Onion can be caramelized without butter.

Or any other type of oil.

However, unless you are actively avoiding using fat, there really is no reason not to.

The main benefit of using oil when caramelizing onion is the fact that oil can reach a higher temperature than water.

To caramelize onion you need to reach about 230F. Water boils at 212F and will not go higher than that.

So to caramelize without oil, you would first need to draw out the water and "dehydrate" the onion a bit before they reach temperatures that can caramelize the onion.

Note:

Never put water into the pan if you wish to caramelize onion.

The reason you very commonly see butter used is because it can reach temperatures above 230F and it's flavor profile works really well with the savory sweet flavor of caramelized onions.

As others have said here, butter isn't required.

The browning and good flavour come from the maillard reaction: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction

You can use oil instead of butter, though the flavour will probably be a little different.

You can also add a little baking soda, as the increased pH will increase the maillard reaction, which gives more great flavour faster.

This article has pictures comparing caramelized onions with butter vs oil, and with vs without baking soda: http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/01/how-to-make-the-best-french-onion-soup-caramelization.html

You can also use a pressure cooker, in which case you can achieve a temperature high enough that the maillard reaction occurs, even in a wet atmosphere.

At normal atmospheric pressure, you'll never get past 100 degrees when there's water, but under pressure the temperature is higher.

That's one of the reasons pressure cookers are a great tool, you can use them to pack more maillard goodness into soups and sauces, for example.

Butter is not necessary.

In fact, you can caramelize without any fat.

The browning of the sugars in the product is what creates caramelization.

To caramelize without fat, chop or slice onion, place in pan with a little salt.

Cover and cook at medium for about 5 minutes.

Uncover and cook any water out.

Stir often.

Deglaze the pan with a bit of water.

Cook and deglaze until you reached your desired effect.

No, you don't need butter to caramelize onions because they are very very sweet, and the sugar inside of them is what become brown as you caramelize your onions.

They do however get pretty sticky since you are basically creating caramel, so if you're not using butter, you should use some oil, or have a very nonstick pan, or you will struggle trying to scrape the brown bits at the bottom of your pan, and they might burn.

They brown and become flavorful for two reasons, not one: Two different browning reactions are at play in the process: caramelization, in which sugars break down into hundreds of new molecules ... and the Maillard reaction, in which proteins and sugars transform into an insane number of new flavor and aroma molecules.

https://www.seriouseats.com/2019/06/how-to-caramelize-onions-classic.html Serious Eats is a very good site for the best methods

bc they focus on the science behind the techniques and also are invested in creating the tastiest, most appealing food they can.

(Its director, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, is a James Beard winner.)

With respect to an earlier poster, you not only can put some water in the pan, you'll have to (as the fond increases and needs to be scraped up).

Also, I'm pretty sure I learned years ago on America's Test Kitchen (another science-based resource) that certain bitter compounds in the onions will break down in butter but not in oil, but I can't substantiate that claim.

(I've tried both and find that the onions retain some bitterness when cooked in oil.

I share this info unhappily bc

it's at odds with my concerns about animal welfare.)

Question: Caramelized onions are great but I've only seen them prepared with loads of butter.  Can you caramelize onions without butter and still achieve the same effect? Or is butter what creates the caramelized effect?

Is butter required to caramelize onions?

The caramelisation comes from the browning of the sugars in the onion, so butter is not necessary and they can even be caramelised dry. However, butter is often used because of its high temperature tolerance and the balance of flavour profiles, and using butter or oil will help to prevent the onions from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.

No butter or oil is needed to caramelize onions but it may be preferable to use some for flavour and to prevent the onions from sticking to the pan. Butter is generally used because its flavour goes very well with onions.

Butter is not needed to caramelize onions

Onions can be caramelized with no fat or using oil, as it is the sugars in the onions that caramelizes. However, without some oil they may stick to the pan.

Butter is used because it can be heated to a high temperature and its flavour matches well with onions.


"Fibrous" and "dry" are good descriptions for bean which haven't been prepared properly.

Mostly, they have either not been soaked long enough, or haven't been cooked for long enough.

Normal times for beans are about 12 hours soaking in water and another 1-3 hours cooking, depending on the desired texture.

Also, sometimes beans can be cooked with about quarter/half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, which softens them nicely.

That should be a start towards solving your problem.

To answer your question, I think that white beans and pinto beans are a good start (you can make a chili, for instance), and that chickpeas are also a very good starting point.

Cooked chickpeas are great as-is, and can be seasoned with cumin, salt and lemon juice for a nice snack.

It sounds like your beans were undercooked.

You should try this recipe.

You do not have to pre-soak dried beans or spend hours cooking them to have soft creamy beans.

Put your beans in an oven safe pot with a tight fitting lid.

Dutch oven and caldero would both work.

Pre-heat the oven to 250F.

Boil the dry beans in water (3:1 ratio water to beans) for 15 minutes.

You can use soup stock instead of water, or add spices and garlic/onion to the water.

After boiling put the lid over the pot and put the pot in the oven for an hour and 15-25 minutes.

Afterwards your beans should be perfectly cooked.

For a first timer I think pinto beans or black beans are the easiest to cook.

Larger beans like chick peas and kidney beans may require a little more boiling before baking them in the oven.

Beans like lentils or split peas do not even need to be baked, they cook through in 15-20 minutes of boiling on the stove.

When you use canned beans, you pretty much have to make do with what's sold.

Cooking from dry beans gives you greater control over the end texture.

Most recipes that start with dry beans involve pre-soaking the beans before simmering.

If you add 1 T salt / Gal to the pre-soaking water (this is called, 'brining')

you can get really creamy beans after simmering.

This is because sodium ions disrupt the pectin gel that binds the bean cells together, which loosens them to the point that water can better penetrate and hydrate the core of the bean during the pre-soaking period.

This means they cook more evenly, giving a creamy texture.

The folks at Cook's Illustrated did a great write-up on this technique in a recent issue -

I'll try to track down the reference.

Making the cooking water more basic in pH (rather than acidic) can also help.

Baking soda both supplies sodium ions and makes the pH more basic.

This makes for even creamier beans, but in my hands it can also be overkill (i.e. the beans fall apart into mush).

Don't forget to switch out the brine before you simmer, or you'll have a super-salty dish!

Source:

A nice Cook's Illustrated instructional video

Different beans do have different flavors.

I find that kidney beans and black beans have a fairly strong and distinctive flavor compared to most beans.

Black-eyed peas and most lentils have a milder flavor, but still, if you were to cook them separately and taste test you would find they do taste different from each other.

I don't think there is any particular bean that is harder or easier to cook if you are open to experimenting (which it seems that you are).

They can mostly be interchanged in recipes (with the knowledge that there will be a slight difference in the resulting color, texture and flavor) and they are generally quite forgiving as long as you err on the side of over-cooking.

If you're having trouble with getting them cooked well enough, you might try either a slow-cooker or a pressure-cooker.

Either one is a good way to make sure beans get thoroughly cooked without having to watch them on the stove for a long time.

For the slow-cooker, soak the beans overnight then add the beans and other ingredients to the cooker in the morning and let it go.

In general, for beans in a slow cooker, you will probably need double the time they would have taken boiling on the stove, but you don't need to watch them.

For the pressure cooker, start soaking the beans in the morning to cook them in the evening.

You need about 1/4 the "boiling in a pot on the stove" time (or less) in the pressure cooker.

There are some good references for cooking times around online, or converting a recipe from "regular" to slow-cooker or pressure cooker.

Note that the pressure cooker time starts from when it gets up to pressure, which will vary based on the volume of the cooker and the volume of the ingredients being cooked.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/10-top-tips-using-slow-cooker http://www.fagoramerica.com/my_fagor/common_cooking_times

try lima beans , they are soft and creamy when fully cooked, yet I suggest brining overnight to boil it faster then, I usually stop to boil when shells start to come off and float on top

If cooked with kidney beans they look more like a sauce when kidney are just getting soft.

Question: I've recently started adding beans to my diet to get more fiber. I've never been a fan, but it's better than the alternative. I've also discovered refried variations, which helps a lot.  What I'm looking for is some kind of bean that isn't as "fibrous" or "dry" as the red kidney beans I've been trying. Are there different tastes? Different textures? Any beans considered "safe for beginners"?

How do I avoid fibrous, dry beans?

Using dry beans gives you more control over the texture, but fibrous and dry beans come from improper cooking or undercooking. Try adding a quarter/half teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and cooking them in a slow cooker. Start with beans that are easier to cook like white beans, pinto beans, chickpeas, black beans and lima beans, and which can be brined overnight to allow faster boiling.

Beans require a lot of cooking and undercooking results in them being dry. Investing in a slow-cooker or pressure-cooker is one way of solving the problem. Moreover, beginners may wish to start with chickpeas, pinto beans, white beans or lima beans.

If beans are dry it usually means they have not been cooked enough. If you cook them from dry, you have more control over their end result. A slow-cooker or pressure-cooker produces good results.

Chickpeas, pinto beans, white beans and lima beans are all good for beginners.


It seems like you are primarily interested in reproducing the umami of the meat.

Tofu does in fact have glutamic acids that will add to the umami; just make sure to thoroughly dry the tofu (extracting as much liquid as possible) before use.

In addition, you can use minced mushrooms, as Stephie mentioned in the comments .

You can also experiment with adding Bragg's Liquid Aminos, since it has a lot of umami but has less than half the sodium of soy sauce.

Keep in mind, though, that the meat in the original recipe is also relied upon for its fat; tofu does have some fat, but not as much as meat, and it's unlikely to render out during the initial fry.

Therefore, I would suggest adding 7 grams of fat (e.g., vegetable oil) for every 100g of meat you are replacing.

Let's recapitulate the textural options you have: Crumbled firm tofu, sauteed (with or without some soy sauce and/or wheat paste - mind

the color you want too!)

Brunoised

/minced fresh/reconstituted shiitake mushroom (potent taste, and you get a great stock from rehydrating :) ), sauteed.

