The purpose- as with any cooked meat- is to let the meat firm up so it doesn't release juices when you cut into it.

In the case of a turkey it also helps to let it cool enough to not burn you when you are carving and eating it.

Both of these goals will be met in 30 minutes to an hour.

I don't know why that chef would recommend 3 hours.

At that length of time the turkey would start to approach room temperature and would be less appealing to eat as well as start the clock on the danger zone.

I heard GR say 3 hours this year too, so you're not misremembering.

I recently started letting it rest for 45 minutes to an hour, and it's worked out great.

My reason for choosing that amount of time is: that's how long veggies need to roast in the oven.

Once upon a time I used to rest it for 30 min, meaning I needed to at least start roasting the veg while the turkey was still in the oven, and the whole thing was insanely stressful.

Now I prep the veggies but put them dry on baking sheets.

An hour before I want to eat, or when the turkey is clearly cooked if that happens sooner than I expected, I pull out the bird and get it out of the roasting pan and onto a tray to rest with foil over it.

I put the fat and juices from the roasting pan into a measuring cup to settle, and get the fat spooned over the potatoes and in they go.

Get the stuffing out of the bird, squash (cut in 8ths or 16ths and buttered) into the oven and the cranberry sauce on the stove, that typically takes 15 minutes, so it's time for parsnips and onions to go into the oven again with some of the turkey fat.

Then make gravy in the roasting pan using the not-the-fat part of the settled juices and cook the Brussels sprouts on the stovetop.

More room, less panicking, and as long as you understand you will not have a single pause during the final hour, much easier than it used to be.

We have had no consequences of resting it for up to an hour, and I don't see any purpose in resting it longer.

I've been letting my turkey rest for over 2-3 hours for a couple years now because of this advice from Gordon.

It's amazing!

I cover with tin foil

and then a couple of towels to rest

and the bird is still PIPING hot hours later.

I'm usually cooking a 25 pounder.

The internal temperature actually first goes UP to 180 then settles back to 150 by serving time.

There's no safety risk here.

You can then have everything done, pots and pans washed and enjoy a beautiful dinner

I have carved within 20 minutes and within 3 hours.

I strongly believe that the longer standing time has created the most outstanding and moist, delicious turkey ever.

I have cooked

20-25 lb Turkey's stuffed and unstuffed every Xmas and thanksgiving and have never had a negative result from resting either way.

Don't be afraid to try something new.

Make sure your turkey is always properly covered with foil when resting and more importantly clean as you go and make sure the raw handling is properly followed by a thorough cleaning with disinfectant wipes or hot soapy wipe ups.

Some folks like well done meats and some like moist juicy meats at the optimum temperature.

Either way, enjoy your turkey and company and make the day fun and not a chore:)

A 20-25 pound turkey having roasted for hours will continue to have rising internal temperatures, and will be too hot to safely handle and carve immediately.

While waiting three hours to commence carving is more patience than I can muster, I try to let it rest at least one hour after pulling from the oven, and have outstanding results.

My family has not eaten dried out turkey in many, many years.

It's to let the juices get absorbed into the meat.

The meat doesn't have to be piping hot, as the gravy will be.

It's common knowledge to let the turkey rest for around at least 2 hours.

It will completely enhance the taste.

I have been cooking my entire life and owned restaurants in the past, and I have never let a turkey rest over one hour.

We went to a cooking school last night, and both chefs recommended letting the turkey rest for 3 hours.

It all depends on how you wrap it for resting.

I did exactly what GR suggested.

I smoked it for 3.5 hours and got the internal temp to 165.

Pulled and placed in an aluminum pan, covered with aluminum foil, wrapped all of that in towels and placed all of that in an ice chest.

3.5 hours later I had the best turkey I have ever eaten and it was still steamy hot.

It was even better than fried turkey.

I only researched this to verify that it was ok to leave my sixteen lb bird out for three hrs after cooking for three hrs.

I was very paranoid that someone would get sick.

Apparently it is ok.

I was so concerned that I don't even care about juiciness, flavor or any other etc.

I cook two birds and with everything else going on

I just had no time to deal with the first bird after it was done.

Today almost feel like I dodged a disaster.

I cooked one FRESH turkey at 17 min a lb for 4.5 hours.

Took it out and tented it.

It rested for 4 hours like Gordon said and it was still way above danger zone temp.

It takes a long time for those things to cool down man.

BTW Best turkey I ever had.

Remember to pull the stuffing out first.

Question: I have heard mixed advice on how long you should let a turkey rest after cooking.    Last year my wife and I watched a Thanksgiving cooking show with Gordon Ramsey and he said you should let the turkey rest for as long as you cooked it.  If you cook it 3 hours, it should rest for 3 hours.  That seems like an awful long time to me.    Everything else I've read looks like 30 minutes to an hour is fine.  Any suggestions?

How long do you let a turkey rest after cooking?

Depending on how you wrap it for resting, the internal temperature should continue to rise and it will still be hot after two or three hours when ready to serve. This will produce a moist, delicious turkey, but resting for an hour or less will also produce good results.

Some people think that resting for over an hour is unnecessary, however others say that the turkey will still be sufficiently hot to eat over 3 hours later.

The bird will still be hot hours later. After 3 hours resting, the internal temperature remains at 165°F.


Mild bitterness in zucchini, like that found in cucumber, may be result from environmental factors such as high temperature, low moisture, low soil nutrients, etc.

The bitterness is caused by compounds called cucurbitacins.

There is also a rare condition which can cause extreme bitterness in zucchini.

A compound called Cucurbitacin E is found in wild species of squash, but is extremely rare in cultivated species.

( Univ.

of Arizona ) Having bounced around to the various other sites I basically had what I've heard anecdotally before confirmed; salt and lay out to drain liquid.

I suppose the implication is that by dessicating the zuke a little bit, it can remove the Cucurbitacin (which is a steroid developed to ward off herbivores ).

Putting the zukes in salt water is also recommended by some.

It appears that people can become ill from incredibly bitter zukes, so be wary of eating extremely bitter ones .

In this case, you may want to follow the wisdom of your taste buds and drop the zucchini in the trash.

When I cook zucchuni I slightly scrape the skin with help of a knife to reduce the bitterness.

Also for some meals prepared by mashing, I peel the skin off.

Also, salt masks bitter flavors; it's one of the reasons that, for example, bacon goes so well with cooked greens.

I learned a nice tip from a Sri Lankan friend which seems to make them taste less bitter: 1)

Chop off the stem end of the courgette with a sharp knife (not serrated) 2) Press the stub / courgette surfaces back together and rotate the stub end against the courgette continually for a couple of minutes.

As you do so you will find a thick, white substance leeches out of the courgette through the cut end

(it might continue for half a minute or for a few minutes) 4)

Once it's stopped leeching out (or you're bored!)

wipe off the white stuff and discard the stub. 5)

Continue to prepare / cook / eat as planned.

It should taste better!

Cutting off the tip of the zucchini with the stem part and rubbing the two cut ends together, is also what a Californian friend of mine recommended to me years ago.

But after rubbing and letting the white liquid come out, I cut another slice of the zucchini off, to be sure none of the white liquid is still on there.

This method works most of the times for the bitterness to be gone.

From personal experience though, I have noticed that whenever the peel is very thick and dark it is best to peel the zucchini, because then its the only way to get rid of the bitterness, which goes as well for cucumbers.

My mom always taught me to rub the two cut surfaces of the zucchini together to get the bitterness out.

I also do this for cucumbers.

( https://i.stack.imgur.com/KOq5E.jpg )

Question: I have thin-sliced zucchini and steamed it for use in my soup. One of the zucchini turns out to be bitter. I have saved half of it for use on the next day. Is there a cooking method that will remove the bitterness from that same zucchini, preferably with a presentation that is similar to steaming?

How do I remove bitterness from zucchini?

Mild bitterness in zucchini and cucumber is often the result of environmental factors, and is contained more in the skin than the flesh. Common methods to reduce it include slating, soaking in salt water, peeling (especially when the peel is dark), and also rubbing two cut surfaces together.

You can either salt it or cut off the stem and rub it against the cut edge to draw out the bitterness.

Zucchini are bitter due to growing conditions.

You should salt the zucchini to draw out the bitterness.

Cut the stem and rub it against the cut end to draw out a bitter white substance.


You can absolutely make your own black garlic.

All that is required is to have the garlic in a vaguely air-tight container (preferably individual wrapped or contained) for 30 days at 140°-155°F.

My method, covered at my blog , is to put the garlic in mason jars in my light bulb heated

black garlic oven , which can be made for about $30 and can ferment 12 bulbs easily for about $4 of electricity over 40 days.

With the cost of garlic, glue, aluminum foil and the mason jars, the oven with one recipe is less expensive than an equivalent order would be online.

The first 30 days, the jars are kept sealed in the mason jars, to allow the garlic to ferment properly.

After 30 days, the lids are removed and the heat in the box dehydrates the garlic, leaving a dried out head with shriveled black cloves inside of it.

The flavor is reminiscent of balsamic vinegar and soy sauce, but without the sourness of vinegar or the saltiness of soy sauce.

The oven design is easily doable for anyone of any DIY skill level with access to a hardware store and an Academy (where they sell the Huskee cooler I use for $25).

As a chef who has studied black garlic for several years, including visiting China and a manufacturer in Austin to see how large factories make it...the answer is yes you can make it, but it will be nothing like true fine black garlic in any way.

Which is why even chefs in restaurants, such as myself, order their black garlic rather than making it.

It's like saying you can make caviar just by cutting up any old fish who has eggs.

It may look the same but the taste in texture is nothing like the good stuff.

Why?

the steps that can't be done at home.

The first day of making black garlic requires it to be steamed all day.

This is the only way to release the bitterness of regular garlic, a prime component in good black garlic.

Then you canNOT simply cook black garlic on low heat for 30 days as some believe.

It must be alternated in temperature, humidity and more steam and ideally for 40 days straight.

I have come close to making fine black garlic in a process of actually creating my own machinery to mimic the huge batch processes I've seen in China and in one black garlic manufacturer in Austin

but I still order my black garlic because really fine black garlic is exceptional and really fine homemade black garlic is always average to bad

You can make black garlic by putting garlic 10 days in a rice cooker, on low, and leaving them hanging in a cotton bag for 10 days.

My grandmother is Korean, and this is the way she makes black garlic.

I want to share how to make this wonderful fermented black garlic at home.

Buy 15-20 bulbs of organic garlic

(I used organic garlic from California).

In a electrical rice cooker that has cooking and warming settings for 10 cups, place the basket vegetable steamer at the bottom of the rice cooker.

Place the garlic about 15-20 bulbs in an upright position in the rice cooker.

Spray

the garlic with draft beer (I used Asahi Japanese beer) lightly.

Closed the lid and plug the rice cooker, set it at warming.

I recommend keeping the rice cooker outside.

It smells really strong.

I kept mine on the deck under the patio table to keep the snow and rain out.

Leave it alone for 14 days.

DO NOT OPEN PRIOR TO 14 DAYS.

Take the garlic out and place them on a tray and let it dry for 14 days in a cool dark place.

I dried mine in the garage.

Put the garlic in a ziplock bag and store in the refrigerator.

Peel one bulb at a time.

Thee is a propensity to get better results at fermenting black garlic using hardneck garlic rather than softneck.

Yes I know, what in the world is a neck.well

it is the stem sprouting from the vented of the bulb.

Garlic grown in the Namhae region In Korea seems to be one of the better suited, or at least the one showing the best results.

A rice cooker on a low setting would be feasible way to ferment garlic at home.

I don't think it would be necessary to ferment the garlic for the full 40 days, but I'm also not finding any information how the garlic changes day to day.

Looks like you might have to experiment a little.

My wife is Korean and just made a batch of Black Garlic.

She peeled 10 bulbs, put them in a rice cooker, and cooked them on warm for nine (9) days.

Without opening the cooker, unplug it and leave for 11 days.

Then open, drain and peel ASAP.

They're as sweet as you can get.

Question: I've seen  black garlic --fermented garlic with a complex flavor--used a number of times on TV cooking shows, but I've never tried it.  The description of the flavor is intriguing.  Is it possible to ferment garlic and make your own black garlic?  What is the process?

Can you make your own black garlic?

You can make it by keeping the garlic in an airtight container for 10-30 days at 140°-155°F. A rice cooker on a low setting would work for this, but it would not be the same as fine manufactured black garlic.

You can make your own garlic in a rice cooker on a low heat for 10 days.

You can make your own garlic. You should ferment it for 30 days at 140-155°F.

You can ferment garlic in a rice cooker for 10 days.

You can make black garlic but it won't taste the same.


There's an old children's story about making Stone Soup.

In it, a penniless begger offers to teach people how to make his favorite recipe: soup, made from a stone!

He boils some water and drops a stone in, and while it's "cooking", keeps mentioning offhand things like

"It'd go great with some carrots" or "Celery would be lovely in this".

The townspeople rush off and get celery, carrots, potatoes, onions, and the like to add to the soup, until eventually, they've made proper soup in his pot along with the stone.

So basically, the whole "stone soup" thing was a clever con game by which the begger can eat for free (or, in kinder versions than the one I recall, to trick the townspeople into learning a lesson about sharing).

The stone adds nothing to the soup.

The version of the story that many Americans know comes from the book Stone Soup , in which three weary soldiers enter a village and convince the suspicious villagers to share their supplies by showing them how to make soup from stones.

A big pot, some water, and three smooth stones is all you need for the soup, but it's much better if you add vegetables, meat, some milk, salt and pepper, etc.

In the book, the villagers end up putting on a great feast and having a wonderful time, and the implied lesson for children is that it's more fun to share what you have for everybody's benefit than to keep your cabbages and barley hidden in the cellar.

I learned this trick from an old friend of my Grandmother more than 50 years ago.

She put three rounded stones in the pot when cooking soup so they would move about and stop the vegetables and grains from settling and burning on the bottom of the pot.

Molly did all of her cooking on a wood/coal fired oven.

Many people of my Mother's generation used to put glass marbles in the pan when making Jams or conserves for the same reason.

There is also a french dish called "potée" that take a stone in the pot, this is suppose to mash ingredients with the boiling movement and provide a particular texture.

So maybe it's the original mixer

I grew up being told a stone was used in the soup or stew while the food was being cooked.

This was a method used to keep the food in the pot hot for a while longer.

I came to the question from trying to find the best kinds of soup stones to add minerals to stews etc.

I know that Italians have a tradition of putting marble into their wells to add minerals to the water, and I know that cooking vegetables releases acids from the old habit of putting bicarbonate of soda in with peas etc.

I have observed the disintegration of bones used to add body to stews.

It is plausible that sea shells would perform this function, and I know that granite dust is used to provide trace elements in agriculture.

So stones may do more than tell you when your pot has gone dry.

Have you ever heard of the trick to cook a potato faster by pushing a nail into the center of it before placing it in the oven?

The nail gets hot and so the potato gets cooked from the inside while also being cooked from the outside..

I've never heard of using stones in soup, but it immediately reminded me of the nail trick

so my reaction was "ohh, that's a really good idea."

Lol.

Some stones (maybe all stones?)

retain heat very very well.

In fact, I once ate at a restaurant called"The Stone Grill" who's signature dish was bringing you a hot flat stone slab along with raw steak

\ chicken

\ pork and

you would cook your own meat on the rock.

I was full after I finished eating all the steak and pork

so I threw my raw chicken on the stone to cook so I could take it home, and even after 40 minutes the stone was hot enough to cook the chicken.. Soo

yes, old wives tales and stories aside, stones cooked in soup would most certainly keep the soup hot long after it was removed from the stove.

And might even help it cook slightly faster..

In Utah sometimes in elementary school teachers encourage students to bring stones for a soup.

The teacher then shows the children how to identify what kinds they brought and adds all the stones that have a high mineral content.

The result is a drink which is warm and tastes more like the water you get from the mountain springs and the teacher explains that the reason the mountain springs taste the way they do is the minerals from underground stones.

However I don't think this kind of stone soup is common elsewhere.

Question: I was surprised by the added stone in the soup of  this question :   "Also, for irony, a large (cleaned) stone is always left in the pot"  What would be the reason for this? For the minerals in the stone? As far as I know, minerals do not infuse water directly out of a stone.

Why put a stone in the soup?

There is a children's story where a stone is used to make soup, but stones are sometimes used to stop food from burning on the bottom of the pot, as a way to mash the food or in order to help the pot retain its heat.

It might come from an old tale about making stone soup. There is definitely a practice of putting stones in with food to stop it sticking to the bottom of the pan. It would also keep the food hot for longer.

It might come from an old wives' tail about making stone soup.

Putting stones on the bottom of the pan stops things from burning on the bottom of the pot.

The stones keep the food hotter for longer.


Advantages no hand needed to hold the food, therefore safer for children or those lacking knife skills quicker for those lacking knife skills no need for gloves when cutting foods that can irritate the skin, like chillies.

Disadvantages Awkward and dangerous to wash in between the blades for the double-blade version.

Difficult to store safely A unitasker really only suited for chopping herbs and spices.

The most common items chopped in many cuisines, onion and garlic, would require rough chopping first with a traditional knife, making it hardly worth it.

Inhibits

the development of valuable knife skills.

I bought my first mezzaluna because I have advanced arthritis and can no longer use a chef's knife properly.

It's an absolute lifesaver being able to push down with the strength of both hands instead of relying on a weakened arm with a wrist that doesn't bend attached to a clawed hand that cannot grip a knife the right way.

My "go-to" knife is a fairly large mezzaluna (for me at least, it's an 8" single blade and my hands are child-small) and I do use it to chop everything from meats to vegetables.

About the only things I can't do with it are fillet fish and break down chicken.

I also have a smaller double-blade for herbs and garlic.

Obviously, many of the tasks I use it for are better suited to a chef's knife but as that is not an option anymore, my mezzaluna is incredibly versatile and without it

I don't think I could accomplish much in the kitchen.

I recommend mezzalunas to anyone who finds a chef's knife painful or can no longer grip one properly.

There's a bit of a learning curve

but you get used to it quickly.

These are most useful for things like large bunches of leafy herbs (they are often sold as herb choppers) or a pile of nuts to be chopped.

You can also find very large ones used for cutting pizza.

However, if you have a decent, large, sharp, chef's knife and know how to use it, you can do just as good a job without one

: it depends how many gadgets you like lying around the kitchen.

I almost gave my mezzaluna knife away... but decided to give it a try

and now I LOVE - LOVE - LOVE

this knife!!!I have a single handle, single blade mezzaluna with a square chopping board that is rounded out (bowled)to fit the knife.

I chop everything from garlic and herbs to fruit and veggies.

The board and knife keep everything from falling or flying all over.

When mixing several different fruits,veggies and/or herbs into a single dish (usually 2-6 servings), you can chop most or all of them at once!

Cut a small amount of your ingredients, move over or to one of the corners, get more or your next item, chop and slide it over, and so on.

When board is nearly full or you have all your ingredients cut, put board over your pan, scrape all ingredients in (if more are needed, repeat)...

then your ready to start cooking!!!

SIMPLE and FAST!!!Not only does this save a ton of time and clean-up, I almost always choose this over my food processor or nut chopper because I love the 'organic' feel to chopping up all that stuff by hand!

Granted, this is more "utilitarian"; chopping quickly and easily.

For cutting more precise or 'pretty' pieces of fruit or veggies, I'd choose a different knife.

But once you get the hang of the rocking motion, and find just how much time you will save, I think you will really like using it!

*just make sure to also get the "bowl" type cutting board and as good a quality knife as you can afford.

I have one, a single-bladed and I use it to cut pizza.

It's 22 cm (8.5") from the middle of the one handle to the middle of the second handle in a straight line, and 27 cm (10.5")

if you follow the curve of the blade.

It's a very easy way to cut a pizza, but unless you eat pizza often, it's not worth the cost in my opinion

(I got mine for free), although I have no idea how expensive they are.

I must admit that I prefer it over a pizza cutter myself.

The reason for that is that you can put more pressure on it.

One clean cut and

you're through.

It's also possible that I've only worked with lousy pizza cutters, that wiggled if you put a bit of pressure on them or that weren't very sharp.

And of course, if you want to cut pizza with it, you should stick with a single-bladed one ;-)

I use it to cut my home made after dinner mint chocolate slab into bite size squares.

It sits better in hot water and gives a nice, sharp clean cut to the chocolate...

mmmm...yum

If u make a lot of chimichuri .and want to do it

right,this is the proper tool.

parsley needs to be chopped very fine and inlarge amounts

so in order to do without your arm falling off a mezzaluna is needed.

It's the best tool to chop rosemary.

I also use it to cut pizza as it works so much better than the stainless steel wheel on most pizza cutters.

You get better leverage with the two handles

I have a single handle Mez.

knife

I could never figure out how to use until I began to eat chopped salads.

Using the knife in a somewhat shallow hardwood bowl is perfect for chopping salad fixings.

Question: These seem popular in many modern knife sets, and I have seen them used (somewhat clumsily) in Europe.  I have briefly tried some before, but couldn't see the benefit of it. But then again no one seemed to know how to use it correctly  Does anyone actually use these to good effect? If so, what is actually gained over a normal knife?  Which type (single or double blade) and size does this apply to?  Examples:

What is the benefit of using a Mezzaluna Knife over a traditional knife

These are useful for people who find gripping and using a normal knife painful or difficult. They are also good for chopping leafy herbs or nuts, but can be dangerous when cleaning between double blades.

While they can be awkward to use, they are useful for people who have difficult cutting and holding and normal knife.

They are useful for arthitis sufferers as you don't need to hold the food with your other hand. You can shop herbs and vegetables and it is useful for pizza.

They are awkward to use and difficult to wash.


Indian food is commonly cooked with ghee (clarified butter), for both religious and flavor reasons.

Where ghee is not used, coconut or refined palm oil are common.

I can also tell you from experience that Indian food can be made with unflavored vegetable oils (canola, sunflower or soy), without a deleterious effect on flavor or texture.

Mustard seed oil is also used traditionally for Indian food.

With Olive oils, the more refined they are, the higher their burning point.

So you are correct, an Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil would be a terrible choice for Indian cooking (would cause effect on taste, smell, and nutrition) which has prolonged periods of sauteing on high heat.

Lower quality olive oils, or a light olive oil, interestingly, would be a better choice.

They are much more refined like vegetable oils, so have a higher burning point.

But at that point, you'd consider why are you using Olive oil?

Consider using refined butter (ghee) or coconut oil for Indian cooking.

Ghee and Coconut oil will rarely smoke or burn and can stand high heat pretty well.

I believe traditional Indian cooking uses ghee.

Indian cooking is mainly dependent on coconut oil or sunflower oil.

Coconut oil is widely used in coastal parts of southern India.

Olive oil might not give the same taste as you get in coconut oil.

There are some dishes that could only be prepared using coconut oil.

Different types of oils are used for different recipes or cooking styles that vary across India.

Some of them use mustard oil (Bengal and Bihar)

while south indians prefer coconut oil.

On the other hand, western states in India use groundnut, sunflower oil for the daily cooking needs.

Olive oil is rarely used for authentic indian recipes.

Also, while some of the recipes let you pick ghee or oil, they are used for different recipes and can't always replace each other.

AFAIK, Refined sunflower oil should be a good option as it won't mess with the recipe and will be healthier than groundnut oil.

Mustard oil has a strong smell and it doesn't always go well with all the recipes (it's typically used in the marination process for tandoori chicken

and it's one of the ingredients that give it a red color).

It depend which region the Indian dish you are cooking is from.

Kashmiris use mustard oil quite a bit which requires 'cracking' before using by boiling at high heat.

I use mostly sunflower seed oil in my restaurant in Delhi, I may add in some ghee, coconut oil, or mustard oil depending on which region of India the dish you are cooking is from.

Most south Indian dishes contains groundnut, coconut,butter,ghee and gingelly or sesame oil.

Which adds more taste to your food.

Its really good experience to cook and eat food cooked with sunflower oil but olive oil is also a good choice to cook.

Don't use olive oil for frying, it can be used for shallow fry and to make curry where you don't needed to cook at high temperature.

sunflower oil is the best for indian cooking.

Question: Indian cooking basically uses oil from the beginning of the process, typically starting with sautéing ginger and garlic, then adding shallots, chillies and onions. So the oil is on the fire for quite some time.    I would like to know whether any type of olive oil will be suitable for this type of cooking. Extra virgin olive oil seems to be out of the question from what I have read.

What oils are suitable for Indian cooking (i.e. extended frying duration)?

Sunflower oil or other unflavoured oils would work well, but ghee and coconut oil are also commonly used. Mustard oil is also common, but the strong flavour may not go well with some recipes.

Olive oil is not a good choice for frying. If it must be used, then use a refined olive oil. You can also use any unflavored vegetable oil.

Indian food is generally cooked with ghee.

Mustard oil is often used to Indian cooking.

Unflavored vegetable oils like sunflower oil can be very good in Indian cooking.

Olive oil shouldn't be used for frying. A light refined olive oil would be better than extra virgin.


By "cream" do you mean "milk?

" If you are lactose intolerant, I suggest some margarine and either sour cream or yogurt.

If you have a lactose allergy, still margarine, more alternate dairy products, and some kind of spice mix, like an Italian seasoning.

I made some this past week with a little olive oil (maybe 1 tablespoon?) and a little almond milk (maybe 1 teaspoon?).

(I am unable to eat dairy.)

I also had a rutebega mashed in--one rutebega to 4 Russet potatoes.

It was delicious and even my husband, who can eat all the dairy he wants, thought they were just fine.

Mashed potatoes do not require anything to be added?

Use a fresh potato variety suitable for mashing (check with you local vegetable supplier), all you need is to mash them, and introduce some air by using a whipping process (a fork will do)

People typically add milk or cream to old or dry potatoes.

Use a better potato for better results without adding anything.

Reserve some of the boiling liquid to fluff up dry potatoes a little if required

I've been told that ghee has no lactose in it, so that might be one alternative to butter, but not to the milk, as I find you need some water-based liquid to get the consistency I like -- you're rupturing starch into the liquid, which gives a creamy mouthfeel.

I personally use stock, not milk to adjust the liquid in my potatoes.

You have to adjust the salt, but I personally prefer it.

(and it has nothing with my not being able to eat dairy.)

You can add some olive oil to change the mouth

feel, although too much

and it's pretty obvious

it's olive oil in there.

As milk is sweet, you might also consider adding a bit of other root vegetables like carrots or sweet potatoes in, but that'll significantly change the color, which the kids may not like (or they may love ... you never know).

If you use carrots, you'll want to start them cooking while you're prepping the pototes, so they get a head start on the cooking, and it doesn't hurt to cut them a bit thinner.

You can add fried bacon, and be sure to include the fat rendered off while frying to compensate for the lack of butter.

If you can have butter (some people can, as the amount of lactose remaining is small), that can add a rich fattiness that soymilk sometimes lacks.

Another good add-in is roasted garlic cloves, which you can mash with the potatoes -- I find even with dairy in them, that kicks the potatoes up to the next level quite handily.

I usually find milk and soymilk interchangeable, but almost always add butter and/or garlic.

I have tried lactose free milk

and I was surprised how good it was.

I love milk.

My mother not so much.

She can't have dairy at all.

I go to the Asian markets, sometimes health food stores.

They have a dairy free cream cheese that was surprisingly good.

I use that when my mother visits.

Add seasoning last so not to over-season.

To thin and smooth it out, us a little of the potato water or a little soy milk.

If you don't, it will be very lumpy.

I didn't find just using soy milk as good.

You should check out their other non diary items.

Not to shabby, some brands better then the other.

Also, Smart Balance makes a margarine that is non dairy.

Pretty good.

Question: To begin with, I use soy cream instead of dairy-based cream.  It tastes alright, but not superb, and it seems to require more salt. What is missing that I should find a substitute to add back in?

How to make lactose free mashed potatoes

You can mix the potatoes with oilive oil and almond or soy milk, or you can replace the butter with ghee, which has less or no lactote in it.

Try adding oil or ghee or stock. You can also mash potatoes without adding anything to it.

You don't need to add anything to mashed potatoes. Try a different kind of potato that is better for mashing.


Yes, it matters a lot.

When you are separating egg whites, it is for whipping them into a foam.

This foam is a protein-based foam, relying on protein ends hooking into each other.

Even small traces of fat will prevent the foam from forming.

Egg yolks contain high amounts of fat.

Once an egg yolk breaks in your whites, you have to start the separation anew, because it can prevent your foam from forming.

Also, don't use plastic bowls for whipping egg whites (their surface retains some fat molecules even after washing, giving you a less stable foam) and only whip with a cleanly washed whisk or mixer attachment (not one you have just used for something else, not even if you wiped it clean).

To prevent big mishaps, just separate each new egg in a teacup and only add the new white to the old whites after it has separated cleanly.

Else you are in big trouble if you are separating a lot and the last egg contaminates the whole whites with yolk.

And a single contaminated egg is easily reused for a quick egg-and-feta sandwich or something else.

Contamination

the other way round isn't so worrisome.

You still want to work as precisely as possible, as yolk-only recipes will often have somewhat worse texture if eggwhite is included, but small contaminating amounts are usually not noticeable in the finished product, even in foams (zabaglione, mayonnaise).

This is because yolk foams are fat-based, and small amounts of protein don't prevent a fat foam from forming.

I just stumbled upon this to see if I ruined my angel food cake when some egg yolk leaked into my whites.

I spooned out as much as I could

but there was still a little in the whites

but I didn't have enough eggs to start over.

Gave it a go, and I was able to get stiff peaks.

Took a tad longer than normal

but I got stiff peaks nonetheless.

I know that this question was from over a year ago, but id just like to point out that i make meringues at least once a month and often a little bit of yolk gets in.

This is never a big issue!!I

just whisk the egg whites like normal and

almost always it is fine.

Good Luck with future meringues!!

I had the same problem this morning as I was trying to make waffles, but I still got stiff peaks.

I had a significant amount of yolk in my whites and

what I did was I tried to scoop as much yolk as I could out of the whites with a spoon and, even though there were still some wisps of yolk leftover, the whites still became stiff peaks quite quickly (of course I was using the second highest setting on my electric mixer).

Waffles were delicious!

Before discarding, you can give this a try.

Worked for me today (I was making tiramisu).

Lift as much of yellow specks from the egg whites in your bowl as you can and then start beating it, adding little sugar at a time.

Even after beating long enough if you do not see the anti-gravity feature of the meringue, just let your bowl sit undisturbed for some time (maybe half an hour).

Once you are back, you should see a foam-like surface on the bowl.

Scoop the foam up carefully with a spoon

(don't dig too deep, else the liquid might come in too) and now hold the spoon upside down.

If the foam doesn't fall off, yippee, there you have your meringue!!

Collect as much of this foam as you can(remember to check for the anti-gravity feature) and add it to your cream mixture (in case of tiramisu), very gently mixing it in.

You will find that the cream slowly thickens.

Ofcourse, this method will not produce as much meringue as expected out of x number of eggs, but, it does come in handy.

Well I have had a little contamination from a broken yolk on two occasions but both times pressed on and had no problem getting the mix stiff enough in a normal timescale and the end product was perfect.

I was making pavlova.

So in my mind I have disproved the old wives tale that even minute amounts of yolk contamination make a foam impossible to sustain.

I think the sugar beaten in stabilizes it strongly.

A speck of yolk shouldn't matter but more than that you should start over because you'll be disappointed in the final result I speak from decades of baking

If you are going to beat the egg whites to peaks, a teeny tiny bit of yolk wont spoil the effort IF you add 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar.

This is my experience.

Question: I was separating egg whites today and one of the yolks broke and contaminated my bowl of whites. I started from scratch, but I'm wondering if I really needed to; would a tiny bit of yolk (say, 1/8 tspn in 4 egg whites) mixed in with the whites make a big difference?  To provide some context, I was about to whip the whites with castor sugar to make almond macaroons.

When I'm separating egg whites, how much does it matter if a little yolk gets in?

Even a small amount of yolk can impede the foaming process, but adding 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar in egg whites with a tiny bit of yolk will probably ensure that they can be beaten to peaks.

In theory, any contamination will prevent the eggs from forming peaks. However, it is possible, especially if you add a bit of cream of tartar.

Any contamination will prevent the eggs from forming stiff peaks.

You can still get stiff peaks, especially if you add a bit of cream of tartar.


Mostly it comes down to practice.

However there are some tips and tools that can make it a lot easier.

If you have a cake stand (the kind that spins) then you set the cake on the stand and slowly turn it with one hand while cutting forward and back with the other (trying to keep the cutting hand as level as possible).

Another option is to buy a cake leveler http://m.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?sku=415-815 - if you make a lot of cakes it can be very handy.

I had always heard you could level a cake by taking a large length of dental floss, surround the cake at the level you need, pull tight till the floss goes all the way through.

Then if it's not quite right, flip that sucker upside down (the bottom is completely level after all!).

In the future, if it is just out of the oven, you can push down on the cake using your flat hand and a clean towel to help push any "dome" down.

And, for the future, you might want to try baker's strips to get an even cake from the get-go.

Here's the trick my mom taught me.

If your cakes are tall enough that the entirety of the "domes" are higher than the sides of your pan, return the cakes to the pans after they've cooled completely and use the edge of your pan as a guide for trimming the domes using a long knife.

This trick tends to work pretty well for me, however sometimes I need to make a double batch of batter to get my cakes tall enough, depending on the pan.

I personally don't mind making the double batch since I use any excess batter for cupcakes and the cake scraps are my favorite part of the cake, but it may not be for everyone.

Hope this helps!

Alton Brown on the subject (from "The icing man commeth

" Season 6 episode 15).

in case the link goes down:

His solution is to use a bow saw blade (or a long serrated knife) to cut and 2 yard pickets (or scrap pieces of wood) as a guide.

For what you would spend on all that, you can just get the cake leveler, but I do like the idea of using a guide of some sort.

Use toothpicks and a ruler to mark level points all around the cake by pushing the toothpicks about half the way in at the height you want.

Then use a serrated knife and cut from toothpick to toothpick.

I cut my cakes into 4 1 inch cakes per stack to put filling between and ended up with 3 5" stacks total and they were all perfectly level.

Turn it over, the bottom is level and once you turn it over the dome, now the bottom, will settle evenly.

If you want to eyeball it vs. use guides or measure, your best bet is to cut only about halfway across the cake.

Then turn the cake a 1/4 turn and cut halfway again.

Turn it 1/4 turn and cut it again.

3 times normally does the trick.

By now the top will release.

If it's not loose, turn and cut again.

This method keeps you from dragging which creates rippled, uneven cuts.

Also, it is easy to eyeball where to start cutting.

It's the last half (if you cut all the way through) that you typically go off course.

Make sure the cake has cooled.

If the cake is frozen, let is thaw slightly.

Trim the uneven cake layer with a long serrated knife so it is even.

To slice one cake into two layers, start by tracing a line around the middle of the cake with a long serrated knife.

Then slowly rotate the cake while following that line with the knife and cut through the cake toward the center.

After a few rotations you will have sliced the cake in two.

Repeat the process with the additional cake layers.

To separate layers, 8-inches and above, carefully slide the top torted layer onto a cardboard cake round.

Use DIY cake strips (or you can buy them) to prevent the dome.

A little preparation = less effort + better result...

I think?

DIY cake strips

Question: If you cake is too domed, you can just cut the top off, right?  Thing is, I tried this, and now my cake is taller on one side than the other. So it's still not flat! ;-)  Does anybody have any good tips for keeping the cut level?  (I already know you need a knife long enough to go right through the cake. I have that. It's just difficult to cut in a straight line by hand.)

How to trim a cake so it's level?

Use a spinning cake stand while cutting at the same level, or trim the uneven cake later with a long serrated knife. In future, cakes can be levelled by surrounding with dental floss at the right height before pulling tight, pushing toothpicks in at the right height around the cake or using a cake leveller.

Spin the cake on a cake stand and slice with a long serrated knife. You can also buy a long serrated knife.

You can buy a cake leveler or cake strips.

You can use dental floss or toothpicks and a ruler to mark level points.


Cocoa butter crystallizes into various types of crystals depending on the temperature at which it cools.

If the butter cools into an ad hoc assortment of crystal types then they don't arrange themselves uniformly and the chocolate will be dull and sticky.

The process of melting chocolate to encourage proper crystal growth is called tempering .You

will find quite a few questions on the subject here.

You can use any chocolate that contains cocoa butter.

However, if you are going to be putting that much work into tempering your chocolate you might spring for the nicer quality chocolate and

not just plain Hershey's.

Alternatively, if it meets your needs, you can either serve your chocolate still melted or make a thick syrup/fudge dip that stays soft and doesn't need to be tempered.

Cocoa butter contains different fats with different melting points.

In order to avoid whitish smears in your coating, the chocolate must be melted just above melting point, and kept under constant stirring.

This is quite tricky but its the way to ensure a homogeneous coating.

Commercial coating does not contain cocoa butter but some other shortening with a single melting point, thus easing manipulation.

But it is not chocolate.

I have had success simply melting chocolate chips from the grocery store to coat strawberries.

No adding cream or anything.

Food Network recipe says use chips.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/chocolate-covered-strawberries-recipe/index.html Delicious!

Melting chocolate chips on top IS

my favorite kind of frosting.

Milk chocolate chips can especially be effective as frosting.

Tempering properly and coating with real chocolate is all well and good, but probably a bit much work for many.

There is an alternative (which Juancho mentioned), though.

There are commercial chocolate coatings (e.g. Magic Shell ) which are very easy to use - no tempering.

They're not pure chocolate though; there's a substantial amount of another oil to make things work right.

I haven't tried it, but it looks like you can make your own with coconut oil (for example this recipe ).

Could be that with your favorite chocolate, you'd prefer that to commercial versions, and that it'd be worth the time

savings compared to working with pure chocolate for you.

Chocolate chips are fine by me to make chocolate-coated whatevers.

Hershey bars (no nuts please), Kisses (kind of a paint to unwrap tho), Ghirardelli squares (no fillings), they all work.

A few things: Always use a double-boiler to melt chocolate.

You don't have one?

Poppycock; get a large-ish metal or Pyrex mixing bowl and set it on top of a saucepan large enough for most of the bowl to be in the pan but small enough that the bowl will sit on top and leave enough space for an air gap between bowl and boiling water.

Voila, a double boiler.

The double boiler will prevent the chocolate getting too hot and "breaking"

(cocoa solids precipitating out of the oil); still gotta keep an eye on it, but it's harder to mess up.

Pouring is more difficult than dipping.

While you're pouring, the chocolate's off the heat

and so it's cooling

, you're exposing the chocolate to surfaces that may be hotter or cooler than the bottom of the bowl it's been melting in, etc etc.

If the object is small enough for it to be practical to dip, then stick a toothpick in it and dip it.

If it's too big (bigger than your average finger food like a banana chunk, strawberry or cookie), then go ahead and pour, but be patient

and I strongly recommend using a bowl or double-boiler pan with a prominent pouring spout on the brim, and a rubber spatula; get the chocolate close to the pour spout, then carefully use the spatula to push a little chocolate into the pour spout and then onto your random object.

The random object must not be a living thing.

Chocolate may melt at body temperature, but there's only 7 degrees F difference between body temperature at 98 and painfully hot at 105, and at 125

you can very quickly cause blisters.

