KitchenSavvy

Inconsistent Gelatin Results

I find that I get inconsistent results when I use gelatin.  Even for the same recipe, sometimes it will come out softer or firmer than other times.  What is happening?

--Sara

Gelatin is a protein-based thickening agent used primarily in making desserts, aspics and jellies.  It comes in a powdered form which is easy and convenient for home cooks, and in a sheet form which is more often used commercially.   It can be tricky to get good results though, for a number of reasons.

First, despite the assurances of the manufacturers of the envelopes of gelatin which state that they are supposed to contain just enough to thicken two cups, never trust the contents to be measured accurately.  In my own kitchen, I have found up to about a 25% variation in the amount of gelatin in a pouch.  That is enough to make a difference in the result.

Gelatin should be soaked for about five minutes in a cool liquid first, before being heated or combined with hot liquids.  This soaking allows moisture to penetrate into the granules so that they will dissolve more readily in heat.  If you pour powdered gelatin directly into a boiling liquid, it will form clumps that take longer to dissolve.  Gelatin that remains undissolved results in a grainy texture and does not help to thicken the dish.

According to Corriher, gelatin loses some of its thickening power when boiled.  It should be heated only until fully dissolved, or should have the hot liquids added to it off heat, depending on your recipe.

Also, other ingredients such as sugar and salt can affect the result.  Salt will interfere with the bodong of protein molecules, making a weaker product, while sugar will attract water away from the gelatin molecules, causing a firmer result.

If you are using fruit, be sure it is not one that can affect the setting of gelatin, such as raw pineapple or kiwi (see Jellied Fruit Salad Won't Set). 

Acids found in fruit juices, wines and other ingredients can also affect the result by making the gelatin proteins less likely to bind together, by creating an electrical charge on the molecules which force them to repel each other.

Finally, when cooling jellies or other foods containing gelatin, resist the temptation to put it in the freezer, as the gelatin molecules need to move freely in the cooling liquid so that they can become entangled.  Too fast of cooling can prevent this from happening.  According to Harold McGee, jellies that are snap-chilled will regain a more normal consistency after a few days.

While not as fussy as some ingredients, gelatin does require some care in measurement of the ingredients used in preparing any dish.

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For fans of KitchenSavvy, our local paper, the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, recently ran an article titled "In the Kitchen with ... Dave and Patricia Katz".  This is the most recent installment of their In the Kitchen series.  In the article you can find five of our favorite recipes including Pissaladiere, which is already posted here, and Shrimpniks, a lemon-butter-garlic shrimp recipe created in tribute to Cousin Nik's restaurant, which we used to like goiing to before it went out of business.

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If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com



Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Schmaltz

What is Schmaltz?  How is it made?

--Brad

Schmaltz is the rendered fat of chickens, used in traditional Jewish cooking.  The word comes from the Yiddish for "chicken fat."

It's made by cutting  the skin and fat from the birds into small pieces (1" or 2.5 cm square) and placing them into a saucepan with a small onion that had been cut into slices, a 1/4 cup of water, and optionally half an apple, peeled, cored and sliced.

The whole lot is brought to a boil over medium heat until the water has completely cooked away.  Reduce the heat and watch for the skin and onions to start to become dark golden brown.  At this point, the fat can be strained off from the solids and kept for cooking.  Let the pieces of skin drain on a paper towel, salt lightly and eat like cracklings.  The cooked onion can be saved and incorporated into other dishes, such as chopped liver.

Because Jewish kosher law prohibits the use of dairy and meat in the same meal, schmaltz is often used as a replacement for butter, either in cooking or as a spread.  Kept refrigerated, schmaltz has a long shelf life.

Schmaltz may also be made from duck or other poultry, although chicken is most common.

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On another note, CJ Katz (no relation, as far as I know) from Regina, author of the Savour Life e-zine, took a shot at one of my favorite peeves -- outmoded and inedible garnishes.  She scored a bullseye, as far as I'm concerned, especially when it comes to rosemary.  Sure, I love the smell of the stuff and cook with it often, but lumber is not a garnish.

The article fits well with my frequent rants in KitchenSavvy about the attention to detail and style that make a restaurant stand out.  It appears in the setting, the flavors, the presentation, the attitude of the wait staff, and even the garnish.

There is a subscribe button on the page banner for Savour Life.  It's worth doing.

Well done, CJ.

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If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com



Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Difference Between "Free Run" and "Free Range" Eggs

At the grocery store recently, I bought a cartoon of what I thought were free range eggs.  When I got home, I noticed that the package said "free run."  What is the difference?

