Is it safe to roast marshmallows over a sterno flame?

Question

It's become common practice around my apartment to use a sterno to roast marshmallows because it's easy, cheap and (primarily) because we can't have a campfire in my living room.

Is this dangerous?

Asked by stevvve

Answer

Sterno is (roughly) alcohol mixed with gel. The same type of alcohol (ethanol mixed with enough methanol to make it poisonous) is commonly used in marine stoves because it's considered to be quite safe: it doesn't explode and it can be extinguished with water.

Alcohol also burns cleanly and quite completely, so there are essentially no methanol molecules in the flame that could land on your marshmallows and harm you.

Answered by Ward

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Is it necessary to rinse Chinese or other tea before first brew / steep / infusion?

Question

I've been told that I should be rinsing Chinese tea with the boiled water before the first full infusion intended for drinking.

I make the occasional very-expensive tea from Taiwan and I feel it is a waste to throw away a first pot simply for "rinsing". However, my mother-in-law insists it is correct to rinse the tea first :-)

Is this practice of rinsing always advisable, or are there specific cases or kinds of tea where rinsing is necessary? What are we trying to rinse away? Is the practice only for Chinese tea, or for other kinds of tea as well?

Looking for some enlightenment from some tea experts. Thank you!

---

Update:

Since I asked the question, my mother-in-law came across a newspaper article, in Chinese, describing pesticides found on some teas from China, and so it is advisable to rinse before consuming.

Here's a scan I made of the article:

Something in English...

Essentially, the article references a 2012 report by Greenpeace. You can read a press release about the report, and here's a link to the report itself: Pesticides: Hidden Ingredients in Chinese Tea Report (PDF). Press release summary:

A Greenpeace investigation has found pesticides banned for use on tea in the products marketed by some of China's top tea companies. Some of the firms, which include China Tea, Tenfu Tea and China Tea King, export tea products to Japan, the US and Europe.

For that reason, I accepted the answer below which suggests rinsing for reduction of pesticides.

Of course, I don't think I'd want to drink a tea with 17 kinds of pesticides present, even if rinsed! Caveat emptor ... I plan to ask more questions when I buy my tea.

Asked by Chris W. Rea

Answer

Usually the first infusion is to remove pesticides and some tea dust accumulates through aging of the tea; another reason is to let the dry leaves "breath" so to bring out their taste in subsequent infusions. You suppose to drain out the water in seconds; so it shouldn't take away the taste.

Answered by KMC

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When I'm separating egg whites, how much does it matter if a little yolk gets in?

Question

I was separating egg whites today and one of the yolks broke and contaminated my bowl of whites. I started from scratch, but I'm wondering if I really needed to; would a tiny bit of yolk (say, 1/8 tspn in 4 egg whites) mixed in with the whites make a big difference?

To provide some context, I was about to whip the whites with castor sugar to make almond macaroons.

Asked by Highly Irregular

Answer

Yes, it matters a lot. When you are separating egg whites, it is for whipping them into a foam. This foam is a protein-based foam, relying on protein ends hooking into each other. Even small traces of fat will prevent the foam from forming. Egg yolks contain high amounts of fat. Once an egg yolk breaks in your whites, you have to start the separation anew, because it can prevent your foam from forming. Also, don't use plastic bowls for whipping egg whites (their surface retains some fat molecules even after washing, giving you a less stable foam) and only whip with a cleanly washed whisk or mixer attachment (not one you have just used for something else, not even if you wiped it clean).

To prevent big mishaps, just separate each new egg in a teacup and only add the new white to the old whites after it has separated cleanly. Else you are in big trouble if you are separating a lot and the last egg contaminates the whole whites with yolk. And a single contaminated egg is easily reused for a quick egg-and-feta sandwich or something else.

Contamination the other way round isn't so worrisome. You still want to work as precisely as possible, as yolk-only recipes will often have somewhat worse texture if eggwhite is included, but small contaminating amounts are usually not noticeable in the finished product, even in foams (zabaglione, mayonnaise). This is because yolk foams are fat-based, and small amounts of protein don't prevent a fat foam from forming.

