24
votes
Accepted
Why has my recently bought peanut butter such a liquid consistency?
What you can see in the jar is peanut oil, which has separated and floats on top. It means, you have bought a non-homogenized product, possibly an "all-natural" or "organic" product.
Just stir the ...
- 58.5k
18
votes
bread dough always too sticky
There are many potential causes, it is impossible to say which one (or maybe multiple ones) is the problem in your case.
Wrong measuring. The only way to exclude that for sure is to start baking by ...
- 136k
15
votes
After putting something in my oven, the temperature drops and is super slow to increase back up despite keeping the door shut
This is all very normal, nothing special about it. Some of your assumptions happen to be untrue, and others don't apply to modern ovens.
First, temperature fluctuation is the normal way an oven ...
- 136k
11
votes
Accepted
Why does cooking oatmeal starting with cold milk make it creamy?
Flour and cornmeal are well known to clump when added cold to boiling water. Such clumps arise when starch molecules unball and forming a mesh that traps other starch molecules, preventing them from ...
- 2,406
8
votes
Accepted
Does starch thickened custard get thinner after a few days?
It is not the starch alone, but the combination of starch and egg yolks. Yolks contain an enzyme which digests starch after some time, making the whole custard thinner.
If you absolutely have to use a ...
- 136k
8
votes
How can I fix a liquidy choux pastry (Gougères) dough for piping?
Most of the sources I've seen online say that you absolutely shouldn't add more raw flour to liquidy choux dough.
The recommended solution seems to be to make half a batch of dough without the eggs, ...
- 2,288
7
votes
After putting something in my oven, the temperature drops and is super slow to increase back up despite keeping the door shut
Assuming you are measuring accurately, this is surprising. Do ensure you are measuring the oven temperature using an accurate thermometer in a suitable central location, rather than for example ...
- 11.9k
6
votes
bread dough always too sticky
Letting the flour absorb the water can mean a few things depending on the exact method, but it's usually good, and can be done before adding the yeast (and any other ingredients). That may help. The ...
- 43.7k
5
votes
How to make a passion fruit mousse without gelatin?
There are two things you can do to make the mousse stiffer:
Reduce the water from the fruit. So use some kind of concentrate instead of the pure fruit. For example, you could cook down a syrup or ...
- 136k
5
votes
Accepted
When whipping cream, what is “custard-like consistency”?
The answer appears in another Borden cook book, the ca. 1942 This is My Book of Magic Recipes on page 3 under “Hints for making Ice Cream in your Automatic Refrigerator”:
Whip heavy cream to a foamy, ...
- 1,227
4
votes
Seedless blueberry jam - consistency
Blueberries are generally low-pectin fruits, so many jam recipes and jam making guides specifically call for adding pectin. That said, some do not - but these use the whole pureed fruit. When you ...
- 16.5k
4
votes
Why does honey prevent porridge congealing?
Honey is hygroscopic - meaning it has the ability to absorb water. Even if you covered your porridge after adding the honey, there's still enough moisture in the container for the honey to absorb.
...
- 3,963
4
votes
Accepted
Why is my soft serve too stiff?
I'd suggest taking a look at the excellent book "Ice Cream" by Goff and Hartel (ISBN: 978-1-4614-6095-4). It covers all aspects of making ice cream commercially, and is very thorough. ...
- 745
4
votes
Accepted
How to remove goop/slime from powdered tomato soup?
That's the kind of stuff I call "instant goop".
The only way to deal with it is not let it sit still long enough to skin over - keep whisking every minute, or make it closer to serving time.
...
- 29.7k
3
votes
Accepted
Broccoli Cheddar soup coming out pasty
Your description of the end result as "pasty" (which I'm interpreting as "very think, like a paste instead of a thick soup") implies to me that there was too much roux for the amount of liquid. And ...
- 3,045
3
votes
Thickening cream in a blender to increase fat content?
The blender is not a centrifuge, and you will achieve the opposite effect. You will homogenize the milk further, as opposed to separating it.
In general, there aren't ways to "force" milk to ...
- 136k
3
votes
Accepted
Thickening cream in a blender to increase fat content?
The centrifuge doesn't thicken the cream by mechanical action, but by separating the fat and water by their different densities. The blender allows you to spin, but not to draw off either liquid. ...
- 43.7k
3
votes
Reason(s) for poor bread results
It appears to me that all you need is to give the dough more proofing time. Also, make sure that your pan is generously dusted with flour before placing the dough in and baking.
For the yeasty smell, ...
- 3,591
3
votes
How to replicate this bakery's bread
You mentioned in the comments that the bakery used to be a Breadsmith franchise, and it is likely that the owner simply continued using Breadsmith's recipe. Here are the ingredients for the pretzel ...
- 7,369
3
votes
How to make a passion fruit mousse without gelatin?
However much you are making, use this ratio: 4 parts heavy cream/whipping cream to 2 parts sweetened condensed milk to 2 parts passionfruit pulp. Make sure that before you start, you whip the heavy ...
- 2,380
3
votes
Accepted
Hard and brittle fat as cocoa butter alternative
Such a thing doesn't exist. Cocoa butter is absolutely unique in that respect, to the point where even thinking of cocoa butter only is not sufficient - only two of its six crystal forms give you the ...
- 136k
3
votes
Accepted
Advice to making Boba Pearls
I visited some Chinese language websites, and it seems that there really isn't any magic here. Since their recipe is basically the same as the first one you linked to, I won't post any links here. I'...
- 509
3
votes
Accepted
Making a cremeaux lighter with whipped cream. Is there a name for this?
The name for this is still 'cremeaux', nothing changes.
In English pastry jargon, "cremeaux" is a (somewhat rarely used) umbrella cream for any sweet filling with a creamy consistency. It is ...
- 136k
2
votes
How to make a passion fruit mousse without gelatin?
One of the most important details in this recipe is that the mixture needs plenty of time - overnight is ideal, but at least 2 to 3 hours - to really chill completely before serving, so that the fruit ...
- 21
2
votes
Accepted
What should the consistency of pudding be?
It sounds to me like you are making your pudding almost as thick as it should be.
It should be able to stand up a little. In other words, if you spoon some into a desert cup or small bowl, it should ...
- 6,334
2
votes
Accepted
Reason(s) for poor bread results
In my experience, bread pans should be well oiled. Bread just won't come out otherwise. Even my brand new teflon pans needed a bit of oil or they would stick.
Bread fresh from the oven can smell quite ...
- 47.5k
2
votes
help with consistency of dough being made in bread machine
In my experience with the kind of bread you're making, you want it fairly wet. But breadmaking is all about experience. You need to get familiar with the dough and see what works, then try altering ...
- 4,694
2
votes
bread dough always too sticky
You might try keeping your hands wet instead of dusting them with flour. I've used wet hands to fold extremely wet bread dough.
- 21
2
votes
bread dough always too sticky
Stop adding more flour, and give the dough time to do its thing
My Dad (a retired professional baker) always swears by the "Mix everything to a sloppy mess, then go do something else for 15 ...
- 274
1
vote
bread dough always too sticky
The main ingredient of Bread is TIME
...and good measuring
Good bread needs time. Time for the yeast to provide air. Good bread "goes" at times more than it is in the oven!
A good mix I have ...
- 258
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