Brunoised/minced "perfectly normal, western mushroom" (Cremini, Champignon or whatever it is locally called :) ), sauteed thoroughly.

TVP mince, cooked in strong soy sauce broth.

Firm (baked) seitan, chopped.

Now about the umami you are missing: Most of the things mentioned are absorbent (mushrooms, crumbled tofu...), so they will soak up umami rich sauces when sauteed with them, especially when you add them when most of the water is fried out.

Other are made with or cooked in a liquid (seitan, TVP).

So let's look at some umami sources we have: Soy sauce.

Try korean gukganjang (strong, but doesn't discolor things much).

Shiitake broth.

Or Soy sauce with shiitake extract (commercially sold).

Or a full shiitake + kombu dashi.

Tian mian jiang (sweet bean sauce).

Nutritional yeast.

Straight, unapologetic MSG.

Doenjang (strong taste) or Miso.

Minced fermented black beans.

Marmite.

Various Chinese pickled vegetables (strong taste).

Doubanjiang (strong taste).

Jackfruit supposedly works well as a pork substitute.

[ Source ].

When jackfruit is ripe, it has a sweet taste and can be used in desserts but

when it’s unripe, the taste is savory .

The texture is similar to chicken and pork and is often called “vegetarian meat.”

The part of the fruit used as a meat substitute is the fleshy coating around the seeds.

Serious Eats used a dry fried minced mushrooms to substitute for, in that case, beef in a dish.

I don't know if it will substitute for pork mince in the same way, having no firsthand experience, but it may be worth trying.

The results are, reportedly, rich and savory and deeply flavored, lots of umami - which sounds like it would do a similar job of adding depth and flavor to your stir fry, even if the specific flavor added is different.

To make the mushroom mince, they used button mushrooms, well minced and fried until the water had mostly evaporated out and they were deeply browned, and added them to the minced mushrooms they had on hand from the broth in that recipe.

With a bonus of very mushroom-flavored oil, to fry in.

That's a nice addition, adding flavor and, also, fat (since meats usually add both).

For your stir fry, it seems like a similar substitution might work - start with a few minced mushrooms, making sure they get quite dry and brown by the time you're done.

They should give the flavor some of that extra depth and savoriness, just as a meat mince would do.

You might want soy sauce or liquid aminos or even something like kombu to touch up the umami flavor a bit more - your stir fry might need a little more since that recipe had other flavors to rely on.

Don't know many dishes that start with pork mince because my experience is limited to North China, mostly Beijing.

There, mince was added to noodles mostly; with veg was eggplant, sometimes mushrooms; and of course in Mao Po Tofu.

I believe it's the mince browning that adds the flavor.

Getting some good caramelized flavor can be done by adding just a bit of sugar -very typical in wide range of recipes- allowing to really brown.

Also, black vinegar from Shanxi adds some caramel flavor.

Consider also adding just pork seasoning: a bit of 5 spice.

Not really a sub

but adds depth: couple of drops of szechuan oil (prickly ash)with dribble of toasted sesame oil, replacing a bit of plain cooking oil.

You could try pressed bean curd.

If you chop it up, it might have a similar texture, and it does provide protein.

It comes in plain and seasoned kinds that you can try.

This idea works for me when I'm cooking Italian-style foods, but it should translate to Chinese cooking with some modifications.

I use green lentils, cooked through and then mashed and spiced.

For Italian-style, I use cumin, smoked paprika, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

For Chinese, I would suggest some hoi-sin sauce, with cumin and ground coriander.

Question: In Chinese cuisine it's very common to start a vegetable stir fry with a bit of minced meat, typically pork, to give the dish a deeper flavor. To make a vegetarian version I usually just leave this out, but I've been wondering if something else would give a similar effect taste-wise.  Typical meat replacements like tofu or seitan don't work here because they focus on providing the texture and protein of meat, but not so much the flavor.

Vegetarian replacement for pork mince in Chinese style stir fry

Tofu, TVP mince, firm (baked) seitan, jackfruit, mushrooms, green lentils and other ingredients can add to the umami and texture, especially when paired with an umami-rich sauce like liquid aminos, soy sauce or black vinegar.

Pork mince is considered easy to replace in Chinese stir fry. Possible ingredients include seitan, tofu, jackfruit and lentils. The missing caramelized flavor, on the other hand, can be achieved using a little sugar or some black vinegar.

There are number of options for replacing pork mince, including tofu, seitan, lentils, jackfruit and TVP mince.

To get the umami and caramelized flavor use a little sugar or maybe black vinegar.


That looks a lot like melted aluminum.

I'd use a solution of sodium hydroxide to dissolve it; probably won't even hurt the oven paint.

Easy

Off Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner is NaOH based, so that'll probably work for you, and is easier to find than straight lye nowadays.

Just follow the directions.

If the aluminum is thick, you may have to do things twice.

Other brands of oven cleaner will likely work as well as long as they contain sodium hydroxide (lye).

It will help A LOT for you people who need aluminum foil off your oven!

There was an article about How to Remove Melted Aluminum Foil from the Oven , but following several disappointing results by the participants, a user suggested a solution that was met with resounding success by those who tried it.

The author suggested an application of naval jelly (from the paint department at your local hardware store) as the solution that actually worked.

Naval jelly is pink goop containing phosphoric acid that is used to remove rust from iron or steel, leaving a clean surface.

Essentially, you spread aluminum jelly over the aluminum, smear it around every few hours, leave it overnight, wipe clean and repeat process until the residue is gone.

It might take a few days, but it is a gentle process with no fumes.

The solution was was verified enthusiastically by several users in that conversation.

You can read more about the process and reviews starting here:

BK says: Back in November, I searched for a way to fix our new oven … Bonus solution:

The original article also claims that the entire bottom plate of your oven can be replaced usually for less than US$30.00.

Contact your manufacturer for a replacement part and guidance on installing it.

Trying to burn it off with self clean heat does not work.

I tried.

Maybe made is worse.

Easy Off Heavy Duty works but takes many tries.

I'm on sixth application and o 75% gone.

Putty knife helps.

Careful of the fumes.

I read that when sodium hydroxide reacts with aluminum it can be dangerous.

Unfortunately I can't post my pictures.

But I recently did exactly what he did here and with worse consequences of foil.

After reading everyone's post on several web sites, I tried the Heavy Duty

Easy Off Oven Cleaner.

After 4 applications and scraping with a "decal razor" scraper, I got nearly 97% of the foil off.

I let the solution sit for an hour on each application.

I was able to take the oven plate out of my oven and do this outside of the house.

Lining the bottom of an oven with aluminum foil or a foil liner is quite common and acceptable provided that the electric heating element is ABOVE the oven bottom, not below and that the liner is between the element and the bottom.

This of course is not possible with a gas oven.

With that said, you could try scraping the foil off with a putty knife, if it is not interfering with the operation of the oven, leave it.

Unsightly, but better than scratching up the porcelain finish of the oven.

The oven bottom should be removable and you could order another and be back to pristine in a matter of a few days.

Probably not what you wanted to hear.

If you are thinking of ordering a new bottom pan, you might get a friend to try heating the stuck on aluminum with a portable propane torch to soften the aluminum and maybe it can be scraped off with little to no damage to the underlying oven bottom thus saving you some money.

The Works toilet bowl cleaner from Wal Mart will dissolve it.

Put it on and let it sit for 4 or 5 hours.

What ever is in it dissolves the whole mess.

Question: I had this  brilliant  idea to put aluminum foil at the bottom of my oven while I cooked pizza at very high temperatures. I was hoping it would catch any toppings that fell off so I could quickly remove them and prevent smoke. The result is that the foil bonded to the oven and now I'm not sure how to get it off. Any chemicals or tools I should use in this situation?

How do I remove aluminum foil from the bottom of my oven?

Easy Off Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner or other NaOH-based cleaners should dissolve it, but may take several tries. You could also try softening the aluminium with a propane torch, smearing aluminium/naval jelly on it, leaving it overnight and wiping clean before repeating if necessary. The Works toilet bowl cleaner  from Wal Mart will also dissolve it.

Chemical solutions for removing aluminum stuck to the oven include solutions of sodium hydroxide, Works toilet cleaner and a propane torch. Naval jelly is another solution that seems to work. A chemical-free method would be to scrape the aluminum with a putty knife. The self clean heat option does not work. The easiest option may be to buy a new oven bottom.

Any solution that contains sodium hydroxide will do the job.  Alternatively you could try Works toilet bowl cleaner or a propane torch.

Naval jelly works in removing aluminum stuck to your oven.

A chemical-free option could be scraping it off with a putty knife.

Ordering a new oven bottom is another option.


I had the same problem before, but I learned this great trick from Larousse:

Try sprinkling slices of your eggplant with plenty of salt on both sides and let rest for about fifteen minutes.

The salt will draw out a lot of water from the vegetable, making it less spongy.

Then, dry off the slices before adding them to very hot oil in a frying pan.

The hot oil should help make a nice sear, sealing off the eggplant, so it doesn't soak up anymore oil.

If you need to, turn down the heat after the eggplant is browned to let it finish cooking.

I've had the best luck using the following method:

Gently rub some salt on the eggplant and leave for a few minutes

Dab the eggplant pieces with a paper towel to absorb the excess moisture.

Microwave

(I know, it sounds awful, but give it a shot)

the eggplant for couple of minutes.

This will partially cook the eggplant and also collapse the air pockets in the eggplant, reducing the amount of oil that it will absorb when frying Fry with a bit of oil

The result is some of the best fried eggplant I've had.

Spray them lightly with olive oil on both sides, add your choice of fresh herbs¹, put them on an oven shelf and bake them in the oven at 150°C (300°F) until you get the texture you want.

Don't go above that T° as the smoke point for olive oil is 160°C.

Disadvantage:

It's not really frying, it's baking Advantage: no extra sodium! :-)

¹

: I like a mix of oregano and thyme myself, but YMMV...

I experimented with salting and brining.

Brining the cut-up pieces of aubergine for a few hours gives by far the best results.

