How to avoid elephant skin on no-knead bread?

When I make my no-knead bread, the bottom of the bread always becomes extremely thick - almost like the skin of an african elephant.

I bake the bread in an IKEA 365+ pot made of stainless steel. The bottom of the pot is quite thin.

Do you experience something similar when baking and do you have any suggestions on how to avoid breaking the teeth on my guests?

Food safety issues related to eating raw frozen vegetables

I just pulled out a package of frozen spinach and noticed a warning "Cook from frozen, product must be cooked before consumption". I found the same on a package of frozen baby peas and I'm sure I've seen it many times before on vegetables that are often eaten raw when fresh. Are there any food safety issues related to this advice? I couldn't really think of a problem with vegetables that are commonly sold and stored a while at room temperature.

How can i save frozen eggs?

My fridge got to cold and all my eggs froze and got cracks in them. Any idea what to do with frozen, cracked eggs? Thanks

Calculating and sorting foods by the fullness factor

I've seen a question on calculating the calorie content of food, but how can the fullness factor be calculated?

Furthermore, I'd like to sort by the fullness factor in order to identify filling foods. NutritionData.Self.com has a useful "Fullness factor", but I don't see a way to sort by that.

Any ideas or other web sites that may provide this data?

Identifying foods with high fullness factor [on hold]

I'm writing a blog post on fasting for resetting the immune system, and it's useful to share some ideas for what to eat under 200 calories a day, yet not feel hungry all the time.

NutritionData.Self.com has a useful "Fullness factor", but I don't see a way to sort by that.

Any ideas or other web sites that may provide this data?

Fresh Herb Storage

I am trying to get some fresh herbs (Parsley and Dill for example) to stay fresh for some time. I have tried the water jar method which is just trimming ends of stems and putting the bunch in a jar of water. Parsley seems to survive this perfectly for over a week. But for some reason Dill gets ilted after couple days.

My concerns are: 1) What is causing wilting here? 2) If I added some fertilizer to the water inside the jar, would that keep the herb alive?

Will it wreck the dish if I pre-soak beef in brine, and then slow roast with Marsala?

I've found that pre-soaking my beef in brine helps to break down the fibres, making the subsequent roast tender.

I've found a recipe for slow-roasting beef with Marsala. I'm wondering if I can combine the two, or if that will be a terrible idea.

My question is: Will it wreck the dish if I pre-soak beef in brine, and then slow roast with marsala?

Clarifications:

1. This will be roasted in a ceramic dish, with a glass lid for eight hours.

2. By 'wreck' I mean the saltiness of the brine is pleasant during eating, as is the sweetness of the Marsala. My concern is that the two tastes (salty and sweet) will clash, making the dish inedible.

When braising, how deep should I fill a single pot?

Mark Bittman's recipe for chicken Adobo says: "Combine the [ingredients] in a covered skillet or saucepan large enough to hold the chicken in one layer". The recipe calls for 3-4 pounds of chicken.

I'm wondering what is the reason that the chicken must fit in one layer. Is it to ensure that the cooking temperature does not vary too much from the bottom of the pot to the top?

I'm also wondering in general, for most recipes that involve stovetop cooking in liquid like braises, stews, chili, arroz con pollo, etc., is there a limit to how deep I should pile it in one pot? when it exceeds a certain depth, should I split it in 2 pots?

Extra info: My biggest cooking pot is 5.5 inches deep, has a 10 inch diameter, and has a fairly thick base. My stovetop has gas burners.

Are any kind of wood-chips good enough for smoking?

I was watching a Heston Blumenthal Show called "Cooking like Heston" the other day, the episode was on potatoes and he made doughnuts using them. one of the things he did to prepare the potatos for the doughnut mixture was to smoke them using wood-chips.

I have seen wood-chips be used by him, Jamie Oliver and on Iron Chef (Japan) and Master Chef (Australia) a few times and i've been wondering if any kind of wood-chips can be used to do smoking (ie. ones picked up from the gardening section of a hardware store or made by myself from junk off cuts from trees or building material) or if i should be looking out for a particular kind which is meant for cooking.

Is safe to eat jerky with white mold?