If you're planning a fun, slightly messy Saturday night with your main squeeze, I'd go with chocolate syrup.

Question: Suppose I want to coat a random object in chocolate.  (Because, let's face it,  why would you not want to do this?? )  Can I simply buy my favorite brand of chocolate, melt it, and pour it over stuff and wait for it to set? Or is that likely to ruin the chocolate in some way?  (The obvious follow-up question being "if that's not the right way to do this, what is?")

Can grocery store chocolate be used as chocolate coating?

Chocolate chips and coatings from the supermarket can work well, and may not require tempering first. Dipping is easier than pouring when it is practical to stick a toothpick in and dip it.

It would be easier to dip objects in chocolate than to pour chocolate.

Try melting chocolate chips for coating things.

You can buy chocolate coatings that are ready made.

It is easier to dip things in chocolate that to pour chocolate over them.


In my opinion, the best option is to have someone grind them for you.

Ask your friends--someone may have a grinder you can borrow, or would be happy to grind them for you in exchange for some cookies or part of the bag of coffee.

If you have a local coffee shop, talk to the barista (over the latte' you just bought) and ask if he/she will grind your beans for you.

I've heard even the mighty Starbucks will grind your beans for you if you ask nicely enough.

If you want to do it yourself, you need to find a way to get the beans down to grinds.

Some ideas: Mortar and pestle.

Be careful not to make Turkish coffee powder instead of the more chunky grinds you want.

Rolling pin.

Put the beans in a heavy Ziploc bag or similar, and have a go at them.

Roll, whack, smash.

Have a nice, heavy frying pan?

Ziploc bag again, hammer away.

And speaking of hammers...

No, not that Hammer.

This hammer.

I would say the short answer to your question is NO, nothing you do at home without a food processor or blender will give you satisfactory results.

Working with a hammer/morter & pestle/rolling pin/pan etc, is going to be a lot of work for very inconsistent results.

My best suggestion would be to take them with you to work and ask around if anyone wants to purchase them from you or like mentioned above grind them for you.

Many of the big grocery stores (Safeway?

Albertsons?

I don't know which ones you have near you)

have grinders for grinding beans you buy there.

If the brand of beans you bought isn't from the store you grind it at, they shouldn't think you stole it...

cooking.stackexchange.com/users/266/Ward - Reinstate Monica

Methods mentioned above are all great quick fixes for your problem however, as said before you'll get a poor grind and a poor cup of coffee.

My suggestion is to go to your local coffee house...tell them your sad story and if you ask really nice they might grind it for you if you buy a couple latte while you wait.

Don't go in on a busy Saturday afternoon.

They'll laugh at you.

However, a place like Starbuck's that grinds beans they sell for customers will probably do it for you.

Just a suggestion, REI in the US and MEC in Canada sell some great hand held camping coffee bean grinders for around $20.

If you're going camping you load them up with beans and grind enough for your French press camping mug.

Makes for a nice way to wake up in the morning.

You'll have trouble making a high quality cup of coffee without a burr grinder.

To quote CoffeeGeek : I've often said that I can make a better shot of espresso with a $200 espresso machine and a $400 grinder than I can with a $2,000 espresso machine and no grinder (or a blade grinder)...

and it's absolutely true.

No matter how good your coffee machine is, it's worthless without proper grinding.

The taste of coffee relies on how the beans filter your water... faster or slower flow will drastically alter the taste.

You might as well just eat it.

As mentioned, only reasonable alternative is to get someone to grind it for you.

I predict that most answers you'll get will be along the lines of, "Pre-grounded is bad, buying whole beans and grinding just before use is good, and you should buy a good conical burr grinder."

I agree with that sentiment, and probably the most inexpensive quality burr grinder would be one of the Hario Coffee Grinders .

I use the MSCS-2TB hand grinder which works really well for me.

I made the same mistake about a month ago and woke up desperate for caffeine and did the first thing that came to my head which was put the beans into a glass bowl and then used the bottom of my coffee mug as a grinder pressing and spinning repeatedly.

It took some work but was well worth it.

You could try simply chopping the beans on a cutting board, and brewing the coffee in-cup (like you would brew tea).

Be careful not to ingest the beans (which will sit at the bottom of the cup).

Coffee grinders are a really good investment if you love coffee.

You can get a good price at http://www.dailycuppacoffee.com/coffee-grinders .

But I see your dilemma.

I'm not sure Starbucks would grind it if it's not Starbucks brand coffee beans

but I'm pretty sure your local grocery store or coffee shop has a coffee bean grinder in the coffee section.

If not, it's a good excuse to talk to a couple of neighbors :D and make some new friends...

Also if you really don't want to bother grinding it, you could give it away as a gift or use it as decoration.

Question: I usually buy prepackaged ground coffee for my drip coffee maker, but recently I accidentally bought a bag of whole bean coffee and threw away the receipt.  Can I salvage this bag of coffee without purchasing a coffee grinder?  I have seen the suggestion of  using a blender  or perhaps a food processor, but I don't own those either.  Are there other ways to grind these coffee beans that will provide acceptable quality?

How can I grind coffee without a coffee grinder?

Home solutions like a hammer/morter & pestle/rolling pin/pan will often be a lot of work for inconsistent results, but you could try a food processor or blender or ask a friend or coffee shop if they could grind it for you.

You can try smashing them with a rolling pin or grinding in a pestle and mortar but the result will be very inconsistent. Try and find someone who will grind them for you.

You can try a mortar and pestle or smash them with a rolling pin.


According to Chestnuts for Sale : Chestnut storage is not the same as most nuts.

Fresh chestnuts should be stored like carrots.

Chestnuts are comprised of about 40-50% water and thus if not stored properly, they will spoil.

Therefore, chestnuts should be stored with great care and attention.

The ideal storage conditions for chestnuts are 33-35 degrees Fahrenheit and 85-90% humidity.

We recommend storing chestnuts in covered containers in the coldest part of the refrigerator.

Stored properly in the refrigerator, chestnuts can have a shelf life of approximately 2-3 weeks.

If you plan to use the chestnuts soon after receiving them, simply place them in a covered container in the coldest part of the refrigerator.

The colder, the better.

Otherwise, they recommend freezing them (preferably par-cooked), and provide information at the link above.

Washington

Chestnut offers the following information about storing chestnuts, to prevent molding to which they indicate the chestnuts are susceptible due to their high water content: Do not let fresch chestnuts freeze and thaw (except if you are freezing for a purpose) Never store chestnuts in a sealed plastic bag (except dried or frozen) Keep chestnuts refrigerated unless drying or sweetening the chestnuts If black molds have entered into the chestnut kernel, do not eat the chestnut Chestnuts can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 weeks Cooked chestnuts must also be refrigerated if not consumed right away

Never bathe the chestnuts in plain water - this causes mold spores to be transferred to all the chestnuts passing though the bath water - instead, wash in clean running tap water Try to purchase fresh chestnuts close to the time you want to eat them

I raise and sell fresh chestnuts.

The secret of long storage is the proper handling of chestnuts in the first 24 hours after harvest before any deterioration starts to occur.

Within that 24 hours our nuts our cleaned, sized, graded and put under refrigeration [32 degrees F.] with controlled humidity [85-90%].

Due to seasonal demand we usually put unsold fresh nuts in the drying room about December 15th for use with dried products the next year.

The nuts are still fine at that closing date.

Always try to buy farm direct from a US producer.

Last year we ate fresh nuts stored our veggie crisper every night until our personal cache ran out which was the first of April.

I will have give properly stored nuts a longer shelf life than 2-3 weeks.

Chestnuts spoil in two ways

: they go moldy and they dry out and become pretty much impossible to eat when roasted.

It's possible that when they are hard and dried out, they could be ground into flour or something; I've never tried that.

Being light is a really good indication that they've dried out.

Some chestnuts are moldy when I buy them, and I am pretty sure the ones I bought before Xmas that are still on my counter are either moldy or hard right now.

The good news is you can't miss the mold when you take the shells off the cooked chestnuts and you often spot it when you cut the X before you cook them.

Don't eat moldy ones.

The hardness won't hurt you, so give them a quick bake and see if you actually have any nice ones still (you probably don't.)

But don't save them for Valentines!

I find they tend to dry going stale rather than rot, quite quickly too.

They will get harder and lighter, and the shells more brittle and apparent gaps between shell and nut, allowing a depression to be made that springs back.

The nuts inside shrivel as they dry, which causes that.

It's usually immediately obvious when cutting the crosses in the shells for roasting which ones are affected.

When they are like that, they roast very hard and dry and often the shells are hard to remove - not very nice all round, though you could probably grind them still if chestnut flour was the order of the day.

Takes a fair while before the flavour is rancid.

In short, if you are using them whole or chopped, try to use the heavier ones that feel entirely solid and do not leave them too long.

I find the best before dates in the shops are usually within a week or so of purchase and that is not a bad estimate for when they start to get stale.

Place chestnuts in a sink of water...

the floaters are the spoiled ones...

the good ones are heavier and will sink.

I purchased some last November 2014, I have kept them in the little refrigerator in my office.

It cycles between 25 and 35 degrees.

Today April ninth I took 2 out to check I peeled both of them there was no black mold or any mold nor are they dried out and gotten hard, I ate one and it tasted good.

It appears as though that the temperature rotating between freezing and slightly above freezing has kept them fresh and good.

Question: I bought some chestnuts in the fall for Christmas but haven't used them all yet. How long do they keep? How would I tell if they 'went bad'? They look just like they did when I bought them (no blemishes) but may weigh less (they seem light) and seem harder to the touch (but I may be misremembering).

How long do raw chestnuts keep?

They should be kept in the coldest part of the fridge with enough humidity to prevent them going dry and hard quite quickly. If they are light, this is a sign that they have dried out and will not be good to eat. If you are using them, choose heavier ones that feel entirely solid.

Chestnuts contain a lot of water and should be kept cold to stay fresh. They tend to dry out and become light after a while.

Chestnuts contain a lot of water and need to be kept cold or frozen to stay fresh.

Chestnuts tend to dry out and become light after a while.