--Glenda

Eggs can come from hens that are 'free range", "free run" or "battery".  The image people are most familiar with is that of "battery hens", crowded into cages with very little room to move.  Feed is placed in a trough at the front of the cage and eggs that are laid roll across the sloped floor so that they can be easily gathered.

On the other end of the spectrum is the idyllic thought of hens free to roam about the great outdoors, pecking their food from the ground and nesting where they wish.  This is the "free range" chicken.

Between these two is the "free run" hen, which is given the freedom to move about an enclosed barn and provided with nesting boxes in which to lay eggs.

In practice, many free range chickens, while they may have access to the outdoors, still rely on the shelter and safety of the barn and so are more like free run chickens than the mental image suggests.  In colder climates, such as Canada, hens are only able to be free range for part of the year.

While free range and free run eggs come from chickens that are handled in a more humane fashion, they are more difficult to gather and may have been laid in less sanitary conditions, making the labor costs and spoilage factors higher than for battery chickens.  This accounts for some portion of the increased price for these eggs.

There is little or no oversight of the industry to make sure that packing claims reflect actual conditions.  Nutritionally, the eggs from all three sources are quite similar.

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If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com
Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Lox and Gravlox

As an appetizer for entertaining at Easter, I was planning to serve Lox and Caviar on Blini.  Now I wonder, "What is the difference between Lox and Gravlox?"  Which one was I thinking of?

--Ruth

Lox is salmon that has been brined and then cold smoked.  The brine contains salt and sometimes sugar.  Smoking is done at temperatures ranging from about 70°F to 90°F ( 21°C to 32°C).  Brining enhances the flavor and helps to preserve the fish, as does the smoking.

Gravlox (or gravlax) is a Scandinavian dish where salmon is liberally covered with a mixture of salt and sugar, and usually dill weed, and then left to cure for several days, during which time the salt cures the meat in that same way as corned beef, for instance.  Other ingredients such as sliced onions may also be included.  Supposedly the start of the word gravlox ("grav") refers to the original method being to bury the salmon ("lox") in the earth while it cured, that is in a grave.  Nowadays, gravlox is made in the refrigerator.

In either case, once cured the meat is sliced into thin strips which are then eaten raw.  Either lox and gravlox would be suitable to serve.  The choice is up to you, and depends on whether you would enjoy the smoky flavor of lox against the taste of the caviar or would prefer more of a sweet and salty combination, which you would get with gravlox.

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If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com



Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Creaming Butter

So many cake and cookie recipes say to cream together the butter and sugar.  Why is this done and how do I do it right?

--Amber

To cream butter means to beat it together with the sugar in the recipe until it is light in color and no sugar crystals are visible.  With white sugar, the butter will take on a light yellow color, almost white.  If your recipe uses brown sugar, then the color will turn to a light tan.  While it is possible to cream butter by hand, it is much faster and more convenient to use an electric mixer.  The purpose of creaming is to incorporate air into the butter to help leaven the final product.  According to Corriher, creaming is perhaps the most important step in making good cakes.

Creaming also softens the butter and makes it easier to blend with the other ingredients.

To cream butter properly, start with cold butter.  While some recipes say to start with butter that has been allowed to soften until nearly room temperature, this runs the risk of having it become too warm during mixing.  T0 trap air bubbles, it has to remain below its melting point of 68°F (20°C).

I usually start with butter straight out of the fridge which I rough cut into small cubes, maybe about a quarters of an inch (2 cm) to a side.  Exact size doesn't matter.  Put the butter into the mixing bowl and blend at slow speed until it starts to soften, then add the sugar.  Beat for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the power and speed of your mixer.  As long as the butter remains cold enough, there is no risk to beating it for too long.

During beating, friction from the beater may warm the butter and it may start to melt.  If this happens, then put the mixing bowl and beaters into the fridge until the butter becomes firm again, about 15 to 30 minutes, and then pick up where you left off.

Remember during this step to stop occasionally and scrape down the sides of the bowl so that all of the butter is creamed, otherwise it may not blend completely with the other ingredients and could affect the quality of the final product.

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Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Self-rising Flour

I am out of all-purpose flour however I do have self-rising flour.  I am making Chocolate Chip cookies.  Can I use the self-rising flour instead of the all-purpose flour?

--Jo Ann

Self-rising flour is regular flour that has baking powder and and salt added.  Exact formulas, including the type of baking powder used, vary by manufacturer.

