Absurdly, stupidly basic cooking questions (Part 2)

[KennethT]

45 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

 

Thanks for this.  Unfortunately, my stomach no longer likes me eating garlic.  Shame too, because I love the stuff.  I know @kayb makes pimento cheese.  Maybe she can tell me if I can freeze it?

Years ago I had a friend who couldn't eat garlic, even though she loved the stuff - gave her lots of stomach problems.  Then she tried a product called Beano, which is some kind of digestive enzyme that helps you digest beans, but when she took it just before eating something with garlic, she didn't have any problems.  She's probably their best customer now.

[ElsieD]

14 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Years ago I had a friend who couldn't eat garlic, even though she loved the stuff - gave her lots of stomach problems.  Then she tried a product called Beano, which is some kind of digestive enzyme that helps you digest beans, but when she took it just before eating something with garlic, she didn't have any problems.  She's probably their best customer now.

 

Thank you.  I have seen it and will try it.  

[BeeZee]

I never thought about Beano for garlic (assume it would also work for onions), good to know!

[kayb]

On 7/24/2021 at 12:49 PM, ElsieD said:

 

Thanks for this.  Unfortunately, my stomach no longer likes me eating garlic.  Shame too, because I love the stuff.  I know @kayb makes pimento cheese.  Maybe she can tell me if I can freeze it?

 

Sorry I'm just now getting back to you on this; didnt check eG yesterday. I've never frozen pimiento cheese (but I don't put cream cheese in it, either). I've never tried freezing cream cheese, or anything made largely cream cheese, except cheesecake, and that has bunches of eggs in it). My gut instinct is it wouldn't work. But I don't know.

 

[chromedome]

https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/6576-freezing-cream-cheese

[lindag]

Okay, I’ve never understood the rule that you cool down cooked foods before refrigeration.

I do it all the time so I don’t forget and leave it on the counter overnight.

‘Why is this a rule?

[rotuts]

@lindag 

 

wear and tear on your refrigerator's

 

workings .

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, lindag said:

Okay, I’ve never understood the rule that you cool down cooked foods before refrigeration.

I do it all the time so I don’t forget and leave it on the counter overnight.

‘Why is this a rule?

Because putting hot food in your refrigerator raises the temperature in there. I think it’s a matter of common sense.  It’s OK as long as it’s something relatively small.  I do it quite frequently even though I know better. 

Edited August 14, 2021 by Anna N
Typo (log)

[Toliver]

1 hour ago, lindag said:

Okay, I’ve never understood the rule that you cool down cooked foods before refrigeration.

I do it all the time so I don’t forget and leave it on the counter overnight.

‘Why is this a rule?

It's a food safety issue. The maximum amount of time you should leave food out of the fridge is 2 hours. They say after 2 hours, the "bugs/bacteria" start contaminating the food.

If you put warm food into the fridge, it takes longer for it to cool down to proper safe temperature as opposed to putting room temperature food into the fridge. Plus, putting warm food into the fridge warms up the interior of fridge (and the other foods in there) (like @Anna N said) which can also lead to food contamination.

The high end of the safe temperature zone for refrigerating food is 40°F. Anything higher than that allows possible bacteria in your food to multiply.

Edited August 14, 2021 by Toliver
edited to add Anna's reply (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Dare I suggest a blast-chiller?

 

[ElsieD]

My sister brought me an 11 quart basket of ripe, just of the tree peaches this weekend.  I would like to freeze most of them.  Can I just cut them in quarters, remove the pits and freeze them SKIN ON?  I have frozen tomatoes whole and when I use them, i put them  in hot water for a couple of seconds and the skin slips right off.  Same thing with peaches?

[Kim Shook]

4 hours ago, ElsieD said:

My sister brought me an 11 quart basket of ripe, just of the tree peaches this weekend.  I would like to freeze most of them.  Can I just cut them in quarters, remove the pits and freeze them SKIN ON?  I have frozen tomatoes whole and when I use them, i put them  in hot water for a couple of seconds and the skin slips right off.  Same thing with peaches?

You absolutely can do that.  I forget if you have a CSO or not, but if you do, steaming slightly will do the same thing as the hot water "peeling".  

[ElsieD]

35 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

You absolutely can do that.  I forget if you have a CSO or not, but if you do, steaming slightly will do the same thing as the hot water "peeling".  

 

Is that the steam only setting?  What temp?

[MaryIsobel]

5 hours ago, ElsieD said:

My sister brought me an 11 quart basket of ripe, just of the tree peaches this weekend.  I would like to freeze most of them.  Can I just cut them in quarters, remove the pits and freeze them SKIN ON?  I have frozen tomatoes whole and when I use them, i put them  in hot water for a couple of seconds and the skin slips right off.  Same thing with peaches?

