Latest Cooking Answers

Cure for burns from hot peppers / capsicum oil?

So, I foolishly ignored advice about wearing gloves while handling hot peppers. I thought since they were "just" anaheim peppers I'd be fine... I was wrong, and

What is the difference between cracked wheat and wheatgerm?

What is the difference between cracked wheat and wheatgerm? I have used both items in completely different contexts - cracked wheat in salad and wheatgerm in m

Difference between old fashioned and quick oats?

What are the difference between old fashioned and quick oats? Can they be substituted for one another in recipes?

What are the mushrooms used in this (video) recipe?

On this video of a recipe for mushroom-onion pudding, I can't seem to recognize which mushrooms are used (at about 2:20 in the video). What is the name of thes

Are there any guidelines for converting cooking recipes from Regular Ovens to Convection?

I was looking to buy a Convection Oven and wanted to know if there are any general differences in baking methods between the two.

Can UHT milk be used to make yogurt?

So I know you can't use UHT milk to make cheese, because of the way the proteins get denatured at that temperature. But can you use it to make yogurt?

Is there an inexpensive substitute for truffles?

I recently had a hamburger whose main ingredient was Truffle shavings ($50.00 btw) - I loved the flavor, but can't afford to buy the real ones, any substitution

To sear or not to sear - slow cooking beef dishes

I want to make beef goulash in my slow cooker (first time). The instructions call for adding the beef as is. Something in my gut (rightly or wrongly) tells me

How much powder does 1 TBSP of Cumin seeds yield when crushed?

How much powder does 1 TBSP of Cumin seeds yield when crushed? I have a recipe that calls for Cumin seeds to be crushed but I could not find whole seeds at the

How to test that a knife is sharp enough?

As per the question - how to I test that a knife is sharp enough? And/or, how do you know when a knife needs sharpening? Edit: Yesterday I attempted (I feel qui

How to store brown sugar without it becoming hard?

I put a clothes pin on my opened bags of brown sugar and keep them in a dark pantry at room temperature. Since I don't use it very often, it becomes hardened.

Am I using my knives for the correct jobs?

I've got a limited collection of knives which I was moderately pleased to discover meet the "minimum requirements". But, recent activity on here has got me thin

Pasta: is simmering equivalent to roiling boil?

I recently got into a surprisingly heated argument with a friend about what level of boil you should cook your pasta at. He (an engineer) argued that the heat t

What fuel (burning material) gives the best flavor to meat when barbequing?

I normally barbecue with charcoal, but I've seen wood chips in shops, so I started wondering... I assume the material you use gives a different flavor to the me

How do I cook radicchio to make it taste less bitter?

Although I like the basic taste of radicchio a lot, I frequently get heads that are so bitter as to be basically inedible. Can you suggest some cooking techniqu

How to wash lettuce

What's the best way to wash lettuce while keeping it crisp? I've been soaking the lettuce head in water and then trying to shake the water off the leaves afterw

Why is a copper bowl recommended for whipping cream and egg whites?

They say you can get the whipped cream or egg whites "higher" or "stiffer" if you use a copper bowl. Why is that?

Red sweet and sour cabbage...drain or not?

The recipe I want to try as a side to my beef goulash calls for cooking shredded red cabbage in a quart of water, salt, caraway seeds, and brown sugar. Then it

Storage after slow cooking

I love my slow cooker but cooling food seems to take forever. Usually, I just pop the crock into the oven (no heat) and store until the next morning. So we're t

Keep chicken with skin from catching on fire on the barbeque

Short: Is there a proper technique for cooking chicken (with skin) on the barbecue, without little chicken-fireballs? Long: My previous landlord loved to coo

When you cook spaghetti, do you add olive oil to the boiling water?

Many people (at least in Germany) think that Italians add olive oil to the boiling water for spaghetti. However, Italians tend to tell the opposite (from my exp

How can I fix an unpleasant color in a dish?

Last night, I made a Peperonato pasta sauce. It was delicious, but when I added the balsamic vinegar at the end of the dish and then cooked it off (leaving a sw

What is curried tapenade?

I have just watched the A-Team film and B.A. seems to have an obsession with something called Curried Tapenade? My experience of Tapenade is that it's a Olive b

Storing Pizza Stone in Oven

I have heard that you can leave a pizza stone in the oven all the time, essentially storing it there. What are the considerations to keep in mind when doing th

How long can I leave an uncooked steak out?

This is similar to This Question, but hopefully different enough. I have 3 porterhouse steaks sitting in my refrigerator that I need to cook up tonight. I've b

How to create kebabs that taste Greek

I'm planning to do a Barbeque at the end of the month and I'd like to serve a variety of different 'Greek' style kebabs. I'm not looking for recipies, but what

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

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

What types of meat should I pound and why?

I know people sometimes pound their meat. I never do, and I am interested in what I am missing out on. Basically it comes down to a three part question: Why is

How do I glaze vegetables?

I'm looking to glaze some carrots, maybe some beets, and a decent chunk of the rest of the season's worth of farmshare. I'm sure there's plenty of recipes on th

Why do some countries prefer UHT milk and cream?

My wife and I recently moved to Belgium. We were absolutely shocked by the fact that UHT (long life) milk and cream dominate supermarket shelves compared to pa