This methods gets rid of the bitter taste, and even takes care of the slightly allergic reaction I always get eating aubergines.

The brine becomes quite brown.

They will hardly take up any oil like this, cook quickly and evenly.

I brine in water about a salty as sea water, more or less.

This website agrees with me, check it out!

i have grilled egg plant before with a little brush of oil and it came out fine.

i think this could work with frying if you fried it on a gentle heat for a longer time so the water was released,and so it steams in its own juice.

they are very juicy when they are cooked.

i have also baked with minimal oil, just a drizzle and tossed, and into a medium oven.

i think keeping the heat down is key as it allows time for the moisture to be released.

According to other answers I read "rub some salt on the eggplant and leave for a few minutes" is great, but it might not be the way to reduce its absorption of oil, I guess !?

My way is : 1) Use round pan 2)

Pour some oil (a small amount - but enough amount to fry the eggplants) into the pan 3)

Shake the pan after the oil has been cooked.

(make sure oil are all over the pan and not gathering in the middle) 4)

Fry those eggplants.

Preparations before above steps

You can cut the eggplants into round shape (slicing horizontally) or stick shape (slicing vertically).

Don't cut into very big size.

And yes, rub it with a little salt together with water in a bowl for 10~15 minutes before getting started to fry.

Hope it helps! ;-)

Question: Frying eggplant is somewhat tricky, as it absorbs oil like a sponge. I read some tricks like brushing egg white or flour on the eggplant slices before frying. None of these tricks are good enough to avoid oil soaking into the eggplant body.  Is there any practical way to fry eggplant using minimal oil?

How to fry eggplant with less oil?

Drizzling or brushing with a litlle olive oil before grilling or baking is one way to reduce the oil needed to cook eggplant.

If you want eggplants with less oil, bake or grill them rather than frying.


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 can't always keep spices well-blended.

If you only tend to cook one dish or you leave some of each spice in reserve, the first one isn't really a problem.

The second one is a function of the dish being prepared, which I'll assume isn't the case here.

The last one is less of a problem with ground spices, but can be significant for whole seeds -- as you jostle the container with use, some spices will tend to float to the top, while others sink to the bottom.

The end result is that when you go take your measure of mixed spices, it might not have the same proportion as what you had expected.

You can partially mitigate the issue by taking your container and rolling it around on its side for a bit before righting the container and taking your measurement.

It's not perfect, but it will help in re-distributing the spices.

If there are certain spices that would be a major problem if they weren't help in balance (eg, ground hot peppers), you can blend everything else and leave that one item separate.

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 Ras-al-Hanout and Baharat.

These are spice mixtures sold as pre-mixed combinations by the shopkeeper, who is usually the one who grinds the spices.

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 spices' flavors also degrade at different rates, though generally you don't have to worry about the flavor of dried, ground spices degrading for at least 6 months.

Depending on how much of this mixture you use, these things may not be a factor.

For some here there might be two other reasons: Practice, and variation.

Mixing spices as part of the prep trains your memory, and sometimes helps you understand the mixtures, and there is a learning effect both from getting the balance slightly wrong and from getting it right in a subtly different way.

This can also prevent a dish from getting boring if you make it a lot.

You can combine them and make your own spice mix, but keep in mind, there may be some separation and you may need to shake or roll your space shaker to keep things mixed.

The coarser spices will end up on top while the finely ground will end up on the bottom if you don't mix up before use.

Question: I always use the same spice mix for dal. Instead of taking 1-2 tsp of each, I would rather keep a special container for the dal of the ready made mix in the proportions I want.  Is there any reason not to do so? Shelf-life, aggregation, ..?

Is there a reason for storing ground spices separately (unmixed)?

You can combine them to make your own spice mix, but the shelf life will be limited by the freshness of the least-fresh spice, it may be difficult to keep it properly mixed and ensure even proportions, you will be forced to add the spices at the same time and you will not be able to adjust the proportions to taste. In addition, you will need separate containers of individual spices if you want to use them in other dishes.

It is generally considered better to keep spices separate and mix them as you use them. This means different shelf-lives can be respected and you can train your memory as you mix your spices. There is , however, no harm in making a dried spice mix, as long as you remember to shake it so the individual spices do not separate.

Keeping spices separate is useful for many reasons, including using spices separately, different shelf-life of the different spices and training your memory when making a spice mix.

If all the spices are dried mixing them is no problem. An occasional shake is needed to keep them fully mixed.


As Lars Friedrich already wrote, curing with salt is a way to kill bacteria.

A high sugar content and the removal of water in general alters the water activity .

Some chemicals are toxic to bacteria (and to some extend also toxic to humans) like borax (which is used to preserve caviar; I'm not sure if it only inhibits the growth of bacteria) or ethanol (drinking alcohol).

Sulfites are used - not exclusively - in wine making and on dried fruit.

You can alter the pH .

I doubt the food will be edible as-it-is.

Last but not least you can irradiate the food to sterilize it.

Irradiation is also commonly used to sterilize (disposable?) medical equipment.

Please note that freezing does not kill any bacteria.

Side note: There are some other bacteria that survive even in such adverse environments but they are not common as foodborne pathogens.

If you really want to be sure that the food is sterile without cooking, you have pressure-sterilize, "poison" it or irradiate it.

You can also preserve food even with bacteria and fungi: A sourdough has an almost indefinitely shelf-live.

It basically only consists of flour, water and a mix of many different bacteria and yeasts.

Cultured milk also has a very long shelf life.

For further reading: The FAT TOM rule describes the six favorable conditions required for the growth of foodborne pathogens. 1 Caveat:

(Botulinum) spores survive in honey.

Do they count as bacteria?

The most common method to kill bacteria without heat is curing with salt.

The removal of the water and the addition of salt leads to an osmotic pressure that draws the water out of the bacteria.

The term is "cold sterilization"; most methods will indeed be out of reach of home users.

Some of the methods used in industry seem to be just sieving the bacteria out (microfiltration), pressurizing everything to 50000 psi, or obviously chemicals that remain in the food as preservatives or that self-decompose into relatively inert compounds in storage (Dimethyldicarbonate).

Some compounds in common seasonings (Turmeric, Onions/Garlic, Chilies) are claimed to have an effect that lowers bacterial growth (but does not completely inhibit it).

Classic sour pickles actually contain a very small amount of salt -- just enough to discourage most bacteria and encourage the growth of Lactobacillus acidophilus.

LBA's byproducts then kill off whatever else was trying to compete with it.

Vinegar pickles likewise are a hostile environment for most organisms.

(Folks not too much younger than me can remember when stores had barrels of pickles and you'd just grab the ones you wanted with a pair of tongs.

No refrigeration needed.)

Other folks have covered other traditional ways of preserving food -- drying, smoking, etc.

A properly cured ham can hang on a hook for years and still be edible, though you may need to trim off the moldy outer surface.

While we're speaking of mold: cheese is another food protected by curing, using various cultures.

And again, if you don't mind trimming off the rind, many hard cheeses can pretty much look after themselves.

So can butter, actually

-- it may go rancid due to chemical breakdown if not kept cool, but other than that it doesn't need to be refrigerated.

Ditto most oils.

Ditto most fruit; it may get moldy or start to ferment due to harmless organisms, but otherwise can look after itself longer than most Americans think it can.

Certain viruses can be used : In the Federal Register of August 18, 2006, FDA announced that it had approved the use of a bacteriophage preparation made from six individually purified phages to be used on RTE meat and poultry products as an antimicrobial agent against Listeria monocytogenes.

In Home-settings; our family do as the following - For meat => Use Lemons or limes - Just simply slice the lemons and squeeze it over the meat in a bowl. - Leave it for 15 minutes or more (can also refrigerated for overnight if you wish to prepare for another day) For vegetable =

Use salt - In a bowl of water, add some amount of salt - Then, add vegetable (after cut) - Leave it for 15 minutes or more

I hope that's what you are looking for.

Thanks.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is used to treat liquids such as milk and stored water.

Only a couple of drops of 3-7% aqueous solution of H2O2 in 1L of liquid is enough to disinfect.

Fresh milk could last 2 weeks easily when treated.

Question: The title says it all. Context: food preservation

Is there any way to kill bacteria in food without using heat?

Salt, vinegar and other chemicals like borax, ethanol, sulphites and hydrogen peroxide can be used to preserve food, often by making an environment hostile to bacteria and other unwanted elements. Altering the pH, irradiating the food, cold sterilisation, drying, smoking, curing and even bacteria and viruses can also be used to preserve food using tratitional and modern means, but not all of these will be available to home cooks.

Natural methods of killing bacteria include include curing, pickling, drying and smoking. Chemicals may also be used or the food may be irradiated. It should be noted that freezing does not kill bacteria. On the other hand, some foods are preserved with bacteria, like sourdough. Cold sterilization and use of viruses are not really available to home users.

There are many ways to kill bacteria in food without using heat. Salt, chemicals, vinegar can all be added to food to kill bacteria. Food can be smoked or dried.

Some foods are preserved with bacteria, like sourdough and cultured milk.

Cold sterilization is not available to home users.

Viruses and hydrogen peroxide can be used to kill bacteria.


Give it a good salt scrub and re-season.

Cast iron is virtually indestructible.

As long as it's not cracked, it can always be cleaned up and used again.

It is hard to tell from the picture, but this doesn't look like burned off seasoning, it is more like a burned on residue.

If that's the case, you can try cleaning it some way.

The problem is that physical cleaning methods probably won't be sufficient, chemical cleaning with alkali will damage the seasoning and chemical cleaning with acid, if the seasoning is compromised, can rust the pan a bit.

So there is a high chance you will end up reseasoning.

If this really looks and feels like a buildup and not like exposed oxidised metal, my preference would be to soak in

warm, not hot, acid.

Vinegar or a citric acid solution should work well.

Afterwards, try to scrub off with a stiff plastic brush.

If it doesn't go away, or the seasoning goes away too, or if this was missing seasoning from the beginning, you have to strip and reseason.

We have several questions on the topic, and the Internet is also full of suggestions.

