I put some wings in the oven last night and then forgot about them and my roommate turned the oven off. They weren't fully cooked but is it still okay to fully cook them now and eat them or would it be better to throw them out?
21
If I left food out of the refrigerator for some period of time, is it still safe? If I left it out too long, can I salvage it by cooking it more?
52783
My mom wants to do baking but her oven doesn't have bottom heating element. It only has an element on top, with a fan at the back.  She told me that she can't make me a good pizza or cake without it.  Is there any way around?
60012
I smoked a whole chicken. When I cut into the breast I found this:    What is it and is my chicken ruined?
21093
I recently made some potato wedges in the oven. I shared this recipe with my relative, who admonished me for not properly peeling the red potatoes before baking them.  She claims that there are disease and viruses that lie on the skin, so peeling it will get rid of it.  I bake it, so I assume that even the high heat in the oven would kill bacteria and germs. And besides that, I make sure to wash potatoes thoroughly before cooking them.  Am I in the wrong here? Should I have properly peeled the potato wedges before baking them? Personally I feel they add more flavor, and from all the pictures on the recipes online, it seems they also do not peel it.
1919
I like to cook from scratch, and I'm currently trying to loose a few pounds. I know that cooked food is generally more calorific than raw food, so if I add up the calories of the ingredients I know it won't give an accurate result.  So my questions are two-fold:  How much difference is there between a raw food item and a cooked food item?  Is there a method to deduce the calorie content of cooked food (given the know values of its raw form) ?
95797
I use a simple fried chicken recipe: wash chicken (I use thighs), dredge in seasoned flour, dip in egg with a bit of milk, re-dredge in flour, shake and fry. The dish comes out great on the day I cook it, but loses its crunch the next day when I want to take it as part of a picnic lunch. Is there a way to avoid the limp-crusted fried chicken on day 2?  P.S. I remove skin and all visible fat, and I drain on paper towels both top and bottom sides.
88202
I've tried frying potatoes (generally cubed small, like 1/4") in my cast iron pan but they frequently stick very badly. Badly enough so I've got to resort to scraping with a metal spatula. The pan is not like 50 years old and perfectly well-seasoned or anything, but I have no trouble with any other kind of food sticking.  They generally come out ok but just not very brown and crispy, as you would like fried potatoes to be.  Anyone have any advice? Temperature ranges to try to improve the results?
46261
I suspect that my - fairly new - oven gets too hot, so I bought an oven thermometer, which confirmed this.  So I called the supplier.  They say that in order to obtain the correct actual  oven temperature, for any setting, you take the highest reading on the thermometer, and the lowest, and then divide both readings.   Is this correct?
14525
I'm cooking two different dishes in the oven at the same time that each require different temperatures. One is a roasted vegetable dish that says to cook at 475 for 35-40 minutes and the other is parmesan crusted pork chops at 350 for 40-45 minutes. What do you suggest I do?
71928
I notice when cooking chicken breast in a pan, or in the oven, the chicken releases a lot of fluid, watering down the flavour.  This happens with fresh chicken as well as frozen (de-frosted) chicken.  How do I prevent this?
56021
Below is my situation:  Is completely (vacuum) sealing leftover meat in the freezer absolutely necessary? I would always just use a plastic bag to cover the meat and fold it around couple of times so it's almost as good as sealed (usually grocery plastic bag is much bigger than the piece of meat) and have never had a problem with it last a decade or so I have been cooking.  But recently I got this new roommate who insists on me using special small plastic bags with sealers to use and he is being very paranoid, obsessive about it.  So my question is: Is he right?
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.
16130
I ask NOT about the white outer layers that must be peeled and I do peel. But I lack the time to peel the red peel off cloves. Is it safe to eat?
117685
I'm the kind of chef who chops up whatever the local bazaar has that week, adds a random amount of seasonings until the color suits my fancy and then cooks it. Somehow. Most days I don't go hungry.  The other day, fresh garlic was really cheap so I bought a bunch. The housewares shop had some little jugs with corks, so I picked one up. Back at home I chopped up a few heads of garlic, stuffed it the jug, then filled the jug with olive oil. Bread for the next two days had had a great dipping sauce! However dipping bread in oil uses up a lot of oil and not very much garlic, so on the second evening when it was about half empty I topped off the jug with fresh oil. I corked it, wiped off the drips from around the top with a paper towel and left it on the table.  This is what I found in the morning. (click for larger)    I am certain when I corked it the level of oil was below the bottom of the cork because I tipped it to see how the garlic was getting an and remember the air moving around in the jug. I am also certain the top was clean having wiped it off, and of course there was no puddle. Even stranger, as I have left it there today it has continued to drip.  The only clew seems to be garlic mixture seems to be producing periodic bubbles that float up through the oil. This does not explain to me how the oil got out, but it does seem like it must be producing   I see three fields for questioning:   Casual kitchen tinkerer: How should I safely store my garlic and olive oil? Is there danger to storing this in something that seals better than a plastic cork? Is it safe to eat? Amateur chemist: Is there a chemical reaction going on between the garlic and the oil? Would it ever explode? Wannabe physicist: How did the oil get out? This seems like a gravity defying stunt. Note the current oil level is about ½" below the cork.   Somebody please tell me why my day's adventure at the bazaar made this much mess and how to make yummy things with garlic and olive oil safely!
49319
So, being new to cooking, I tried cooking a pan-seared ribeye steak for the first time recently.  I'm just getting new cooking utensils, and the idea of flipping the steak is something I'm not sure about.  Last time, I used the same utensil the whole way through.  I know, many are likely cringing at the thought.  But I was afraid of over-cooking so I was as attentive as possible to the steak.  I'm wondering if this is "safe".  I'm guessing most will say it is not, and that's fine.  I'd like to do better if it's not safe.  I bought a pair of tongs since then (I was using a spatula to flip before!) but I still only have one pair.  So, should I be placing the steak in the pan with the spatula, flipping with the tongs, and removing it from the pan with...something else?  Is it safe enough to use the tongs, and rinse them each time they touch meat before it's finished?  Should I be scrubbing them with soap each time?  Should I simply stick to different utensils?  (In which case I might just stop cooking--I don't have that many utensils, don't plan on buying more for this purpose, and quite frankly I don't wish to clean so many utensils when I'm finished cooking)  I know there are other topics, but they haven't been quite as specific as the questions I'm asking here, so I hope I can get a good response on the subject.
69456
I heard that putting really warm food in the fridge right after cooking it is not the right thing to do. It might cause bacterial growth? Is this true?
45519
Like many people sheltering-at-home, I'm baking . My yeast supply is running low, and I'm not sure I'll be able to get more on demand. I'd like a simple way to make sure I have yeast on hand for my next batch. Could you all recommend a method for storing a starter culture?  Specifically:   How should I store it (how much? where? I have a fridge ~4C and a wine cooler ~13C)  How often should I feed it? With what? Should I divide the culture when feeding?  How much should I use when baking? Can I treat it like dry active yeast, or does it need more/less time?   For some other context, I'm a novice at making bread (I've made it a few times, and others in my family make it more often). I see lots of advice on sourdough starters, but am interested in something that's a replacement for dry active yeast (unless sourdough starters are actually easier to maintain). I found a  that was similar, but it focused on long-term storage of yeast and the answers did not describe how to use the starter.  Your advice is appreciated.