You are not going to find anything outside the chili family that gives quite the same flavor, so substituting flavor-wise is not going to be possible.

Note that paprika is a spice ground from particular pepper, so if you are allergic to all capsicum peppers, you don't want to use it.

What you can do is build other flavorful combinations which you enjoy and which you can eat.

Some things to consider that bring a touch of some type of heat with them include: Mustard powder (a touch of mustard-type heat, and a deep flavor.

Probably want to combine with some herbs like oregano or rosemary.

Horseradish (just a touch for piquancy)

Ginger, which will work very well in Asian inspired dishes, and in combination with those flavors Szechaun peppercorns (not a capsicum pepper)

-- they have a unique flavor and effect; you will have to decide if you like them

All of these flavors are "hot" but from different chemicals than the capsicum peppers, so they will all have different effects.

I share your allergy and have for some time.

First - I'm very sorry, it's not a fun one to have.

Second - there are a lot of spices you can use that give color and flavor without going into the pepper family.

I have a recipe for a curry powder you can use:2

tablespoons whole cumin seeds, toasted2 tablespoons whole cardamom seeds, toasted2 tablespoons

whole coriander seeds, toasted1/4 cup ground turmeric1 tablespoon dry mustard

It's adapted from an Alton Brown recipe (no cayenne)

but the cumin still adds a bit of a kick without requiring an epi-pen.

Also - you can use wasabi in some cooking

- it gives a bit of a bite as well.

I also use tumeric, as it adds color as well as flavor.

I use quite a bit of raw garlic and onion, as it gives a bit of a bite to food, but too much will leave a casserole bitter.

Hope this helps!

Galangal root is a possibility ( more info ).

It's sort of like ginger that's been kicked up a notch on the hot/spicy axis.

Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai stores will have it.

There's also a powdered form available online.

I've never tried that, but maybe it doesn't suffer the same terrible fate as powdered ginger.

Prickly

ash (Sichuan pepper) and Japanese Prickly ash are other possibilities.

The Sichuan pepper does add a funny sort of heat to things.

I've never found the Japanese version to try.

Thanks for all the tips.

I have arthritis and any thing in the 'deadly night shade family of plants is bad for us.

That is: Potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, chilli and its sidekick Paprika.

These two latter things make my joints swell - not life threatening but very painful.

In looking for an alternative, I have found some Garam Masala does not contain any Chilli or Paprika and many recipes for Korma curry do not use chilli.

It doesn't quite have the kick but it is very tasty.

Be very careful with mustard.

Premade mustard contains paprika.

I make my own for recipes that call for it, and use the dry mustard to cook often.

Cumin is a wonderful way to add flavor, and I especially like corriander.

Experiment and see what you like best.

Its a bit of a crapshoot and everyone's tastes are a little different.

Cook in small batches, so there's no leftovers, until you find what you like best.

Good luck!

Black Pepper falls into a very different plant family than chilies and bell peppers.

Also the compound that produces the spicyness is different (piperine vs capsaicin).

There's are a A LOT of different pepper species that should offer some variety if you can get a hold of them.

Also don't underestimate the differences in black pepper alone.

This site also lists a few other species that are sold as "pepper" but are neither Solanaceae nor Piperaceae: Schinus Molle

/ Pink pepper Prickly Ash

/ Sichuan pepper

And as others have suggested, the Ginger family is always a good source of flavorfull spicyness.

Further options for spicyness taken from

this answer : Horseradish Mustard Or Wasabi as others have also already suggested and warned about fakes.

I'm allergic to red chili pepper and usually make do with ginger, mustard and some cumin.

Question: I recently learned that I am allergic to ALL forms of pepper except black pepper.  Bell peppers, chili peppers, etc.  I am allergic to and it makes my throat swell up.  I have several recipes using ground chili pepper.  Is there a substitute spice that will give my (mostly ground beef casseroles) recipes SOME flavor?

Chili and bell pepper substitute due to allergies?

Ginger, mustard, horseradish, Szechuan peppers, wasabi and galangal roots are possibilities that add heat to some dishes.

You can try mustard powder, horseradish, ginger, wasabi, galangal root and cumin.


They're certainly edible, but you might have to work for it.

A Western view from Purdue CropINDEX : Tamarind seeds have been used in a limited way as emergency food.

They are roasted, soaked to remove the seedcoat, then boiled or fried, or ground to a flour or starch.

Roasted seeds are ground and used as a substitute for, or adulterant of, coffee.

People from more native cultures are perhaps more willing to put in the effort : ...

But I was surprised to find those semi-charred seeds tasting wonderful.

They were a little like well-roasted peanuts without their disadvantages, and gave me both the challenge and company I seek of suparis!

I also found a few other mentions of them being a snack food, something people had eaten at home, like this one , which also mentions roasting and de-shelling in bulk with a grinding stone.

As for how to prepare them, I think your best bet might be to roast them, peel with the aid of a mortar and pestle (to crack them open), then soak for overnight or for a day in buttermilk like this recipe suggests.

It's worth looking at the full recipe - there's more detail and a little background.

You can certainly try them before soaking as well, if you're looking for something that takes work to eat - you might have to suck and chew a while.

As the recipe SAJ14SAJ found says, and says "This is the real test for teeth as it is very hard and crunchy."

Yep, they are edible and I am eating them right now.

They are roasted

untill they turn black charcoal colored and then peeled.

The kernel smells a bit like coffee bean.

They are very hard to bite, so they must be kept in the mouth for some time mixing with saliva and eaten slowly.

It helps people who have a habit of constant nibbling, so they can engage their mouth and at the same time have a cholesterol free, slow to eat, healthy snack.

According to Plant Cultures , The seeds are also edible and flour made from them can be used to bake cakes and breads.

Roasted seeds are reputed to be delicious.

Finding recipes that address removing the very tough seed coat is difficult, especially since there are false hits for the flesh or pulp of the fruit, as well as many non-culinary uses.

Here is one set of instructions.

I just soak the seeds until the skin is soft.

This takes a few days, and the water has to be changed every day.

Afterwards, you can wash and roast or boil them as you like.

Some people are making a desserts with tamarind seeds...

I just like to make tea with it...

I have myself ate roasted tamarind seeds in my childhood.

We eat that like candy (Top black cover has strong taste but core tastes similar to roasted peanuts but not same).

Many people from Gujarat state of India call it 'kachika'.

I soak the tamarind in hot water or boil for a few minutes and drink as tea.

I prefer it to tea and coffee but wasn't too sure what to do with the seeds.

So I figured, if tamarind is edible, then the seeds should be too.

I remove the skin, let the inside seed dry, salt it a bit and roast until it's golden brown.

I keep them in bottles or plastic bags and, when it's cold, I snack on them and especially like it as a late night snack!

It's yum!!!

Question: I just bought some fresh Tamarind & was told that I can eat the Tamarind seeds. Are they really edible? How would I prepare them if so?

Can you eat the seeds of Tamarind if you roast them or boil them?

Tamarind seeds are edible and can be boiled, soaked, roasted, boiled and drunk as a tea or made into flour. They are hard to bite and take time to suck and chew, so may be good for people who tend to snack a lot.

Tamarind seeds are edible and delicious if hard to bite.

Yes, tamarind seeds are edible. They can be prepared in many ways.


You can use small amounts of cheddar mixed with the other cheeses.

But you'd be disappointed in the results if you tried to use it as the main or only cheese on the pizza.

Cheddar cheese doesn't tolerate sustained, high heat as well as some other cheeses.

It can scorch, which tastes and smells bad, and/or the fats can separate from the solids as a yellowish oil.

The sharper the cheese is, the less well it will tolerate heat.

Yes, it is absolutely possible.

It is your pizza after all.

The problem you may face is that cheddar usually does not melt as well as Mozzarella.

Also, moz has a neutral-salty taste so cheddar will have a greater impact on your overall flavor.

I personally like to pair cheddar with ground beef sauteed with onions on pizza.

You may still want to add some moz to get that velvety melt that people often think of when they think "pizza".

I highly suggest using a blend of moz and a nice, shredded sharp cheddar though (about a 4:1 moz-cheddar ratio).

That will give you a nice cheddar zing.

Best of both worlds.

As others have said you can use it for pizza as well.

My best results are from a mix (also what others have said).

The only thing I would like to add though is that you might want to consider adding the Cheddar half way through the cooking (or close to the end) because of the way it melts compared to Mozza.

Gonna say, I have had no negative experiences with cheddar cheese on a pizza.

It does tend to melt and run to a larger extent than Mozzarella, so you want to be more sparing, but overall it's great.

If you experiment with a wide range of cheeses, you'll find that certain cheeses complement various flavours in your palate - test it out on housemates/family and you'll find they'll all have their own favourite combinations, too.

Personally on any salami pizza, i'm going to go immediately for the cheddar over the mozzarella.

Every time.

Yes, absolutely.

How well it will work will depend on the particular type of pizza you're making.

I love cheddar with taco-type pizza toppings.

I love feta cheese, for that matter, with roasted beets on a pizza.

There's no reason why you should limit yourself to just one type of cheese if you want to experiment with other cheeses.

Cheddar cheese will not melt correctly.

It is ok on low heat for short periods (grilled cheese), but baking it long enough to cook the rest of the pizza will make it toughen up and secrete oil.

When I worked at a pizza place (many moons ago), they used about 6-8 oz mozzarella, and 2 each of provolone and cheddar, or something like that.

It gave an interesting flavor, and everything seemed to melt just fine.

So use it if you want, but you'll want to make a thinner crust pizza that you cook longer at a lower temp.

If you are doing a grill pizza where you put the toppings on towards the end, it may work very well.

Question: I know that most of the time Mozzarella cheese is used for pizza and often in combinations with other cheeses including cheddar.   I have noticed in quite a few things I cook like sandwiches, quesadillas and such that both mozzarella and cheddar are very stringy when melted which is perfect for a pizza.  So is it possible to use cheddar as the main cheese in pizza instead of mozzarella?

Can I use Cheddar cheese for pizza?

