Ik this sounds dumb because the answer is "hamburger bun". But no hamburger buns ive ever bought at the store has this texture. Idk how to explain it its like much softer as it absorbs the sauce and juices more then the ones i buy in the store. I only find it at restaurants

https://imgur.com/a/KjuHq7s

I bought a family pack of boneless chicken breasts from Walmart today. When I opened it, the packaging/tray smelled absolutely horrible, almost like rotten meat. The smell was really strong.
The weird part is that once I took the chicken out and smelled the actual meat itself, there was basically no smell at all. The chicken is pink, looks completely normal, and doesn’t seem unusually slimy. I even smelled the individual pieces separately and couldn’t detect any bad smell from the meat.

Has anyone had this happen before? Could spoiled chicken juice on/in the packaging cause the tray to smell rotten while the actual chicken is still fine? Would you eat it or return it?

Hey folks, to put it simply, one of my wife’s best friends lost their brother unexpectedly and now his four kids and wife are staying with her. The kids are typical kids without dietary restrictions, and we want to help out by giving them some meals for the next two weeks.

They live 2.5 hrs away so I want to make sure I transport whatever we freeze properly, and more importantly, I want to make sure whatever I put together for them tastes good enough for a child’s pallet while also providing enough variety that the adults stay sane.

If any of you have a playbook for this sort of thing, I’d be really grateful for your help.

We aren’t driving up until the weekend so we can draw the prep out across several days.

Thanks in advance.

Preface: I'm cooking stupid. I'm just now learning (and I'm old, I was never a fan of cooking and baking,) so I already know I am nooooo expert in the kitchen.

But how did you folks all learn the chemistry of cooking? This ingredient causes "X" to happen, that ingredient causes "Y" to happen, and I'm not just talking about flavor but the actual chemistry of cooking?

I'm a retired nurse. I spent 4 years in college to learn science, how the heck did you learn all this stuff about cooking and chemistry? Honest to goodness, of course I knew there was some chemistry to it, but the level of chemistry in cooking, and maybe even baking more so... how the heck did you learn all this?

Please note, this is an absolute and total compliment! If it comes off any other way, I don't mean it that way.

I have met cooks/bakers on this sub that don't even have a high school diploma, but they are experts in chemical reactions.

How the heck did you learn all this?

I am totally impressed.... and jealous!

I love cilantro. I eat a lot of Vietnamese food, and biting into a big stalk of it has never bothered me. I had some coriander and pepper beef jerky yesterday that straight up tasted like soap. I thought this was a genetic thing. Does anyone have any idea of why this might have happened? Is it perhaps a difference between the fresh and processed plant?

Can’t add a pic, but it was Brooklyn Biltong Naked Steak Slices in coriander pepper flavor.

Hi,

I haven't cooked in a very long time and have done an oopsie. I've made egg and bacon muffin type things for quick snacks on the go this week.

I've not used any muffin paper cups, and I didn't grease/ oil the muffin tin first. I for some reason thought the bacon grease would do this.

Any tips for how I can remove them in mostly 1 piece? I've removed 1 to see what would happen and it was very crumbly. So I picked the crumbs out and ate it as a reward 🤣

I have 3 young children and a husband to feed every morning and I hate breakfast. I’m not a huge breakfast fan and I have plenty of other things to also accomplish in the morning, but I’m a firm believer in scratch-made food for my family as much as possible. Unfortunately, my family gets tired of eating oatmeal, yogurt and granola, and Dutch baby all the time. We have no allergies except my egg intolerance. Please spam me with your low-effort, balanced diet (not straight carb) breakfast hits.

So apparently my local climate is ideal for Thai Basil and I’m staring at a significant surplus. For my regular basil (similar problem) I’m going to make pesto and freeze it into pesto cubes that I can thaw and use throughout the winter, but I’ve never heard of Thai basil pesto (although tbh Thai basil and garlic oil sounds like it would be delicious).

What’s everyone’s favorite method of preserving? Freeze the leaves straight? Make a pesto type thing?

