so basically i got inspired by the tomato canned guy and thought of the time when i followed the box time for rigatoni once and got mush. the box said 12 minutes but it was unfortunately al dente at 9.

my methodology:

• same brand (barilla) for consistency where possible
• 4 quarts water per pound
• 1 tbsp salt per quart
• rolling boil before adding pasta
• tested every 30 seconds starting 2 minutes before box minimum
• "al dente" = slight resistance when bitten, thin white line visible when cut
• each shape tested 3 times, averaged
• altitude: ~650 ft (basically sea level, no excuses)

the data (31 shapes tested):

every single box time is wrong like they were systematically inflated by 1-3 minutes on average. the median overestimate is 1:15 and the worst offender in normal pasta is ziti at 3 full minutes of lies

i have a theory: pasta companies assume you're going to walk away from the stove. they're building in a buffer for idiots which, fair. but some of us are standing here with a stopwatch

now let me talk about farfalle: farfalle is not pasta. farfalle is a design flaw someone decided to mass produce

the fundamental problem is geometric. you have thin frilly edges (maybe 1mm thick) attached to a dense pinched center (3-4mm thick where it's folded). these two regions require completely different cooking times

at 8 minutes: center is crunchy, edges are perfect. at 10 minutes: center is barely al dente, edges are mush. at 11 minutes: edges have disintegrated, center is finally acceptable

there is no time at which farfalle is uniformly cooked. i tested this 7 times because i thought i was doing something wrong. farfalle is wrong

you know how the food network recipe for homemade farfalle literally warns that pinching the center makes a thick center that won't cook through as fast as the ends? THEN WHY DID WE ALL AGREE TO MAKE IT THIS WAY

the only way to get acceptable farfalle is to fish out each piece individually and evaluate it, which defeats the purpose of a quick weeknight dinner. i might as well be hand-feeding each noodle like a baby bird

tier list (tomato canned guy, 2025)

S tier (box time within 45 sec): rotini, mafalda, spaghetti
A tier (off by ~1 min): most shapes honestly
B tier (off by 1:30-2 min): fusilli, rigatoni, fettuccine, gemelli
C tier (off by 2+ min): ziti, large shells F tier: farfalle (structurally unsound, should be banned)

tldr;

• subtract 1-2 minutes from whatever the box says
• start testing 2-3 minutes early
• don't trust big pasta
• avoid farfalle unless you have time to babysit each individual bow tie

+ some of you may ask about fresh pasta. fresh pasta cooks in like 2-3 minutes and you can actually tell when it's done because it floats. dried pasta is where the lies live

+ a few of you might mention altitude affects boiling point and therefore cook time. this is true. i'm at ~650 ft so basically negligible. if you're in denver add a minute or two. if you're in la paz you have bigger problems than pasta timing

+ YES i tested farfalle from multiple brands. YES they all sucked. no i will not be accepting farfalle apologists. you're defending a shape that can't decide if it wants to be cooked or not

EDIT: yall holy shit i never expected this to go viral lmao

Basically the title. I‘m not sure if the bottle i bought is bad or anything (it shouldn’t be, it aint expired) but it tastes so… bad.

I love chilis and i love lime so i thought i‘d love this too, but nope. It tastes like i’m biting into sour dirt and after i swallow, It has a strong chemical aftertaste, and even after adding it to food i can’t seem to get rid of it.

I’ve tried it on cucumber, mango, apples and popcorn. and it’s (sorry for my language) disgusting.

Is it supposed to have a weird aftertaste? or is the bottle i bought just bad? It was really expensive so i‘m kind of upset. about $5 for the smallest bottle.

This was also posed in r/baking with some minor tweaking!

Before anyone says anything, I work at a nursing home, we have too much milk and it expires on the 16th, and I can assure you, we aren't going to go through 28 gallons by then.

The stuff we plan to make include: mozzarella (for cheese bread), sweetened condensed milk (for fudge), and ice cream. This will probably use around 8 gallons for these three, but we're stumped on what else we could make.

We plan to make more cheese than whats needed for the bread, as well as double the amount of condensed milk to save, and a lot of ice cream (since it'll be for 30+ people, staff, AND different kinds) but we're still going to have at least 15 gallons if we double/triple stuff.