While the amount of baking powder is usually pretty close to 1 ½ teaspoons per cup of flour, the amount of salt can vary widely depending on brand.  According to the nutritional analysis provided by the United States Department of Agriculture, their numbers would indicate that the amount of salt may be as high as ½ teaspoon of salt per cup of flour.

Because self-rising flour is most often used to make cakes and biscuits, it may also have significantly lower protein than all-purpose.

In a practical sense, what this means for your question is that if your recipe uses baking powder in a large enough quantity, you can try substituting self-rising flour for all-purpose flour.  You will need to decrease the amount of baking powder in your recipe by 1 ½ teaspoons per cup of flour in the recipe.  If there is less than that amount of baking powder in total, or if the cookies do not contain any baking powder, then you can try the substitution, but the final product may not be appealing.  You may find that your cookies rise too high, or that they rise and then fall flat.  They also might not brown as well.

You will also need to reduce the amount of salt.  Start by reducing it by ½ teaspoon per cup of flour in the recipe.  If you find the cookies are bland, then for the next batch add back in some of the salt until you get a result you like.

If your self-rising flour has a noticeably lower protein content, you might also find that the cookies are paler in color, softer, puffier and more crumbly.  Depending on your tastes, you may or may not prefer the result.

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If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com
Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Crystals in Honey

A few days ago I was planning to make cookies using a recipe that had honey in it.  When I went to measure the honey, it had large grains of something in it.  What were these, how did they happen and what can I do?

--Jamie

The granules that form in liquid honey are precipitated crystals of glucose.  Honey is a supersaturated liquid, meaning that there is more sugar in it than can stay dissolved at room temperatures.  Slowly glucose molecules separate out from the water.  As they do so, more glucose and some other sugars attach to the forming crystals, making them grow larger.  This is similar to what happens when you make rock candy.

Many factors affect the formation of sugar crystal including moisture content, temperature and even the kind of flowers that the bees visited in gathering nectar to make honey.  A friend who used to process honey complained about the difficulty in making a smooth honey from hives that had been visiting Sainfoin flowers.  Sainfoin  honey is very sensitive to how it is processed and will deposit crystals quite easily.

The best way to avoid crystals is actually to store your honey at temperatures below 50°F (10°C), although this is not practical for home use as the fridge is considerably colder and makes honey too stiff to handle easily.  Temperatures above 50°F encourage crystallization.  At temperatures above 81°F (27°C), crystallization is avoided, but the heat causes the honey to degrade quickly.  Honey should kept in an airtight container at room temperatures, and used within a year or so.

To remove crystals that have formed, either place the container of honey in a bowl of hot water for 10 to 15 minutes or microwave it for about 30 seconds per cup.  Stir after heating to help dissolve crystals.  If necessary, repeat until the honey is smooth again.

Two things to keep in mind, though.  First, as noted above, when honey is heated over 81°F(27°C) it starts to degrade so repeatedly having to heat honey because new crystals have formed since the lat time you used it will decrease the quality and flavors of the honey.  If you find you are doing that, consider buying smaller quantities.

Second, your recipe likely calls for butter or perhaps shortening.  If you heat the honey to remove crystals and then go straight to making the cookies, the heat of the honey may melt the fat and dramatically affect the end result.  You should be sure to allow the honey to cool down completely before proceeding.

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If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com



Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

How Long will Leftover Turkey Keep in the Fridge?

We roasted a fresh turkey un-stuffed on Thanksgiving and the left-over pieces have been stored in the refrigerator in it's own container.  How long is too long to safely consume the left-over turkey?  Thank you.

--Betty

In our house, most of the leftover turkey is consumed for late night snacks or lunch the next day as Turkey Buns.  In fact, I have been known to say the only reason to roast a turkey for supper is to have leftovers for turkey buns.  Still, there is alway some leftover for turkey with gravy, tetrazzini or some other dish.

The general rule for meat is that it will safely keep for about three days, provided that:

• the meat was thoroughly cooked;
• it was not left in the "danger zone" temperatures of between 140°F (60°C) and 40°F (4°C) for more than two hours; and
• the refrigerator is kept below 40°F (4°C).

If any of the above is not done, then the storage time will be reduced, and the risk of food-borne illness greatly increased.

For turkey and chicken, the meat must be cooked to at least 165°F (74°C) throughout, although you likely want to cook the dark meat to closer to 180°F (82°C) for the best results.  If the turkey had been stuffed, then the stuffing should be completely removed from the bird and refrigerated separately.  Because of the extra moisture in stuffing, it will only keep for one or at most two days.  As much as possible, the meat should be stored in large pieces.  Most food safety experts recommend taking all of the meat off of the bones before refrigerating.  The carcass can be discarded of used to make stock or soup.

