I opened my onion rack lately to find onions that had sprouted several-inch-long green roots... It made me extremely queasy and I threw them out. But I was wondering - would it be safe to eat them / cook with them?
120635
Can I use sprouting vegetables? Are they poisonous?  When cooked, does the sprouting have an effect to foods taste?  Can I use my potatoes or carrots if they already has some roots...? How about when my onion is sprouting?
4689
I'm talking about potatoes that have gone somewhat soft and put out shoots about 10cm long.   Other online discussions suggest it's reasonably safe and the majority of us have been peeling and eating soft sprouty spuds for years. Is this correct?
111369
So I just finished a jar of home-made pickles. They were excellent! Not too salty, a bit spicy, very good. They were so good that I'd like to get some more pickles out of that jar. I was thinking of pickling some eggs in that same brine. Is reusing brine ever done? Are there any reasons I shouldn't do it? I've never heard of this being done, but I don't see why not.
72871
I have always heard that you should stay away MSG. For example when buying bouillon crystals we should always make sure that it doesn't contain MSG. Yet I came across  for spinach soup that calls for 1/2 teaspoon of MSG. This got me wondering are there any pros to MSG. Should we stay away from it or should we incorporate it into our diet and if so should we limit how much we ingest? If it is 'bad' then is there something I can replace it with when a recipe calls for it?
97964
I picked up a pork sirloin roast yesterday, it's a little over three pounds.  I've never cooked one of these before and I am not sure what to do.  My seasoning plan is salt, pepper, thyme, and rosemary, and I might poke a couple holes for cloves of garlic as well.  My cooking plan is 8+ hours in the crock pot on low, with about an inch of water in there.  Will this turn out OK?  I'd like a tender and moist result, obviously.  Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
76684
I was always taught when cooking Indian dishes to fry spices in a chopped/pureed onion and garlic mixture to release their flavour and essential oils.  I was also taught that when the oil separates from the mixture, the spices are done and you can carry on with the next stage of the dish.  That's the principle technique I've always used.  Can someone please explain why the oil separates and what this signifies? Have the spices absorbed as much of the oil as they can and release the rest?  I'd really like to understand this process.
96179
I just received my new cast-iron skillet and noticed two little pinholes (1-2mm) in the inside bottom of the pan (see pic below). As I live outside the USA, it is a hassle getting it returned and replaced. Will the pinholes become a food contamination hazard? Are there specific things I should avoid doing or consider doing because of the pinholes?
5323
This happens to all of us - be it because we misread the recipe and threw in a tablespoon of sage when it said a teaspoon of sage, or because we were bravely experimenting with new tastes and suddenly noticed something amiss. The question also covers cases where the food is normally seasoned for the average person, but an eater hates a certain aroma and perceives it as strongly unpleasant, and cases where the unwanted aroma does not come from seasoning, but e.g. from burning the food.   In the end, we have a batch of smelly food and wonder where the Undo button is. How do we save it and make it tasty again?
8866
How can I tone down the intensity of raw onion? Some onions have a more acute taste and smell than others of the same type, and I would like to avoid them in salad dish, or making dips with raw onion. If effectively none, an alternative solution that can also be helpful is to find out what condiments can I add/mix with raw onion to cancel out the intensity of the the acute taste.  [EDIT] There is a uniquely (IMHO) sweet taste to onion that I like. But accompany with that is the acute scene and flavor to it that I wanted to get ride of. I do not want to waste away the taste of onion, but remove the acuteness and remain the sweetness.
73440
I'm a bit scared to try it, because I'm not sure what would be worse--cracking open a rotten egg, or having to figure out what to do with a chick.  So how about it?  If I leave chicken eggs out, will they eventually hatch if kept at the right temperature?  EDIT - Sorry for the confusion.  I was referring to store bought eggs only.
3023
Everyday I have to cook using some share kitchenware, and I came across some old non-sticky frying pan that have significant scratch marks on them.   I was told by my parents that I should not use any non-sticky cookware with scratch marks on them, they said cooking with them will cause some harmful/toxic substance release to the food. I have asked if they got any reference to that claim but they never told me about it. I just don't understand if those non-sticky layer can contaminate my food, why it will only be dangerous when there is scratch marks on them but not in normal condition.  Could anyone tell me those frying pans are safe to use? Although there are new one in the share kitchen which I can use, I would still like to know if that safety issue is true. It would be nice if there is also reference given.
55003
I bought some "pineapple" post caps made of treated pine. When they arrived, I was taken aback to see, rather than an overall greenish tinge, splotches and patches of green. As my plan has been to leave these unstained, I will probably have to send them back-- unless someone knows how to "fix" this problem? Additionally, what caused these caps to look like they have green splotchy paint on them?
116300
Twice in the past week or so, I've wondered whether my cooking utensil was still clean enough to cook / serve with. Here were the situations:   Cooking ground sausage (no casing). While breaking the sausage up, raw sausage clearly got on the back of the spoon. Over the course of cooking the sausage and later adding veggies, all visible traces of the raw meat disappeared. I finished up cooking, used the spoon to stir in some penne, and then served.  Candying some bacon. Put some bacon in the oven with some brown sugar on it. Used a fork to flip the bacon half way through. Then used the same fork to take the cooked bacon out of the pan and on to a rack.    Is this safe? When do I need to worry about contamination on my cooking utensils? What is sufficient to make the utensil safe again?
121611
Kind of a strange question, but say something has spoiled, i.e. smells bad, tastes bad, etc.  Will it actually always make you sick? Like for instance spoiled dressing, let's say it tastes sour, smells nasty and you eat it, will it make you sick?  If so what actually makes you sick? The toxins/bacteria? or it just being unappetizing?  I ask because I tried a TINY bit of ranch and while it tasted mostly fine (it was a bit tangy) it smelled quite tangy but looked fine. I also saw .
79326
It's the season for pumpkins and I was wondering if there is a way to tell if a pumpkin was going to taste good enough to cook with. I guess this is a similar situation as with a watermelon - you can't really cut it open to check if it will taste good.
69228
This is partly a continuation of  question, since that one was already closed, but my question is about a specific problem encountered the last time I cooked scallops.  I got the pan up to a reasonable temperature and put the scallops in, and as they were cooking, TONS of water came out of the scallops and filled the pan.  I poured it out, continued cooking, and more water came out.  Several iterations later, I thought they were done, but they were still very raw inside, so we ended up tossing the batch (it definitely wasn't sushi grade).  Where did all the liquid come from, and is there any way to avoid that the next time?
104000
Onions are an excellent addition to many dishes, but cutting them can be frustrating when they make you "cry" all the time.  Does anyone know any tips or tricks to help minimise the tears when chopping ?