I recently ate a jerky with white mold on it (see below), I donot know if I should be okay with that? The mold grew on jerky because I placed it in a moist environment days before.

Why is my cheesesteak meat tough?

I made Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches and the resulting meat was quite tough and hard to bite off and chew.

For the meat I used eye of round steak, cut into roughly 3in by 1/8th-1/4th in strips. I did not marinade the meat or season until salt and pepper during cooking.

To cook the meat I used a nonstick pan over medium heat for a few minutes.

Is my cut of beef to blame, my technique, or perhaps both?

Cake help urgent!

I am baking 1kg chocolate cake and it is already in oven from 50 mins. I'm baking it at 180 degrees temperature. The cake has risen well. But the mixture is not set yet. (I did the toothpick test) I can feel it moving. I have shifted the cake to the first rack a minute before,earlier it was in the middle rack. Please suggest what's wrong?

Do I roll sushi with or without gloves?

So I was rolling sushi the other day and I noticed how much easier it is to do with out plastic gloves on. The stickiness of the rice dose not accumulate all over your hands as fast as it does when you are wearing gloves making it much easier and faster.

The conundrum here is.. If I don't wear gloves I can make sushi much faster, keeping customers happy but according to the sanitation department, restaurant employee's must wear gloves if the food they are touching is no longer going to be cooked any further.

What do I do?

What's your cooking question? Be specific

so, i'm like, super vegan, and, totally loving it, ha. but when I see my friends eating disgusting meat to makes me want to totally vomit. they're literally eating poison. whats the best way to sublty influence my friends to live more healthy lifestyles?

at what temperature does yeast die

what water temperature will it kill yeast? I know if the temperature is too hot it will kill yeast but do not know the temp. does it matter what type of yeast?

Lobster Death! Freezer vs. Alcohol

I love lobster but I must admit I am not very good at cooking it. I want to make this easier on my self by just adding the lobster to a flavorful broth. I've heard in the past that if you are going to boil lobster for best results you should purchase the lobster alive and keep it alive until you are ready to toss the lobster into the vessel of hot liquid.

Now the question at hand. I've been told that if you just toss the lobster into the hot liquid, the lobster suffers and tenses up making the meat chewy. Is this really true?

The two methods I've heard of prevent this.

First: Get the lobster drunk with alcohol.

Second: Throw the lobster into the freezer for 30 to 45 minutes before I throw the lobster into the hot liquid.

If these methods actually work, which one is better and why?

If the alcohol method is better, which alcohol should I use?

Mold is growing on my cheese, what is common practice? [duplicate]

This question already has an answer here:

• Is it safe to eat moldy cheese if you slice off the edges? 8 answers

I love cheese and I am always buying and trying new types because of this, my cheese stash starts to grow faster than I can eat all of it. Also because of this sometimes mold starts to grow around the outside before I get to it, particularly the cheddar.

I practice good storage techniques to no unveil, still the mold eventually shows up. So when this happens, I just trim the mold off and move on, but some of my friends think this is "So.. Gross" and I should just throw it away.

What do you think?

Will spoiled food technically make you sick?

Kind of a strange question, but say something has spoiled IE: Smells Bad, Tastes Bad.......etc... Will it technically always make you sick? Like for instance spoiled dressing, lets say it tastes sour, smells nasty and you eat it, will it make you sick?

If so what actually makes you sick? The toxins/bacteria? or it just being unappetizing?

(I ask because I tried a TINY bit of ranch and while it tasted mostly fine (it was a bit tangy) it smelled quite tangy....but looked fine).

http://ift.tt/1DZNYgh

this article is kinda what also made me think of it....and hopefully I don't get sick from this ranch dressing lol.

the sugar content of raw corn on the vs cooked corn on the cob

Is the sugar content of cooked corn on the cob higher than the sugar content of raw corn on the cob? I had a nutritionist tell me uncooked corn on the cob was like eating a non starchy veggie. true or not true?

Buying whetstones

I'm looking to start sharpening my own knives (Wusthof's) what grit whetstone would I need to do so? Recommendations on any specific brand or is each whetstone is as good as any? I'm under the impression that to get a good finish, I'll going to need more than one grit and work up