Absurdly, stupidly basic cooking questions (Part 2)

[TdeV]

If the instructions are to cook on the stovetop at moderate heat, what temperature does that translate to in the oven?

[Shel_B]

38 minutes ago, TdeV said:

If the instructions are to cook on the stovetop at moderate heat, what temperature does that translate to in the oven?

 

 

What temperature does that translate to on the stovetop?

[Smithy]

2 hours ago, TdeV said:

If the instructions are to cook on the stovetop at moderate heat, what temperature does that translate to in the oven?

 

1 hour ago, Shel_B said:

 

 

What temperature does that translate to on the stovetop?

 

If the recipe specified a stovetop temperature, I doubt TdeV would have asked the question.

 

It might help to know what particular stovetop recipe is being converted for the oven, though. Is it a thick liquid? Something you bring to a boil first? A saute?

[Bernie]

2 hours ago, TdeV said:

If the instructions are to cook on the stove top at moderate heat, what temperature does that translate to in the oven?

High heat  200C +

Moderate  160C > 180C

Low <140C

 

Source: My opinion (and I am a know all so I am pretty sure it may be right -my better half says so) 😀

 

When electric & gas (not petrol!) ovens first hit the market, temperate control was VERY imprecise so manufacturers used low (yellow) moderate (orange) hot (red) on temperature dials and even these had wide tolerances and spread , depending on manufacturer.

Most older cooks when using wood or fuel fired stoves and ovens could learn (by trial and error) and estimate temperature for their particular appliance.

[ElsieD]

I recently purchased a bottle of yuzu juice.  When I pulled it out of the cupboard today, I noticed stuff (sediment?) on the top.  What is this and is it harmful?  The bottle has not been opened.  Thank you.

[FauxPas]

2 hours ago, ElsieD said:

I recently purchased a bottle of yuzu juice.  When I pulled it out of the cupboard today, I noticed stuff (sediment?) on the top.  What is this and is it harmful?  The bottle has not been opened.  Thank you.

 

I'm guessing it might just be a bit of pulp separation but it's hard to say for sure. Is there a best-by date on it or any info on when it was bottled? 

 

You could open it and pour it out slowly to check it. If it looks like mold or has a bad smell, then you'd probably want to bin it, but otherwise it might just need to be shaken up a bit to blend it back in. 

 

BUT of course I can't say it's not gone bad with any certainty.  🙂

 

[ElsieD]

@FauxPas  the date on the bottle is July17/25.  Since we're not there yet, if assume that's the best before date.

[TdeV]

In the freezer I discovered a pyrex dish with frozen contents, some kind of stew-ish thing. I moved it to the fridge. I'd like to serve it for dinner tomorrow night.

 

My experience is that fully frozen big items (not soup, etc.) don't thaw in 24 hours.

 

I could place it in a baking dish in the sink, fill with water, weighted down by something, for a couple hours. I could put it in the Anova oven and heat on some low setting. Or . . .

 

What do you suggest?

[rotuts]

microwave  on defrost ?

[Smithy]

5 minutes ago, TdeV said:

In the freezer I discovered a pyrex dish with frozen contents, some kind of stew-ish thing. I moved it to the fridge. I'd like to serve it for dinner tomorrow night.

 

My experience is that fully frozen big items (not soup, etc.) don't thaw in 24 hours.

 

I could place it in a baking dish in the sink, fill with water, weighted down by something, for a couple hours. I could put it in the Anova oven and heat on some low setting. Or . . .

 

What do you suggest?

 

I'd leave it out on the counter for the afternoon, or overnight if necessary, to thaw. Then I'd put it in the refrigerator. In my household, at least, it will thaw but still be cool if left out overnight. If bacterial growth is a concern for you then the sink trick would work, or rotuts' suggestion for the microwave thawing.

[TdeV]

30 minutes ago, rotuts said:

microwave  on defrost ?

 

I don't trust the microwave not to destroy the dish. 😂

 

 

Edited July 17 by TdeV (log)

[rotuts]

@TdeV

 

I agree with you , a micro can destroy a dish. using the automatic defrost button.

 

when i defrost ,  I select the time , usual only a few minutes

 

then select the power , say 2 or 3

 

and see what happens.

[Shel_B]

I had a similar situation last week with 1 1/2 pounds of frozen meat. The meat went into the fridge early in the day, then removed to the counter for an hour or so, then back to the fridge. While I didn't temp the meat, it remained cool, but was very soft. When ready to cook, I just put it back on the counter fro 30-40 minutes to warm a bit. Worked like a charm.

 

All times are estimates and approximate.

[TdeV]

I'm looking to convert a stovetop medium low recipe to the Anova steam combi oven (v 1).

 

The instructions are to stand around and watch it simmer for a while (tedious) and absolutely not allow the sauce to boil. It's a chicken/salmon recipe which uses yogurt and lemon.

 

How do I approach this issue? Set the Anova to sous vide mode and temp to 200ºF? Put the probe into the sauce set to wail at 205ºF?

 

 

P.S. I've placed this request here because this topic gets lots of traffic.

[blue_dolphin]

18 minutes ago, TdeV said:

The instructions are to stand around and watch it simmer for a while (tedious) and absolutely not allow the sauce to boil.

