This item is for qyestions that don't neceearily need its own item. There have
been multiple times when I've wondered about different food related things
but am not experienced enough to know or haven't necessarily seen it in a
cookbook [though I'm sure there ARE cookbooks that may answer some of these
questions].

26 responses total.

What's the diffence between the various types of flour? Ie, all-purpose flour,
cake flour, self-rising, etc? How much of a problem is there when substituting
one [like all-purpose] for one of the others?  [This is generally for white
flour; I know there are other types, too, like wheat and a couple others].

Self-rising has baking powder in it.  Cake flour has less gluten than all
purpose.  Bread flour has more gluten.  Hard wheat has more gluten than soft
wheat and is used for bread flour.  All-purpose is probably a blend.  White
flour IS wheat flour which has been deprived of all its germ and fiber, and
usually bleached.

Denise, generally you can substutute white and bread flour for each other.
If you use self-rising instead of white, eliminate any baking powder the
recipe calls for (like biscuits).

Don't substitute all whole wheat flour for all white flour.  Half and half
you can probably get away with.  

Cake flour is softer and finer than white.  In making cakes and cookies, you
can substitute white for cake.  Just don't expect the same soft, tender crumb
and texture.  

I'll look up the exact substitutions tomorrow, but flours are somewhat
flexible.

Thanks, y'all! :-)

I know I've had other questions in the recent past but just can't think of
them at the moment. I'm sure I'll come up with more, soon.

When substituting all-purpose flour for cake flour, remove 3 tablespoons per
cup of all-purpose to each cup cake.  Self-rising is 1 cup flour, 1 1/2
teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; adjust accordingly.

Hmm, I'll have to write this all down and keep it with my recipes. Thanks
again... :-)

Thanks Glenda, that's the information I was going to look for.

Ok, another question/topic:  I just read a thread in one of the craislist
forums [but for some reason, I can't respond to], the topic being on mashing
potatoes. The question was, should someone get a potato masher? Personally,
I use my hand-held mixer [I don't have a kitchen aid]. There were several
responses with positive results with the masher. Someone also mentioned using
a ricer for this job, but hardly anyone else mentioned using a hand mixter
[except to say that overdoing it with a kitchen aid makes it too glue-like].
So what's your opinion on a potato masher? Is it just another gadget to
clutter up the  kitchen with?  And what does a ricer do?

A ricer forces the potatoe through a bunch of small holes.

I use a hand masher, but that's because I prefer non-electric utensils.  Hand
mashing is not much harder for me than hand mixing batters.  I do use my mixer
(actually, my does-practically-everthing-including-beating-egg-whites Little
Pro Plus) for creaming sugar and butter for cookies and cakes.  And for angel
food cakes.  

I keep a hand masher around because I make a lot of refried beans as well as
mashed potatoes.

A ricer pushes soft solids through tiny holes that are a little bigger than
the ones in a strainer.  

Hmm, ok. I guess I've never thought about having rice smaller than it already
is before.  What kinds of things would one use this kind of rice for?

I use a hand masher and it works just great

It's not rice.  A "ricer" is a device that pushes soft food through small
holes.  Sometimes you use a spoon and push the soft food through the mesh of
a strainer.

Think of a garlic press enlarged to hold 1-2 cups of cooked food.  The piston
pushes the food through the small holes in the bottom.  Many people use them
to make homemade baby food.  

It's like a mechanical puree device.  

resp:8 Denise- my hubby, who makes all our mashed potatoes, uses an
electric mixer. My mom always used a masher.

It is called a ricer because the mashed potato that comes out is about the
diameter of a cooked grain of rice, and probably breaks up into short pieces
that look a bit like rice.

I have a ricer that I used to make very smooth mashed potatoes (both white 
and sweet).  I do think a ricer makes lighter mashed potatoes than using 
either a stand or hand mixer.  With a mixer by the time you've beaten out 
all the lumps you've worked the gluten.  When the potato comes out of the 
ricer you can pretty much stir in some milk with a fork for a few seconds 
and be good to go.  But I still use a stand mixer when I'm making mashed 
potatoes for a crowd.

Mostly, I simply use a masher, because I like rustic smashed potatoes. 
I'm especially fond of doing this with boiled sweet potato chunks where
I hand mash 'em with a little OJ (or milk), cinnamon and a bit of butter.

Ok, thanks, y'all!  I'm learning lots from this group. :-)

Potatoes do not have gluten, only wheat and rye do.

It's starch not gluten that gets overworked and released.  Thanks
for the correction, Sindi.

mmmm. I never thought to do that with boiled sweet potato chunks. I 
*LOVE* sweet potatoes and often cut them up and bake them. But the idea 
of boiling them and then hand mashing them with OJ or maybe pineapple 
juice and cinnamon and butter sounds super yummy. 

I prefer the masher, I like little lumps of potato in the mashed potatoes.
Mom used to use the mixer, I did before I moved out.  One of the first things
I bought after moving out on my own was a hand masher and a ricer.  I use
the ricer when I want creamier potatoes and the masher when I am mashing
unpeeled potatoes (most of the time).  The masher also gets used for mashing
avacados for guacamole and for mashing other root vegetables (turnips,
rutabagas, parsnips, etc.)

My trick to fluffy mashed potatoes is to drain them, then stick them 
back in the pan they were cooked in and let them sit with the lid on.  
It's weird - it's like they dry out a bit and are easier to mash, they 
cook a bit without water, and it takes very little time with the hand 
mixer to mix them up, so they aren't super starchy.

We sometimes mash chickpeas for hummus.

I remember someone saying the masher works for mashing up bananas for banana
breat.

I tend to run my chickpeas through the cuisinart for hummus, along 
with the tahini and whatever I'm spicing with, but then, I like smooth 
hummus.  My latest hummus add has been to roast a whole clove of 
garlic for about an hour, let it cool, and then add it into the hummus 
as it's pureeing.  It adds a nice flavor to it.

I used a hand masher before someone gave me an electric mixer for
Christmas one year.  I still have the hand masher because it's great for
mashing chick peas for mock tuna.

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