I personally prefer doing it with lye (best results, strips both old seasoning and rust), owners of self-cleaning ovens like incinerating it, and there are a list of other methods to work with.

Don't worry, it takes far more than that to damage a cast iron pan.

The worst that could happen is that you overheat the seasoning on it, in which case it may flake off.

If it does start flaking then you need to remove what is loose and then re-season.

That's the great thing about cast iron.

Rub it with salt, steel wool, sandpaper, heck even sandblast it.

Give it a good rinse, re-season it and carry on.

Like @Jason Whipple says, unless you've cracked it, you can usually recover it.

I did this same exact thing

and I believe the reddish-brown powder is rust.

It stuck on my fingers like rust would.

When I wiped off the powder, the bottom was no longer slick

so I think I burned the seasoning off.

There were no flakes per se, but around the rust area there was a light yellowish ring which I beleived to be the seasoning starting to peel away from the metal.

I used sandpaper on it, rinsed it, and reseasoned it.

This looks like rust.

I believe what happened is you burned the seasoning clear off and quickly so that ash didn't get a chance to develop but went up with the smoke.

While cooling the bare iron developed a surface layer of rust.

This happens also when you strip your cast iron in the clean cycle of your oven.

As it cools it turns orange, which then needs to be scrubbed off again, and the cast iron put back in the oven to warm just enough to drive off the moisture before wiping on the first layer of oil.

The resolution here is to use hot water and a green scrubby to get rid of the rust.

The hot water simply preheats the pan so it dries faster.

Put the pan back on the burner, and wipe out the water with a paper towel.

Check thenair about an inch over the surface of the pan starts.

When is starts to feel like the pan is near cooking heat, pour in a teaspoon or two of your prefered seasoning oil.

Spread it out and wipe it back up with a paper towel.

Leave the pan on medium low heat, and don't go anywhere.

As the oil starts to lump up (it will climb into drops on the bottom of the pan) use a fresh paper towel to wipe them up.

Let the bottom of the pan get dry from the heat, then pour in another teaspoon of oil, and repeat 3 or 4 times to restore a few layers of seasoning.

If you wish you can continue this for even up to 9 times SO LONG

AS YOU DRY THE OIL EVERY CYCLE, but you eventually lose return on investment.

It just won't get any better.

The only way to continue to improve the seasoning is to use the pan and care for it properly and the seasoning will build up nice smooth and slick.

Question: This morning, as with many, I let my skillet dry by leaving it on the burner. Unfortunately, my attention was drawn away and I forgot to take it off the burner! Of course, the moment I noticed, I moved it to another burner to cool, but this light-brown ring appeared.   After it cooled, touched the ring and discovered it was a powder, not merely a discoloration:   I'm not sure what this signifies. How do I recover the skillet?

How do I recover from overheating my cast-iron skillet?

Cast iron is very resilient, and will not be permanently damaged by this. Unless it is cracked, you can just scrub it with sandpaper, rinse it and re-season.

Cast iron is considered very hard to damage. Minor issues can usually be resolved by scrubbing, rinsing and reseasoning.

A damaged cast iron pan can be scrubbed clean with salt or sandpaper, rinsed and reseasoned.

It is very hard to damage a cast iron pan, unless you crack it.


I assume you're trying to extend shelf life for a couple of days, not weeks.

One possibility is dough enhancers, many of which improve shelf life.

Most can be very easily incorporated into an existing bread machine recipe.

There are a variety of possibilities , and you can also buy commercially available dough enhancers that combine various helpful additives for you.

I'd personally buy a dough enhancer formulation first, see if it made a difference in how my spouse liked the results, and then start experimenting with other (less expensive!)

additives such as lecithin, gluten, powdered ginger, potato flakes, buttermilk, or more.

Searching for "dough enhancer recipe" brings up lot of suggestions which I can't personally vouch for, so I won't include one here :) Changing the storage method can also help improve the longevity of a loaf.

This is covered in another question ; suggestions include covering the cut end (moisture escapes more easily there than from the crust), and pre-slicing and freezing the portion

you know you won't get to.

Leaving the bread out uncovered overnight is likely one of the larger issues with staling.

All bread will start to stale immediately after it's come out of the oven -- commercial bread simply has other ingredients to help slow this effect.

(and I know we've had a question on this topic)

They also package the bread in plastic to hold moisture near the loaf to slow the staling.

You might want to consider how you're storing it .

If you're in a dry area where bread stales (rather than going moldy), consider getting a bread box , or bagging the bread before you leave it out overnight.

At the very least, wrap it loosely or place in a paper bag to allow steam to continue to escape, but still keep moisture near the loaf.

And before you throw the bread to the birds, you can either revive it by placing it a damp paper bag in a medium low oven, or make it into any number of things: french toast bread pudding / strata Panzanella salad fondue stuffing / dressing panade for meatballs or meatloaf bread crumbs

Do you use any fats in your mix?

On this page there is the suggestion that adding some fat -- say, 50g of butter or oil -- can extend shelf life.

Fats (butter, oils, milk, eggs).

Fats enrich and flavor the bread.

They also soften the dough and preserve it: whereas a fat-free loaf of bread like a French bread goes stale after only a few hours, a loaf of bread with a small amount of olive oil or butter (like a sandwich bread) retains moisture and will stay fresh longer.

Fats increase the bulk of your bread.

Rarely do you get the kind of large, irregular holes inside an enriched bread as you do in a fat-free bread.

A few options: Add a bit (or a bit more) sugar to the dough.

Use a sourdough starter instead of yeast.

The ideas in Sourdough in Bread Maker? might be helpful.

Add lupin flour, as mentioned in

"Why add lupin flour to white bread?" Store in a paper bag.

If you're not using a breadmaker, leaving the dough overnight to have the yeast really do their job would also help.

I would like to share some tips for crispy bread and keep it for a long time Letting a few slices of sliced apples or a few slices of potatoes together with a loaf of bread will help keep the bread longer than usual.

To get inside a plastic bag containing one to two stems of vegetables, tighten the mouth of the bag.

To do this, 2 to 3 days of preserved bread is still delicious.

Pack the bread in a covered nylon bag and put it in the freezer of the refrigerator.

Keeping this way can leave bread all month long.

Want to save bread for a long time but still soft, should use oil paper or nylon bag, tightly packed inside to have a lump of sugar and then to cool.

Question: I have an issue with the bread we make in our bread maker. My wife claims it is not fresh enough to eat if it is more than 1 day old; however, she will eat shop brought bread that is 2 days old. This leads to the birds in our garden getting fat!  Is there a way to make (or keep) the bread so it is perceived by my wife to be fresh so we can use it on a 2nd day?

Breadmaker bread not remaining fresh long enough

Commercial bread generally has dough enhancers and preservatives to improve shelf life, but even adding oil or sugar to the dough will help. Homemade bread will turn stale quicker if it is left uncovered, so place the bread in a paper bag or bread box to allow some steam to escape without the bread drying out. A few slices of apple or potato left with the bread will also extend its life. You can also put it in the fridge or freezer for longer storage.

Bread goes stale quickly if it is fat-free and does not contain dough enhancers. Adding sugar, fat or using sourdough are ways of making a loaf that will last longer. Moreover, the way bread is stored is important in keeping it fresh. Plastic wrap, bread boxes and storing with apple slices are ways of ensuring freshness for longer.

Dough enhancers are available to make bread stay fresh longer.

Storing is very important in keeping bread fresh. Some option include putting it in plastic, storing it with slices of apple and keeping it in a box.

Bread that contains some fat lasts longer than bread that does not. You can also add some sugar, or use a sourdough starter instead of yeast. Leave the dough overnight to rise well.


How about using orange zest instead of the juice?

That way you'll get a lot of the aroma and flavor we think of as "orange" without really changing the sweetness or acidity.

You might try zesting the orange, reducing the juice a bit, and then adding the zest to the syrup and then cooking it down a bit more.

You may or may not wish to strain it after letting the zest cook for a minute or so.

If you do this, take care.

I believe cooking it too long will make the zest overly bitter.

Alternatively, you could use frozen orange juice concentrate.

You have a couple of solutions: Make it thicker with agar agar instead of starch Use something like jam or marmalade

The latter might be to close of the sugary paste you dislike.

However agar agar contrary to starch has a really wide range of thickening.

You can just make things from a tiny bit thicker than water to jelly.

More over the boiling needed will reduce it a bit already. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agar#Culinary

You might want to experiment a bit with it to find the right dosage.

Jelly cubes between your meatballs would work rather well.

As contrary to a liquid sauce they won't spread, keeping flavors separated.

The only good way I know of to concentrate fresh orange juice and maintain the flavor is by removing the water.

But not by heating it, as the heat will destroy the flavor.

You need a vacuum distiller or freeze dryer for your orange juice.

Pulling a vacuum will boil the juice at room temperature, removing the water without adding any heat.

If you have enough time, you could make an orange extract.

Just peel pieces of zest from several oranges (avoid the white pith) and soak them in vodka for a couple of weeks, then filter it.

Then you could add it to the pan like wine, boiling off the alcohol (assuming you don't want alcohol in your sauce).

You could also follow a homemade orange liqueur recipe, but they might add too much sugar for your use

( Here is one from Serious Eats ).

It's probably easier to just use zest directly in most cases, though.

I've poached white fish in orange juice with hot chili peppers (I used dried chipotle or even habanero, but I think the recipe called for fresh).

I reduced the cooking liquid a bit, and poured some onto the rice I served the fish with.

It was pretty potent, esp.

the time I made it with habanero, though!

There was some nice orange flavour, and the heat of the chilis made the sugar of reduced orange juice not a problem.

(It was juice from concentrate, not fresh-squeezed.

I maybe could have mixed up concentrate with less water instead of reducing for as long after taking the fish out.

:P)

Question: I poured squeezed orange juice over my meatballs and I thought how well it complements them, but that it's too watery to enjoy with meat. I proceeded to reduce squeezed orange juice on the stove with and without starch and it just did not work - it's either too watery, or when reduced to a proper texture it's like sugar paste with orange flavoring.  How can I enjoy the flavor of orange juice on meat as a condiment while reducing it's wateriness?