How long does the recipe specify standing around and watching?  
Simmering but not boiling is a fine line and the exact temp will depend on the composition of the material (boiling point elevation and all that)

Similar sounding recipes I’ve made have required occasional stirring and usually have an endpoint like thickening and both of those things require access so would be even more tedious if I had to open an oven over and over but best of luck!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 hours ago, TdeV said:

I'm looking to convert a stovetop medium low recipe to the Anova steam combi oven (v 1).

 

The instructions are to stand around and watch it simmer for a while (tedious) and absolutely not allow the sauce to boil. It's a chicken/salmon recipe which uses yogurt and lemon.

 

How do I approach this issue? Set the Anova to sous vide mode and temp to 200ºF? Put the probe into the sauce set to wail at 205ºF?

 

 

P.S. I've placed this request here because this topic gets lots of traffic.

 

If there is no obvious thickener in the recipe I assume the simmering step is for reduction.  Neither the APO nor SV are noted for reduction.  If it were me I'd use a Paragon.

 

[TdeV]

@JoNorvelleWalker, recipe has arrowroot in it. I have very little experience with arrowroot. Google does tell me it's a thickener, but not how much cooking it takes to activate, nor if cooked too long whether it will break.

[Ddanno]

1 hour ago, TdeV said:

@JoNorvelleWalker, recipe has arrowroot in it. I have very little experience with arrowroot. Google does tell me it's a thickener, but not how much cooking it takes to activate, nor if cooked too long whether it will break.

 

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/arrowroot-vs-cornstarch

[Shel_B]

14 hours ago, Ddanno said:

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/arrowroot-vs-cornstarch

 

Now that's interesting.  The article says "... neither arrowroot nor cornstarch must come to a full boil to activate their thickening power."   I've always been of the impression that cornstarch required coming to a boil in order to properly thicken a sauce or dish.

 

Many years ago I observed that my chocolate pudding didn't properly thicken and was told, on this site, by folks more knowledgeable and experienced than I, that the mixture needed to come to a boil in order to thicken properly.  Since that time, I've always taken my pudding to a boild and the results have been consistently good.

 

Is there a difference between a boil and a full boil?

 

 

Edited 13 hours ago by Shel_B
Clarity of intent (log)

[TdeV]

Yesterday DH and I made a yogurt lemon chicken dish that tastes fine but I think it looks a bit grainy. DH thinks the sauce is not broken. To @Shel_B's point, this sauce used arrowroot (could be a bit old) and the sauce is not very thick.

 

Can I add something/cook something to make the sauce creamier, more homogeneous? And thicker?

 

Or, could I put a piece of pastry on top so the guests won't notice the texture? 😅

[Smithy]

1 hour ago, Shel_B said:

Is there a difference between a boil and a full boil?

 

Yes. The qualitative summation is here:

Quote

a simmer has gentle but regular "bubbles"

a boil has vigorous continuous "bubbles"

a hard boil has very energetic explosive "bubbles"

 

Somewhere back then we had a discussion about what temperatures would correlate to that activity, but it depends on the liquid involved as well as altitude. (At the time, we were discussing the temperatures for simmering vs. boiling at something like 5,000' MSL.) If I find an authoritative source on the activation temperatures for the starches in question I'll post it here, unless someone else gets to it first.

[Smithy]

18 minutes ago, TdeV said:

Yesterday DH and I made a yogurt lemon chicken dish that tastes fine but I think it looks a bit grainy. DH thinks the sauce is not broken. To @Shel_B's point, this sauce used arrowroot (could be a bit old) and the sauce is not very thick.

 

Can I add something/cook something to make the sauce creamier, more homogeneous? And thicker?

 

Or, could I put a piece of pastry on top so the guests won't notice the texture? 😅

 

Can the chicken be removed from the sauce? If so, I'd try whisking it to see if that improves the texture. If not, I think I'd go with the pastry topping...or else, serve the whole thing over cooked rice, so nobody can see the texture. 😉 

[Shel_B]

36 minutes ago, TdeV said:

[...]  this sauce used arrowroot (could be a bit old) and the sauce is not very thick.

 

@TdeV  

To answer your question about the shelf life of arrowroot, the simple answer, per the author of the linked srticle, is "I have found arrow root to have a limited shelf life."

 

https://www.realbakingwithrose.com/blog/2014/04/05/the_secret_shelf_life_of_arrow

 

 

[liuzhou]

23 minutes ago, Smithy said:

Somewhere back then we had a discussion about what temperatures would correlate to that activity

 

But boiling water never exceeds 100℃ at sea level or whatever temperature appertains a different altitudes. In any one place, there is no difference in temperature between a boil and a hard boil.

 

 

[haresfur]

57 minutes ago, TdeV said:

Yesterday DH and I made a yogurt lemon chicken dish that tastes fine but I think it looks a bit grainy. DH thinks the sauce is not broken. To @Shel_B's point, this sauce used arrowroot (could be a bit old) and the sauce is not very thick.

 

Can I add something/cook something to make the sauce creamier, more homogeneous? And thicker?

 

Or, could I put a piece of pastry on top so the guests won't notice the texture? 😅

 

You could try Wondra flour, but on advice from an Asian cooking show, I've stopped using corn starch and use potato starch. It's very forgiving and I plan on trying it for other non-flour thickeners. Make a slurry in water and stir in.