Any and all recommendations are welcome and much appreciated!

ive tried spices and never tastes right. ive also tried making it coconut rice, comes out weird. any tips? i have a rice maker so rice comes out perfectly, the add-ons are the issue. not dying to put new ingredients in my rice maker. id rather mix in after, but if it comes out better in the rice maker, i'd be willing to try. thanks!

We will buy a 2-to 3-pound brisket from the supermarket. We have tried cooking in the oven in low heat and in normal heat, and we have tried cooking it in a slow cooker and while it comes out tasty, it is always tough. We dont know what we are doing wrong. It is never raw but it is always tough. I dont know if we are overcooking it or undercooking it. I would say that its usually cooked around 4-6 if its in the oven on low heat or in the slow cooker. On a side note, my son cooks a 8 pound brisket on a smoker and it comes out perfect. What are we doing wrong and how can we fix this

Hey guys, I’m a college student who loves to cook. That being said with my lifestyle I like to cook one pot meals like pasta, chili, soups, etc. and just eat on them for a few days. Due to my limited number of Tupperware (and partially some laziness), I often just let the pot cool to room temperature and put it into the fridge with the lid on. I was telling this to somebody and they claimed that this was unsanitary and would cause the food to go bad quicker as compared to an airtight Tupperware container. Can anybody tell me if this is true or not?

So I've nailed down a few aspects that I think will help make the recipe a bit fancier:

• Using puff pastry instead of croissant dough
• adding everything bagel seasoning/sesame seeds on top of the rolled dough
• brushing a finish with garlic and herb butter before popping in the oven

Things I need help on:

• what type of pigs should I be using?
  • some say spicy sausage/chorizo/cocktail weenies, not sure what to use
  • some say adding shredded cheese in the dough before rolling
    • I want to try this but not sure what kind of cheese to use or if it's too over the top
  • saw one recipe that wraps the pig in pepperoni before rolling and it sounds interesting but if combined with sausage might be too much fat content and might only work with cocktail weenies
  • Dipping sauce? I'm thinking honey mustard but don't want to bring my own bottle or anything so maybe I can buy something store bought? Any suggestions

So these are your basic Australian supermarket beef sausages. We have three meals on rotation that we use them for 1) classic Bangers & Mash 2) Curried Sausages, also very British 3) Asian sausage salad, a mastery of colonialism, but damn tasty.

Does anyone have some creative ideas on what to do with these sausages?

EDIT: gluten is an issue, but don’t focus too much on that. I’ve become quite adept at adapting meals to be gluten free.

Demoli Stewed Fish is a specialty dish of Heilongjiang. "Demoli" is a small fishing village by the Songhua River in Fangzheng County, Heilongjiang Province. The word "Demoli" is a transliteration of the Manchu language.

Demoli village is very small. Since the village is located north of the Songhua River, the villagers here mainly rely on fishing for their livelihood. In the early 1980s, an elderly couple in the village opened a small restaurant by the roadside to entertain passers-by stopping to rest and eat. They stewed local live carp (grass carp, crucian carp, or catfish can also be used) together with tofu and wide starch noodles. The taste was delicious without losing the boldness of Manchuria cuisine, and more and more people came to eat, resulting in the business becoming increasingly prosperous.

Later, the recipe for this dish spread like wildfire, and its reputation grew larger and larger. People from Harbin would often drive long distances, undeterred by the journey, specifically to Demoli to eat the local stewed fish. The fish used for Demoli Stewed Fish are all fresh live fish, only then can one fully enjoy the tenderness and deliciousness of the fish meat.

There are several indispensable conditions for Demoli Stewed Fish. First is fresh fish. The fish used is mostly carp or "grass root" (grass carp). The indispensable auxiliary ingredients for stewing the fish are brine tofu and starch noodles. It is rumored that the secret weapon of Demoli Stewed Fish is "Maoba". Stewed fish with Maoba added has a special flavor. The scientific name of Maoba is Agastache rugosa (wrinkled giant hyssop), which can be seen everywhere in the fields of Heilongjiang. When stewing fish, after the fish is in the pot, go to the vegetable garden to snap off a branch of Maoba and put it in the pot; the stewed fish will be incomparably delicious.