How do I concentrate the flavor in orange juice?

You could use orange zest alone or cooked with reduced orange juice, or try frozen orange juice concentrate or marmalade. Orange juice can be thickened with agar agar and added as jelly cubes, freeze dried, vacuum distilled or made into an extract.

To concentrate the orange flavour, using ornage concentrate or zest instead of juice is recommended. If using juice, thicken with agar agar make into jelly. More complicated techniques include buying a vacuum distiller or freezer or making an orange extract.

To make get an orange flavour without the watery sauce, use orange zest.

Orange juice concentrate would give a thicker result.

The orange juice can be thickened with agar agar or you can use jelly cubes instead of juice.


Use a sharp knife, dull knives don't slice, they split the same way an axe splits logs and that will generate that sideways force that throws carrot bits.

Also learn to practice your slicing and chopping technique.

You shouldn't be dropping the blade straight down like a axe or guillotine.

You should be moving the blade in a orbital movement, so that you are slicing in a forward direction while the blade is on its way down to and through the carrot.

By slicing properly much less of your veg will have that energy buildup because they won't "snap" apart but will be sliced apart neatly.

Search YouTube for Basic Knife Skills and watch several videos, then practice, and start slowly.

You will get faster with time and time only, don't rush it

or you'll get sloppy and may hurt yourself.

Both Escoce's and Elendil's answers are great: the key is a sharp knife, and the vast majority of people (in my experience) do not have very sharp knives in their kitchens.

When people come over to my kitchen and try to cut something they are often shocked at how easy it is.

If your knives slide off of food (like onion skins or tomato skins)

rather than cut cleanly into them, they aren't sharp enough to make slicing easy.

The one thing I would add is to start with a long knife, and learn the "rocking" chop motion first with it.

That is, keep the end toward the tip of the knife on the cutting board, and only lift the back end of the knife high enough to clear the carrot.

With a smaller knife, you need to do what Escoce mentions and make an "orbital" motion rather than straight down.

I think that's harder to do properly for beginners, so start with a big knife and rock it until you get the hang of it.

I tend to use a 10-inch chef's knife to chop carrots; minimum of 8-inch. Lots of people see such big knives and think they are too scary to use.

But they really make chopping incredibly easy, especially if they are kept sharp.

With a big sharp knife, you should barely feel like you need force at all to slice quickly through a carrot.

Use a bigger, sharper knife.

If you're having to apply so much pressure to cut a vegetable that it's flying off into the ether, your knife isn't sharp enough.

Furthermore, a blunt knife is a dangerous knife, because it is more likely to slip off the surface of the thing you're cutting and end up in your hand.

If you are not bothered about the shape of the vegetables, you can cut the (for example)

carrot along its length, then place the flat side against the chopping board.

You can then slice, dice or whatever with much less effort, and the carrot pieces won't roll off the board.

I agree with the other answers (particularly using a sharp knife).

When I'm cutting something that tends to fly away like carrots, I'll keep the tip of the knife touching the cutting board.

It gives you a reference touch point so that you don't quickly cut through the object and hit the cutting board if you apply pressure.

It also makes you cut it at an angle similar to scissors or one of those paper trimmers/cutters that you see in offices.

It's crucial to consider the chopping surface here.

If you are using a glass or ceramic board you will have problems with slippage.

Use a wooden or plastic board, and (as others have said) a sharp knife of a suitable type.

Beyond the comments about knives, which is right on, I use cafeteria trays with sides in place of a standard cutting board for the majority of my chopping and cutting.

I've never had the dreaded roll off problem

and I can carry the trays from place to place without fear of the same vegetable fly off.

Question: Whenever I chop veggies like onions or carrots they sometimes just fly off the chopping board into the open space of the kitchen. Carrots do that especially often – I cannot chop them (dicing is also problematic) without the occasional pieces flying off the board.  What am I missing here? I try to imitate Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay chopping videos bit by bit.

How should I keep the vegetables from flying off the board when I cut them?

A dull knife will split the vegetables and create a lateral force rather than slicing them, so make sure your knife is long and sharp and practice your technique, using a rocking motion without applying too much pressure. Keeping the point in contact with the cutting board will help pieces not to fly away. Use a wooden or plastic cutting board with enough grip, or even a tray with sides.

The knife is considered the most important aspect for cutting vegetables. Knifes should be big and sharp. Moreover, correct cutting technique is important. In addition, the cutting surface can make a big difference: plastic and wood are not slippery whereas ceramic and glass are.

The most important point when cutting vegetables is using the correct knife. The knife should be sharp and big enough. Chopping technique is also important.

The cutting surface is important: glass and ceramic are slippery; wood and plastic are not.


You need a sharper knife.

With a dull knife, you'll have trouble getting through the skin, and end up tearing and smashing, releasing a lot of juice.

With a sharp knife, you'll get through the skin cleanly and leave the tomatoes much more intact.

Serrated knives are another common option: they get through the skin very easily.

A dull serrated knife will tear the flesh up a lot, though, so you still do need a reasonably sharp blade, and while a cheap bread knife or steak knife might be better than nothing, it's not ideal.

The best ones are probably the ones actually marketed as tomato knives: they're sharp, not too thick, and have a serration pattern that's meant for this.

If you're forced to make do with an inadequate knife, you can break the skin with the tip, then extend that with the blade and slice from there.

If the knife is so dull that it still makes a mess, you might be out of luck.

This is pretty time-consuming, though, so I wouldn't suggest it as an everyday method for a lot of slices.

Freezing, as you suggested, doesn't sound like a great idea.

If you freeze tomatoes thoroughly enough to make them firmer and easier to chop, then you'll have formed a lot of ice, and once they thaw, they'll tend to disintegrate and release all that juice.

It won't affect the flavor, but it's kind of pointless, since if you're willing to mess up the texture that much, you might as well just hack it up whatever messy way you like.

Although a sharp or serrated knife are the best solution, there's also a trick that you can use when you're working with less than ideal knives (ie, in someone else's kitchen).

Use the tip of the knife to stab the tomato at the spacing that you'll be cutting it.

Slice at each of the stab marks

If dicing, place a couple of slices on the board, and then slice down through them.

When dicing the ends, place the slice skin-side down before cutting.

Effectively, you're breaking the skin of the tomato like a serrated knife would to help you get it started.

For the other slices, you're not cutting from the skin side, so you won't have the problem with the knife slipping.

My favored way is a very sharp cooks knife.

Others have said serrated knifes.

I also do that if my cooks knife needs sharpening (sometimes I neglect it).

Note: there are general use serrated knives, often used to slice bread.

Also on the market are serrated knives specifically made for tomatoes .

I think the serrations purpose-built for tomatoes are gentler on the flesh and meat of the tomato.

I've seen them at decent prices 6 to 8 U.S. dollars.

Tomato Knife

Here's another (I've never used a knife like this, but it has 400+ reviews and 4.5 stars on Amazon)

Use a serrated knife with a long blade.

Like a bread knife!

When cutting, try not to apply too much pressure (i.e. press down into the berry, or use a vigorous sawing motion).

That squeezes out tomato juice.

Instead, let the weight of the blade do most of the work.

This is why I recommend a long blade.

A nice, slow draw from the heel of the knife to its tip across the flesh of the berry should get you most--if not all--of the way through the fruit.

If you have a particularly tough-skinned tomato, try using the tip of the blade to make an initial slit, then finish the cut with the serration.

Once the interior of the tomato is exposed it should be smooth going.

While using a sharp serrated knife, place the whole tomatoe upside down on the cutting block.

Cut down through the tomatoe without cutting through

(I.e. Let the top of the tomato hold together).

Cut as thick or thin as you want.

If you want slices, then once you have cut then all then turn the tomato on its side and hold the tomato together with the top toward your knife and slice through and you'll have a neat stack of slices.

If you want diced or chopped, then leave the tomato upside down and turn it 90 degrees.

Hold the slices together.

Slice down to but not through the top again, as thick or thin as you like.

Now the fun part.

Turn the tomato over onto its side so that the stem points away from the cutting board.

Hold the tomatoe around so the pieces don't slide all over, and slice down through the tomatoe starting at the bottom of the tomato for the first slice.

You should be gifted with a perfectly chopped or diced tomato, uniform pieces and a top of the tomato being all that's left.

Works perfectly for onions too, with the exception of cutting the onion in half through the base first.

Get a ceramics blade knife!

It's just the best for cutting tomatoes and will stay sharp FOREVER ;)

Question: Chopping tomato is real mess sometimes. I just want to know that what is the best chop tomatoes without any mess?   One trick I did was to deep freeze tomatoes before cutting them and then used to chop them. But if we don't have time to deep freeze i.e 20 mins then what are other options?

What methods make tomato chopping less messy?

Make sure your knife is sharp enough to slice through the skin and flesh cleanly without pressing down on the tomato, or use a serrated knife (which should also be sharp to avoid tearing up the flesh). If you need to use a blunt knife, pierce the skin with the tip and then cut from there.

The correct knife and cutting technique are considered essential for cutting tomatoes. A long bladed sharp knife or serrated knife are ideal. Ceramic knives cut well too. Combined with knife, use the correct technique. Make an incision in the skin if your knife is dull. Freezing is no help in making tomatoes easier to cut.

A sharp cooks knife or serrated knife is best for cutting tomatoes. There are special tomato knives on the market. Ceramic blade knives are also good.

Cutting technique is also important. With a dull knife, make a small incision in the skin before starting cutting.


Sure it's safe, there's no risk in putting jam in baked goods.

It says refrigerate after opening so it doesn't spoil after being left out too long - some people don't realize it needs to be refrigerated after opening because it is stored in the cupboard before opening.

The important thing for food safety is to make sure that the pastries are eaten soon enough after baking.

The cream cheese will go off sooner than the jam will, so don't let them sit around.

Yep.

No problem at all.

This is standard practise for using up left over pastry: jam tarts.

