Cooking questions

[Lemmonie]

1) When baking fruit cake lots of reciepes i have seen ask the outside of the tin to be wrapped in borwn paper, why?

2) When baking fruit cake, mine once cooked was rather crumbly, why?

3) When bakign fruit cake why did the centre sink?

3) Browning meat for stews. If this is to seal in the flovour does it really work? As i dont bother and my stews and meat is lovely.

4) When making mousse how why does my melted chocolate turn into cement ahen i add alcohol?

5) Is there any other place to buy stone bakeware apart from The Pampered Chef?

[PugwasHDJ80]

Lemmonie said:

1) When baking fruit cake lots of reciepes i have seen ask the outside of the tin to be wrapped in borwn paper, why?

to insulate the outside of the cake from direct heat - otherwise the outside burns and you have to cut if off which looks silly )not that i do this every year, oh no!)

Lemmonie said:

2) When baking fruit cake, mine once cooked was rather crumbly, why?

too dry- leave it to absorb some run for a few days

Lemmonie said:

3) When bakign fruit cake why did the centre sink?

this is due to a lack fo structure in the cake- either the wrong flour, or too much self raising powder (normally the latter)

Lemmonie said:

3) Browning meat for stews. If this is to seal in the flovour does it really work? As i dont bother and my stews and meat is lovely.

Nothing to do with sealing in flavour, but everything to do with creating flavour- the browing causes caramalisation of the sugars in the meat, adds a whole depth of flavour and colour- grey meat is invariably insipid- too many people however don't brown at a high temperature (which just levaes you with part cooked uncaramelised meat), or don't deglaze the browing pan- which leaves half the tasty bits behind.

Lemmonie said:

4) When making mousse how why does my melted chocolate turn into cement ahen i add alcohol?

You are splitting the chocolate- you can't add alcohol (or any water based liquid) to pure melted chocolate or it splits on impact- you need a chocolate base- like a ganache or similar to stabilise the chocolate before adding water- alternatively you can use alcohol oils- which have the flavor but are entirely fat based

Lemmonie said:

5) Is there any other place to buy stone bakeware apart from The Pampered Chef?

almost certainly- what pieces are you looking for?

[Lemmonie]

Thankyou that really is vbery helpful.

Re the Stoneware I went to a Pampered chef party recently and the demonstrator dry roasted some potato wedges on a stone plate which came out beautifully and obviously didnt stick. Other ladies said they were great for biscuits, pizza, bread etc.

I use a regular cheap roasting tray which is well overdue replacement and i really like the stoneware i saw but dont like the prices!

Pampered Chef also do a stunning round straight edged glass trifle bowel on a stem but again its quite pricey.

[dazco]

Lemmonie
I have said it before and no-one will shut me up.

If you are buying for the kitchen go to TK Maxx or, if you are lucky enough to be next to one of their home stores, Home sense.

You will get some very good quality kitchen ware for a fraction of the price.

If you ask on here for advice on where to buy what, it seems they just wave their cocks around as to who spent the most.

[PugwasHDJ80]

dazco said:

it seems they just wave their cocks around as to who spent the most.

is this some evil Cabal of pistonheads chefs or something?

buying better quality equipment usually pays dividends in the end....

[tontoro]

Or soak the fruit in strong tea instead of rum

[Cotty]

Lemmonie said:

Pampered Chef also do a stunning round straight edged glass trifle bowel on a stem but again its quite pricey.

Looks a bit like this one but this is only £17.95 nd you get 6 bowls
http://www.scottsofstow.co.uk/Glass-Trifle-Set/Pro...

[Lemmonie]

Cotty said:

Looks a bit like this one but this is only £17.95 nd you get 6 bowls
http://www.scottsofstow.co.uk/Glass-Trifle-Set/Pro...

You sir are a genius!!!Thank you so much, what a great price too!

[dazco]

PugwasHDJ80 said:

buying better quality equipment usually pays dividends in the end....

I honestly give up. I will never mention TK Maxx/Home Sense again. If anyone asks for advice I shall simply Google the most expensive product in that category and suggest that.
Quality= Price at Pistonheads

http://shooterfoodblog.dailymail.co.uk/2011/10/coo...

[Mobile Chicane]

Lemmonie said:

5) Is there any other place to buy stone bakeware apart from The Pampered Chef?

Personally I'd choose anodised aluminium rather than stone, purely for the versatility of being able to use it on the stove top, plus it won't chip or smash. It lasts so long that you'll be passing it on to your kids.

However, anodised aluminium bakeware is very expensive. <<Amazon linky>> If you ever see it on offer at places like TK Maxx, snap it up. 'Mermaid' is the UK made brand, although I'm sure there are others.

