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1500 questions
22
votes
6 answers
Are there different grades or styles of bacon?
In commercials and when I go to restaurants (even fast food!) the bacon that I get is a reddish brown color and seems to be mostly meat, or at least meat textured. However, when I buy bacon at the grocery store, it's inevitably almost all fat. It…
JPhi1618
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4 answers
What defines cooking wine?
What makes cooking wines and cooking sake considered only for cooking? My thoughts would be how cooking sake has more spices added to it but I'm not sure for wine.
Jade So
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22
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9 answers
What can I do to help prevent flatulence from beans?
I love the feijoada (typical Brazilian recipe). For optimal cooking, beans should be soaked in water for 12 hours, but it seems this is the cause of flatulence.
What is it in beans that causes flatulence and what can I do during cooking to help…
Cinthia
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22
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1 answer
Why stud an onion?
Why do some recipes call for studding onions, i.e., cutting little slits in the onion and putting cloves in?
For example, when I cook a big piece of meat like cow's tongue, what difference would it make whether I put cloves and onion separately in…
Robert
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22
votes
6 answers
Can store bought salmon be used for sashimi?
Is it safe to consume raw fish purchased at the fish counter of a typical suburban grocery store? If not, do you have any tips for finding sushi grade fish. Also, are there requirements for safe sushi/sashimi beyond the use of safe fish?
Lawrence Barsanti
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22
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9 answers
What can I substitute for Kaffir Lime Leaves?
Kaffir Lime Leaves seem to be a common ingredient in Thai food, particularly coconut based dishes. I have never seen them in Atlanta, and I've looked (farmers market, whole foods, normal grocery, but not an Asian grocery store). What is the flavor…
yossarian
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22
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3 answers
Should I remove the foam when cooking chickpeas?
Whenever I boil chickpeas aka garbanzo beans, I usually scoop up and discard the foam that rises to the top of the pot. Is there any reason other than for aesthetics to remove the foam?
As a secondary question, has anyone tried using this foam as…
kevins
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22
votes
7 answers
Are any retail vacuum-sealing systems worth the expense?
Living alone means that my leftovers tend to go a pretty long way, and I don't end up using raw ingredients as quickly as the supermarkets expect me to.
For a while I've been considering investing in a vacuum-sealing system to avoid having to throw…
Aaronut
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22
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4 answers
I never succeed in thickening sauces with pasta water. What am I doing wrong?
Every cook praises how starchy pasta water is great for thickening sauces and helping the sauce cling to the noodles.
But no matter how much pasta water I add, it never thickens the sauce.Yesterday I cooked one pound of pasta in a liter of water…
Bar Akiva
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22
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1 answer
Double cooked pasta
On my pasta package it says something like ready for double cooking and more curiously it gives cooking times of 11 min for regular (single cooking) and 5.5 / 2 min for first/second cooking when double cooking.
I had never heard of this double…
user1583209
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22
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9 answers
Why doesn't chocolate go bad?
After all, chocolate has oil and sugar in it. Why don't bacteria love it? Thanks!
Adam C
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22
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5 answers
Any reason to put cornmeal/semolina on hot pizza stone or steel?
When I first started baking pizza years ago, I read somewhere that one should toss some cornmeal on a hot pizza stone after preheating, just before putting the pizza on. Since I tend to bake pizza at the highest setting on the oven, the cornmeal…
Athanasius
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22
votes
3 answers
Pizza baking order
First few times I thought it was coincidence but now I'm puzzled. I'm baking two pizzas, one after another, made from the same dough and with the same ingredients. Every time, the second pizza base is much better: thinner crust, more elastic, you…
Miroslav Zadravec
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22
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6 answers
Why is putting an egg in the microwave not recommended?
I would like to know why it is not recommended to put an egg in the microwave.
Where does this "legend" comes from ?
Tofuw
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4 answers
Making Fudge or Candy While it is Raining or Snowing
I've heard and old wives tales that when you try to make fudge or candy when it's raining or snowing outside that the fudge or candy will not set.
What is the truth behind this tale? If it is true, how do you make fudge or candy on days that it is…
L84
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