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Can a Broiler Replicate a Gas Oven?

Another day, another experiment; hello StackExchange so...

My oven has been broken about a month, and I am getting a new one delivered Saturday. But in the wake of a failed pilot on the bottom, I was curious about whether the broiler could replicate the baking conditions of standard use. I set up my pizza stone as a heat shield/sink, and ran the broiler for about thirty minutes. By the end of that time it had reached a pretty stable 350'F.

For the purposes of generic casseroles, or roasting vegetables, would the heat produced by the broiler via the pizza stone work the same as the lower heating element? Would I need to include some water to evaporate or anything else to make adjustments?

Do you guys have any idea on how to pull the two together? Head over to SE to let everyone know. If I get any good answers I will update. 

Gluten-Free Baking, rounding the corners

Switching from one set of tools, techniques, and ingredients to another can be a sharp endeavor. Going from gleefully glutenous to conscientious Celiac can be painful and wrought with personal ailment. Just switching for the sake of the challenge and change can carry with it frustration due to using the wrong hydration levels, temperatures, or gums.

Do you know of any really good resources that have a strategy for nailing the nom in Gluten-Free cooking? I tried to answer the question as best I could, but the question asker is looking for more strategy, concept, and detail. Have you seen anything like that? I have made many types of dough and would appreciate some more information, and anon has a question up that is ripe for the answering.

Here's what I had to offer:

The reason behind "Gluten-Free" as a buzzword? Humans can be allergic to gluten strands. Unless you are using a recipe that is having low gluten or high gluten content related problems (too soft or hard due to gluten bonds), the only reason to reduce gluten is to accommodate someone's food allergy. In which case you need to eliminate gluten altogether.

Many people who have severe reactions simply will not eat food unless they know it was prepared correctly. In a very American twist, I have met some of those people who are not allergic to Gluten, have no sensitivity to it, and treat "going Gluten-Free" as if it were something other than a dietary restriction; more like a lifestyle or weight diet than one that keeps your body from attacking itself.

• I can't offer more actual advice for someone with a gluten-allergy related disorder like Celiac's that go work with a physician and get instruction from a real dietician.
• For a straightforward approach to learning to bake with gluten-free ingredients, Google has plenty of resources for you to use, like this primur.
• For an explanation of typical ingredients, their uses, pros and cons, Living Without has a well-rounded article
• Additional ingredients, techniques, and strategies for serving and preparing are covered in the cookbook Gluten-Free Quick and Easy by Carol Fenster, PhD, who develops products for Bob's Red Mill
• You would be best served with any further requests for detail on specific ingredients asking about them in particular rather than holding out hope for a vague guide to all Gluten-free ingredients.
  • This is because items like xantham gum, agar and so forth are only Gluten-Free by coincidence, and you will be crowding out other helpful resources (i.e. if you look for tapioca starch uses, but in a Gluten Free article, you may easily crowd out the myriad vegan resources that reference it's use)

Like any restriction, best practices are input control-based: (1) referencing what contains wheat or gluten and (2) making sure you don't buy any by reading the ingredients. In addition to actual gluten-specific sensitivities, the Candida diet requires that adherents avoid grains due to immune reactions to gluten (this is semi-dubious in that this is applied above and beyond the scope of defined allergy). In terms of any guide to gluten-free'ing your foods, it isn't that complicated. Basically you need to develop a back-catalog of substitutions. There is less concept, more trivia.

• The degree of elasticity in bread is determined by its gluten content. In many problem-solving questions you will see offered that vital wheat gluten or other 'hard flours' can be added to doughs needing more gluten, or that 'soft flours' with low gluten can be added where a dough is coming out too chewy.

  • In replacing gluten-containing ingredients, there are many substitute flours like Amaranth, Brown Rice, and Garbanzo flours that contain no gluten whatsoever.
  • To substitute APF, Grape Seed Flour is one, a combination of rice flour, tapioca flour, and corn/potato starch can also be made to replicate APF.

• How to substitute; Each of the different flours has a different taste (garbanzo flour is nutty, corn flour tastes like corn) and texture (vital wheat gluten can replicate chicken flesh when cooked as seitan; or consider the difference to the tooth between white, whole wheat, and semolina flours). For gluten containing flours, each also has varying levels of gluten.

  • Assess the taste and texture characteristics of the flour you will be substituting, match them to one with the gluten-content flour you will be using (there are plenty of Google results for any flour). Don't be afraid to make a mix to get what you want.
  • Some flours will require more flour / less hydration to achieve the appropriate dough characteristics. You can research this, but time and trial are eventually going to be your guide so that you can tell by touch and look whether or not it is accurately mixed.