[Agrilla]

Mobile Chicane said:

Personally I'd choose anodised aluminium rather than stone, purely for the versatility of being able to use it on the stove top, plus it won't chip or smash. It lasts so long that you'll be passing it on to your kids.

However, anodised aluminium bakeware is very expensive. <<Amazon linky>> If you ever see it on offer at places like TK Maxx, snap it up. 'Mermaid' is the UK made brand, although I'm sure there are others.

(PS I bought my Mermaid bakeware from TK Maxx)

[PugwasHDJ80]

dazco said:

I honestly give up. I will never mention TK Maxx/Home Sense again. If anyone asks for advice I shall simply Google the most expensive product in that category and suggest that.
Quality= Price at Pistonheads

http://shooterfoodblog.dailymail.co.uk/2011/10/coo...

no but expensive doesn't equal overpriced

bought a set of global knives 12 years ago- i've never bought a knife since. Yes they were expensive, but better value than spending £15 every year or two on a crappy knife from TK Maxx

Same with pans- yes you can spend a fortune on overpriced stuff- but you can also buy very good quality pans which you can pass on to your kids for not a huge amount of money- i would suggest you can't buyt this quality from TK maxx.

You seem to think that value is only achieved if cheap- its not. Value is achieved at any price as long as the quality is worth it.

[Laplace]

PugwasHDJ80 said:

no but expensive doesn't equal overpriced

bought a set of global knives 12 years ago- i've never bought a knife since. Yes they were expensive, but better value than spending £15 every year or two on a crappy knife from TK Maxx

Same with pans- yes you can spend a fortune on overpriced stuff- but you can also buy very good quality pans which you can pass on to your kids for not a huge amount of money- i would suggest you can't buyt this quality from TK maxx.

You seem to think that value is only achieved if cheap- its not. Value is achieved at any price as long as the quality is worth it.

I think you misunderstand dazco's point and how the off price retailer TK Maxx operates.

I've seen Global knives in TK Maxx on two separate occasions and snapped up a set at less than half price, seems like great value to me!

[dazco]

PugwasHDJ80 said:

no but expensive doesn't equal overpriced

bought a set of global knives 12 years ago- i've never bought a knife since. Yes they were expensive, but better value than spending £15 every year or two on a crappy knife from TK Maxx

Same with pans- yes you can spend a fortune on overpriced stuff- but you can also buy very good quality pans which you can pass on to your kids for not a huge amount of money- i would suggest you can't buyt this quality from TK maxx.

You seem to think that value is only achieved if cheap- its not. Value is achieved at any price as long as the quality is worth it.

I suggest you go and look at the hardware in TK Maxx before you offer your critique.

I have a Henkal (sp) cleaver and a set of Global knives purchased from there. I have also seen La Crueset in there but I do not like it so I left it. Chassuer is nearly always stocked there.

Global knives are ace, aren't they?

Circulon pans go for just over a tenner in there.

The other pans they sell are of an outstanding quality, usually, with very heavy bottoms and very long guarantees.

You seem to think I have 'cheap' and 'value' mixed up. I haven't, but I would suggest you have 'cheap' and 'inexpensive' mixed up.

[PugwasHDJ80]

ooh that's very interesting

to be fair your initial post didn't read- "you can buy quality branded good such as global etc at TK Maxx cheap" just came across as "but cheap stuff at TK Maxx"

You can forgive a reader of being suspicious!

[CarTimeNow]

I have the PC pizza stone and it really is great, i find nothing sticks to it at all

re the trifle bowl from PC - i have been wavering for a couple of years but have just bought it, and i know it's a bit pricier than other places, but it's my xmas present from hubby (when i tell him!!)

and yes it costs more than other places but i like it so i only have a couple of their pieces, along with half of lakeland (do they have lakeland anonymous meetings?)

[dazco]

PugwasHDJ80 said:

ooh that's very interesting

to be fair your initial post didn't read- "you can buy quality branded good such as global etc at TK Maxx cheap" just came across as "but cheap stuff at TK Maxx"

You can forgive a reader of being suspicious!

"You will get some very good quality kitchen ware for a fraction of the price."

I apologise, I can see where the confusion arose.

[PugwasHDJ80]

dazco said:

"You will get some very good quality kitchen ware for a fraction of the price."

I apologise, I can see where the confusion arose.

yeah but this is PH that could have meant anything :P

[dazco]

PugwasHDJ80 said:

yeah but this is PH that could have meant anything :P

Very true, sir.

[Cotty]

Lemmonie said:

Cotty said:

Looks a bit like this one but this is only £17.95 nd you get 6 bowls
http://www.scottsofstow.co.uk/Glass-Trifle-Set/Pro...

You sir are a genius!!!Thank you so much, what a great price too!

Just trying to help