92
votes
Accepted
When making batter/dough, why is it really bad to clean your spoon by hitting it on the edge of the bowl a few times?
Oh, those cooking myths!
Whenever you think you have heard them all, there's a new one. In a yeasted dough, the yeast is perfectly fine with being tossed, beaten and generally mangled. The little ...
- 56.7k
37
votes
Accepted
Why add vodka to batter for frying fish?
According to this article about Blumenthal's method, which also explains the other ingredient/method choices: https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/07/dining/07curious.html
The key to the Fat Duck batter ...
- 11k
31
votes
Accepted
What type of beer is best for beer battered fish?
The primary use of beer in a beer batter is its alcohol, which disrupts gluten formation and needs less heat than water to evaporate, improving the texture of the final crust. For flavor, most recipes ...
- 23.8k
24
votes
Accepted
Why not incorporate eggs at the last moment when making crepes?
Your supposed advantages are not correct.
I believe if eggs are mixed too much, whites can get a rubber-like texture.
No, this is not correct. Are you thinking of gluten? That is the ingredient that ...
- 132k
22
votes
What is the physical effect of sifting dry ingredients for a cake?
Originally, before flour was as processed as it is now, sifting helped remove things like twigs and other contaminants.
Sifting just helps remove clumped up dried ingredients (flour, powered sugar, ...
- 20.3k
20
votes
When making batter/dough, why is it really bad to clean your spoon by hitting it on the edge of the bowl a few times?
There may be a few batters that are sensitive to shocks or loud noises, but most will not be (see Stephie's answer for more detail).
In my household, the real reason for not beating the spoon was ...
- 301
19
votes
What is the physical effect of sifting dry ingredients for a cake?
Besides the other answers that hold true for sifting individual ingredients, it will also help make the ingredients more evenly distributed if you sift them together.
If I'm sifting, I'll typically ...
- 77.2k
17
votes
Accepted
Is it better to freeze crepe batter or cooked crepes?
It is a compromise either way. Neither will be as good as freshly made, but both methods will work. As far as frozen batter, you will either need to plan ahead, or be willing to wait for it to thaw. ...
- 69.2k
16
votes
Right way to make cake batter that asks for butter and oil
You probably won't like this answer, but:
Do what your recipe tells you to do.
There are various methods to combine a set of ingredients and each will lead to a slightly different outcome. Drier ...
- 56.7k
13
votes
How Can I Spread Crepe Batter Before It Cooks?
It sounds like maybe there's a couple of possibilities.
The pan is too hot. This can happen even over lower heat settings if you leave the pan to preheat for too long, or it may be that the burner'...
- 3,045
11
votes
What type of beer is best for beer battered fish?
I don't think the alcohol affects the tase in this kind of perparation. The point is to create surface of contact by using the gases in the beverage.
Usually in restaurants that serves this kind of ...
- 658
10
votes
Accepted
How can I hold a battered Mars bar in a deep fryer without leaving any chocolate exposed?
Put in on a stick. Depending on the size of the bar a toothpick may be sufficient. Just make sure the batter covers the stick a little where it goes into the bar.
- 5,290
9
votes
What is the physical effect of sifting dry ingredients for a cake?
Even though now a days most ingredients come quite sifted anyways and they don't usually have any other ingredient mixed by accident, it can still have lumps. It has sometimes happened to me that a ...
- 1,409
8
votes
Accepted
How to keep battered (tempura) goods from sticking to the deep frying pan?
What you are describing should not happen when using the right technique. I suspect this is happening because you are either lowering the battered food into the oil using the net, or your oil ...
- 72.5k
8
votes
How Can I Spread Crepe Batter Before It Cooks?
You can actually buy tools which help to spread batter. My sister got me a hot-plate crepe maker for Christmas the other year, which came with one of these:
Which I find does the job perfectly! You ...
- 181
8
votes
What is the physical effect of sifting dry ingredients for a cake?
Powders are funny, chemically. The large surface area makes for some interesting effects. For one, adsorption of gases (oxygen, nitrogen) is rather fast and can be significant. Another is static ...
- 734
7
votes
Accepted
What is the purpose of baking powder in batter?
The baking powder undergoes a chemical reaction which produces small gas bubbles in the batter. The bubbles break up the batter coating (sort of like the geometry inside a sponge) so you wind up with ...
- 7,064
7
votes
How Can I Spread Crepe Batter Before It Cooks?
First, this can indeed be a thick batter, as the other answers mentioned. I would recommend using Ruhlman's ratio of 1:2:2 flour to milk to egg as a starting point of what a good crepe batter should ...
- 132k
7
votes
Is it better to freeze crepe batter or cooked crepes?
If your recipe is as given, you're making a crêpe, or something akin to it (as it's not risen). That's important here, I feel, as crêpes freeze much better than risen pancakes. The lack of a risen ...
- 5,665
7
votes
How can I hold a battered Mars bar in a deep fryer without leaving any chocolate exposed?
Dunk the tongs in the batter too, or use your fingers. It should just kind of seal itself then, as you let go.
Watch an experienced traditional chip-shop owner putting the fish in*. Fish & fingers ...
- 26.5k
6
votes
Accepted
What are the differences between using whole wheat flour vs. all purpose flour in batter for frying?
Just as with kneading, stirring develops the gluten in the flour. over-mixing batter is a culinary no-no (fr. non-non). Batters are frequently rested in the refrigerator so the gluten can relax. Foods ...
- 76
6
votes
How to make ridge structure of crispy chicken
In many places cornflakes are very cheap, I am assuming where you are they are expensive because they are imported. You aren't going to be able to get the ridged structure without something like ...
- 72.5k
6
votes
How to make ridge structure of crispy chicken
It's not that difficult to make flakes out of starch, if taste is not your major concern, as you are going to season and fry them and not eat with milk.
All you need is flour of your choice and water....
- 3,094
6
votes
When making batter/dough, why is it really bad to clean your spoon by hitting it on the edge of the bowl a few times?
Another reason not named so far, that applies even to combinations of spoon and bowl/pot that are mechanically perfectly fine with hitting and vibration-insensitive contents:
Not banging safes the ...
6
votes
Problem with crepe batter collecting on spreader
I have the an earlier model of this griddle, and have made hundreds of buckwheat crepes (galettes) on it, so here's some advice based on my own experience.
Your answer is in your description: "After ...
- 54.1k
6
votes
Why not incorporate eggs at the last moment when making crepes?
I have started to make pancakes, and we use a crepe recipe, only to notice I had forgotten to add the egg.
I next added the egg and made the pancakes.
It can be done, eggs last, but I see no advantage....
- 2,062
5
votes
Making toad in the hole with duck eggs
I have ducks and have been experimenting with making Yorkshire Puddings using their eggs.
I always used to use 4 hen eggs, 140g plain flour, 200ml milk + seasoning, and that always worked well.
When I ...
- 51
5
votes
Making toad in the hole with duck eggs
Toad in the hole batter, which is the same as yorkshire pudding batter, uses eggs for lift and partly as the binding agent. Lift comes from expansion of gases, including water vapor. Egg white is 90% ...
- 72.5k
5
votes
How can I make my (American style) pancakes light and spongy?
I can't say for sure what is wrong, but here's a few possibilities:
Your mix is too runny: if you have a batter that's too thin then it will spread out too far on the pan, if it's too thin you will ...
- 72.5k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible