Latest Cooking Answers

Is it safe to put hot food in the fridge?

I heard that putting really warm food in the fridge right after cooking it is not the right thing to do. It might cause bacterial growth? Is this true?

Gummy residue from baking spray/oil

I'm sure everyone's seen this - that brownish stuff left behind when you grease an area of a baking dish that gets left exposed to the heat. Soap doesn't bother

Why cleave chicken when making stock?

Why would you cleave your chicken, bones, into pieces when you are making stock? I just throw whats left of my chicken in a pot with some vegetables bring it to

How should I deal with blood released while thawing meat in the refrigerator?

Saturday I pulled a package of venison from my freezer to thaw and hope to make stroganoff with it tonight. However, this morning I noticed that the package (in

Juice recipe recommendation engine to give me recipes based on the ingredients I already have?

Does anyone know of a website where I could enter a bunch of ingredients that I have and it would return a list of possible juice recipes for my juicer? Like a

When cooking pasta in salted water how much of the salt is absorbed?

Most chefs recommend that you should add quite a bit of salt to boiling water which you cook pasta in (sometimes 1 teaspoon). For those watching their sodium i

How long does it take for unopened cheese to go bad?

I bought one of those blocks of Dubliner cheese (at Costco, sealed relatively well in wax paper) and left it in my car all afternoon and overnight by mistake.

How to roast chestnuts on an open fire?

I have never managed to successfully roast chestnuts on an open fire. I tend to end up with charred chestnuts, which are inedible. Is there a good technique fo

Any way to soften gummy candy?

Sometimes when I buy (cheap) gummy candy, it's a little too hard to enjoy. Is there a way to soften them? Preferably something that lasts, as opposed to perhaps

My Cheese Melted while in the Fridge?

I have a sandwich that says "sell by 11/4". The sandwich is white bread, provolone cheese, turkey breast, and some lettuce wrapped in a plastic bag. I went to

Some fishermen tell me I caught a Trout Salmon. Does this fish differ much from ordinary salmon?

Like the title says, got a couple questions about the fish I just caught... Firstly, is there anyway to confirm what type of fish this is? 'Ordinary salmon' or

How to peel chestnuts?

The chestnuts on an open fire question reminded me: Is there a trick to peeling chestnuts easily? I always end up with bits of hairy skin stuck to the chestnuts

How can I avoid from turning mushrooms brown while freezing it?

When you freeze mushrooms they will turn brown. You can't keep them for long time in the fridge though. On the other hand I can't buy it everyday! I love mushr

How to cook using a wok

I've heard that using a wok helps ensure not only perfectly cooked meats and vegetables, it also just makes food taste better. I've purchased a new wok and am l

Which torch to buy for finishing sous vide meat? Butane or propane?

I have started cooking sous vide and am thinking of buying a torch to finish off the meat. I have seen stores selling little butane torches for creme brulees, b

What is the best way to clean a roasting tray/baking tray that has sauce burned on to it?

I made this recipe last week - chicken wings roasted in a marinade of soy sauce, brown sugar and white wine vinegar. It was delicious but lots of the marinade h

What's the best way to clean a salad spinner?

We had taco salads last night for dinner. Cleaning the little bits of shredded lettuce out of the salad spinner seemed to take forever. Despite scrubbing and

Uses for Old bread dough

I found some old bread dough that I had left, sealed in tupperware, in my fridge. It has a powerful fermented smell, but doesn't appear to be moldy or otherwise

How to stop oatmeal from sticking to the sides of my slow cooker?

When I cook oatmeal, I usually do steel-cut oats in the slow-cooker overnight. They are tasty, etc., but invariably there is a layer of oats stuck/burned on to

Bitter watercress

I have a recipe for spring rolls which call for (essentially) half watercress and half ground pork. I boil the watercress first, then chop it and fry it with c

What kind of rice is used in Chinese cooking?

I love the Chinese food we get from takeaway shops, and often to save on the cost we will cook our own rice at home. This is good, but the rice never seems to h

Why let dough rise twice?

I'm just wondering, what's the point of letting dough rise twice? I've seen a bunch of recipes in the form: Mix dough together and knead Let it rise Knead agai

How to Prevent Apples from turning Brown

I love to use Apples in my Desserts. They look really delicious when I just make them, but by the time they are consumed as dessert, the apples have all turned

Trouble making corn tortillas

I have tried a variety of experiments to make corn tortillas, but the results have been far from satisfactory The only masa I can get this corner of the world

How to tell if it is real sourdough?

I have a very simple question, but difficult for me.. How to tell if a sourdough is a real / traditional Sourdough? A lot of times I wonder if the sourdough I

What substances are good for spherification with algin?

Using sodium alginate, I know you can make "caviar" of many ingredients. For those who are not familiar with the process, here is an online explanation. Lookin

what does it mean to incorporate in recipes

I am reading a recipe and I noticed that in it it says "mix to incorporate" I am baffled. What does that mean?

Tempering chocolate without a thermometer

Is it possible to successfully temper the chocolate without a thermometer? I'm sure it's quite important but since it's so difficult to find one in my country a

Roasting a turkey in a roaster oven

Can I brown my turkey in my conventional oven first? That way, my turkey would have a nice brown skin, and I could continue the roasting in the roaster oven to

What is the ingredient that gives a sichuan (szechuan) hot pot the mouth numbing experience?

I'm curious if it is from the Sichuan peppercorns.