• In dealing with Gluten in flour; for the purposes of food sensitivity, you can't diminish the gluten content by any technique. If it's there, then it's not going to be viewed by most people on a GF diet, and certainly much less anyone with Celiac's, as palatable. Here are some trouble-shooting points to consider with respect to navigating gluten;

  • Kneading creates the network of gluten strands, this helps the bread stand up on its own (exploratorium has video on this). Also, salt and yeast fermentation help to develop strand development.
  • The purpose of giving your dough a rest after kneading is to allow the strands of gluten (the bonds mentioned earlier, these strands are what hold the dough together) to return to their relaxed shape. If you are experiencing snap back (esp. problematic when shaping a dough for a pizza shell) either the dough needs a rest, the gluten content is too high, or you could use a dough relaxer.
  • Shorter fermenting, higher hydration, high fat (fat inhibits gluten formation), and lower-gluten content make for less elastic doughs. They will break apart rather than stretch. If this is problematic, introduce a flour that has a higher gluten content to the mix.
  • A good example of a dough that should not have a high gluten-strand formation would be pie crust. To inhibit gluten formation, and get a rocking crust, you should use small amounts of water, not knead very much, ice all of your ingredients somewhat, and use shortening; these things all inhibit gluten formation and give you that drift away crumb texture. Additionally, crumbly biscuits using unscalded milk are benefit from an enzyme that inhibits gluten formation (incidentally, scalding the milk inhibits the inhibitor)

 I am no expert on bread, dough, or gluten-free, so any help you can offer would be appreciated. If you have more to add, or to contradict me (honestly, I want to get my info straight), either comment below or head to StackExchange to pitch in.

Does searing cause more or less oil to be absorbed than frying?

In continued celebration of Veg*n week on Seasoned Advice, I have a follow up on my crusted porcini comments, and general tips for frying/grilling tofu. 

Does searing cause more or less oil to be absorbed than frying?

So I gave an answer with guidance on making tofu on the grill or skillet; but a side question came up, which was to do with the chemistry of frying for me. I can see this also being of significant importance to people who decide to go veg*n due to health or weight concerns as they would be more likely to want to min-max their benefits/flavor from oil to fat/calorie intake.

Do you know a definitive answer to this one? Is the answer neither more nor less, but equal? I don't know; that's why I asked the question. Head over to stackexchange if you know the answer!

So far I got one good one:

Higher temperatures, as a rule, mean less absorption of oil because the force of the steam trying to escape from the food pushes against the oil. Here is a link to a scholarly article discussing the mechanics of fat absorption in the production of french fries (complete with a table of results and diagrams). Interestingly, the author says that potatoes deep fried at more than ten degrees Celsius below the recommended temperature of 180-185C leads to 40% higher fat uptake. I expect pan-frying leads to a much lower total uptake of fat, but I am sure the principle is the same.

How to prevent tofu from falling apart on the grill

Seasoned Advice's Veg*n week continues, back again this time with a tip for tofu;

Standard tips for browning/frying/grilling tofu;

• Ensure that you press the tofu sufficiently to remove its own moisture, marinate if desired
• Lightly dust with flour or cornstarch
• Brush oil on the grilling surface
• Specific to the case of grilling, be mindful of the gap the tofu will stretch across on the grate; it may be crumbling because it isn't strong enough or thick enough to sustain wide gaps.

Someone also mentioned skewering the tofu as an option. While this would work well, I have found a spatula, thin and metal, to be prefereable as long as the grilling surface is clean and brushed.

In following Miss Kristin's lead, I made the porcini crusted tofu from ppk's recent post. A minor, but major difference in my tofu is the temperature of the cooking surface. Some people find a medium heat preferred, and for uncoated tofu I would agree. However, when you crust anything moist, a high heat with the intent of searing is my preference.

This is doubly the case for tofu. Caveat: your taste in tofu determines whether this will be more/less applicable. I prefer a more raw texture and taste with a crunchier shell. It should be warm, but I don't want it to be a wholly dried out bean curd carcass or soaked in oil. YMMV, I liked Pittsburgh Rare before I stopped eating steak and I think that sensibility has carried over.

Searing versus a more thorough frying will lock in less oil (not only can you use less oil, but the higher the heat the lower the absorption) and give way to a crisp out side and firm inside; medium heat will allow in more fat from frying and result in more doneness conformity through the slice of tofu.

Could a cast iron skillet change its ways and be kosher for a vegan?

Apparently it's veg*n week on Seasoned Advice! Woo-hoo!

I posed a question that stems from my cast-iron skillet having been broken in by browning tri-tip steak for last September's ICS Chili Cook Off in Cincinnati. It also comes from my experience being unwilling to really ask to borrow a friend's dutch oven to make meatness a few months back. She hadn't used it for non-vegan food, and I just couldn't bring myself to ask to defile it.

So, the question is in three parts, principally, "How do I clean the porous cast-iron surface to prevent cross-contamination?" and "Is there some kind of feel good ritual (i.e. Kashering) that might give me the warm and fuzzies about serving vegan dishes from a previously treif skillet?"

Fortunately for me, the answer is YES, and I don't need to bury my beloved cast-iron in the backyard in some quasi-religious atheistic ritual. Click through to find out about libbun from a rabbi, or here to find out about the more practical approaches in addition to Parve compliance.