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1500 questions
33
votes
6 answers

What is the correct water to pasta ratio?

I have heard one should use a lot of water when cooking pasta; how much water should I use?
apaderno
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33
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5 answers

Why would you place potatoes on salt when baking in the oven?

Several of my recipe books call for baking potatoes on a layer of (rock) salt, e.g. I'm currently following one for gnocchi that has this very instruction. Searching yields many recipes, but I can't really find the "why" of it, nor what it…
Jeroen
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33
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12 answers

Slow cooking without a slow cooker

I frequently hear people telling me about how wonderful their slow cookers (AKA "crock pot") are. In many cases they're right - meat that tends to come out tough in normal cooking comes out very tender from a slow cooker. But do I really need a…
Aaronut
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33
votes
4 answers

Is it safe to eat a cooked steak that (briefly) touched the plate that was holding the raw meat?

So I just finished preparing a perfect-looking steak, and as per usual, my apartment's hypersensitive smoke detector decided to go off. Not wanting to put the steak back into the pan, in one brilliant flash of boneheadedness, while I was scrambling…
Aaronut
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33
votes
8 answers

Is it safe to eat raw eggs?

I have a friend that is training for a marathon and he drinks 6 raw eggs before running (Yes, like Rocky) - is this safe?
AttilaNYC
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33
votes
16 answers

How to rest meat but not let it get too cold?

Having read this question I am persuaded that resting meat is good for its flavour. But if the meat has a good temperature straight after it's been cooked, it seems as though it will be too cold after resting it for a few minutes. How do you rest…
bryn
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33
votes
6 answers

Does freezing butter or margarine change the properties?

I have a lot of butter & margarine and looking for ways to keep it for longer time. Will freezing them change melting point, flavor, or anything that could be undesirable when cooking? Update: We are now freezing our butter and margarine. It is a…
Justin Nathanael Waters
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33
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6 answers

What difference does oxygen content of tea water make?

I've heard the advice that water should be boiled for tea only one--that when boiled it loses dissolved oxygen, and if there is insufficient oxygen in the water, the flavor of the tea is (somehow) affected. This doesn't seem to make sense to me. If…
Ray
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33
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5 answers

Can my freezer be too cold?

The FDA recommends a freezer temperature of 0˚F (-18˚C). Warmer temperatures risk bacterial growth and quality problems. But what are the reasons not to set the freezer colder? My Bosch freezer can be set as low as -8˚F (-22˚C). The only downsides I…
Doug
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33
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24 answers

Cooling coffee rapidly without dilution

I like iced coffee when the weather is hot, and I like to drink it black (or nearly black) and undiluted. What is a good setup for cooling freshly brewed coffee quickly, without a lot of hassle? I'm talking about normal brewed coffee, not cold…
user37472
33
votes
9 answers

What is the proper way to dispose of a kitchen knife?

How do you throw away a kitchen knife (or for that matter, any knife)? It seems extremely dangerous to just throw it in the dumpster, even if it's wrapped up real well.
JustinP8
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33
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2 answers

What happened to my egg?

I was making a small batch of chocolate cake and decided to flavor it with peppermint extract (as a substitute for vanilla extract). Foolish me added the extract directly to the eggs (not beaten). A small portion of the white became opaque, as if it…
Adele- Nexus of Potlucks
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33
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10 answers

How warm must dough be in order to rise?

While making some focaccia this afternoon, my wife said, "sure the house is 'warm'; it'll be fine." One hour later, no rising. It may be worth noting that our house is 66F. So we stuck it in a warm oven and it rose just fine. It turned out fine, I'm…
yossarian
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32
votes
8 answers

My tea bags are expired, can I still use them?

This box of tea has an expiration date which has passed but I would like to know if I can still use it. What do you think?
TheXed
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32
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5 answers

Can I make popcorn with any corn?

Up until today I only knew about one type of corn for popcorn. Searching for Peruvian food I found out that in Peru there are different "popcorn" varieties. So that made me think: is it possible to make popcorn with just any variety of corn? If not,…
Luciano
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