Disclaimer: I'm on mobile and English is not my first language.

I'm honestly feeling pretty gutted right now.

I've been making some jam for the first time in my life; it turned out too runny so I purchased apple pectin as I've heard that it's a good thickener. For ~500 ml of jam I used 5 gr of pectin mixed with sugar, add it as the instructions on the pectin jar say: add it gradually while heating the product and mixing it. I let my jam boil for ~5 minutes, removed the foam, the foam I left on a small plate cools and thickens the way I want it to; it's not runny anymore, yay!

So, elated beyond myself, I poured my jam into cans as planned, cool them in room temperature and put them in the fridge (4 C) to finish cooling down and thicken further.

Except for that the jam I put in the jars is still too runny.

It's been more than 5 hours in the fridge now, and I've bought small jars (100 ml each), so they should have cooled down evenly at this point, no?

I don't get what went wrong and can I still fix it somehow? I have more leftover pectin-less jam so I can continue experimenting but I just don't get why it didn't work in the first place if the jam removed with the foam thickened nicely and the rest of it didn't 🫠

I've been experimenting with this for a while. I use dried herbs and spices. I find it difficult to

- Find a balance between many herbs and spices

- The optimal amount of percent for salt for any given mix

- When i grind them with a mortar and sieve it, the spices become very fine, like dust. I realize this makes them more potent. But still i find it hard to balance everything.

One mix i was happy with, is; Rosé pepper, paprika, parsley, basil, salt, cayenne pepper. Can be used for almost anything. I use equal amounts of all, but try to stay at 20% total amount of salt. So for 10 grams total i would subtract 20% and divide the rest on 8. I use a 0.00 weight to weigh the spices.

Another one, for oven baked sweet potato: Salt, black pepper, parsley, mild madras, turmeric. Cut them in thick staves, place in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil, season generously. Cook on 150C, middle rack, regular heat, for at least 40 minutes. Turn heat off, let rest for 10-15 minutes in oven.

For a chocolate cake or similar, like hot chocolate, you can use; Nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, cardamom (spice, not pods). Of course sugar also, preferably brown, but that's a given. Always sieve the spices.

I try to lessen the amount of herbs and spices for now to see if that helps.

Any tips about this? Mix options is also welcome. Few or many is cool.

I keep seeing things cooked inside of pumpkins on social media and I'm wondering if it just makes for a pretty photo, or if it's good eating too.

Anyone have proven and well-loved stuffed pumpkin recipes?

Edit: I assumed anything not in the produce section is grown for looks, not taste. Not planning on going out to the pumpkin patch for a cauldron-sized whopper. Like little pie pumpkins or something like that.

I’m growing blue Porterweed in my yard right now and would like to try it in a recipe. I tried googling some recipes but have found nothing. I was hoping to try it in a soup

Suddenly every god&^mn ziploc-type bag is "stand up" with those stupid pleated bottoms. If that's what people like, fine, but WHY do they suddenly seem to be the only option? Suggestions on where I can find actual flat bags much appreciated.

Hey guys!

I found a recipe that suggested cooking chicken tempura in the oven instead of deep-frying it.

Does anybody have any experience with that method and is able to share what the differences are between deep-frying and ovening the chicken tempura?

Thanks in advance for any notes and have a nice rest of your day!!

So I like cooking and I have always wanted to cook a nice filet mignon with a nice sauce and mashed potatoes. But I just cant get the sauce part quite right. So what sauces can I use (non alcoholic) that go well with filet mignon? I asked google and it said pepper sauce (steak au poivre) but I dont like the strong taste of pepper in steak au poivre. Also does the pan I use have to be a very thick one?

I'm currently cooking a small, and thawed, chicken breast on high in my small crock pot for about 3-4 hours on high.

I've also done this in the past on low. But sometimes I'm kind of in the mood for chicken breast vs. thighs in terms of flavor.

Matcha Cookies

I would like to make matcha cookies. An example is linked above, though I might not make that specific recipe. I currently do not have vanilla extract, but I do have almond extract. In general, can I substitute almond for vanilla in baking recipes? Or do I have to go out and buy Vanilla Extract?