A little Fruit Fresh or citric acid will help prevent browning.

 

[Kim Shook]

18 hours ago, ElsieD said:

 

Is that the steam only setting?  What temp?

Super Steam at 300F - about 5 minutes or less.  Check at 2.

[ElsieD]

On 8/17/2021 at 11:51 AM, Kim Shook said:

Super Steam at 300F - about 5 minutes or less.  Check at 2.

 

Thank you!  I did this today.  5 minutes was exactly right, the skins slipped right off.

[TdeV]

Me too, I took @Kim Shook's advice. Exactly right.

What I did not understand previously was dumping the fruit into ice water afterwards.

[pastrygirl]

Does food coloring go bad? 

 

It has been at least a few years, maybe several, since my last order for red velvet cake.  Should I feel any worse about using old food color than I already do about using it at all? 😆

[heidih]

1 hour ago, pastrygirl said:

Does food coloring go bad? 

 

It has been at least a few years, maybe several, since my last order for red velvet cake.  Should I feel any worse about using old food color than I already do about using it at all? 😆

I can relate finding food color in back of pantry on a desperate Easter Eve. No idea how old. It was not crusty or odd. Granted I just used it for eggs but it does penetrate especially if they are cracked. No issues. Think you are good. This was those teardrop bottles in the little box.

[chileheadmike]

My wife picked up some of the baked potatoes wrapped in plastic that you cook in the microwave. 

How safe is this? I've had them blow up in the conventional oven. I put one in, it said 7 minutes and the thing was screaming at 3 so I shut it down.

 

Anyone cook one of these things?

[ElsieD]

Just now, chileheadmike said:

My wife picked up some of the baked potatoes wrapped in plastic that you cook in the microwave. 

How safe is this? I've had them blow up in the conventional oven. I put one in, it said 7 minutes and the thing was screaming at 3 so I shut it down.

 

Anyone cook one of these things?

 

I've never seen them.  Did you buy them in a mainstream grocery store?

[chileheadmike]

Yes, Krogers. I've seen them for years and never bought them. My wife picked some up last week.

[heidih]

22 minutes ago, chileheadmike said:

Yes, Krogers. I've seen them for years and never bought them. My wife picked some up last week.

I see them. The directions for the Walmart ones say not to poke holes or remove wrap. The scream would alarm me too. Bottom line - why?!? I microwave whole ones w/ poked holes. Occasional slight screech but never an explosion. I usually turn off for a second to get the spud to calm down.

[Toliver]

3 hours ago, chileheadmike said:

My wife picked up some of the baked potatoes wrapped in plastic that you cook in the microwave. 

How safe is this? I've had them blow up in the conventional oven. I put one in, it said 7 minutes and the thing was screaming at 3 so I shut it down.

 

Anyone cook one of these things?

Yes.

They don't explode.

You're supposed to peel off the label which I believe exposes the porous "paper" underneath the label. The instructions I've seen on them state "8 minutes" on high in the microwave. I've always found, generally, a pierced potato (without any wrapping on it) takes about 7 minutes to fully cook in a microwave on high, so your mileage may vary regarding the "doneness" of these potatoes...also depending on the wattage of your microwave, too.

The main reason I bought them was a) because it was just one potato and not a bag of them and b) I assumed they were completely washed and ready to cook and I was fine with that.

Regarding the whistle you heard, most likely it just the sound of the steam from the potato escaping through the wrapping. As an aside, I've nuked those "steamer" bags of frozen veggies and they also sometimes make a whistling sound and inflate and look like they're going to explode...but they don't.

Another reason I liked these wrapped potatoes is because they were approximately all the same size so I didn't have to sort through a pile of loose potatoes in the grocery store to find a decent-sized potato...they were all decent-sized.

 

[SLB]

I have had success halving a recipe for a bundt cake (or a cake designed to be made in that kind of pan), and then baking the half-recipe in a loaf pan.  

 

But can any-ole' cake recipe be halved and made in a loaf pan???   

 

I guess I mean, can a cake recipe meant to be baked in a regular cake-pan be successfully reduced and baked in a loaf pan?  It seems like the pan might matter . . . .

 

Help!  Please!  Quick!  I'm helping a five-year old struggling with the covid-divorce of her parents make a cake in a few hours for one of the parents.  Everybody but me is quite grumpy, and needs cake, but not a big-ass cake that is going to just sit around and make the parent sad when the kid leaves for the other parental home.

 

Aii.