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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How do I freeze and defrost lemons?

Question

Assuming that once defrosted, I'd most likely use them for their juice (but not exclusively; I occasionally use the peel for zest, whole slices for cooking with fish/poultry or preparing vegetables in brine).
Is this even possible?

Answer

After a quick Google search, I found chowhound topic that deals with this exact matter. They'll grate well and it's handy when (just semi-defrost them) you need some grated zest as you can just pull out a bag from the freezer and sprinlkle them into your recipe. They'll juice but you need to defrost them which I'm told is best done by 'zapping' them in the microwave for 30 seconds. Apparently you get more juice after they've been frozen as it bursts the cell walls releasing more juice.

Hope this helps!

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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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How long should I mature my mincemeat before making Mince Pies?

Question

Having decided on the spur of the moment to make Mince Pies with home-made mincemeat (a mixture of chopped fruit, distilled spirits, spices, and fat), I'm wondering if I really should leave the fruit to mature for some time before I make them?

It's been soaking for a couple of hours, and all the recipe said was that it could be frozen, and if I did I should defrost it and leave to mature for 1-2 weeks. Does this hold for fresh mincemeat too?

On the basis that I'm not dead yet, and the pies were quite tasty, I'd say that I clearly can make them without maturing the mincemeat (the initial question), but is there an optimum length of time I should leave it for?

To clarify, this is about mincemeat as in "a mixture of chopped dried fruit, distilled spirits and spices, and fat, traditionally beef suet" rather than ground or minced meat.

Answer

Mincemeat originally had meat in it along with suet and a small amount of fruits and spices.

As the cost of the fruits and spices dropped the quantities started to shift until now, you never see any meat at all besides the suet in traditional mincemeat. Victorian times they would make the mincemeat in the late fall and set it aside in the root cellar for about 8 weeks but evidently could be held for upwards to 6 months. The cool cellar and the high percent of spirits didn't cause much harm to them back then. The longer the better as the fruit and suet would absorb more flavours.

Here's a link to a Google book that has a recipe from 1786:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=zZIEAAAAYAAJ&dq=mincemeat&pg=PA423#v=onepage&q=mincemeat&f=false

It doesn't sound that great but then the really old dishes never were.

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Is there anything wrong with keeping oil, salt, and vinegar together

Question

I am curious if there is anything wrong with keeping oil, salt, and vinegar together.

A month ago I made a small mixture of those and brought it to my work, to use it for salad. Do some of them do some unwanted chemical interactions? They are rapeseed oil, sea salt, and ordinary vinegar. I didn't refrigerate them. I suppose I am not the only one curious about this.

Answer

No, as you can keep them separately for a long time, The point is, no chemical reaction accur because they don't have right particles for a chemical reaction, it's just a mixture and no new substances is made. I think they are still healthy like that.

Also, accroding to a very nice article about keeping oil and vinager ( http://oilandvinegar.cruets.com/keeping-oil-and-vinegar ), despite they can be stored for a long period of time , depends on the place and container you keep them in:

Olive oil and vinegar have four deadly enemies. They are:
1. Age
2. Heat
3. Light
4. Air

One of the above or a combination of any of these four can damage olive oil and vinegar beyond measure.

So in a dark and cool place and not a plastic container,they can be stored for 15 months.

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How long does it take botulism spores to germinate in the fridge?

Question

Based on this question, I started wondering how long I could keep an anerobic food in the fridge before I have to worry about botulism colonization. 1 day? 3 days? 2 months? Clearly it's not a short period of time (hours) or we'd all be dying of botulism poisoning by now.

Unfortunately, nothing I've been able to find on the net seems to be based on solid studies of germination times. So, if I put a pre-prepared sous vide packet in the fridge, or homemade garlic oil, a low-acid sauce, or lemon curd, or similar, when do I have to toss it to be safe?

Answer

This completely depends on all of the other factors involved in botulinum growth, not to mention the particular strain you're concerned about (there are several).

Salt, acidity (low pH), low moisture, and extreme temperature (low or high) will all slow botulinum growth significantly.