Cheddar cheese has different melting properties than cheddar, but it can be a good choice especially as part of a blend. Since it can run when melted, try adding it later in the cooking process. It is also saltier and stronger in flavour, so use it more sparingly.

Cheddar is good on pizza but it is generall considered a good idea to combine it with another cheese like mozzarella. This is because of the strong flavour and less advantageous melting qualities of cheddar.

Cheddar cheese can definitely be used on pizza but some care needs to be taken with the cooking.

If you want to use cheddar on pizza, it is better to mix it with another cheese like mozzarella for a good result. Cheddar does not melt in the same way as mozzarella and it has a much stronger flavour.


春卷 (Chūnjuǎn, Spring rolls) are julienned vegetables, sometimes with a bit of noodles, sometimes with a bit of minced meat, wrapped with a flour dough skin and pan- or deep-fried.

They are a filled roll.

You can see the different varieties by country here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_roll Spring roll: 鸡蛋卷 (Jīdàn juǎn, Egg rolls) are many different things around the world.

In Chinese communities, these typically refer to a sweet biscuit type roll, of hollow flaky egg pastry (not filled.)

However, there is also another variety (common in American Chinese cuisine) where a flour dough wrap is filled with "pork, shrimp, or chicken, adding cabbage, carrots, bean sprouts and other vegetables, and then deep fried."

In the American Chinese respect, I believe it is very similar to a Spring roll really, although the flour dough looks thicker and of a different composition than a typical Spring roll (the dough bubbles when deep-fried, with Spring roll skin it does not.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_roll Sweet egg roll: American Chinese egg roll:

If you're talking about American-"Chinese" cuisine, there may be a different distinction: Vietnamese spring rolls are always wrapped in rice paper, and are commonly sold as just plain "Spring Rolls", whereas "Egg Roll" is more common for the Chinese-style roll made with an egg-based batter (pictured in setek's answer).

While it would not be wrong to call an egg-batter-based roll a "spring roll" per se, it would definitely be wrong to call these types of rolls "egg rolls" since they do not contain eggs.

These rolls also tend to be made vegetarian or with shrimp only, rather than having pork or chicken.

Vietnamese Gỏi cuốn ("Spring roll"): Vietnamese Nem rán ("Fried Spring Roll") (Note that this uses the same kind of wrapper as the above, but fried):

Well, with regards to this post, the comments all note different things.

Being from a chinese/vietnamese family with traditional recipes passed through the generations, let me just say this:

Eggroll (savoury): has egg in the filling.

In vietname culture, may be consume wrapped in lettuce and dipped in fish sauce.

In chinese culture, these badboys are generally eaten as is.

Eggroll (sweet): mentioned in a previous post.

No filling, jsut a roll that is sweet.

Springroll: no egg in the filling, may be vegetarian.

Fresh roll: rice paper filled with vermicelli rice noodles, lettuce and some sort of meat, porkskin and/or shrimp.

A vietnamese style culinary roll often eaten with hoisin sauce

Chinese Egg Roll (US) - Similar to Chinese Spring Roll

A wheat flour roll, deep fried with or without batter.

Egg Roll - Simlar to Krum Kake, Wafer, Pizelle, Bricelet A

(usually sweet) waffle based batter that is usually wrapped into a cylinder.

Vietnamese Summer Roll

A rice paper roll that is filled and usually served cold.

Vietnamese Spring Roll

A rice paper roll, that is deep fried.

Heaven knows why anyone described a Chinese spring roll as an egg roll, but then again "Pants" definition in US versus UK English...

There's lots of different types of things that are called spring rolls in Asian cuisine.

these can be fried or not fried, usually with some sort of rice flour based wrapper.

Typically, egg rolls are always fried, larger and made with a wheat flour wrapper.

Many of my friends ask how they should refer to Vietnamese egg rolls and spring rolls, and how to differentiate between these two.

As I read these comments and am confused by the various interpretations.

In my Vietnamese family Goi Cuon is a Spring roll, the transparent rice wrap with shrimp, noodles, and so on.

Cha Goi is a traditional Viet egg roll.

Yes, you can fry a Spring roll but the name would be different: from my perspective, Goi Cuon is the cold roll and Cha goi is the fried roll.

They have different fillings and sauces, that's all.

And don't ask a Viet person about summer rolls; I had never heard this term until foreigners asked me about it; this term doesn't exist for me.

Question: The final challenge for a recent "Master Chef" was to make spring rolls. It seemed to me that they were really making egg rolls, like I've seen at any restaurant I've ever been to -- Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, etc.  What is the difference between a spring roll and an egg roll?

What is the difference between a spring roll and an egg roll?

There are several kinds of Spring roll in Chinese, Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian cuisine, as well as American varieties, but generally they include julienned vegetables, sometimes with meat, chicken or fish, wrapped in a flour dough or rice wrap and pan- or stir-fried. Egg rolls are similar, but often larger and with egg in the filling.

Spring rolls contain vegetables and maybe pork or shrimp. In the Vietnamese tradition they are wrapped in a rice wrap. Egg rolls, on the other hand, are wrapped in a wheat wrap and contain egg. There is some confusion in the names used in Chinese/Vietnamese cuisine and Chinese American cuisine.

Spring rolls contain vegetables and no egg. They may contain shrimp or meat. In Vietnamese cuisine they are made with a rice wrap.

There are differences between Chinese cuisine and Chinese American cuisine.

In Vietnamese cuisine, egg rolls have egg in the filling. They are typically larger and fried and have a wheat wrap.


Seconds, not minutes.

Just the act of pouring the water will cool it slightly.

At sea-level pure water will be 100C at a full boil, the temperature will drop immediately when it's no longer being heated.

This is unscientific at best, but just for giggles I put an accurate digital thermometer into a room temperature mug, and brought a couple of cups of cups of filtered (not distilled) water to a boil in a saucepan.

I poured the water into the mug and held the thermometer in the center of the mass of water.

In the time it took for my thermometer to stabilize on a reading (30 seconds), the water was at 92C. I repeated the mini-experiment using a hot mug that I had heated by boiling some water in the microwave, and pouring it out just before I poured in the boiling water from the saucepan.

This time after the 30 seconds it took my thermometer to stabilize, I got 96C.

I'd say that just by doing this (with a warmed ceramic teapot), you'd have your 96C if you moved quickly.

Photo from Instructables

Basic electric tea kettles primarily work by turning off when a bimetallic switch in the handle (probably at the bottom, where it will require some steam pressure to have steam travel down to) of the kettle is sufficiently heated to deform one of the metals, turning off the kettle.

This switch is heated by steam, and the element itself is typically turned off well below 100°C (closer to 85°, perhaps) to ensure it doesn't go on heating indefinitely, particularly well above sea level.

This ensures it is boiling, as the steam pressure required to move the steam to heat the element

doesn't exist until the water is at a full boil.

As such, you can't assume any specific temperature from the kettle without knowing your altitude, and most accurately taking the temperature yourself.

It does not heat to a specific temperature independent of altitude/pressure and stop, if you're using one of the cheaper models; if you have a model that has digital temperature control, then of course you can simply set that.

Now, the temperature it stops at is quite stable, for your altitude; so if you determine that temperature (either with an accurate thermometer, or by searching the internet and/or doing the math to find out what temperature water boils at where you live) it's likely very consistent.

So if you are looking for 96°C, and where you live water boils at 98°C, you can work out how to drop it those two degrees pretty easily.

Example information: UK Museum of Science and Industry article about Kettles John Taylor , one of the early inventors of this kind of switch Russell Hobbs , another UK company that pioneered this process, and includes some information as to how it works on the page: The automatic electric kettle K1 (a world first), designed in October 1955, used a bi-metallic strip at the rear of the kettle: steam was forced through an aperture in the lid of the strip and this knocked the switch, turning the kettle off.[3]

(I can't source that actual statement, as [3]

doesn't go to a page that uses this language, but it's within reason compared to other similar pages.)

Assuming your kettle causes the water to boil (rapid escape of gas/bubbling) and that the water you are using is from a tap (not distilled)

then it is very difficult to say exactly the temperature of your water at boiling, but it will be a small amount over 100 Celcius degrees (as impure water has a higher boiling point).

To know when your water has reached 96 Celcius degrees, you will need to use a thermometer to test for the exact temperature, which can be reached quicker by pouring into a cool container or pouring between containers.

Pure water boils when its vapour pressure equals atmospheric pressure.

Pure water will only boil at 100 degrees at sea level if the atmosperic pressure happens to be 1 atmosphere (760mm of Hg)

The boiling point of water therefore depends on two things.1.

How pure it is.2.

What the atmospheric pressure is where the water is being boiled.

In general terms the higher you are above sea level the lower the atmospheric pressure.

Atmospheric pressure also changes daily with the weather systems passing through.

It is extremely unlikely therefore that you will ever get water to boil at 100 degrees Celcius.

If you live 4000 feet up the side of a mountain and it's a low pressure day your water will boil below 96C

Electric kettles regulate their set temperature with either a thermocouple or a resettable thermal fuse.

Both devices are likely good to within 10% of their nominal value, and are affected by the amount of lime scale on the bottom of the pot.

That means that the only way to be sure is with a thermometer; used not just once, but every week or two.

Question: My tea preparation prescriptions says to prepare it using water heated to 96 Celsius degrees.   When water heated in standard, typical electric kettle reaches this temperature?  Is it (always?) immediately after switch turns off? Or is it 100 Celsius degrees, and I need to wait approx. 3-5 minutes to get to cool to 96?

What is water temperature after electric kettle switches off?

Water boils at different temperatures based on altitude, but it will quickly drop from 100 to 96°C when it's no longer being heated or when poured into another container. You can test the exact temperature with a thermometer or work out how to bring the temperature down a few degrees from boiling.

The best way to check the temperature of water is to use a thermometer. This is because the real boiling point of water depends on where you live.

The temperature at which water boils depends on where you live.

If you know the boiling temperature in your location, you can work out when it reaches  96°C.