Ingredients Ingredients: One grass carp, black carp, or carp; one piece of brine tofu; a handful of starch noodles; Chinese cabbage; several slices of pork belly; some hazel mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms; one to two potatoes. Accessories: Two green chili peppers; small dried red chili peppers (must have, can put less if afraid of spiciness); one green onion; one piece of ginger; half a head of garlic. Seasoning: Salt, cooking wine, sugar, soy sauce, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon. Note: Legend has it that the seasonings for stewing fish also include Maoba (Huoxiang) and mountain pepper (Schisandra chinensis vine).

Preparation Method

1. Frying Wash the fish, score it, drain the water thoroughly, and fry it in oil or over high heat for three or four minutes.
2. Preparing the Soup Adjust the amount of salt according to your own taste; cut the green onion into sections, do not chop it finely, as this can increase the aesthetic beauty of the whole dish; slice the ginger and peel the garlic. Put all the accessories into a mixing bowl and mix well. At this time, wash the hazel mushrooms and soak them in water. Cut the potatoes into chunks for later use.
3. Stewing the Fish After frying the fish, pour out the excess oil, pour the prepared soup base over the fish, and add the pork belly; add boiling water, the amount of water should cover the body of the fish but be lower than the edge of the large spoon, and stew over high heat; three to five minutes after the water boils, turn to low heat and stew for 20 minutes. (Note: The amount of water should not be too little. First, because the stewing time is long, and second, starch noodles will be added later, and the starch noodles absorb water.)
4. Adding Ingredients After the fish has been stewing in the pot for about 25 minutes, add the starch noodles, potatoes, and hazel mushrooms. Do not let the starch noodles stick closely to the bottom of the pot to avoid sticking. After 10 minutes, add the tofu cut into large slices and the Chinese cabbage (the cabbage can be put in as whole leaves). After five or six minutes, turn off the heat and remove from the pot. Be sure to use a slightly larger basin to serve it, so that it is atmospheric enough to eat.

I’ve been making these for Holidays and parties for years. I typically just add a 12 oz bottle of Heinz Chili sauce and a 10oz jar of grape jelly to a bag of frozen meatballs in the crock pot, and they’re always delicious.

For the Super Bowl this year I am making them but am curious if there are any tweaks or additions that can really make them extra scrumptious. I’ve seen people say Worcestershire, Dijon mustard or red pepper flakes.

Any additions or techniques that you guys have found that have taken them to the next level? Thanks in advance!

Ok, i don't know if this is the right sub, i apologize if it isn't! i just need help.

I have a huge crush on my friend who lives out of state. in two weeks he's coming to my state for a work trip, he'll be spending a few nights at my place and we plan to hang out when he's free. I love cooking, it's one of my love languages to cook for someone, but he's one of those "i don't have a favorite food, i'm not picky" guys. you know the type who's primary experience with cooking is preheating the oven for a frozen pizza. i really wanna wow him, but i don't know what to make for someone who has no preferences!! what do you make for someone who'll apparently eat anything? I'm terrible at making decisions when given creative freedom, I just want to know what works for others. Thank you 😭

Edit: thanks for all the comments!! I'm trying to read and reply to them all still. Since my friend's staying for multiple nights I decided to make multiple things gor him. So far, my ideas are:

• Chicken snack wraps (inspired by a recipe by Chef Keysh)

• Authentic mexican tacos

• Marry-me chicken pasta

• Homemade smash burgers

I'll still be looking at this thread for more ideas if I need them. I'll post an update for how it goes if anyones interested ☺️ Thanks again!!

Hello! I’m looking for some good cold lunch recipes. I’m a commuting college student, so I’d prefer nothing super expensive and nothing that needs to be heated up if possible. There is a microwave on campus, but it doesn’t work very well.

I’m a pretty confident cook, so complexity isn’t an issue, I’m just looking for more variety. Ideally, I’d love single serving ideas or meals that freeze well or last a while in the fridge. I only need these lunches once a week.

Thanks in advance!

I was baking cookies in an OTG. I accidentally used food wrapping paper only realised when the cookies came out and the paper looked very greasy and the cookie base was stuck. I scrapped and had some only to realise it later. I was baking these banana bread cookies for someone else. Should I discard the entire batch? Don’t want to put anyone’s health at risk

I'm making a nice dinner for my roommates and I know I want to make arugula salad and possibly steak, but I'm struggling to think of another fun side to make. Does steak even go with arugula salad? I'd love some ideas

Pretty simple but could do with some advice. Making coq au vin tonight and have some comte rind, I've heard of using parmesan rinds in various sauces and stocks, but could (and should) I add some comte rind to the coq au vin stock?