There are proteolytic and non-proteolytic types of bacteria. The non-proteolytic C.botulinum bacteria will never grow in the refrigerator - they cannot grow at temperatures below 12° C ^source. The proteolytic strains can grow at temperatures as low as 3° C. That is very close to refrigerator temperature so clearly they will grow very slowly - again, the exact speed depends on other factors - but they will grow.

According to other sources, the proteolytic strains (the ones that can grow in the fridge) are the ones that tend to produce gas and off-odours, so they'll be more easily detectable. They also have far lower heat resistance, so they are easier to cook away. But of course, if they've grown to a sufficient level, it's too late to do that.

As far as I know, there aren't specific guidelines for vacuum-packed foods, whether commercially packed or simply cooked sous-vide. I'd ask you to consider that botulism is not the only type of foodborne illness that can grow in the refrigerator. There's also listeria, salmonella, and possibly some others I'm forgetting about. Cooking (especially sous-vide cooking) doesn't kill every last one of them, just enough to make the food safe. By the way, listeria and salmonella are both facultative anaerobes which means that they can grow with or without air.

There's also the small matter of your actual refrigerator temperature. Although the theoretical temperature (4° C) is lower than that required for all but the hardiest of bacteria, once you move up even a single degree to 5° C there are many more kinds that can start to grow. How cold is your fridge, really? I've heard of some being as high as 10-12° C in parts! If your fridge temperature is even slightly high, botulism will be the least of your worries.

Honestly, given the incredibly tiny number of actual documented cases of botulism (less than a dozen per year in the U.S.) compared to the insanely high total number of food poisoning cases every year (1 in 4 according to some sources), people seem to place far too much emphasis on that particular species. I realize that it's one of the scariest on account of that whole "instant death" thing, but even if you could prove that your improperly-stored food is 100% free of botulism toxin, you could still get seriously ill from eating it. You're literally worrying about the least probable vector for food poisoning.

Bottom line, I'd strongly advise you to treat sous-vide food just like any other food in terms of food safety and freeze it if you plan to store it longer than 4-5 days. There are just too many variables at play to conclusively say otherwise.

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How can i preserve squid ink

Question

I clean my own squids and I want to preserve the ink for later use. I was wondering what to do with the ink sac. Should I collect the ink in a little jar and freeze it?

Or how long will it last in the refrigerator?

Any ideas?

Answer

From what I understand you should be able to extract the ink and freeze it for later use. Users on this forum suggest extracting the ink and then freezing. Another person here says:

I save my ink from freshly cleaned squid and just freeze it

So it looks like your best bet would be to extract the ink from the sacs into a suitable freezer container and freeze it.

Freezing will definitely help it to last longer as the shelf life of squid in the refrigerator is 1-2 days. You can extend this to 3-5 months in the freezer. I'd imagine the squid ink would have a similar shelf life.

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Should cheese be frozen?

Question

I just put a piece of parmesan cheese into the freezer part of a fridge. Is this practice good or bad? I did this because when I bought the cheese, I could not back to home immediately and the cheese stayed in room temperature (30 degree celsius maybe) for a day, I was afraid that the cheese would be soften, so I made a though of putting it into the freezer. Then I did it and haven't taken it out yet. In addition, the package of the cheese is not yet opened.

Also I was afraid the lower part of the fridge would be open frequently and some air will condense within the fridge, so I thought put the cheese into the freezer maybe better, because the cheese was frozen.

Any comment?

Answer

I freeze cheese all the time, mostly mozzarella. It keeps longer. (If I keep mozzarella or similar cheeses too long in the fridge it gets moldy, often even before its expiration date.) However, I usually use frozen cheese only for cooking - i.e. if it's going to be melted. Freezing cheese does change the texture. Parmesan, though, being a hard, aged cheese would probably be less affected by freezing. However, on the same token, aged cheeses keep very nicely in the fridge, so I wouldn't see much benefit in freezing it.

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Why does olives with the pit left always taste better than pitted ones

Question

When you buy or eat olives it seems that the high quality ones always have the pit left in them. If you buy cheaper, not so good olives, they will most likely be pitted.

What is the reason behind this? Does the pit have an effect on the olive once it's in the brine or is it something else, perhaps tradition, that makes it seem "low quality" or "bad" to pit the olives before they are put in a jar?

Answer

Just like the US dollar, olives suffer from dilution.

When an olive is picked and brined, the olive skin provides a barrier between the tasty fruit and the liquid medium.

When the fruit is pierced to remove the seed, the unprotected pulp of the fruit is in constant, direct contact with the brine liquid.

This direct contact allows the natural juices, which are protected by the olive skin in regular, unpitted, olives, to leach out into the brine liquid, reducing the flavor proportionally.

Pitted olives have their place, in stews, soups, salads etc. For full flavor though, always go for the unpitted olives.

Have worked in many olive producing areas in the world, and the best olives are always unpitted.

You could even do an experiment to prove or disprove this:

Buy some decent unpitted olives, fairly large. Buy a hand held cherry pitter and remove the pits of half the olives, put both the pitted and unpitted olives back in the brine and leave them on the counter for a week or so, then try them. There will be a difference.

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How can you prevent lettuce from becoming bitter?

Question

I've been buying good lettuce recently and have been storing them in the fridge in a water bath. This way the lettuce stays in good shape and I prepare some salads. After about a week, however, the lettuce becomes inedible because of the bitter taste.

Do you know why this happens or any way to prevent the bitterness?

Answer

I think the key here is that you've been buying oversized lettuces. Bitterness of lettuce plants is not something under your control. When the lettuce matures (on the plant), it eventually starts flowering (called "bolting") as a way to perpetuate its genes. Once this sets in, the leaves turn bitter due to the production of certain chemicals, and acts as a defense mechanism against insects.

The process of bolting is irreversible and if it has commenced in the plant, it will continue on in the cut lettuce head (perhaps at a diminished rate). Big lettuce heads are invariably more mature than the smaller ones, which is why you experience a higher occurrence of them turning bitter. You could try the other suggestions here, but I cannot say for/against any of them as I haven't heard of any of them being used to control bitterness.

My advice would be to buy small to medium sized lettuces. Young leaves are tender and less likely to turn bitter. One might be tempted to buy the biggest lettuce on the shelf so as to "maximize" the leaves/dollar, but in the end, you have to decide whether the bitterness is really worth it.

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Are there things you cannot freeze?

Question

There are a lot of edible things that come to mind when I think about what can be frozen. But when I think about things you better not put in the freezer, I honestly have no idea.

So, what food and/or drinks come out of the freezer unusable?

(I really am asking about the use, rather than the texture. For example, blueberries would come out mushy, but you can still use them in some dishes.)

And are there things that completely lose their taste or even get an other taste?

Answer

A lot of dairy products become watery or start to separate if they've been frozen or defrosted: pastries with cream fillings, cream cheese, sour cream.

The USDA says does not recommend that eggs or canned foods be stored frozen. Eggshells can crack easily, and even if the shells remain intact, the consistency of egg yolks makes them difficult to use for anything other than hard-boiling. Canned foods that are frozen accidentally could pose health risks, so the USDA recommends inspecting to see if the can has rusted or burst. If the can is swollen, thaw it but check to make sure it doesn't look or smell off before eating.

The FDA also has a useful chart (pdf) on which foods don't freeze well and how long you can freeze other foods. (Note: when there is a recommended limit on how long a food should be frozen, it indicates when the quality of the food will decrease - NOT when it will "expire". You could theoretically freeze most foods indefinitely.)

The only other thing I would avoid freezing is any sort of raw green (lettuce, spinach, etc.). Greens wilt and turn brown when you freeze them. (If they're cooked, they should be fine to freeze and thaw.)

EDIT: Apparently, some spices become bitter when frozen, including pepper, cloves, garlic, green pepper, imitation vanilla, and onions, paprika and celery taste different.

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Preserving leftover double cream

Question

I've got about 200ml of Double Cream (48% butterfat apparently) that I don't think i'll use before it goes off.

What simple (~5 minute) things can you make with cream so that it can be frozen?

