Latest Cooking Answers

What does it mean to "fold in" an ingredient into a mix?

I see this in baking recipes, but I've never been quite clear on the difference between mixing and "folding."

Bundt Pan Substitution?

I have a cake recipe that calls for baking in a bundt pan (it's a sweet potato spice cake). Can I use another kind of pan, or will it affect the quality of the

What are the Standard Terms Used to Describe Liquid Viscosity in Cooking?

When describing the thickness of a sauce or other liquid when cooking, what are the standard terms that should be used? I've heard things like "gravy-like" or

Is there anything I can add to homemade bread to preserve it?

I love making our own bread - we rarely buy shop bought, but it tends to go off very quickly. Part of the appeal is that it doesn't have any "junk" in it - arti

Kneading before or after rising?

I've found a pita bread recipe (that turned out well) that indicates to knead after rising the dough (for about 3 hours). What's the difference between kneadin

Why does salted cod turn chewy?

We recently bought half a salted codfish. I did a Spanish recipe (and asked a question about it). The fish had a very nice texture (although it was way too salt

Gluten-free alternatives to beurre manie/roux for thickening sauce?

I'd like to thicken the sauce for my Thanksgiving turkey a bit, without making it inedible for my gluten-intolerant guests. From other questions on this site, I

Gluten-free replacement to coat something with before roasting, to obtain crust

A recipe calls for coating (slightly cooked) fennel bulbs in flour before roasting them, presumably to obtain a bit of a crust. Is there anything I could coat t

Substitution for baking soda in pancakes

I attempted to make pancakes this morning, only to discover that I was out of baking soda. I tried substituting baking powder, but it didn't work at all. The pa

Does polenta freeze well?

Does freezing polenta substantially change its consistency? I like polenta but would prefer to make it in batches instead of every time I want to eat it. After

Why is some metal safe to use in a microwave, but others not?

This might be a more scientific question, but it relates to cooking and I thought it was interesting. I just made my lunch which was a microwavable bowl of chu

Tools for making Pasta

I am exploring the world of home-made pasta. My first experiments, cutting the dough into stripes using a knife and throwing the stripes into the boiling water

How hot does garlic need to get to lose its sharpness?

Inspired by the recent questions here, I made manicotti over the weekend. The recipe I used called for minced garlic in the filling. I love garlic and usually p

What qualities should I be looking for when making the best French Toast?

Should it be a thick slice of bread? Should it be made with challah bread? Should it be slightly crispy and brown on the outside but mushy on the inside?

How much juice is in a pineapple

The title pretty much says it all - I want to know (preferably in American units) how much juice you could get out of a regular-sized pineapple.

How can this "Bloody Brain" cocktail be made without alcohol?

I found this recipe for a Halloween cocktail known as a "Bloody brain", here's a link, and I was wondering how I would go about making a non-alcoholic version.

How do I remove bitterness from bitter melon

We use bitter melon/bitter gourd for making curry. We boil bitter gourd in water couple of times to remove bitterness which is very time consuming. Is there an

Thai lava chili: how could I reproduce this?

I realize this is a bit off of a question, and I apologize if it's not all that great. But here goes. There is a Thai place near where I live that makes this a

Keeping Hot Sauce From Separating

Last fall I tried my hand at making a homemade hot sauce. Essentially: roast peppers, blend with vinegar, garlic, salt and other spices, put in jar for three we

DIY blender lid replacement

I just got a used Braun MX32 CDN from a thrift store. It's in great shape. Unfortunately, it came with a lid from some other model that apparently somebody tr

How can I make a foam without an immersion blender?

I want to try some experiments with molecular gastronomy foams, but all the recipes I've seen involve using an immersion blender to create the foam. Can I use a

Hardening Homemade Butterscotch into the Consistency of Butterscotch Chips

I've been considering making butterscotch chip cookies with homemade butterscotch chips for a while now, but every time I look for recipes I find only buttersco

What kind of flour is needed for strudel/fillo dough?

In Hungary, they sell "rétesliszt", strudel-flour. What makes it better for strudel? Is it higher gluten? Lower? Softer? Harder? Which flour in a typical

Convert grill recipe to convection toaster oven?

I generally just lower the temp 25 degrees when going from oven to the little convec toaster oven and it works out well. This may be a silly question, but I th

Why does roasting vegetables before pureeing into soup affect the flavour?

Last night I made a butternut squash soup. The recipe said to roast some squash and onion for 45 mins before boiling with stock for 15 and then pureeing. Is any

Possible Pumpkin Flavors

I am hoping to try out cooking with pumpkin this year and only know a) not to buy jack-o-lantern varieties for cooking, and b) about making it into sweeter thi

How long does shrimp paste last in the fridge?

Basically, I have some shrimp paste, it's a nice, very dark purple colour, and I keep it in the fridge. It's not "dry", but it's dry enough to be extremely fir

What can be substituted for vinegar in sushi rice?

If you could not use rice vinegar (for reasons of food allergy, perhaps), what could you use instead in sushi rice?

How do I get rid the yellow layer of oil that forms in my cream of mushroom soup?

When making cream of mushroom, I sauté the chopped up wild mushrooms with unsalted butter until tender and add a little olive oil. After a while, I add t

Cranberry Beans, probably any beans; medium-term storage options?

I am planning on cleaning out the lady at the farmer's market of her cranberry beans this Friday. I am hoping to use in three different recipes over the course