with cookware grade salt block. These salt blocks are considered unusable when it becomes cracked and fall apart, not when all the salt has been used up. Thus the price is for the novelty of using these blocks to cook food rather than the actual salt content. And whether the flavor is worth it is complete up to you to decide.

Due the obscurity of Himalayan salt blocks, I will provide a little background information for those who aren't familiar. Due to the Himalayan salt blocks' unique lattice formation, it has very low moisture and porosity. Due to this property it can be heated up to extremely high temperatures (up to 900 degree Fahrenheit). Also because of the lack of porosity the saltiness that comes off of it when cooking on top of it is minimal and will impart only a moderate amount of sodium. On top of that, it has many trace amount of other minerals including but not limited to sulfur, calcium, potassium, and magnesium. These additional trace minerals are what given the Himalayan pink salt its unique flavor.

Now if you want to cook using the block merely to try out its taste, i would recommend you use this instead. It is a bag of Himalayan pink salt that is meant to go into your food as seasoning.

How long a salt block last purely depends on how well you take care of it and luck. This article explains proper heating and washing techniques. Because these blocks are naturally carved out of the earth, fault lines(sometimes not visible from the outside or even with the human eyes) can exist on it. These fault lines will naturally grow bigger as the block is continuously heated to high temperatures. Because of this unpredictability, there isn't a "real" answer. However some can crack after just several uses(on one testimonial, one woman claimed it broke after two uses. But she was able to get it replaces for free) while other can last much much longer(others have report using it for over a year). Usually you can get a replacement if the block cracks in a short period of time. Find out about this warranty period from the supplier before buying.

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Measuring egg whites

Question

I recently made macaroons for the first time and followed the instructions to the T and they were perfect! The recipe called for exactly 90 grams of egg whites..

I then made them again but the egg whites i used added up to slightly over 90 grams (about 3 grams over) - i tried to remove the extra 3 grams with a spoon but nothing has ever been so difficult! They are just a mass of goo which is so hard to separate.. whenever i got any on the spoon it just slipped off again! so in the end i just gave up and obviously the macaroons were ruined!!

So my question is - is there a method of getting precise measurements of egg whites? something i could add to make them less gloopy so i can remove the excess with a spoon? How do people normally do this?

Answer

3 grams (contingent on the relative weight of the rest of the recipe) is not a big deal.

But, since egg whites are such a pain to measure, it's very simple in recipes like this. Beat your egg whites slightly, then weigh and remove three grams. Much easier.

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In this recipe, what is a possible substitute for serrano pepper?

Question

In this recipe, I enjoy the mix of spices: serrano, cilantro, mint, cinnamon...

Next time we'll cook it, we won't have serrano available. What could be a substitute for it?

Ideally this substitute is not hard to get in Europe...

Note the serrano's contribution to the dish. They're not opened. They're not eaten. They simmer with the rest of the ingredients perhaps adding some taste.

EDIT: Thanks for the suggestions. I now realize that substitute may not have been the best wording. Given the constraints, a simple s/serrano/xxxx/ replacement may not do ☺

Answer

You want something hot and very slightly herby, without smoke. For heat, a moderate amount of cayenne is the easiest option. For the herby notes, I might go with something like marjoram or rosemary, but frankly given the cilantro and mint I probably wouldn't bother.

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Can you preserve canned kidney beans so that they still have their shape?

Question

I buy kidney beans in a can, but the amount is always too big. Normally, I throw away the leftover beans, thinking that freezing them will turn them into mush (thinking the water will expand and make the membrane tear). Is there a way to avoid this? Or another way to preserve them longer than a few days (preferably a few months)?

Note: I haven't actually tried this, so if they hold their shape nicely after freezing, please inform me.

Answer

Beans freeze marvelously. I put mine in freezer bags and lay them flat so they freeze quickly and are easier to thaw.

They are very sturdy little nuggets of joy and hold up well to canning or freezing without getting mushy.

Different beans behave differently. Pintos soften quickly and don't have much of a skin. Black beans keep their shape and skin a lot longer. Kidney beans are in the middle- if you boil them too long they will mash but they are a lot sturdier than pintos.

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Is it possible to make kataifi dough (by yourself or starting from filo dough)?

Question

I really like the thready structure in this dish. But when I look for recipes, they all ask for a box of kataifi dough. I haven't found this in regular supermarkets (I haven't been to greek stores), so I was thinking if I could make it myself.

Would it be best to buy filo dough (which is thinner than if you would make it yourself) and shred/cut it; or to make filo dough yourself (so you would have longer pieces than store-bought dough) and cut/shred it?

How do you shred it exactly? And how would can you replicate the correct form of kataifi (like a roll)?

Answer

I am afraid that it is quite hard to prepare it yourself. And you don't start from phylo dough.

Kataifi is not shredded, it is spun. You need a hot metal wheel for that. It is made from a batter which is thrown on the wheel, and because the wheel is spun, it bakes on the wheel in threads. You need not only the instruments (this wheel), but also quite a bit of experience to throw it in even threads. Kataifi makers are a popular attraction on middle-eastern markets. If you can't visit one, you have to visit an ethnic grocery store to buy the prepared kataifi noodles.

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What is the proper way to store steak at home?

Question

When you buy steak from the market it is usually wrapped up under shrink wrap and the meat usually sits on top of a moisture absorbing pad. When you get it from the butcher, it is wrapped up in waxed paper and/or brown paper.

Once you get it home, if you're not going to eat it for a few days, what is the proper way to store it?

