40
votes
Accepted
Coca Cola's Secret Recipe
It's no secret, here it is! Complete with the cocaine that was removed from Coke's production in 1903:
Picture and text from This American Life
The radio broadcast recording on the above link makes a ...
- 58k
27
votes
Is there a reason for storing ground spices separately (unmixed)?
I'm aware of three reasons that you might not want to do so:
You tie up spices that you might want to use in other dishes individually
You don't always want to add the spices at the same time.
You ...
- 75.3k
22
votes
What does it mean to overmix?
Mixing strengthens the gluten structure in recipes that use wheat flours. In breads, for example, this is a good thing, as that structure is what allows gasses to be trapped inside, and provides the ...
- 63.9k
18
votes
Is folding with a spatula really necessary?
The mechanism of a whisk is very different from a spatula. One is able to very gently fold the ingredients with a spatula while minimizing mixing. A whisk's tines will cause much more damage to the ...
- 4,589
13
votes
Accepted
Is there a reason for storing ground spices separately (unmixed)?
Assuming you're using spices which are all dried and ground, there should be no problem.
In the middle-east, there are always several spice mixtures available in shops. The most famous of which are ...
- 10.9k
11
votes
Accepted
In order to mix the cocoa powder in water/milk, is it a good idea to put the cocoa powder in the milk while heating it?
No, it is not a good idea at all. It will be worse, not better. What you are missing here is that cocoa powder does not dissolve at all, never, it just disperses in water (or milk). So there is no ...
- 124k
9
votes
Accepted
How does the order of mixing ingredients affect the resulting cake?
I'll try to break this down into components to make it simpler.
If a recipe starts by combining sugar and a solid fat (creaming), this incorporates small air bubbles into the batter which will be ...
- 11.3k
8
votes
Accepted
Why does caffeine taste bitter when added to tea?
Caffeine is bitter, tea isn't too bitter because as you mentioned it's only got 40mg of caffeine. If you then triple the amount in there it's going to taste that way. Try adding 3 tea bags to your cup ...
- 4,293
8
votes
Can you overmix a gluten-free cake?
I run a gluten free bakery and yes, over mixing is a concern for many cake batters, cookie doughs, pie crusts, etc. I find, what makes overmixing an issue is the gums used in the recipes. This being ...
- 81
7
votes
Accepted
Is there such a thing as a tabletop conche?
Stone based electrical wet grinders (not to confused with "wet/dry grinders", which are a type of blender), as are used in indian cuisine, have been used/modified by some chocolate enthusiasts as ...
- 15.2k
7
votes
Accepted
Should you layer Greek yoghurt on porridge oats or mix it in with the porridge oats?
The point of overnight oats is to allow the oats time to hydrate slowly at a cool temperature, rather than cooking them in water. So it's best to have them well-mixed with the liquid they'll be ...
- 20.1k
6
votes
Is there a reason for storing ground spices separately (unmixed)?
You may want to keep them separate for shelf-life reasons. If you combine them, the shelf life of the mixture will be limited by the freshness of the least-fresh spice you mixed into it. Different ...
- 1,885
6
votes
Accepted
Substitute for a Standing Mixer using a paddle
A paddle mixes denser ingredients vs a wisk attachment that will aerate light ingredients. Things mixed with a paddle are always intended to be completely mixed- as opposed to folding or cutting which ...
- 46.8k
6
votes
Is folding with a spatula really necessary?
While the conventional wisdom is to fold with a spatula, several online resources suggest that folding with a whisk actually deflates less.
Epicurious prefers a balloon whisk to a spatula
That ...
- 753
6
votes
Why it is not recommended to mix the milk of different days?
Even when kept refrigerated, milk gradually spoils due to micro organisms. In case the first day's milk was on the threshold of spoiling, you are effectively bringing the third days milk also to that ...
- 183
6
votes
Making how much batter will result in over-mixing?
The amount is only restricted by the capacity of the tools you have at hand. The point is, don't mix too much. If you have a bowl, filled to the brim, you will have to mix a lot more to get all of ...
- 63.9k
5
votes
Accepted
Can I make my crumble topping in a mixer?
You could use just about anything to mix that, a food processor, a mixer, a stand mixer (just about any attachment), even a blender would work in pulses. Freezing it too will work just fine. Just move ...
- 58k
5
votes
Can raw egg yolks gelatinized from being stored be saved by blending and for which uses?
Finally reporting back, once I noticed I hadn't written this up yet.
The reconstituted egg yolks work, with a few quirks.
After blending them with water, I had let them sit for a while - to make ...
- 11.6k
5
votes
Is there such a thing as a tabletop conche?
Yes, there are small scale conches available - e.g. this 8kg machine1.
Whether this qualifies as "very small scale" is for you to decide.
1 No endorsement, just a random example.
- 53.9k
5
votes
Accepted
Condensed milk doesn't mix well into iced coffee
It definitely works if everything is room temperature or a bit warmer, maybe 20-30C (68-86F), and it definitely won't work if it's all pretty cold.
It sounds like you may be a little too far on the ...
- 57.3k
5
votes
Is there a term for the blending of different recipies of the same type?
Fusion is a great word for a thorough mixing of things, conveying the idea of almost welding them together. So I see what your friend means when she describes your fusing together of different recipes ...
- 6,984
5
votes
Combining chicken and vegetables in sous vide
Cook the vegetables, chill and refrigerate. Cook the chicken, toss in the vegetables to reheat...or, use two circulators.
- 63.9k
5
votes
If I mix rum, gin, vodka and scotch whisky, put it in a water bottle, and leave it for a month will it be safe to drink?
Gin, vodka, rum and whisky are all distilled spirits, so you'd be essentially mixing up essentially four versions of same thing and get to a different version of the same thing. Individually the ...
- 2,056
5
votes
Mixing Ghee with Other Ingredients
There's two methods for this, which can also be combined.
The first, as several people have mentioned, is to make sure that the eggs and water are slightly above room temperature. At 27C/80F ghee (...
- 45k
5
votes
Making how much batter will result in over-mixing?
The question in your title has no answer, even though the information you found is, by itself, correct.
The article is correct in that, when attempting to make too large batches of cake batter, you ...
- 124k
5
votes
When should I use a rounded balloon whisk attachment vs a bulb-shaped balloon whisk attachment
This is a little speculative, but I'd use the taller one for larger depths, and the more spherical one for shallower work.
You could use the elongated one for everything, except if you have a small ...
- 38.4k
4
votes
Why does caffeine taste bitter when added to tea?
"The addition of “phantom aromas,” such as vanilla, berry, citrus, bacon or even cheese, can distract the brain from acknowledging a bitter to taste."
"Other additives can mask or “mitigate a bitter ...
4
votes
Accepted
Caffeine pills don't dissolve in hot tea
If it really has to be pills, then I guess you need to mix in something that dissolves more easily than the caffeine powder. Powdered sugar seems like a good candidate. I found a couple references to ...
- 57.3k
4
votes
Coca Cola's Secret Recipe
Even IF it were so big a secret (as shown it isn't) that doesn't mean that people other than those who know it can't make the end product.
The "secret" only concerns one of the ingredients, the ...
- 723
4
votes
How to fully incorporate cream cheese with pumpkin puree?
When mixing cream cheese with softer or more liquid ingredients, you first need to make sure both things you're mixing are softened and smooth.
Even room temperature cream cheese is sometimes hard to ...
- 2,946
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