To be sure when water has reached the desired temperature, you need to use a thermometer.


This probably refers to whole eggs mostly...

A microwave can boil water very rapidly, and a tight but fragile container like a whole egg will violently rupture if such rapid boiling happens inside it, because the overpressure inside it is already significant when the shell finally breaks.

Here is a video showing an experiment with ca.

180 eggs in a microwave oven, which after a minute or two rupture simultaneously and with enough force to blow the oven open, with debris being propelled several meters.

As someone who tried this out at a young age, I thoroughly DO recommend it!

The microwave makes a huge bang and jumps 2 inches off the bench.

Good times!

(However, you need to do some heavy duty cleaning before mum gets home.)

However, by breaking another rule, you can boil an egg in a microwave.

Steps:

2/3 fill a coffee cup with boiling water.

Wrap an egg in aluminiumfoil.

Place wrapped egg in cup.

Ensure the water covers all the aluminium foil.

Microwave for 4 - 5 minutes.

There may be some overflow from boiled water in the microwave if your coffee cup isn't big enough.

A paper towel under the cup will take care of that.

The foil prevents the microwaves exploding the egg, however the water surrounding the foil prevents the arcing that normally happens with metal in the microwave.

A great snack for office workers.

A simple undamaged raw egg in a microwave at full power will explode .

Unless you have a deep desire to thoroughly scrub your microwave I can not recommend that approach.

The problem is that the egg will be heated to more than 100C, that means the water will start to vaporize and steam has the nasty habit of needing way more room than liquid, and you get a pressurized egg or an "egg-bomb".

An egg's shell is a quite robust construction, especially where pressure from the outer side is concerned.

Nevertheless, at one point the shell will burst and the egg "explodes".

So how to prevent this?

Method:

Avoid steam.

If you heat the egg very, very gently , i.e. in short bursts witl low energy, you might keep the interior pressure low enough.

Frankly, if I have a pot and a stove, I'd go that route any time, especially as I can limit the inner temperature better.

As boiling water doesn't exceed 100C, the egg will always stay below that, meaning no steam is created.

Method: Avoid the build-up of pressure.

If you crack the shell and transfer the egg to a bowl, you can easily boil it or make microwave scrambeled eggs etc.

In addition to the excellent answers you already got, there are a few more issues: Microwaving cooks inside out.

As a result, the yolk will cook first (or at least at the same time as the white).

Some late-night-TV gadgets promise to let you cook omlettes in the microwave.

In reality, the eggs will still explode, even after scrambling, but the mess is contained in the gadget.

The other issue is that you end up with bits of egg superglued to the plastic.

There is a way to cook eggs in a microwave that has worked safely for me:

poaching.

Fill a bowl with water, and crack a couple eggs into the water.

Cook for three to five minutes.

Remove with a slotted spoon.

The eggs will not be as nice as stove-poached eggs, because the yolk will be hard-boiled, but other than that, the eggs always turn out nice.

The real problem with the egg occurs after it is already hard-boiled.

When you buy a package of hard-boiled eggs from the refrigerated section in some grocery stores, those come with a warning "do not microwave".

That is a mstake you only make once...

When you heat a hard-boild egg in the microwave, it will turn out nice and hot - and then explode in your face and burn your lip when you bite into it.

Cutting the egg in half does not help - the yolk will explode and jump right out of the half egg and evenly distribute in the microwave.

I don't know exactly why all this happens.

My best guess is that there are two separate processes at work.

First, the yolk gets heated faster than the white.

It tries to expand, but instead builds up pressure.

Secondly, even in a hard-boiled egg, there probably is enough residual water to create quite a bit of steam.

Worse: the boiled egg white, as well as the egg yolk are fairly gas tight, so the steam is trapped in lots of pockets in the yolk.

Delia Smith recommends using a pin to prick a small hole in the wide end of the egg, where the air bubble is.

That way the steam escapes from the shell avoiding a pressure build up.

This has always worked for me when water boiling an egg and the shell never cracks.

This might work in the microwave too.

It would be an interesting experiment to match the hole size to the rate of steam production, to the power output of the oven.

Is that over sciencing the egg making process?

Question: I would like to know why it is not recommended to put an egg in the microwave.Where does this "legend" comes from ?

Why is putting an egg in the microwave not recommended?

A microwave can boil the water in an egg very quickly, increasing the pressure inside to the point where it will explode. This approach is not recommended, but Delia Smith suggests making a small hole in the egg where the air bubble is first.

Putting an egg in a microwave is a bad idea because it will explode. Perhaps it will not if you make a small hole in it with a pin.

A whole egg in a microwave will explode.

Delia Smith recommends pricking a small hole with a pin.


Do you have a French press?

If so, you can make coffee that is quite strong in there

and you can froth your milk.

For the coffee, grind it course.

If it's too fine, too much will go through the mesh and your coffee will be murky and over extracted.

Buy a very dark roast, but something that isn't too smoky.

Italian roast is too smoky.

Espresso beans typically have more of a caramelized flavor vs. smoky.

For the milk, warm it a little more than you want for your cappuccino.

Put it in the clean press.

Vigorously pump the plunger up and down.

This will make luscious, dense foam.

If there are too many large bubbles pump longer, or you can stir it a little.

I don't love specialized or expensive equipment either.

French presses are inexpensive and useful for steeping many things.

They are also small, and you can use them when you are away from electricity (camping/zombie apocalypse/etc).

This isn't no fancy tools, but it is no expensive fancy tools and the results are pretty darn authentic.

I make pretty reasonable cappucinos with: A cheap moka pot for the coffee.

Makes strong almost-espresso shots of coffee, and doesn't need any electricity, just sits on the stove (good for me because power blackouts are common here)

A cheap battery-powered hand frother.

Any kind of metal container to heat and froth the milk on a stove.

A small saucepan would do, but I find a little pot like the third pic below more convenient, and the shape seems to help with the frothing.

Probably, a second mug or a small jug in a microwave would work too, though I've not tried that.

Image credits: 1 , 2 , 3 Make a shot or two of coffee the normal way in the moka pot on a stove burner.

On another stove burner, heat the milk.

I find that if I start preparing the milk after setting up the moka pot, they're both ready at around the same time.

Froth the milk when it's hot Pour the coffee in a mug Pour the frothed milk on top, using a teaspoon to get any stubborn froth that doesn't want to come out.

The hot milk will mix, the foam will stay on top.

I'm no coffee connoisseur but to me it tastes almost the same as a cappuccino from a coffee shop.

Well, if you want to make the Viennese original, all you do is combine coffee and sweetened cream, the latter possibly whipped.

The coffee can be brewed however you wish, although instant is probably not entirely authentic.

:) You can add cinnamon and/or shaved chocolate, if desired.

If you want to make the modern definition of cappuccino, it's based on espresso coffee, which, despite all those labels on coffee packages, is not a particular grind, roast, or variety of coffee bean.

Instead, it's a particular brewing method , and one that you're not going to reproduce without the specific equipment.

However, there's a pretty close substitute available in the form of instant espresso granules.

Unfortunately, that still leaves the steamed milk, which again, you're not going to reproduce without the specialized equipment of a steam wand or a milk frother.

You can get sorta-kinda close-ish by scalding milk and then whirring it in a blender at the highest speed you can manage.

(A food processor won't work, it has to be a blender.)

Careful you don't end up scalding yourself as well as the milk!

You can also use whipped cream instead of the steamed milk, but then you might as well call it a Viennese coffee.

The third option is to buy a cappuccino mix - a couple years back there was a brand that advertised itself by having a woman make espresso-machine noises in the kitchen while she simply poured hot water over the mix, after which her friends remarked, "

We didn't know you have an espresso machine".

I don't know how those mixes get the foam to develop, and I probably don't want to know.

I've had success with making milk foam using a mason jar.

Put a cup of milk (whole, skim, 2%, whichever you prefer) in the jar and close it tightly.

Shake the jar vigorously until you have the amount of foam you want.

Immediately place the jar in a microwave (removing the metal cap) and cook for 30 seconds on high.

Now you can scoop the foam out with a spoon and pour the warm milk out of the jar.

It may not be authentic, but it is sufficient for a home-made cappuccino and requires no extra tools!

You need something to froth the milk.

You can't really do it without some sort of specialist tools but there are some cheap handheld things (e.g. battery-powered whisks - which don't work very well; hand-pumped frothers which look rather like a cafetiere -

I've never tried one).

"Milk frother" looks like a good search term.

You're not going to get an authentic cappuccino flavour with instant coffee, but if you insist on using instant or have no option, try instant espresso powder.

Cappuccino should be 1/3 espresso, 1/3 hot milk and 1/3 foam.

Ideally the foam is made and the milk heated by pushing steam through the milk.

You can, somewhat surprisingly, froth milk with a (clean) French press (aka Cafetière) too (OP says he/

she has a French press).

So much so that some friends who drink milk in coffee (I don't) have miniature French presses for this purpose.

Simply heat a small amount of milk (if you can remove the glass from your French press, microwave it in that), sufficient to fill about a third of the glass, then rapidly plunge and withdraw the plunger, repeating many times.

Frothy milk results.

You of course also need to make the coffee.

A French press can be used for that too.

Question: I do not have any form of a coffee machine. The closest is a kettle… I have tried to use strong/good quality instant coffee, filling half a cup then hot boiled milk in the other half. It just tasted like coffee.  So how do I make a cappuccino at home without all the fancy tools?

How to make cappuccino coffee at home without a machine

To make original Viennese-style cappucino, you just need to combine coffee and sweetened, possibly whipped cream. The style of brewing is not as important, although coffee from a cheap moka pot will be much more authentic than instant. You can heat and froth the milk on a stove in a metal container, or use a cheap battery-powered hand frother. To finish, top with cinammon and/or shaved chocolate.

To make a cappucino brew some coffe using your preffered method. Add milk that has been heated and frothed with a hand frother. Top with cinnamon or chocolate.

The first part of the cappucino is the coffee. A moka can be used or any other method you wish.

Frothing the milk can be done using a hand frother when the milk has been heated.