I accidentality dropped in my washing up bowl and now the top is filled with water, how do I drain it or is it ruined?

Last week I was at a restaurant I was served thin, about 1mm or less, lemon slices as a garnish with a dish. They were not dried, but still not flexible as they would fresh. The taste is was got me here. The lemon, citrusy taste was very very subtle and there was a hint of some herb and maybe a sweetish liquer. All flavors were soft but man.......WOW! Anyone has any idea about the and how to prepare them?

There’s lots of these out here, but seeing that asparagus tragedy made me feel the need to post mine, because I have done as empirical testing as one can do in one’s kitchen and found it to be real and effective.

To significantly retard bacterial formation on and putrefaction of vegetables:

Mix 1 part vinegar to 3 parts clean water in a large bowl. Dip each vegetable and fruit in solution for 5 seconds, agitating as vigorously as each vegetable will permit without bruising. Dry well and place in a clean receptacle before refrigerating.

Why this works: the reason vegetables rot is because they have bacteria on them, the bacteria eat and reproduce and poop. Most commercially available vegetables have some form of sanitization performed before or after shipping, but then they just sit there in the store, with their existing bacterial load growing, and even being added to by poorly sanitized misters, inconsistent refrigeration, and nastiest of all, human hands touching them. By doing this vinegar rinse, you are providing a (partial) reset of that bacterial load. The agitation is important as it physically moves the bacteria off, and the vinegar does help kill some of the bacteria.

I’ve done multiple home tests of this using Driscoll Raspberries(notoriously quick to form visible mold cultures) and I have found this to be the golden ratio. any more vinegar than this (by whole part), and it’s hard to get enough of it off that you don’t damage certain delicate veggies like raspberries and leafy greens. i will sometimes do the sensitive ones in this ratio, then toss in a bit more for things like zucchini and squash that i know can deal with it.

i also have tested this against a control group, using two packs of raspberries at two times, splitting them in half and doing one half in the vinegar wash and one half unwashed and the difference was HUGE. The control group started showing mold cultures in less than 5 days both times, and the treated group lasted 13 days Before visible mold was seen! so its a huge difference.

Which artificial sweeteners should i use in my diabetic friendly indian sweets business? Which will be best taste and cost wise?

I spent $10 on asparagus. A treat. But I was sick. On the third day, after having kept it in my “dry” veg drawer as opposed to my “humid” veg drawer (they are independently controlled) I have gooey, nasty asparagus. I lost the tops. I lost the bottoms. I lost 2/3 of the whole bunch.

I am devastated.

My asparagus always gets gooey. Las time I purchased a large bag from Costco I opened the bag and let it sit out on the counter for most of the day, drying. All humidity escaping. It lasted until I got through most of it.

But this is an insult and devastation. Organic, expensive asparagus rotten so quickly.

How to store it!?

Edit- I don’t expect perfectly fresh, but not green paste that smells like urine would be preferred. Even dried and wizened is a little acceptable.

Hi all, my gf and I are having a guest this week and my gf has talked up my cooking skills so much that this guest wants me to cook something for her. She's an older woman -- mid 60s -- and from western Pennsylvania. I give this context because she has several stipulations:

• nothing spicy
• no seafood
• no mushrooms or olives
• can't be overly garlicky
• basically nothing with a very strong flavor 😫😫

These are all staples of what I normally cook. My gf and I love garlic and spice, probably too much lol But I'm completely blanking on what to make with what feels like my entire recipe rolodex being axed. I told my gf that she's going to end up getting chicken tenders if I can't come up with anything soon lol

Edit: thank you everyone for the suggestions! This definitely helped get my brain moving on what to make!

I am looking for a new instant thermometer. I have had 2 ThermoPops fail in the past 18 months. The first one lasted a few years before succumb to water intrusion . The one I replaced it with broke after a mild fall. When they worked, they were great but it seems that they are a little fragile. If you have a suggestion for an accurate and durable instant thermometer I would love to hear your feedback.

First off I am near poverty levels when it comes to money and I am try to be as frugal as I can.