Just be careful to let the jam cool down before you bite into it.

You don't want molten jam all over the roof of your mouth.

Should be safe to heat your jam.

I have reheated jams over the stove but never in the oven and have not encountered any problems with it.

It is always safe to reheat your jam.

Reasons for reheating jams may vary, but be warned: "they may or may not form a gel again once they are re-heated, as over-cooking of pectin can reduce or destroy its ability to form the gel structure."

-National Center for Home Food Preservation.

A traditionally made jam is actually a preserve that has, by the copious amounts of sugar involved and often by natural acidity, some added resilience against spoilage compared to a random ingredient - the practically most encountered spoilage mode for jams is mold.

A "diet" style jam that uses artificial sweeteners and no or little sugar could conceivably spoil in different ways if left in conditions outside of the usual 2 hour/4 hour/danger zone envelope (not an issue in reheating, can become an issue if reheated goods are kept on the table for hours).

Short answer:

Yes, but make sure to eat the pastry before the cream cheese spoils.

Question: I just got a bottle of strawberry jam. I am trying to make puff pastry filled with Jam and cream cheese inside it.    I have never done this before. It is just an Idea in my mind so far. I need advice to know that can I heat the Jam in oven. The jam jar says to store in fridge after opening but nothing about it being heated. Can anyone explain whether it's safe to do so or not.

Can Jam be reheated?

It is perfectly safe to reheat jams on the stove or in the oven, although you should eat the pastry before the cream cheese spoils.


You can use frozen bread dough, just fine.

You'll often see it suggested in recipes.

Pizza dough sometimes is made from higher gluten flour, or goes through a slower rise to make it more chewey and stretchy, but bread dough is definitely a major upgrade over pre-cooked crusts.

Another option is call around to some local pizza shops (national chains usually won't do this) - many of them will sell their dough for about $1 a ball (good for about a 14" pizza).

Sure you can use it for a Pizza and you know why ?

Because one of the most gratifying part of cooking is experimenting :)

Seriously, there are a lot of variations in pizza dough out there, some of them clamed to be THE real ones, other just pretend to.

The reality is that if it's made with good ingredients and you already baked bread out of it, chances are also a pizza would be tasty.

As @dlb wrote, it all boils down to personal tastes and how you like your pizza, but this shouldn't stop you from trying (afterall

, you're not asking if it's ok to bake a pizza using pasta ;) )

I have not found that there is a definitive answer, the most common

I know is that it depends on what you like for a pizza dough.

I know many people who use a common bread dough for pizza.

I personally find that too "bready", but they like it that way.

When I first learned, I was taught use a basic french bread recipe and add a couple Table Spoons of oil then allow to rise in cool environment rather than warm.

Many use a higher gluten flour, but if you prefer a more cracker like thin crust then whole grain and a extra pinch a salt and immediately cook after rolling out with only one rise.

If you like a thicker, chewy crust

, then I suggest letting the dough do a second 10-15 minute rise after you have it ready for toppings but before you put them on.

Most times what many of us consider a better pizza crust, regardless of if we like thin, thick, crispy, chewy, or some odd combo is one with smaller fermentation bubbles which calls for slower rising than bread.

Higher gluten, a more elastic knead, a bit extra oil and a pinch of salt can all help get this.

Starting with a regular break dough would restrict you down to only being able to go with a slower rise in my mind.

Pizza dough =

Bread dough + white corn meal+ olive oil + 12-36 hours in fridge, (well sealed in air-tight container) Scratch mix tip: flour ratio:

2/3 all purpose, 1/3 whole wheat Other: Use milk or distilled water or filtered waterOptional: 1 tablespoon of vinegar for ph balance.

Never use any alcohol based liquids such as wine etc--kills yeast!Garlic and yeast seem to love each other in fresh dough!

Garlic can be mashed or put into blender with water or milk Always use fresh ingredients in dough and toppings

As somebody who has been experimenting with different dough recipes and cooking techniques for pizza over the past 3-4 years, I can tell you that you can definitely use bread dough for pizza.

What you have to bear in mind is that there is a huge amount of variation in dough recipes for pizza - some are "no knead" doughs where you mix the ingredients together and leave them without kneading, some ask for eggs to be included in the dough, some rise in an hour, some rise for 5 days, the hydration of the doughs vary wildly...

One of the main differences to me seems to be that the different kinds of dough suit different cooking methods.

Some doughs are well-suited to being stretched super-thin and cooking for a very short time (~5 mins) at a very high heat (400°C), others are suited for thicker bases and slower cooking, some are best-suited to deep-pan cooking methods where you oil a pan and the base more-or-less fries in the pan.

For what it's worth I would say generally (and I can only speak generally) the "breadier" doughs work better in a deep-pan situation to be cooked with oil rather than e.g. directly on a pizza stone.

The main thing you will find is you can get decent pizza from most types of dough, but you will need to experiment with how to prepare and cook the dough to get the best out of it.

Furthermore, a particular type of dough may not conform to what your idea of "good pizza" is.

Odds are whatever you come up with is [i]somebody[/i]'s idea of good pizza.

In my opinion you need a relatively wet dough, a really hot oven and a fast cooking time to get a really great pizza with a crunchy-but-chewy base, but that's just my opinion and my favourite kind of pizza.

The best thing you can do is to try it.

Question: Our local supermarket sells bread dough, and I was wondering whether I could use it for a pizza base, or whether it would rise too much.  At present we've been using frozen pizza bases, but something fresh would really be nice, -I just don't always have a chance to make it myself.

What is the difference between bread dough and pizza dough?

Bread dough can defenitely be used for pizza and will be better than a frozen base, but pizza dough sometimes uses higher gluten flour and goes through a slower rise for a chewier and stretchier texture. You could also ask local pizza shops whether they will sell you balls of dough for your own use.

Bread dough may be suitable for making pizza but pizza dough is usually made with higher gluten flour. If you cannot make it, you may be able to buy it from your local pizza shop.

Pizza dough uses flour with a higher gluten content so bread dough is not the answer. Ask you local pizza shop to sell you some.


Have you considered vacuum sealing?

As you are buying larger amounts of spices to use for a whole year, here's what I would recommend.

Obtain some vacuum seal containers sized for the amount of each spice you are going to purchase.

Get some smaller glass bottles for your daily use.

When you purchase your spices and get them home, fill the small bottles with enough of each spice to last 2 or 3 weeks.

Then vacuum seal the remainder of each spice in the larger containers.

As you use up the spices in the small bottles, you can refill them from the sealed containers and then reseal them.

Hello from the humid Philippines!

I'll answer regarding the amount you keep in the jar out of storage.

I completely agree with the idea of vacuum-sealing any excess spice.

That's what I do, because I can only buy certain spices (brown cardamom, sumac, etc) in bulk.

I use a desiccant in my spice jars, which have rubber gaskets for an air-tight seal.

If you go to your local hardware store, you should be able to find screen material made out of plastic.

Cut some to fit the bottom of your spice jar exactly, put some sushi rice

(basmati also works if you can't find the really fat variety) and then put the screen on top of it.

Then, put in your spice of choice.

The rice is enough to draw out any humidity you introduce into the jar each time you open it, so your spices stay fresh and are much less likely to clump together.

If you can't find non-reactive screen material, some cheesecloth will work.

You can also just mix the rice into the spice (not recommended as rice is starchy, and the spice will clump around the grains as they absorb moisture).

Firstly, if you have any mold on your spices, then throw them out, do not risk it.

When you say that you buy them at the same time of the year, I am assuming that you are buying quite quantities.

Divide your spices into manageable quantities, then place into sealed containers, it might help to also go around the lid of the container with some tape to really keep them airtight.

This works for me living in a humid environment.

My curry powder is still great after more than a year using this method.

I worry about the rice method, as the rice will absorb the moisture and then become prone to mold in itself.

It is possible to buy cheap humidity absorbers from most supermarkets, place one in the area where your spices are stored.

Good luck...

I think the vacuum advice is excellent.

If you can't do that or if you want to protect spices that you currently use, get some silica gel packets and add them to the spices.

First, I would suggest moving any spices that still seem good (that don't look like there's mold, and don't smell off, or anything like that), and any new spices you buy, to the fridge or even to the freezer for a bit - that should let them store safely for a while, so you don't get new spices growing mold.

Next, you should probably clean out the drawer pretty thoroughly - humidity is a problem, but the presence of mold spores are also a prerequisite for your molding spices.

Having something moldy around makes it more likely other spices will contact the mold, from the spores getting on hands, or on jars, and getting inside as they are opened and handled.

You might even swap your spice drawer out for a different drawer's contents, store something the mold spores won't effect in that drawer, if you're not sure of your cleaning.

For your new, or newly cleaned, spice drawer, you want to make sure it is as dry as possible, especially after cleaning, perhaps line it with paper or something if you think the mold might have settled into corners or edges.

And make sure any jars and/or spices you add back are freshly clean (or new).

You might, as MirekE suggests, add a handful of desiccant packets to the drawer to keep it from getting too humid in the future (maybe keep an eye out for the desiccants packets that sometimes show up in other things to keep in the drawer, if you don't want to keep buying fresh).

Or occasionally aim a fan at the open drawer, so that air circulation can maybe dry things out.

If you keep checking and keep the drawer clean and dry, you might prevent the mold from re-infecting the drawer (and spices), or at least catch it early enough not to lose all your spices.

Question: I'm storing spices and dried herbs, as I always did, in glass containers into a spice only-drawer. It always worked fine. But looks that this house is particularly humid, because ground spices, and even seeds like fennel, started to become moldy, and they're not THAT old...I don't always have access to new spices, so I must buy them all around once in a year.Is there amy storage  tip for avoiding mold?

Storing spices against mold

You could have smaller amounts for everyday use and keep excess spices in sealed containers or vacuum sealed. Keep the spice drawer clean and dry to prevent mould from re-establishing itself, and make sure that the spice jars are properly air tight. Dessicant packets placed in the drawer or the spice jars themselves will further reduce the moisture.