---

At the moment I'm thinking along the lines of chocolate or toffee sauces.

Answer

Actually, above 40% fat, you can just freeze the cream itself. It wont whip as high, if you defrost it and whip it later, but it'll still taste good. Below 40% the results aren't as good.

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Which type of blueberry for making jam?

Question

If I want to make blueberry jam, which type of blueberry should I use?

I just bought a pack of blueberry, but I found that the flesh/pulp of them is not blue, but light green in color. When people say "blue"berry, do they mean the color of the skin only?

How many type of blueberries can be bought in markets?

Answer

Common names of plants are a very unclear matter. There are big differences not only between languages, but also regional differences within a single language.

There are lots of (closely related) plants which are sold under the name blueberry. And probably not even the person who grew (or gathered) them can tell you the exact species. While it does matter when it comes to jam (for the same reason it matters whether you use Roma tomatoes or Cherry tomatoes for a sauce) it is highly improbable to find a source which can consistently provide you with a specific known variety. Also, you probably have to study some very specified botanical literature and be provided with parts of the plant other than the berries in order to be able to identify the type with some degree of accuracy.

On the other hand, don't let that come in the way of good jam. Blood orange marmelade may taste different than bitter orange marmelade, but both are good. The same goes for blueberries: you can use any variety, even if some of them would be a bit better on their own.

What you need for a jam is a good sweetness to acid ratio, the proper amount of pectin, and as much aroma as possible. A softer texture also helps to prevent unpleasant lumps. So generally, you want to go with the ripest fruit available. They are soft, and have the fullest aroma. This is something you might want to consider with your current source of berries: maybe they're not a special "green on the inside" variety, but only underripe. If they don't taste very sweet, and their aroma isn't very complex, I'd try to find other sources. Farmer's markets and organic stores are usually able to sell much better fruits (because they cater to a picky, price-inelastic clientelle), but of course they cost a lot too.

Sweet fruit is always good, but you need enough sugar added for food safety. A ratio of 2:1 (fruit to sugar) can still be kept in the pantry, more fruit than that and you need to refrigerate the unopened glasses too. With blueburries, you'll need to add both pectin (to get the jam to gel) and acid (to get the pectin to work). This is the part which will vary with fruit variety: more watery types will need more pectin, and less acidic types will need more acid. If you want a good quality jam, you'll need to do some experiments until you get the proportions right. If not, you can buy "jam sugar" or however it is called in your country - this is sugar with pectin and acid already added. It won't have the perfect ratio for your fruit, but it will more or less work. But then, if this quality is enough for you, you can skip buying the expensive berries and slaving at the stove, and buy manufactured jam.

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Make spring rolls in advance

Question

I'm making some spring rolls for a party on Friday. As I will not be able to make them the same day I was wondering what the best option would be. I will have the possibility of frying them directly at the place, but making them there would not probably be feasable.

What would you advice me to do?

1. make the rolls the night before, then freeze them and fry them the next day
2. make the rolls the night before, keep them in the fridge and fry them the next day
3. make and fry the rolls the night before. Reheat them (in the oven?) the next day (this sounds quite bad to me)

I think I will have some with pork, some with shrimp and some with veggies only.

Thanks

Answer

I think the best choice is number 2, get them all wrapped up and ready to go, cover them tightly and pop them in the fridge.

3 is possible but you risk them going soggy. They'll be fresher if you fry them on the day.

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Frying - Oil foams

Question

I am relatively new to deep-frying. Having seen the questions about oil reuse and conservation, I'm still at a loss about what's going on with my oil...

My sunflower oil foams like crazy. I've been reusing this oil for a while now and was going to discard it, however a friend of mine told me this oil was still looking good. Relatively clean (I filter it regularly), no off smell and it doesn't smoke (in my fryer, that is). I only fry potatoes in this batch of oil to avoid flavor transfer. These are cut into French fries, chips or straw potatoes. Specially the chips and straws retain a lot of water, and I guess that has something to do with it.

Also, I noticed the frying takes longer with the foaming oil.