The reason I ask is that if I let it sit in the waxed paper for a few days, when I open it up, it looks slightly discolored on the surface, with a slightly slimy texture. I'm assuming that this is okay because I've cooked may steaks that looked like this and have not gotten sick.

Should I take it out of the packaging and have it just sit on a plate? Does this emulate dry-aging? Taking it out will definitely prevent meat from getting the slimy texture.

Answer

The discolored surface is a product of oxidation, the same thing that happens when you leave apple slices in the open air. Oxigen is a highly reactive molecule and it binds to anything it can find, in this case your steak.

It is not rotten or unsafe to eat in any way, it just has an unpleasant color/texture when raw. Meat packaging is often filled with carbon dioxide, and since the oxygen is already binded to carbon it no longer reacts with the steak. The side effect of this is that your steak could have gone bad, but it still looks good. The pad just collects any fluid that might drip off the steak, again for aesthetic purposes.

I'd suggest to remove the wax paper and shrinkwrap it, this will prevent it from oxidizing.

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Is there a way to make compressed watermelon without a vacuum machine?

Question

I've got in mind to make a dish with compressed watermelon, but I don't have access to a vacuum machine. I've tried once using weight, but it just cracks because the pressure is all from one side. Thoughts? If not, can it be done with a home vacuum food-saver type device instead of a restaurant quality vacuum machine? What about denser foods such as canteloupe or cucumber?

Answer

Haven't tried it but here: http://newmountaincookery.typepad.com/a_new_mountain_cookery/2008/06/compressed-wate.html

The link suggests the following technique:

1. Vacuum seal pieces of watermelon (if you don't have one, just put it in a ziploc bag and take out as much as the air as possible)

2. Freeze it overnight

3. Take it out and thaw

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What is the difference between grape and cherry tomatoes?

Question

What is the flavor difference between grape and cherry tomatoes? The store had both and they looked rather similar.

Answer

The difference in their name is - not surprisingly - because of their form. Cherry tomatoes are round, while grape tomatoes are more oblong. Wikipedia mentions that grape tomatoes are 'sweet as cherry tomatoes', so not much difference in flavour according to this. Perhaps grape tomatoes are more similar to small plum tomatoes.

This site claims grape tomatoes to be sweeter, having a thicker skin and a lower water content than cherry tomatoes. Interestingly, it also says that grape tomatoes are a cross between cherry tomatoes and other tomatoes.

The claims of the second site are in agreement with this site ("grape tomatoes have thicker skin, lower water content and intense sweetness"). It also states "a grape tomato is half the size of a cherry tomato", so perhaps they are smaller. Due to the lower water content, grape tomatoes have less chance of 'squirting' when being bit in.

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What determines how hard or soft a cheese will be?

Question

My knowledge of cheese making is extremely lacking, but what determines how hard or soft the final cheese product is when making your own cheese?

Answer

Harold McGee, in On Food and Cooking, is very detailed in his explanation of how cheese "works". He describes three stages.

In the first stage, lactic acid bacteria convert milk sugar into lactic acid. In the second stage, which overlaps with the first one, rennet (an extract of calf stomach - or, to be more precise, chymosin, a protein found in this extract and now also obtainable from yeasts and the like) curdles the casein proteins and watery whey is drained from the concentrated curds. And finally, in the third stage, the cheese ripens, and a whole host of different enzymes do all sorts of things to flavour and texture.

According to McGee,

Acid and Rennet form very different kinds of curd structures -- acid a fine, fragile gel, rennet a coarse but robust, rubbery one -- so their relative contributions, and how quickly they act, help determine the ultimate texture of the cheese.

He goes on to describe how mostly acid coagulation leads to softer cheeses and mostly rennet-based coagulation leads to firmer curds and harder cheeses.

Draining of the whey also strongly affects the final texture, as Sobachatina points out in her excellent answer. Pressing firmly expels much whey and thus leads to a harder cheese; softer cheeses are just allowed to drain some whey by gravity. But there's another important factor here: heat. Some cheeses are "cooked" in their whey at this stage, to a temperature as high as 55C (130F) for a rock-hard Parmesan or about 38C (100F) for a somewhat softer Tommes, and this expels even more whey from the curd particles (and, of course, also affects flavour).

At this stage, salt is also added. Salt draws some moisture out of the curds as well and is a catalyst for the denaturing of casein, thus reinforcing the protein structure.

McGee also discusses aging of cheese at some length, but he doesn't really touch on the effect of aging on the structure of cheese. That effect is certainly there; a very young Gouda cheese is almost as soft as a Camembert, whereas a very old one gets close to Parmesan hardness (if it doesn't crumble to dust). I imagine that this is due to some moisture escaping the cheese, but also due to the fact that the protein networks keep growing more and more interconnected as the cheese ripens.

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Can I continue to age store bought cheese?

Question

I know that many cheeses are considered to be better when aged. After I've purchased a nice block of Parmesan or such, can I continue to age it at home?

Is it practical? Will I get the same result?

Answer

Continuing to age a "nice" block of Parmesan is not going to do anything for you. It has already aged for over year and has changed pretty much all it's going to.

Similarly aging cheap, canned, Parmesan-like product that is aged only a month to cut costs will also not be good because it has too much surface area and will oxidize. It isn't very good to start with of course.

Where this will work very well is with cheap, young cheese. Buy an inexpensive block of young cheddar that doesn't have any crazy additives. Cover it and let it sit in the fridge for a month (or more). The bacteria in the cheese will continue to munch on available lactose and turn it into lactic acid. If you ever see mold wipe it off with a paper towel and a little vinegar.

At the end of that time you will have a much sharper and more valuable block of cheese. You've traded your time for money which is the trade-off cheese manufacturers always make.

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