Hello! I have been cooking for 6 years now. I learned how to cook when I was plantbased but now I eat meat and am learning how to best cook meat! Something I've noticed is every recipe I've made with shredded chicken the chicken texture is kinda dry and chewy. Is that normal for shredded chicken breast or am I doing something wrong? 😬 I made flautas Ahogadas and tinga de pollo both with shredded chicken breast and the texture was just not great. I tried boiling chicken then shredding and crocpot then shredding and both have the same result. My mom said thats just how shredded chicken is but then why is it so popular!! 😂

I got a pretty large fillet of grouper caught by family to cook tonight. What simple ways should I cook it? I was considering to some fish tacos by cutting into pieces and frying in the air fryer. Then use the rest by pan searing and possibly finishing the pan sear in the oven. Any ideas?

Hi, so I have been trying to figure out a way to have my dough prepped at my Lebanese bakery we make a variety of manakish/fatayer which is a lebanese staple. The current way we are going about making dough isnt optimal at all. We make dough throughout the day as we sell. This creates problems like needing one person to be making the dough causing the front to be short handed etc so many problems. The question I have is how do I alter my recipe or how to fridge it for it to last me a couple days and alway of dough in stock. Our current dough last a good 4 hours before it over proofs and our working shift is 6am to 3pm. Weekedays we make 3-5 batches and weekends 7-9+. All tips help. Thanks.

I’m struggling with my cast iron dutch oven. I have a gas stovetop and can’t seem to cook anything without getting food stuck on the bottom. This is way past fond and I’m getting a burnt taste to food from it. Is it normal to have to contantly turn on and off the heat when cooking with these or am I doing something wrong?

ETA: it’s an enameled dutch oven, and I turn the heat down as low as it’ll go and still have this issue. It’s really a problem for soups and stews.

Hi everyone! I've always been the "cook" in our family, I would say I'm a good home-cook. But I want to learn and do more impressive dishes and I'm not certain how to approach this. I've made beef wellington and succeeded, just to give an idea what kind of dishes I know how to make. Every Christmas I host a dinner party for my family that include appetizers, entrees and dessert. I have practically an unlimited budget, but no idea what I should make. I'd really like to make something "impressive" and something that will make them go "wow, it's like eating in an expensive restaurant" haha. So any ideas and suggestions are welcome😅

hello all, I'm looking for high quality (non-gmo) dried hominy and haven't found too many good options online. i realize the price point may be high for what I'm looking for, but do y'all have any suggestions on where I could source this item? located in US (California) in case that matters. thanks in advance for any leads!

Tried cooking Pork Tocino today, but even after lowballing the sugar i basically ended up with candied pork. It tastes amazing but is there anything specific that i can pair with it?

Can someone please give a TANGY, not sweet, yum yum sauce. Even better if it's from a restaurant! Thank you!!

I want to use the last of my garden tomatoes (cooked into Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce) on a nice thin crust Italian-style pizza. But how do I get it onto the pizza stone?

The steaks are very tough and almost impossible to eat. I was thinking doing something with chopped steak or making a burrito with it but I never really learned how to cook. Any ideas on what else I may be able to do as it is like 5-10 pounds of random steak cuts is greatly appreciated! I have no meat Grinder and very little cookware or experience so nothing to complex. TIA

I have this thing where I’m not allowed to Google recipes and have to ask another person instead. Reddit might be a way around that. Maybe. Rice cakes have been taking up storage space in my pantry for a while. Any suggestions on what to do with them?

just wondering because I imagine it'd be cheaper and taste better because the worst part of Kraft macaroni and cheese is the pasta. I've used the Kraft powder on different noodles before (the entire bulk boxes noodles disintegrated when boiled) and it tasted 1000 times better, so I was wondering what brand of cheese powder tastes the closest to Kraft? Thanks for the help

My son is home visiting and requested chicken alfredo pasta. I don't have a "go to" recipe for this. Do you have one you love? TIA!

I have about 12 maple flavored moose sausages that I need to cook up, but I don’t really gravitate towards breakfast foods. I want to make them into a dish for supper, but I don’t have many ideas. The only thing I can think of is making a pasta with the meat. Any other ideas?

I have recipes that say for example "marinate for x hours, or overnight". Or this one "soak overnight".

But what do I do with it until I start cooking? I cook for dinner, so the meat will have marinated for 24 hours, and the peas I'm soaking overnight will be soaking for 12 hours and then what until I start cooking at 5p?

What do you do with the food in between?

i have an instapot pro that i bought back in 2022 and have never used, i was wondering how feasible it is to use it for a perpetual stew, i dont cook much if at all and want to try a perpetual stew as it sounds like a low effort way to have home cooked food. (i last cooked mac and cheese over a year ago)