When heating oil sometimes I notice smoke comes out and this sets home smoke detector off.  At this point I lower the fire or just add food.  Does this mean that it's already hit the smoking point and the oil should no longer be used?  If it hits smoking point and we lower the temperature is it still ok to use or is it only a problem with reuse?
123623
Teflon toxicity and second degree burns aside, are there any health issues related to cooking with oil at or past its smoking point? Googling a bit I found one article that went so far as to say you should always "discard oil that's reached its smoke point, along with any food with which it had contact". Other searches showed pages suggesting cancer risks.  I've never given it a thought before and I often use peanut oil at smoking point to brown meat.
71201
It seems my L hit a dead end, that's not learner's level English...\  Is there a name in English for the process of turning ingredients of a dish into liquid through boiling them long enough?  Usually this happens as a cook's error, but at times it's the desired effect, e.g. you may create an excellent, smooth, creamy sauce by simmering the ingredients for a very long time.  Judging by what Google Images show, it seems that "overcooking" usually means burnt or nearing burnt fried/grilled food, which is definitely not the same thing. Someone suggested "overboiling" but my grasp of English doesn't allow me to decide whether that's correct or not.
22867
So, I foolishly ignored advice about wearing gloves while handling hot peppers. I thought since they were "just" anaheim peppers I'd be fine... I was wrong, and I repent.   Does anyone know of a way to stop the burning? I have washed my hands repeatedly with soap in hot water and tried OTC burn spray.  I'm really worried about getting it off b/c I have a little baby &amp; I don't want to get it on her, too. Can the oil transfer to someone else still?
32733
I'm staying in a hotel and have access to a "electric coil stove" for one of the first times.  I accidentally turned on the oven light and saw that the light was shining up through only one of the stoves:    There's only a port from the oven into the top right stove, and note that the stove is not on.  Here's a view from within the oven:    Is there a hole here as a vent for the oven for some reason, or is this for the stove? I typically use a glass "flat-top stove" that doesn't have an oven underneath it. I've never seen a direct hole from a stove to the oven before, and have to wonder what the purpose is.
50940
My furnace pilot light keeps going out so I changed the thermocouple. Now the furnace will come on and heat up to the degree set on my thermostat, then the pilot light will go out and the furnace will not come back on.    Could the thermostat be bad and cause the pilot light to go out?
66200
Indian cooking basically uses oil from the beginning of the process, typically starting with sautéing ginger and garlic, then adding shallots, chillies and onions. So the oil is on the fire for quite some time.    I would like to know whether any type of olive oil will be suitable for this type of cooking. Extra virgin olive oil seems to be out of the question from what I have read.
113455
I'm quite suspicious that my electric stove runs hot.  Recipes that suggest medium-high on my stove are incredibly, incredibly hot and you can feel 'high' radiating heat from across the kitchen.  As such, I've semi-recently purchased an IR thermometer - what pan surface temperature should low, medium-low,medium,medium-high, and high approximately register as?
87193
I bought a brand new Lodge 12" cast iron pan, washed it in soap and warm water and dried it with a paper towel thoroughly. Then I applied a thin layer of canola oil with a paper towel (paper towel was clean - not black after this application) and then heated the empty pan on my electric stove for 15-20 minutes. The oil on the pan smoked a bit, some parts of the pan turned slightly ashy (grey). Mostly everything looked OK.   After I turned it off and cooled the pan, I now take a clean paper towel and rub the surface and I see black flakes! What is this? Is this the oil broken down? Can I cook in the pan or wash it with soap to eliminate the black flakes? Once washed and dried should I rub canola oil again? This is my first experience with cast iron. Any pointers will help.
64869
I had the idea of throwing oil flasks on enemies at level 1, then hitting them with a torch to deal a bunch of bonus fire damage.  PHB 152:     If the target takes any fire damage before the oil dries (after 1 minute), the target takes an additional 5 fire damage from the burning oil.   PHB 152:     If you make a melee attack with a burning torch and hit, it deals 1 fire damage.   A flat 6 fire damage is pretty potent at level 1, but does the oil remain or does it burn out in a flash when hit (since it has no damage over time) when hit?  If not there is potential for a dual torch wielding PC to throw down 12 fire damage per round, or for multiple PCs to deal 6 damage per torch per PC per round.
