70
votes
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Will spoiled food always make you sick?
What most people don't get when it comes to food safety: Spoiled food has a chance of making you sick.
When food is visibly spoiled, it has large bacterial colonies growing in it. This means that it ...
- 132k
57
votes
Accepted
Browning Avocados - What Helps?
TL; DR
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) works to slow, even halt the browning of avocados, even in the face of salt, vinegar (in salsa), and lime juice, all of which have been shown (or will be shown) to ...
- 58.3k
56
votes
What happened to my egg?
Your egg whites were cooked by the alcohol in the extract. Cooked, in this case, means denaturing, which means unfolding the protein molecules. There are many ways to denature proteins. Acid, such as ...
- 4,599
54
votes
Accepted
Why is it faster to reheat something than it is to cook it?
"Cooking" is often a chemical process. Denaturing proteins, gelatinization, causing chemical reactions like browning, or even causing state changes like evaporation.
In many cases for these ...
- 77.2k
53
votes
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Why is eating pretzels safe when they are bathed in lye?
Basically, the lye reacts with the CO₂ and moisture present during baking to form a non-toxic carbonate. This makes it safe to eat.
The reaction:
CO₂ (g) + H₂O (l) ⇄ H₂CO₃ (aq)
H₂CO₃ (aq) + ...
- 3,739
53
votes
How can I tell if this is baking soda or powder?
Baking powder contains starch, which is insoluble.
Baking soda is completely soluble
Take a small bowl, and put 1/8 tsp of the substance in the bottom.
Add water.
If the substance is bicarbonate ...
- 1,045
51
votes
Can something have more sugar per 100g than the percentage of sugar that's in it?
Looking up Shreddies, I found this site. It lists, in the ingredients
Whole Grain Wheat (96%), Sugar, Invert Sugar Syrup, Barley Malt Extract, Salt, Molasses, Vitamins and Minerals (Niacin, Iron, ...
- 132k
47
votes
Accepted
What does "natural" actually mean?
Short answer? Not a damn thing. The term is pretty much meaningless in the US; at best it only means that the product doesn't have added colors, artificial flavors or synthetic "stuff". From ...
- 58.3k
46
votes
Accepted
What happens when you reduce stock all the way?
If you reduce filtered broth all the way, you get portable soup. It dries down into a solid that looks a bit like leather. Because of the gelatin from the bones, portable soup is bendy and flexible. ...
- 3,118
38
votes
Accepted
Why should (or shouldn't) we wash rice before cooking?
Reasons to wash your rice:
Reduce/Control Starch levels
Often when you're cooking rice you want distinct grains of rice and for your rice to have texture. In the case of Chinese fried rice for ...
- 11.2k
38
votes
Why is eating pretzels safe when they are bathed in lye?
The purpose of dipping in lye (or other basic solution, like baking soda...or even baked, baking soda) is that it promotes coloring, as the solution reacts with the surface of the dough. It also ...
- 69.2k
38
votes
Should pasta be started in cold or boiling water?
As stated in another answer, Italian tradition is that all pasta is cooked in boiling water. A reasonable explanation for this usage is that it's easier to get the time right this way.
Pasta is very ...
- 1,186
38
votes
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Why is churro dough created with boiling water?
Churro dough is a variant of choux pastry. While yeasted doughs rise through the expansion of gas created by the yeast, and "quick bread" batters rise through gas created by chemical ...
- 23.8k
38
votes
Accepted
How did replacing flour in muffins go so wrong?
Muffins and cakes rise because of chemical leavening agents and the expansion of hot gasses, they stay risen because the flour and sugar forms a structure which traps the air, then solidifies enough ...
- 72.5k
37
votes
Can something have more sugar per 100g than the percentage of sugar that's in it?
I suspect that 96g of whole grain goes into the recipe for 100g, along with 13g of sugar and some salt, vitamins, and flavouring ingredients. At that point there's at least 109g. Then it's formed and ...
- 41.5k
34
votes
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Why should I cook the flour first when making bechamel sauce?
This link explains the science behind what is known as "the mother sauce", béchamel. Essentially, the steps of first creating a roux, then adding cold milk, are about manipulating the glucose chains ...
- 69.2k
33
votes
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Should pasta be started in cold or boiling water?
For dried pasta it doesn’t really matter if you start with cold or hot water, as most of the time pasta spends in water is for hydration. And once the hydrated starches reach a certain temperature ...
- 4,276
31
votes
Why is eating pretzels safe when they are bathed in lye?
The reason it is safe is three-fold.
First, the concentration is only 1% NaOH and the pretzels are only dipped for 10 seconds (see Snack Food Technology pages 180-182) which limits the amount of ...
- 906
31
votes
Accepted
Can one eat a balanced diet if one only cooks once a week?
The types of foods that reheat well are also quite suitable for being balanced in one main dish. Generally speaking, dishes with stuff in sauce freeze/chill and reheat well. So stew, curry, chilli, ...
- 41.5k
30
votes
Accepted
Does the preparation of chicken liver mousse require force feeding of chickens?
There's no need to force-feed the chickens.
Chicken Liver Mousse is just a posh word for a smooth paté, with sometimes a bit of extra aeration.
For every chicken, there's a chicken liver. The world ...
- 26.2k
30
votes
How do tamales cook?
Cooking isn’t instant. You don’t just bring food to a particular temperature and then the physical reactions have happened and the food is done. Many of the processes happen slowly at the target ...
- 23.8k
29
votes
How did replacing flour in muffins go so wrong?
what chemical reaction happened
It wasn't a chemical reaction, it was a physical reaction.
Everything you describe sounds like your batter was able to trap air much better than a typical muffin ...
- 132k
27
votes
Accepted
Which foods are certain to never cause food poisoning?
There is almost no food which is guaranteed to be safe. If it has nutritional value for a human, it has nutritional value for many microorganisms too, some of which are human pathogens.
So, out of ...
- 132k
26
votes
Kneading causing gluten
Yes, kneading develops gluten. Specifically, the gliadin and glutenin proteins in flour form gluten when mixed together with water. It's common, but inaccurate (and confusing I think) to refer to ...
- 2,271
25
votes
Does 'Non-cold/warm ice-cream' exist?
Much of the distinctive experience of ice cream comes from its temperature, so be prepared for disappointment. However, a set custard like in a crème brûlée or panna cotta is creamy and holds its ...
- 11k
24
votes
How can I tell if this is baking soda or powder?
Lick your finger
Dip it in the jar
Lick finger again.
If it tastes of:
Soap: Soda
Very faintly of soap and faintly of starch and slightly fizzes in your mouth: Baking powder
- 5,807
22
votes
What does "natural" actually mean?
To expand on Jolene's answer, there is not only no official definition, but the only definition which fits its common usage is A food which a certain group of persons is not afraid to eat.
...
- 132k
22
votes
Accepted
What does it mean when an egg splatters and the white is greenish-yellow?
From The Splendid Table:
Older eggs (which are still safe to eat) tend to be more alkaline, which encourages a green reaction similar to that green ring you can get around a hard-cooked egg yolk. The ...
- 3,531
22
votes
Accepted
Products that can be microwaved and "pop" just like popcorn
Popcorn should be considered one of "nature's little miracles" - & a way to make a huge profit out of air.
Yes, you can pop other dried grains/seeds, but don't expect anything quite so ...
- 26.2k
22
votes
How do tamales cook?
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of things going on, physically and thermodynamically, during cooking. The Maillard reaction is not especially important. It is just one of several types of browning, ...
- 132k
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