Answered by rumtscho

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How to quickly make refried beans (or thereabouts) using Kidney beans?

Question

I've been trying for awhile now to make a bean-like paste for burritos/nachos/etc. akin to Refried Beans I so enjoyed while living in North America. What I've got so far isn't half bad, but I'd really like to improve on this, if possible.

Here's how I do it now:

1. Empty beans into strainer; wash with cold water.
2. Put beans into pan slightly under water and bring to boil.
3. Lightly simmer until beans come out of their shells.
4. Turn heat down to min; Drain off 3/4 of the water.
5. Mash mash mash away.
6. Add spices and mix; let water burn evaporate until consistency is to my liking.

NOTE: I only recently added steps 2-4 in an attempt at mashing the shells better. It has not helped. If I remove those steps, the entire process takes maybe 10 minutes (= happy stomachs :)

No matter how much or long I cook and/or mash the beans (while adding water), the skin never quite "liquidizes" so there are these annoying strainy-blobs that everyone complains about.

I usually use Red and White Kidney Beans or some kind of baked beans in tomato sauce, simply because I don't have to cook them at all i.e. I can eat them out of the can and they taste good :) Perhaps that logic is bad and I should be using other beans (assuming I can find them here) ?

Asked by glenneroo

Answer

This isn't the "quick" nor the healthy answer, but I personally do a twice-cooked system. I leave the juice from the can in the mix, and boil it down, which takes 15 minutes or so. Retaining the flavor of the canned fluid is essential, in my opinion.

Then I "fry" the dry-ish mixture which is beginning to separate in maybe 1 tbsp preheated lard per can of beans, stirring a lot at first. Lastly, very slightly simmer this on low heat for 1 hour or so, stirring occasionally. Flavor is awesome. Any kinds of beans can be prepared in this way, and it is similar (varying on oil and legume variety) to other paste concoctions created elsewhere.. such as in the middle east.

Note that this method negates the need for lots of "mashing". So, if you're more looking for less effort, than necessarily for "quick".. this could be your answer :)

Answered by zanlok

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How long can I store mole?

Question

I'd like to have a go at making some kind of mole, but all the recipes I have seem to make big batches. How long can I keep mole for, either in the fridge or freezer?

Asked by ElendilTheTall

Answer

In the freezer, more-or-less indefinitely, depending on how good your freezer is. Certainly months to years.

In the fridge, it depends on the kind of mole. Quick moles (like various green moles) don't keep very long, maybe a week at most. A long-cooked mole should keep a bit longer -- up to 2 weeks -- since all of the ingredients are completely cooked.

If you're not planning to use it within a week, though, why not freeze it? The texture won't take any harm from freezing and thawing.

Answered by FuzzyChef

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Is there an alternative wrapping for tamales?

Question

I'd like to have a go at making tamales, but the corn husk wrappers are hard to come by here. Is there anything I can use as a substitute wrapper?

Asked by ElendilTheTall

Answer

I've had the same problem once. The first substitute is banana leaves. But they're not easy to find either.

The second one is using big leaves of chard. Tamales will be done in the same time and you could eat the leaf if you want. I've tried it once and it came out great.

Here it's a recipe for tamales from Michoacan made with chard. Here it is a graphic step by step recipe for tamales with chard. They are written in Spanish, let me know if you need a translator ;)

PS. My mexican mother in law used to do it with chard.

Answered by doctoraw

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How can I stop my eggs from cooking when I make lemon/lime curd?

Question

I used this recipe http://allrecipes.com/recipe/fresh-lime-curd/. I added a lot of the hot liquid to temper the eggs and they looked good and then I added the mixture to the pot and whisked but the egg whites still cooked and I had to strain the curd to get it all out.

Is there a better way to avoid this from happening?

Asked by Luz_Ramirez

Answer

To prevent this from happening, apart from what Jefromi says, check the temperature with a thermometer. Eggs start coagulating around 60ºC. If you keep the temperature around 55ºC you are pasteurizing the eggs at the same time.

Answered by BaffledCook

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