Reheat the leftover turkey to at least 165°F (74°C), preferably in gravy, or some other sauce, before serving.

To learn more about how long food can be left out before refrigeration and the danger zone, read How Long Can Cooked Food Be Left Out.

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If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com
Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

How to Separate Egg Whtes and Yolks

What is the best way to separate eggs into the whites and yolks?

--Janet

There are three ways to separate whites from yolks.  The first way is using a commercially available egg separator.  These devices have a cup supported by rigid spokes in the middle of a ring.  You crack the egg and let the contents drop into the center of the separator.  If you do it right, the yolk will stay unbroken in the cup while the whites flow through the open spaces into a bowl underneath.

The next way is to crack open the egg and gently pour the yolk back and forth between the two halves of the shell.  As you do this, tip the shell halves somewhat so that the white is allowed to flow over the edge and into the bowl below.

The third technique is to start with very clean hands and simply crack the egg and empty the contents into the cupped fingers of one hand which is held over a bowl.  The whites are allowed to flow between your fingers into the bowl.

To crack an egg, gently but firmly rap the mid-point of the egg, between the pointed and blunt ends, against the rim of a bowl.  With practice you will learn just how hard to hit the egg so that the shell is opened a bit and cracked a bit of the way around its equator.  Now, hold the egg bu the shell either side of the crack and gently pull and bend it away from the crack so that the shell splits.  Try not to dig your thumbs into the crack for leverage, as this may push bits of shell into the egg white or break the yolk.  With some practice, you can even learn to split the cracked shell open with one hand, which is useful for the third method, above.

There is a current pretense in cooking nowadays to tell people they should crack the egg on the counter top, as this supposedly reduces the chance of bits of shell getting into the food.  Since I have never had a big problem using the method described above, I fail to see why the counter method would work better.  In either case you are cracking the shell so the risk of fragments will always be there.  With fresh eggs, where the membrane under the shell is still adhering firmly to it, bits of shell are held by the membrane and don't usually end up in the food.  Still, it is good to give one final check before using the egg whites or yolks and remove any pieces of shell that might have slipped by.

If you are planning to beat the egg whites, it is a good idea to break your eggs one at a time, using three bowls: a small one to catch the white as each egg is broken; a second one that the whites are put into one at a time; and a third for the yolks.  After each egg is separated, make sure that the yolk remained intact.  If it broke, inspect the white to make sure there is no yolk in it.  If there is, you can frequently dab the yolk out with the corner of a paper towel, provided there isn't too much.  Otherwise, discard the white, wipe out the catch bowl and crack another egg in its place.  Even the tiniest bit of yolk can cause problems in beating egg whites.

Finally, the proverbial question of what to do with the chalaza, that white rubbery material that is attached to the yolk.  The chalaza is like a twisted elastic band that holds the yolk roughly in the center of the egg.  Generally, you can leave it attached to the yolks.  If they are being used to make a custard or other smooth sauce, a final straining will remove any lumps of chalaza from the mixture.

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If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com
Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Expiry Date on Baking Powder

I notice my baking powder had 2/04 dated on bottom of the can. I assume this is the expiration date. I'm in the middle of mixing ingredients for cake. How could I substitute with baking soda or is it safe to still use it?  Thanks in advance.

--Dianne

The expiry date on baking powder is there because it loses some of its strength over time.  While the bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) component of baking powder is fairly stable, the acidic ingredient may be less so, and may break down over time especially if exposed to heat or humidity.  Because of this, the strength of your baking powder decreases over time.  Also, slowly over time, the chemicals in baking powder combine.  Humidity from the air causes them to react in the same way they do when mixed in a batter.  For this reason, most commercial baking powder has a shelf life of around a year.

According to Cook's Illustrated, you can test the strength of your baking powder by mixing a half teaspoon into a cup of tap water.  It should fizz vigorously.  This will only work with fast-acting or double-acting baking powder, however.  Slow-acting baking powder reacts poorly at room temperature (see Baking Soda vs. Baking Powder for the differences).

Since the expiry date on your package is over a decade old, the chance are that the baking powder will be extremely weak.  You can mix a substitute for baking powder, if you have baking soda and cream of tarter on hand.  If a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of baking powder, that can be replaced by ¼ teaspoon of baking soda and ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar.  Some cooks also add  ¼ teaspoon of cornstarch to make up the same volume, although that isn't strictly necessary.

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If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com
Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward