56
votes
Accepted
Can I thaw salmon directly in water?
The salmon will get water logged and mushy (and consequently release a lot of water during the cooking process) if you omit the bag. It's not unsafe, but it will decrease the quality of the salmon.
- 10.6k
54
votes
Accepted
Tea water: heat to 80 °C or boil to 100 °C and let it cool down to 80 °C?
It's actually the opposite, you shouldn't boil water for tea unless you want it boiling. Water has dissolved oxygen in it, the more you have the nicer your tea will taste. This has been covered in ...
- 74.2k
53
votes
Does water "go bad" in this sense?
It doesn't go bad, but it does change the taste.
When water is just sitting there, water evaporates, but most things dissolved in it don't. Then, each time you boil it, the steam causes additional ...
- 541
49
votes
Can I dissolve mint in water and drink it?
No, mint won't dissolve in water (leaves are mostly cellulose), but it does make excellent tea.
Boiling water, steep 5-6 minutes.
For best results, I recommending purchasing whole leaf mint intended ...
- 1,907
47
votes
Accepted
Is it safe to boil water in a microwave?
There is one very different issue to be kept in mind - water in a microwave can overheat and "explode" once it is disturbed.
Another poster had exactly this problem a short while ago: Water exploded ...
- 57.8k
35
votes
Why use a kettle to heat water?
I think the primary considerations are convenience (how much effort is it to set up and use the system?) and time spent (how long does the system take to heat the water?).
A standard electric stove ...
- 1,729
35
votes
Accepted
Why use a kettle to heat water?
Bear in mind that I'm using an electric kettle, rather than a stove-top one.
First, the advantage of a kettle is that it is quite efficient, and turns itself off once the water is boiling.
This as ...
- 10.9k
27
votes
What would result from not adding fat to pastry dough?
You'd end up with something somewhere between unleavened bread, pasta & laminate flooring, depending on what else you did with it.
The first two are what you'd get if that's how you treated them, ...
- 28.8k
22
votes
Can I dissolve mint in water and drink it?
Mint leaves, and plant matter in general, won’t dissolve in water no matter how finely you grind them. They are largely made of substances which are simply not (very) soluble in water. At best you’ll ...
- 26.1k
21
votes
What can I do with vegetable water?
Make bread with it (let it cool enough that you don't kill the yeast,
first.)
Make soup with it.
- 15k
20
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What can I do with vegetable water?
I've read that if you can't or don't use it for your own consumption, that houseplants really love it (after it's cooled, of course).
- 5,962
20
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Can I thaw salmon directly in water?
Osmotic Pressure
If you boil vegetables in water, some of the compounds from within the cells will leach out of the vegetables into the water. The reason is because vegetables are bags of water with ...
- 331
19
votes
Accepted
Does chlorine evaporate from water when cooking?
Water treatment often uses chlorine or chloramine to kill germs or algae. If you are smelling it it's more likely to be Chloramine than Chlorine. Chlorine will dissipate from water over time naturally,...
- 74.2k
17
votes
Can I dissolve mint in water and drink it?
You have several options for mint-flavored water, and none of them includes dissolving dried mint leaves in it. As others said, leaves don't dissolve in water (plants would be in a lot of trouble if ...
- 135k
16
votes
Accepted
What are good ways to flavor water?
Lemon juice
This one is fairly obvious and self-explanatory. Although the idea is mainly associated with highly sugarey lemonade, just a few drops of juice in a bottle of water and no extra sugar ...
- 1,922
14
votes
Water Exploded in Microwave
Joe is essentially right. Bubbles form in a liquid at what are called nucleation sites - small irregularies in the container or in the liquid itself. If you look at the bottom of some beer ...
- 341
14
votes
Does water "go bad" in this sense?
As far as I know it does not go bad, but there is a good reason not to fill your kettle completely when you fill it from the tap.
Partly filled kettles come to the boil in less time. Also costing less ...
- 2,072
13
votes
Does liquid temperature matter when making bread in a bread maker?
With a bread maker, it's important to follow the recipe closely, at least until you've got a reliable result , when you can start experimenting.
Mine, for example, expects "tepid" water for most ...
- 43.1k
11
votes
Is it safe to not wash mushrooms?
Alton Brown, Harold McGee, Robert Wolke, and Kenji Lopez Alt have all tested washing mushrooms by weighing them pre and post wash, and found they absorb an insignificant amount of water that does not ...
- 396
11
votes
Accepted
Can I simply soak fruit and vegetables in water for several hours to sanitize them?
Washing fruit and vegetables in water is less an exercise in sterilisation and more a case of simply washing off any mud or debris. Soaking in still water does nothing to clean, well, anything really. ...
- 43.5k
11
votes
Scaling up water for cooking soup
1.5 litres for 4 servings is 375ml per serving (plus some volume from the veg which I'll ignore) assuming no water boils off. That's a sensible portion. I reckon my soup bowls hold just a little less ...
- 43.1k
11
votes
Accepted
Why does oil transfer heat to food more gradually than water?
First, I don't think the question you are asking about is written well (your question about this question is better). We don't have the benefit of the course's context, but alone this question seems ...
- 2,474
11
votes
Can I thaw salmon directly in water?
Yes, if you use brine!
(And keep an eye on it to make sure you don't leave it in too long after thawing.)
It's interesting that Lawnmower Man brings up osmotic pressure. Though he makes some very ...
- 375
10
votes
Accepted
Lots of water coming out of chicken breasts when cooking in pan. Why?
Liquid naturally comes out of all meats as they cook. If you're using high heat and a frying pan, you don't really notice it because it evaporates quickly. That brown stuff you see in a frying pan ...
- 289
10
votes
Is it safe to boil water in a microwave?
There is no difference. Whether you boil water in a kettle or in a microwave, it reaches a temperature of 100 °C/212 °F at sea level. Not only that, but no method that doesn't involve ...
- 58.4k
10
votes
Does chlorine evaporate from water when cooking?
If your are dealing with chloramine, a trick I've used in homebrewing is to add powdered ascorbic acid (vitamin c) while heating the water up to around 170 for 15 minutes or so. This will pull the ...
- 950
10
votes
Accepted
How can I easily get water to a desired temperature?
The method we use (for coffee) is pretty simple (though it requires some compatible equipment):
Fill kettle.
Shove probe thermometer through "whistle" hole in kettle spout.
Heat until desired ...
- 16.3k
10
votes
Making apfelschorle
As I am from "Apfelschorle Country", I have to chime in. Note that some statements below are subjective to a certain degree.
For me, a real Apfelschorle is apple juice and carbonated water, poured ...
- 57.8k
10
votes
Why are my Rucola and Lettuce washed in ice-water?
Using cold/ice water helps crisp up leafy vegetables.
- 20.4k
10
votes
Accepted
Water concentration of butter post-melt
The proportion of water will not change significantly unless you leave it hot for a while (evaporation will occur even below boiling temperature); the only substance that will evaporate in any ...
- 11.7k
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