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Questions tagged [acidity]

63 questions
86
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8 answers

Browning Avocados - What Helps?

Years ago Koobz asked "Oxidized Avocado: What's Going on & How to Prevent It?" That question has been merged with this one because it's dealing with the same issue. Recently, we had this question: Are limes and lime juice more acidic than lemons and…
Jolenealaska
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Are limes and lime juice more acidic than lemons and lemon juice?

I attended a business meeting in the Midwest and one of our clients took our management team and a few other business partners to dinner at an awesome Mexican restaurant. When the appetizers were served I commented that it was a wonderful…
Cindy
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Is it safe to cook wine or vinegar in cast iron?

I want to cook a beef brisket, following a recipe that suggests baking it on a bed of onions and red wine, or red wine vinegar. I'd like to use a cast iron dutch oven, but am concerned about the interaction between the wine and the iron. I've read…
raven
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Why do people recommend cream of tartar when whipping egg whites to the exclusion of all other acids?

Virtually every single egg white recipe will say add some cream of tartar to egg whites to help them whip better because the cream of tartar will lower the pH and make it more stable. But if all it's doing is making it more acidic, why exclusively…
Shalmanese
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I’m doubling lemon juice in a no-bake pie recipe to make it extra sour. What can I add to make it less goopy?

Every year my partner makes a lemon pie, and every year her guests want it to be more sour than the last. Last year we put in way more lemon juice than the recipe called for, but it came out a goopy mess. What can we add to get the pie to hold its…
Jake Nixon
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"Cooking" with acid (ceviche)

At a tappas bar, I had shrimp ceviche. In this dish, the shrimp is "cooked" not by high temperature but by the citric acid of its marinade. This would be really fun to make at home. For such dishes, should you stick to tested recipes? Or is there a…
Dinah
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Safe pH range (acid vs base) for food

One of my molecular cookbooks goes into the use of acidity / alkalinity in cooking. What it doesn't describe is what safe pH values are that you can still serve food at. Note: I am not looking for danger or 'cooking at the edge'. I'm a chemical…
Tobias Op Den Brouw
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How can I determine canning processing times?

I know safety is paramount with canning, and best answer is always to find a trusted recipe. But that's obviously not possible for every conceivable food one might want to can. Besides, trusted recipes came from somewhere (and work even though for…
Cascabel
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How to measure food acidity

I am asking about a method or a trick to measure (or guess) how acidic is food. Please don't suggest any expensive tool; this will be for home usage only.
mmonem
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Does cornstarch affect the pH of what I'm cooking?

I'm considering canning some fruit compotes to use with yogurt, and the recipe I want to use (which was not designed with canning in mind, found here: http://www.simplebites.net/how-to-make-your-own-fruit-bottom-yogurt/ ) calls for cornstarch to be…
Lisa
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Does adding sugar to tomato type sauces affect acidity?

Many(most?) tomato based pasta sauces have added sugar, it is generally a very small amount. I have always heard this was done to reduce the acidity. My main question: Does this little bit of sugar increase the pH enough to be noticeable? Or, is…
Debbie M.
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How do I adjust a baking recipe for fruits of different PH?

I just cooked some apple bread, and I'm curious about adapting it to other fruits. I'm led to believe that the acidity of a fruit will cancel out some of the effect of baking powder or baking soda by neutralizing it, so more acidic fruits will…
Nick Johnson
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Baking soda to cancel acidity?

Simple question: can you generally use baking soda to cancel acidity in your dishes? For instance, sometimes tomato sauce is too acidic, or you put too much vinegar in some dish, etc. The simple acid$+$basic$=0$ concept should make it work, but do…
user76575
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Why roast beets in vinegar?

I have always roasted my beets in a bit of vinegar in the bottom of the pan like 1/4" or so. It is how I was taught. But why do it? What does the vinegar do for the beets?
Laura Thomas
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What pH range is suitable for cooking on teflon?

We shouldn't cook acids, alkali and concentrated salts on teflon. But what are exact numbers? Can I put a sour dairy stuff for on it example, like kefir (it's good to put it in pancakes) ? Where is safe pH range?
R S
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