Seasoned Advice
Seasoned Advice

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1500 questions
44
votes
11 answers

Does ginger have to be peeled? If so how?

I noticed that many recipes that call for ginger explicitly call for peeled ginger. When I use ginger I don't bother to peel it. As it is almost always minced fine the tiny bits of papery peel are almost undetectable. Is there some reason that I…
Sobachatina
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44
votes
9 answers

Stock vs Broth - What's the difference in usage?

I've now learned (from this site) that broth and stock are not the same product (see this great answer). So, in any given scenario, why should one use stock rather than broth, or vice versa? i.e. What's the practical difference? EDIT: I'm mostly…
JustRightMenus
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44
votes
15 answers

Does active dry yeast really expire?

I was cleaning out my spice cabinet and deep in the back I found two packages (e.g., six envelopes) of active dry Red Star yeast that expired in March 2009, 15 months ago as of writing this question. With the thought that dry yeast is basically…
Michael Pilat
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43
votes
8 answers

If you add spices to boiling pasta, will it absorb spices/flavours?

If you are cooking pasta via simmering, and you add some spices e.g. pepper to the pot, will the pasta absorb the spices/flavors or will the spices just go to the top of the pot and not really get absorbed?
James Wilson
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43
votes
4 answers

Why use yeast instead of baking powder?

Both yeast and baking powder are used to gas-fill the pastry, make it expand and thus make it soft and fluffy. Using yeast is rather inconvenient - it can be dead already or if the yeast is submerged in too hot water it can die and also waiting for…
sharptooth
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43
votes
11 answers

How can I train myself to identify flavors better?

I'd love to be able to cook well and I think a part of that is identifying flavors. We all have different palates, but there are probably some basic techniques that can be used to figure out what the meal is made out of. For example, there is a…
Ólafur Waage
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43
votes
6 answers

Why is 180 degrees C so common in recipes?

Is there any particular reason 180 degrees Celsius is so commonly called for in baking, roasting, deep frying?
aaaidan
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43
votes
4 answers

What is the difference between baking soda and baking powder?

And can I use one in place of the other in certain recipes?
thelsdj
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43
votes
20 answers

Caffeine content of cold-brewed coffee: higher or lower than hot-brewed?

I recently rediscovered the joys of cold-brewing coffee. (One level cup of rough-ground beans, 4-1/2 cups of cold water, steeped overnight and strained, produces a rich coffee concentrate. A shot or three of concentrate in a mug topped with hot…
goblinbox
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43
votes
6 answers

Why does a brown paper bag speed ripening?

I often see this technique suggested as a way to speed ripening. Why does it? Also, is there any data available on how fast it ripens comparatively?
hobodave
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42
votes
5 answers

How to know when a recipe shouldn't contain onion/garlic?

When travelling at a campsite, our resident cook made a Bolognese, and for fun I asked the Italian campers what they thought about it (playing on the stereotype that they are serious about their food) not expecting them to actually be serious about…
aName
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42
votes
1 answer

Is this a bad apple?

I cut my apple open this morning and found that it had an unexpected consistency emanating from the core. I couldn't find much about what's going on here other than maybe this is some kind of mold (seems unlikely). What's going on with this…
Jacksonkr
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42
votes
2 answers

What caused my meringue to fall after adding cocoa?

I made a very nice stiff batch of meringue for meringue cookies. I piped half of the batch on the cookie sheet and they looked wonderful (or at least they were nicely stiff, and I need to practice my piping). For the second half, I wanted chocolate,…
Rosemarie Miller
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42
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12 answers

Can one be "taste blind" to the sweetness of stevia?

I bought some stevia powder today and tried to make waffles with it, replacing the sugar. However, no matter how much stevia I poured into the dough (carefully adding tea spoon by tea spoon, tasting it each time), I couldn't really taste any…
Byte Commander
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42
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6 answers

Why should (or shouldn't) we wash rice before cooking?

There are pretty confusing articles on this topic on the internet. Some suggest that we should wash them to remove starch, talc, etc. Some suggest that we should not wash them because they are fortified with minerals. This also varies according to…
Cool_Coder
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