A combination or sealed containers and dessicants or humidity absorbers are recommended for storing spices and keeping them dry. It is also important to check the place they are stored regularly for mold and clean if necessary.

Vacuum sealing or airtight jars are good for storing spices away from humidity.

Dessicants, or humidity absorbers can also be used to keep spices dry.

Check the place where spices are stored regularly and clean at the first sight of mold.


As long as the peanut paste at the bottom of the jar hasn't gone rancid, I'm pretty sure the bottom of the jar gets hardened and dry because the peanut solids have sunk to the bottom while the peanut oil has floated to the top, and as you use the peanut butter, a deficit of peanut oil develops at the bottom of the jar.

I usually try to keep re-mixing the jar as I use it, so I haven't really tried this, but I'll bet if you stir in a little peanut oil, that dry peanut-plaster would soften up and become like its old self again.

While lorel C's answer, to use peanut (or some other kind of oil) is likely the best, a couple alternatives suggested themselves to me.

I've had decent luck adding a bit of water instead - though the peanut butter should perhaps be used up quickly in that case (since addition of water will make the product somewhat less shelf-stable).

It does nearly the same job of loosening the peanut butter to spreadability, adds very little flavor, and is available very easily.

If you add too much, it does dilute the flavor a bit, but not badly so if you just need a little.

Another possibility is the addition of heat.

Warming up the peanut butter just a little will let it melt a bit, loosen up and liquify, and it can be more easily worked with in this state.

Since it will harden right back up when cooled, you might want to do this only when you're going to finish it off, or when you are pairing with an addition of either water or oil to keep the peanut butter loose after it's cooled back down.

Here is what you do guys: Heat water in pot (do not overfill) and put your peanut butter jar in ( only if in glass container obviously).

Add little, slightly heated soy milk (sweet, dense, protein).

To the amount of the picture above - add 1 tbsp.

Stir the softened peanut butter until milk is incorporated and you've achieved that nice consistency!

Consistency retrieved

✔ / Flavor enhanced ✔ PS:

Any type of milk will work :)

If you like natural peanut butter, you'll know that the oil separates really easily compared to the other stuff.

I've found that putting the whole jar in the microwave for a few seconds always does the job.

Not until it gets hot -- just until it loosens up a bit.

To prevent it: I buy a couple jars of PB when they're on sale, store it upside down in the cupboard, and then put it right-side up when I open it and put it in the fridge.

Works like a charm :)

in most nut butters the oil will separate leaving the bottom over time dry and oilless.

Especially in organic nut butters.

I found that warming the left over nut butter in the microwave for 30 seconds* at a time will help in the beginning.

But be careful!

The microwave will not completely liquefy your nut butter.

Try not to over cook it.

After softening in the microwave, I would recommend mixing in some oil that isn't too flavorful.

I found mixing in a bit of water works fine though.

You could even make your own mixes to make that last little portion of nut butter count by mixing in honey, unrefined coconut oil, or even Nutella if you so desire!

I wouldn't recommend sticking the whole jar in, most nut butters you have to peel off an aluminum seal, there still might be some on the rim, and it is not safe to microwave

So far, the best softening and taste option I've found is to add a little olive oil.

In fact, I just ate a PB sandwich with the olive oil recovery in it and it tasted scrumptious!

Question: How can I salvage hardened peanut butter from the bottom of the jar? Is there anything I can put in it that will soften it but also add to the taste, or at least not affect it negatively?

How to salvage hardened peanut butter from jar bottom

Stirring in a little peanut or olive oil will help to soften it; water can also be used, but this will affect the shelf life. You can also warm the jar in the microwave for a few seconds to loosen it up.

Three methods are recommended for softening peanut butter when it gets hard. They are adding oil, addoing water or heating.

Mixing peanut butter with a little oil softens it when it is too hard.

Water is a way of thinning peanut butter.

Heating the jar of peanut butter will soften peanut butter that is too hard.


As with franko's answer, the reason why you use salt (preferably sea salt) is that it helps to crush and mince the garlic whilst you are chopping.

If you are worried about too much salt in your diet, then do not use any other salt than what is used whilst mincing your garlic.

Like above, I don't understand why you have to discard what is on the knife

, I am assuming that you have peeled your clove.

If you are worried about cutting yourself, simply scrape the side of the knife on the edge of the board, gather it up into a little pile and carry on mincing, a bit of chop chop, then scrunch down with the sea salt.

As an aside to this, though this was always my preferred method in the past, I have now taken to grating garlic with the very fine part of a cheese grater.

This not only takes a second or two but also you don't have to peel your clove as the skin is left on the top side of the grater, whilst the grated garlic is on the underside.

I have read that sprinkling some salt on the minced garlic as you chop helps alleviate the sticking, but you may not want extra sodium in your recipe.

I've found that using either (a) frozen minced garlic or (b) adding a little oil to the garlic both work pretty well.

Why not simply get a Garlic Press and make things easy on yourself?

If the problem is readily minced garlic sticking to the knife, this is hard to solve (some pros seem to avoid it by using very high chopping speeds leaving no time for anything to stick).

To get (properly) minced garlic off the knife, a plastic(!!!)

scraper card is very handy.

If uneven mincing due to big lumps being stuck to the knife is to be avoided: Actually dicing the clove (board parallel cuts 9/10 of the length, lengthwise 9/10, then slicing) will deal with that, at the cost of wasting (or having to re-chop) an end piece.

Also, this can get time consuming if you need to prep a whole head worth of garlic...

Question: Whenever I mince cloves of garlic on a cutting board, it sticks to the sides of the knife making it a tedious task? Is there anyway to prevent this from happening when using a knife to mince garlic the old-fashioned way? Otherwise, I frequently have to wipe off the garlic remnants from the sides of the knife.

How to mince garlic efficiently without the garlic sticking to the sides of the knife?

Adding salt or oil can reduce sticking, or you can use frozen minced garlic or chop faster to reduce the time for anything to stick. The easiest solution is probably to get a garlic press.

There are a number of ways recommended to stop garlic sticking to the knife when chopping. These include sprinkling the garlic with saly or a little oil or chopping at high speed. Another option would be to buy a garlic press.

Sprinkling with salt, adding oil or chopping at high speed prevent garlic from sticking to the knife.


The classic "long-lasting bread" is rather like a very hard cracker - ship's bread or pilot bread.

Otherwise flour and yeast (add water and bake after it arrives) would be more suitable.

At some point when I had been reading too much old sailing tales I made some ship's bread - it's about as awful as the tales tell, once aged a bit (it was fairly edible, though fairly dense, when fresh, actually.)

The commercially produced "pilot bread" is a bit more friendly for eating.

Long lasting bread - what sailors these days know.

With over 100,000 ocean miles in a small sail boat, and one eye permanently on how much gas we have this is something that we have now got down to a fine art.

So, for a 3-4 week passage, wanting bread, but not wanting to bake our own (not wanting to use a lot of gas)

we set out to discover what if any 'long-life' bread was available (that does not need chilling or freezing and is to be considered 'warm storage').

Firstly there is the part-baked vacuum packed bread, normally available as either baguettes or rolls.

This should have a shelf life of up to 3 months, and takes between 5-10 minutes to bake in the oven.

Depends upon where you live, but we can buy this in any supermarket in the bread section, or sometimes in the health food department.

Secondly, we discovered that cheap sliced brown bread, in it's original plastic bag/wrapper lasts for at least a month.

It is usable for both sandwiches or toast.

I would suggest buying some and leaving it un-opened for a while,

then tasting/testing it yourself to ascertain if this works for you.

However it may depend upon where you are based as to what type of bread you can purchase.

You should also be aware of customs protocols for exporting/importing food stuffs to ensure that you are not breaking any laws.

This is one type that will last.

In the uk you can purchace long life bread products with an extended shelf life.

The longest I've seen is 7 months.

They tend to have a dryer concistency than regular bread rolls, and don't toast well.

But the flavour is good.

I tend to take them if going camping for a few weeks with limited access to replenishment stops.

If real long-term storage (months) is intended, and an oven (or a dutch oven and a fire) is available at the receiving location, the best solution would be to create a pre-mix that just needs to be mixed with water (maybe adding oil too, which you could send along), kneaded and baked.

Package it in truly air and insect tight containers (vacuum sealing, or bail lock jars or good quality clip lock plastic containers).

There are techniques that can keep breads from staling quickly (high oil/low moisture, using partially cooked flour and less gluten structure, maybe using trehalose...), but they will still eventually lose to mold with anything that's isn't very hard and dry in the first place...

You have two options here:

You go with an industrial bread with a lot of preservative.

It will last a long time but I am not sure of the nutritional value.

You go with a sourdough bread which was proofed at low temperatures and which was put in a cold oven.

The cold temperatures during proofing and the start of the baking process ensure that the bread will last longer.

Personally, I'll go with the second option for the natural ingredients and the flavor.

But I know some people do not like the taste of sourdough.

Question: My aunt lives in Venezuela. They don't have basics like bread or meat. I have been mailing her food like crackers and canned meat. I want to mail her some type of bread. I don't know what kind would last the longest.

What kind of bread lasts long?

You could send hard "long-lasting bread", industrial bread with a lot of preservatives or sourdough bread, but the best solution would probably be to send flour and yeast or bread mixes.

Bread lasts a long time if it contains preservatives or it is made using a sourdough starter. An alternative to long-lasting bread is to make your own as needed, using flour and water.

There are a number of types of bread that last a long time: ship's bread, long-life bread and sourdough bread.

Am alternative to long lasting bread is to bake your own using flour and water.


The options are very wide.

You are not telling us what kind of cake you have in mind, so I'll be making a few assumptions here.

But once you start thinking outside the box that equals "birthday cake" with "cake with different colours of icing", a whole world of options opens up.

Birthday cakes need not be (multi-)coloured.

A one-tone cake that plays with texture can be very elegant, from luscious glossy chocolate ganache to swirls of light and fluffy frosting.