75136
When I moved into this house, the unvented gas fireplace had no mantel or hood. It worked OK, although I thought the tile above the fireplace (and the sheetrock behind it) got rather hot. When I burned it for long periods, I would take the picture we have hanging above it down. A couple of years ago I bought a wood mantel, painted it white and hung it above the fireplace. Now the mantel gets hot. I doubt it would burst into flames, but its too hot to touch and would probably peel the paint off if left on too long.   I figured I needed a fireplace hood. Off to ebay and went and bought a hood. It sticks out 4.5 inches. I found a bargain on a brass one for $30 and thought it looked fine but my wife informed me it was ugly and looked like something from the 70's. Once again, I learned I have no taste.    Turns out the hood didn't help much, the tile above the fireplace and the mantel still gets hot. Not only that, it blocks some vents at the top of the fireplace which the instructions say is a no-no.   It appeared to me the heat needs to be directed up and away. I had some aluminum flashing laying around so I made a prototype shield. My idea was just to test it and if it works make one out of sheet metal as soon as I find a shop with a sheer and a brake. The good news is that it works great. The bad news is that its ugly.      Ok, the questions:   Has anyone else had an experience with the mantel getting so hot? Has anyone seen a mantel heat shield like this I can buy? If I stick with the homemade route - any ideas on how I can make it look better. (I do plan to paint it black and maybe cut it back some) Any other creative ideas of what i can do for this problem? Maybe put a shield directly under the mantel?
103870
As the title says...  I personally heat up the pan first, then put the oil in and after it's heated up add the ingredients.  I go with the line of reasoning that doing it this way gives the oil less time to burn, thinking that if you do it the other way, by the time the pan and oil has heated up, the oil could already be starting to burn.  I've never experimented, but I think this is more of an issue with electric stoves since you can modulate the heat more quickly with gas, ie turn it off if the oil's starting to smoke.
94422
I have just purchased a GE Cafe gas range. The user guide indicates:     Do not use a wok on the cooking surface if the wok has a round metal ring that is placed over the burner grate to support the wok. This ring acts as a heat trap, which may damage the burner grate and burner head.   Also, it may cause the burner to work improperly. This may cause a carbon monoxide level above that allowed by current standards, resulting in a health hazard.   However, I have read several times on the web that using a round bottom wok with a wok ring yields optimal results when cooking on a gas range.  What do you think?  Source: .
86888
Hoping someone can give me some thoughts on what might be going on here so I can be a bit more informed when I call a plumber.  Situation is, we got our water heater replaced a few years back and ever since this has been an issue. It's more noticeable when it's cold outside it seems, but still seems to be a year round problem. Whenever we  use hot water, we basically run out of it within minutes. In order to get an acceptable amount of hot water (enough to take a 10 minute shower), we literally have to prime the water first. By that I mean I have to turn on the hot water, let it run for a couple of minutes, then turn it off and wait 20 minutes. Then when we go to use the hot water again we'll get hot water for a respectable amount of time. Now I am fairly ignorant to all this, but it seems a 71 gallon hot water heater should be capable of holding enough water to not need to be primed like this. I should be able to take a 30 minute shower, let alone 10 without running out. My shower this morning was decently warm for maybe 2 minutes before it was just warm-ish.   So if anyone can give me some ideas on what might be going on I would appreciate it. We've just put up with this for some years assuming perhaps it was some eco friendly thing. Like the system doesn't maintain much hot water in the tank so it's not always running and only heats water up when you start to use it? I hope that isn't the case though and even so, I should be able to get more hot water out of it. Any help?  UPDATE Sorry everyone, I meant to tell you all that the water heater was gas. The pilot light is lit. I don't recall the specific model though I can look that up if people think it will help. I have actually turned up the thermostat on it above the default and when the water heater is putting out hot water, it can be very hot. Too hot. But again, that requires us to prime it before we get any decent amount of hot water out.  UPDATE 2 Looked it up, I believe this is the model info if that helps anyone: State Select: High Output. Model number: GS675XRRS 300
38698
The exact phrase from the book of Swan (the context is choosing the words permit or allow) -      The passive structure with it is only possible with permit   Having said that...     It is not allowed to smoke in the kitchen - incorrect     It is not permitted to smoke in the kitchen - correct   I feel absolutely fine for the incorrect sentence.   Your inputs please. Make me understand this.
114376
I cooked some bacon about a week ago and left the grease in the pan.  I've used it the last two nights with great success for cooking other meals.  How long is it safe to reuse?  I figure since I'm heating it up to a million degrees each time I use it it's probably pretty safe, but.... I'd rather not get food poisoning.
96809
When I melt 16 oz of chocolate I add 4 oz of oil how long can I keep this and how should it be stored. Someone said something about botulism ??
80947
I am making chilli oil using light olive oil, crushed chilli, dried garlic, dried fennel seeds and parsley.  I have been making this for years. I am concerned about this Botulinum business. Should I be concerned? And what can i do to avoid this?  Currently, I heat the olive oil before putting it into the mixture, jar it, and normally keep it in the cupboard for months, with no problems with taste.  Another thing I am wondering is, how does one measure the expiry date on homemade chilli oil? Can someone help?