Directory of the Science of Cooking

<% If not Request.form("Submit")="" then Response.redirect("SearchSite.asp") End If %>

Order on-line
or stop in
____________

____________

____________

Insights on
teaching poetry
to children
____________

____________

Directory of Info About Food & Cooking
_________________________

The Inquisitive Cook - how chemical and physical reactions affect food

Food Spoilage Guide:
THE GAG TEST: Anything that makes you gag is spoiled (except for leftovers from what you cooked for yourself last night).
EGGS: When something starts pecking its way out of the shell, the egg is probably past its prime.
DAIRY PRODUCTS: Milk is spoiled when it starts to look like yogurt. Yogurt is spoiled when it starts to look like cottage cheese. Cottage cheese is spoiled when it starts to look like regular cheese. Regular cheese is nothing but spoiled milk anyway and can't get any more spoiled than it is already. Cheddar cheese is spoiled when you think it is blue cheese but you realize you've never purchased that kind.
MAYONNAISE: If it makes you violently ill after you eat it, the mayonnaise is spoiled.
FROZEN FOODS: Frozen foods that have become an integral part of the defrosting problem in your freezer compartment will probably be spoiled - (or wrecked anyway) by the time you pry them out with a kitchen knife.
EXPIRATION DATES: NOT a marketing ploy to encourage you to throw away perfectly good food so that you'll spend more on groceries. Heed them.
MEAT: If opening the refrigerator door causes stray animals from a three- block radius to congregate outside your house, the meat is spoiled.
BREAD: Sesame seeds and Poppy seeds are the only officially acceptable "spots" that should be seen on the surface of any loaf of bread. Fuzzy and hairy-looking white or green growth areas are a good indication that your bread is now better suited for use in a laboratory experiment. than as food.
FLOUR: Flour is spoiled when it wiggles.
LETTUCE: Bibb lettuce is spoiled when you can't get it off the bottom of the vegetable crisper without Comet. Romaine lettuce is spoiled when it turns liquid.
CANNED GOODS: Any canned goods that have become the size or shape of a softball should be disposed of. Carefully.
CARROTS: A carrot that you can tie a knotin is not fresh.
RAISINS: Raisins should not be harder than your teeth.
POTATOES: Fresh potatoes do not have roots, branches, or dense, leafy undergrowth.
CHIP DIP: If you can take it out of its container and bounce it on the floor, it has gone bad.
EMPTY CONTAINERS: Putting empty containers back into the refrigerator is an old trick, but it only works if you live with someone or have a maid.
UNMARKED ITEMS: You know it is well beyond prime when you're tempted to discard theTupperware along with the food. Generally speaking, Tupperware containers should not burp when you open them.
GENERAL RULE OF THUMB: Most food cannot be kept longer than the average life span of a hamster. Do not keep a hamster in your refrigerator to gauge this.

Last Update September 09, 2007