Edit: I've tried poaching(?) the French fries, but they foam during poaching. Then when frying, they really foam. I have to keep an eye on it or the oil spills over the top. Anything I can do about it, or should I just go ahead and discard the oil altogether?

Answer

You are right that the moisture in the potatoes are what's causing the oil to 'foam'. If you don't dry your potatoes sufficiently they can quite easily cause the oil to 'boil' explosively out of the frier; this is why you never pour water on a deep-fat pan fire.

There are various ways to dry out your chips/straws, but one of the most effective ways to is to lay them out on a tray or plate and put them, uncovered, in the fridge for a couple of hours, making sure there are no strong odours in there first. Not only will this prevent too much foaming, it will result in really crisp chips!

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What's the difference between jam, jelly, and preserves?

Question

I assume the difference in name is due to their cooking processes, but am unsure what exactly makes them different.

Answer

according to the Ball canning book (paraphrasing)...

JAM is made by cooking crushed or chopped fruits with sugar, and is made of one fruit or a combination of fruits, is spreadable, and is firm but will not hold the shape of the jar.

JELLY is made from juice strained from fruit, usually prepared in a way to keep it crystal clear, and is gelatinized enough to hold is shape when removed from the jar, yet is still spreadable.

PRESERVES are fruit preserved with sugar so it retains its shape, is transparent, shiny, tender and plump. the syrup generally has the consistency of honey, and a true preserve will not hold its shape when spooned from the jar.

to add to the confusion, i'll also add their descriptions of...

CONSERVES, which are jam-like and made of a combination of one or more fruits, nuts and raisins, cooked until it rounds up on the spoon.

MARMALADES are a soft jelly containing pieces of fruit and peel evenly suspended in a transparent jelly. similar in structure to jam.

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Possible to freeze jam in glass?

Question

I have read on multiple canning sites that you can freeze jam in glass jars. Has anyone actually done this successfully? Under what circumstances would it be preferable to putting the jam in plastic containers?

It just doesn't seem very safe to me (I fear the glass would break).

Previously, I have bought plastic containers to freeze jam in, but they did not seal very well. I'm wondering if glass could perform better? Or, should I just find better plastic containers?

Answer

Yes, I've done this. The key is to ensure that the jam isn't filling the glass container completely so that as it freezes it has room to expand.

I used a typical Ball canning jar, which sealed well enough to keep ice crystals out for several months.

From what I understand, freezer canning is useful when you don't have a pressure canner but want to can lower acid items which otherwise might be dangerous to your health (if not pressure canned).

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How long can a bottle of self-made basil sauce last without rotting?

Question

I made a bottle of basil sauce by myself last year summer. It composed of basil leave, extra virgin olive oil, pine nuts, garlic and parmesan cheese.

It was kept in a glass bottle in the refrigerator, and I've add some lemon juice on the top of the sauce to preserve it.

It should be rotting already right?

Answer

Last summer was a long time ago. The National Center for Food Preservation has this to say about herbs in oil:

Oils may be flavored with herbs if they are made up for fresh use, stored in the refrigerator and used within 2 to 3 days. There are no canning recommendations. ... Pesto is an uncooked seasoning mixture of herbs, usually including fresh basil, and some oil. It may be frozen for long term storage

Clostridium botulinum is a serious enough hazard with oiled herbs that I'd not trust a dash of lemon juice on top of the oil to protect me from getting sick after 9 months storage. You're much safer freezing the stuff as recommended. Ice cube trays produce nice pesto cubes that you can store safely in a freezer bag for at least a couple years.

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How to preserve the “sugar syrup” without using a cold storage?

Question

I prepared the Gulab jamuns few days back. Now there is a lot of sugar syrup remaining, what's the way of preserving it without using the fridge?

One way is to boil it daily, but that'll consume a lot of gas. So, any other way out?

Answer

Sugar is a natural preservative and provided you store it in a dark, dry, cool place it should keep for a long time. You should store it in a sterilised glass jar or bottle.

To sterilise, place the empty, open jar in a pan of cold water and bring to the boil, boiling for ten minutes. Remove, pour in the syrup, then place the lid on and return to the boiling water for another ten minutes. Dry with a clean towel and store.

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