You don't even need great piping skills (although it's a neat thing to master some day), heaping on the frosting and texturing into big fluffy "clouds" either with a spoon or a knife can be very beautiful and even my 7yo can produce very impressive results.

Find edible decorations for that pop of colour.

A bright red strawberry or raspberry on a white frosting, a few sprigs of mint or chopped pistachios for a touch of green.

Some lemon or orange zest, perhaps.

Even some jam or a fruit compote will do, put on top or served as a sauce on the side.

Or go for a nature walk and find edible flowers.

Choose non-edible decorations.

Birthday candles aren't edible, so you can add more non-edible elements.

Little flags on toothpicks or even a small garland held up by two or three large skewers come to mind.

Perhaps spell out "HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD" on bunting?

Print a photo of your dad and mount it on a skewer or two?

I have in the past even used toy figurines as cake topper.

As long as everything that actually touches the cake is food safe, you needn't worry.

You can use some parchment or plastic wrap to create a barrier under a topper, if necessary.

The flags in the picture below are made from origami paper, masking tape is very handy, too, because it needs no extra glue.

Since it's last-minute, I'm guessing it'll be tough to work out natural colorings, so I'd avoid doing color-based decorations altogether.

You can use chocolate chips or shavings, nuts, fruit (fresh or dried), crumbled cookies, or anything else you like as toppings.

I think even just an even coating of chopped nuts looks pretty good, but you can get pretty fancy with patterns, especially if you use more than one thing.

Or if you want something you can pipe on, make frosting and a ganache (or another frosting) in different colors - plain white and chocolate, or caramel, or maybe even fruit if you have something strongly colored you can puree.

What you are seeking are natural food dyes (or natural food colorings ).

These are commercially available and you may find them at a local health or natural foods store or even a quality grocers.

They can be homemade , if you have the time and can get the ingredients.

Examples of their effects in buttercream: (from Nourishing Joy ) Be careful not to end up with natural fabric dyes without careful checking, as many of these are toxic or bad tasting.

Takes very little turmeric to give a bright yellow colour - not enough to have a noticeable taste, especially if you use flavouring.

Got any beets around?

They give a lovely magenta red colour to food.

Diluting would give a pale pink.

Mashing fresh peppermint leaves will give a green juice but since you couldn't use much without thinning down the icing, it would likely be a pale green.

I know of nothing that gives a blue colour since even blueberries cook a purple-red.

So forgoing blue, you can play around with those three shades to make some varied colours.

None of this is helpful though if you don't have these ingredients.

Hopefully, someone else may know of others.

Suggestions: Using a stencil, a seive and some icing sugar, you can create simple decorations known as cake dusting

Consider using chocolate icing Fruit can be arranged on top to make wonderful toppings/decorations

(source: stylemotivation.com )

Jam or Jelly Got a jar of jam or jelly in the fridge or pantry?

For jam, you may want to run through a sieve to remove seeds.

You may need to add a bit of water or liquor to thin it out enough to press through.

If too thin, simmer briefly on stove to evaporate.

Mix

well to your batter or frosting for a bit of color.

Or swirl.

After apportioning batter to the baking pans, plop some jelly and swirl with toothpicks or a thin knife.

Ditto for frosting, but you may want to practice first on a plate or waxed paper.

If too thick for the frosting, thin a bit with water, liquor, or real maple syrup.

Heating in a pan briefly can also help to thin.

Another alternative: Drizzle a series of lines across the top of the cake, then swipe across the lines with a toothpick to get the fancy effect seen commonly on Napoleon pastries.

As seen here or seen here .

To prepare cake at last minute, i would make vanilla or chocolate flavoured pancakes or red velvet pancakes.

For red color, I would use color from beet.

Just grate and squeeze color from it and use how much you need.

Layer the pancakes by adding some whipped cream or chocolate ganache or cream cheese frosting which goes so well with red velvet pancake.

Top it with some more frosting and fruits of your choice.

You can definitely play with flavours and look of it.

Question: My dad's birthday party is tomorrow, and I do not know how to decorate his cake.  He does not eat foods containing artificial flavoring or coloring.  What are some methods I could use to accomplish this last-minute effort, and still suit his dietary needs?

How can I make a last-minute birthday cake without using artificial flavor or color?

You can buy or make natural flavourings with ingredients like turmeric or peppermint, but an easier option would be to dust the cake with icing sugar or top with white and milk chocolate or caramel ganache/frosting, chocolate chips or shavings, nuts, fresh/dried/pureed fruit or crumbled cookies.

To make a cake without artificial coloring and flavoring there are two ways to go: use natural toppings like chocolate, fruit and nuts to decorate or use natural coloring such as turmeric and peppermint. Natural food dyes are also available on the market.

Chocolate, nuts, fruit, icing sugar and jam or jelly can all be used to decorate a cake and are natural.

A cake based on pancakes is quick and does not contain artificial flavouring.

Natural food colourings include natural food dyes, turmeric and peppermint.


That is commonly done, and yes, any pyrex is fine for it although metal has an advantage in that it wouldn't require extra time.

Anytime you use glass, pyrex, ceramic or any other heat absorbent material for "pot in pot" cooking, add ~5 minutes to the time under pressure.

Anything that is safe to use in the oven is safe to use in the Instant Pot.

Whatever you use inside the liner of the Instant Pot as your cooking vessel, use the trivet and add water (at least 1 1/2 cups or so) to the inner pot of the Instant Pot, and be sure there is some room (it doesn't need to be much) to allow steam to pass between your inner pot and the Instant Pot liner.

Here's more on the subject of 'pot in pot' cooking.

I am new to Instant Pot also.

Had a "chat" with Ranier at Instant Pot today to ask about glass dish to use in Instant Pot.

Was told that anything that is oven proof is okay or to use a smaller Instant Pot insert.

Mine is a six quart.

I was ready to throw it out the back door last week because I was having such a hard time putting lid on.

This is going to be my favorite fun kitchen gadget.

If you want to have a minimalist kitchen, a good option is oven-safe Glasslock, which has the advantage of also providing a convenient way to pack food for refrigeration and transport.

It's also available in a variety of stackable sizes; obviously round Glasslock will fit more efficiently in an Instant Pot than will square or rectangular.

Manufacturers of Pyrex, Corningware, and Anchor Hocking do not recommend their products in the Instant Pot.

I emailed, chat with them.

I am making chocolate pots de creme and also at times I like to make creme brulee

so I use individual ramekins in the Instant Pot to pressure cook.

Question: What pyrex would be suitable for pressure steaming in an Instant Pot (also known as 'Pot in Pot' cooking)?  I am a new user and want to make sure I have the correct cookware.

Pyrex that can be used in an instant pot

While manufacturers of Pyrex, Corningware, and Anchor Hocking do not recommend their products in the Instant Pot, anything that can be used in the oven should be fine. A metal bowl would take less time to warm up though, and other options would include oven-safe Glasslock or individual ramekins.

Pyrex may or may not be safe in the Instant Pot. However, other oven-safe dishes, Glasslock and ramekins can all be used safely.

It is debatable whether pyrex can be used in Instant Pot. The manufacturers do not recommend it.

Products that are safe to use in the Instant Pot include oven-safe dishes, Glasslock and ramekins.


There are lots of potential thickeners, but you often need to select the one that works best with your given need (temperature, if it has dairy, resulting mouthfeel, etc).

In your case, you're already using rice, so you may want to stick with a starch -- corn starch, potato starch, tapioca, etc.

For these, you add a bit to cold liquid, mix it well, add it to the soup and heat it up.

As it approaches boiling, it'll thicken.

You can use flour (wheat, rice, yam, etc.), but in the case of wheat flour and possibly the others, you may have to deal with a raw taste.

You fix this by cooking the flour with butter or oil into a roux, and then adding that, and heating it up to a near boil.

You can also use pureed vegetables.

Cook them in the soup, then put it through a blender so the vegetables add body to the soup.

If you are looking for the basic and common ingredient to thicken the soup then I would suggest to go with Corn flour.

All you need to do is mix corn flour in cold water.

Add it into soup and stir it well.

And you are done.

@Joe has provided an excellent all-purpose answer, but there's one possibility I don't see mentioned: egg.

A beaten egg stirred into your rice mixture will bind and help thicken things up.

It will also make your dish a bit richer.

This is just an opinion.

I am not in too keen on using potentially gelatinous materials like corn starch or gums in this specific situation with coconut milk and rice.

Unless I had misunderstood your intention, thickening the excess liquid will only completely alter the texture.

It is a bit like you having put too much milk into your breakfast cereal, thickening the milk is not going to work "normally", you need more cereal.

So, more rice is the real solution.

Even if you wanted to improvise and make the liquid thicker, I would want to use rice flour or blend some cooked or uncooked rice with excess coconut milk taken from your pot, and then use it as your "invisible" thickener and cook the whole pot for a short while until you get the desired viscosity.

Just drain it - treat the rice like pasta.

When it is done cooking, use a fine mesh strainer to drain the excess liquid.

I can't find an online source, but I remember (hopefully accurately) reading a James Beard cookbook where he suggested this as a general method for cooking rice.

Question: Yesterday, I had some cooked rice and poured in coconut milk. The can turned out to be bigger than expected so the contents got a bit too "loose".  One way was to cook some more rice, of course. However, I wonder, is there another commonly usable ingredient to thicken up things?  I'm thinking - if it's too thick, I'd pour in some water or milk. Possibly oil too. But what if I want to accomplish the opposite?

Common ingredient to thicken the soup

You could just drain the rice like pasta, but when thickening you should consider compatibility with the purpose of the dish. A starch like corn starch, potato starch or tapioca, or wheat, rice, yam or corn flour could work, or you could add pureed vegetables or a beaten egg to halp thicken things up.

There are two ways of dealing with rice that has too much liquid. The first is to thicken the liquid with corn starch, flour, pureed vegetable of beaten egg. The second is to drain the excess liquid from the rice.

There are a number of thickeners available. The one to use depends on the food you are cooking. The options include corn starch, flours, pureed vegetables and egg.

An alternative way to remove excess liquid is to drain the rice.