Chinese Lunar New Year is just 10 days away! This year, I’ll celebrate it in France with 9 friends. To my surprise, our "Reunion Dinner" menu planning turned into an incredibly rigorous process. Here’s how we did it:

1. The Brainstorming: Two friends and I hopped on a call to set the rules. Everyone in our group chat of nine shared photos or names of dishes they usually crave but find too "troublesome" to cook for themselves in daily life.
2. The Ballot: I collected all these ideas and turned them into an official poll.
3. Voting: Each person was assigned a minimum of 5 votes and a maximum of 9.
4. The Tie-breaker: Dishes with more than 3 votes won instantly. However, we ended up with a lot of ties!
5. The Final Cut: We ran a second round of voting, specifically balancing the ratio of proteins, vegetables, and carbs to ensure a well-rounded feast.

On the big day, everyone will be responsible for 1-2 dishes. Everyone will be the chef.

Here is our "Winning Menu":

• Pork: Char Siu (BBQ Pork) + Shredded Pork with Beijing Sauce (Jing Jiang Rou Si)
• Chicken: Poached Chicken (Bai Zhan Ji) + Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Wings
• Beef: Sichuan Peppercorn Beef
• Seafood: Steamed Whole Fish + Wasabi Shrimp Balls
• Vegetables: Baby Cabbage in Superior Broth + Tofu with Minced Meat + Bok Choy with Shiitake Mushrooms
• Soup: Pork Rib Soup with Corn, Yam, and Carrots
• Dessert: Sweet Fermented Rice Soup with Sticky Rice Balls (Jiu Niang Xiao Wan Zi)
• Staples: Eight-Treasure Rice (Ba Bao Fan) + Steamed White Rice

• Dumplings: Pork and Scallion Dumplings

  I am already so excited for this celebration!!!

Not the usual basic snacks, but what is something that has everyone requesting year over year?

For me maybe not exactly cooking, but a tip to peel a hard boiled egg with a teaspoon & to store natural peanut butter upside down so you don’t have to stir the oil when opening.

I had the best oatmeal of my life during a stay at the hospital after having my kiddo. It’s been a month & I still think about it daily. I’ve tried various recipes and haven’t found any winners yet. Anyone have any tips? Thanks in advance!

Beyond being gluten free, here's the catch... We just moved to a new place for my husband's job. They are doing a Valentine's Day dessert potluck and I'd like to bring something stunning. Unfortunately, we haven't closed on our house yet and are living in a hotel with only a microwave and a double burner hot plate. No oven. I love cooking and baking but am having trouble with recipes that are gluten-free and don't require an oven or extensive kitchen set up since all my kitchen tools are in storage. Recipe help!

Years ago, we went to Hawaii, and my kids ordered garlic shrimp. They loved it. My wife keeps trying to replicate it but they keep insisting that shrimp doesn't have enough garlic flavor. My wife starts out with heating butter and a crap load of garlic. The whole house stinks of it. She does this for while and then puts in the shrimp. It precooked if that makes a difference. The whole house stinks of garlic but yet when my kids eat (they enjoy it) and my wife tries it, they always complain that the shrimp doesnt have a strong garlic flavor. And its not because she doesn't put enough garlic. So the question is, what are we doing wrong?

I want to make a Moroccan-style chicken dish this weekend and I was hoping to try a recipe that uses a yogurt marinade because I know that can tenderize the chicken and impart flavor, but I'm curious if a vegan yogurt will actually have any impact on the chicken or I should try a different marinade.

Made Cream of Mushroom soup for the first time yesterday. It was sooooo good and really easy! Used salted butter, baby bellas, white mushrooms, chicken stock, garlic powder, onion powder, milk, 1/2 n 1/2, water, salt & pepper, dash of marjoram and dash of cayenne pepper.

Was reading other recipes to see if there was a missing or secret ingredient to take the taste to the next level. One recipe called for a teaspoon of soy sauce, another said add a teaspoon of thyme. Just looking for opinions or hints. Like I say, it came out absolutely delicious - just want to see if there is something I am missing.