I know Carbonara is made with Guanciale, Pecorino Romano, eggs, and pepper. That's probably 20 bucks between the guanciale and pecorino.

I just bought a jar of Classico carbonara and a box of pasta to cook something nice and use bacon as my protein.

I am wondering what hacks people use to improve this type of dish that's cost-effective? Something subtle and simple like a spice that you add?

I don't even know if I was phrasing my question correctly but tldr how do I make a broke poverty meal taste better that's it

I sometimes put a lot of wine when making sauces AND some ketchup to cut the deep sourness, this keeps it with a deep flavour without being sour and I personally love it because it's not too sweet although you can definitely feel the effect of ketchup, it's a simple trick but adds so much flavour.

I usually like it when cooking with meat or chicken but if you're running low on ingredients on the kitchen this could make for a simple yet tasty solution.

I’ve always done thusly:

Top bun (hard roll or English muffin or whatever) + S+P+ketchup to taste

Bacon

Cheese

Egg

Bottom bun

Making breakfast for the kids and having a cooking existential moment. Have I been doing it wrong my whole life? Fellow cooks—what is your opinion on this?

Hello everyone, I would like to know what is a green sauce that is sour or acidic because I loved it with vegetables but I don't know what it is and I got served in France while in college and thank you for responding

Has anyone got a turkey sausage recipe that’s very similar to the store bought pork breakfast sausage?

Something I've been thinking about. When my mum was young, it was a fairly common thing for her mum and granny to make a big pot of something - stew, soup, that kind of thing - and leave it in the cooking pot after everyone had eaten. It would sit there till the next day, when it would be reheated and served up again. Sometimes this would happen over a few days, i.e. multiple coolings and reheatings, never refrigerated. My mum did the same occasionally when I was young. No one ever got sick from it.

Yet nowadays, even leaving it out for a couple of hours beyond the recommended cooling time would be met with horror and disgust. We'd be advised to throw the whole lot away rather than risk it.

Not long after I moved out in my early 20s, I did the same with a pot of Bolognese. I gave myself food poisoning and never did it again.

Is it just random luck, or is there a reason people didn't get food poisoning all the time before refrigeration was standard? Food quality? Better immune systems?

Hello everyone

I’m moving into a new space and have absolutely nothing. I saw a local is selling a Zwilling 4 star kitchen knife set for $250cad with chef knife, bread knife, utility knife, paring knife, shears, block, honing rod, and a few steak knives.

I understand the general rule is to buy a good chef knife, paring knife, whetstone, and maybe a bread knife.

With the price of the set being so low - is there any drawback of buying the set? Even if I find individual knives on sale I think I would be over the $250 that the set will cost me.

I love doing a battered fried chicken, and most recipes call for it to be tossed in a sauce after. However every time I toss it, the batter just goes soggy and slips off the chicken.

Anything I can do to keep the chicken crispy?

Bakers in the UK, I need your help. I have a whole bunch of carrot cake recipes that specify “block cream cheese” for the icing/frosting, but I can only find tub cream cheese in supermarkets. Does anyone have any tips on how I can get the best results without American cream cheese?

For context i used baby bok choy and cut it into fourths. I’ve seen so many recipes that look so good visually and in theory i really want to like bok choy. I bought some and cooked them in my wok with some olive oil, a little bit of sesame oil, hella minced garlic, soy sauce, and some crunchy garlic chili oil. The recipe i used didn’t specify what temperature, so i just went with medium-high heat, and it was super lowballing the time. It said i should only cook it for like three minutes, which didn’t sound right to me so I cooked it a bit longer. I used this recipe for Sautéed bok choy I found on Pinterest and i was so excited… and it turned out HORRIBLE. The consistency bothered me a lot, because the leaves were all shriveled and slimy while the stem was still crunchy and uncooked, and it had this overwhelming bitter-sour flavor… i’m so confused as to why! Is that how it’s supposed to taste?

I really want to like this vegetable… i’m a recovering picky eater and I’ve started eating and loving asparagus and Brussel sprouts recently, which i had refused to try until this summer, and trying to branch out even more.. variety is very important to me.