The super-basic questions thread for non-cooks

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Well, as I've read, skin on its own maintains a slightly acidic pH as a first-level defense against bacteria on its surface, but most of our soaps and cleaners are slightly basic and neutralize that defense. So it makes some sense. You can restore the skin-friendly acidity with a vinegar rinse, it's excellent for getting hair clean of any product build-up or mineral solids from yr water supply. It'll also take off dye, though, so beware.

― Laurel, Saturday, 28 April 2007 07:55 (nineteen years ago)

Vinegar is also bad for metal pipes. But it will clean up glassware and crystal nicely.

― Jaq, Saturday, 28 April 2007 14:29 (nineteen years ago)

I'd also like to point out that there's grease left to pour down the pipes because it wasn't eaten.

The idea of a vinegar or acidic rinse is intriguing. The acidity could strip a large amount of the normal skin oils, where the alkalinity of a mild soap will saponify only a small amount and leave the rest, assuming it's a soap and not a detergent (which contains surfactants that strip even more oils) being used. I started using a form of virgin olive oil on my face as a cleanser, which left it feeling very clean but began to be quite drying. Possibly because olive oil is acidic. Now it works best for me to generally just use water and occasionally to use the oil.

― Jaq, Saturday, 28 April 2007 14:41 (nineteen years ago)

I started using a form of virgin olive oil on my face

WHAT

― jergïns, Saturday, 28 April 2007 16:08 (nineteen years ago)

okay, i just read "Kitchen Cupboard Beauty Tips" and i get it

― jergïns, Saturday, 28 April 2007 16:08 (nineteen years ago)

great site admin cool boy

(i know as much about skincare as i do about cooking)

― jergïns, Saturday, 28 April 2007 16:09 (nineteen years ago)

Jaq, I only use that rinse on my hair a couple of times a year -- I'm sure you could do more often but I forget about it! The results have always been remarkable, though -- hair much softer and free-feeling.

― Laurel, Saturday, 28 April 2007 22:04 (nineteen years ago)

I was just reading up on this "no-poo" method - basically you stop using shampoo and wash your hair every so often with a dilute baking soda mixture followed occasionally with a cider vinegar rinse. Interesting, especially for people who want to limit their exposure to/decrease their use of petroleum derivatives.

― Jaq, Saturday, 28 April 2007 22:59 (nineteen years ago)

a tiny bit of olive oil is also good for storage of cooked, non-sauced pasta

-- Hurting 2, Wednesday, April 25, 2007 1:42 AM (5 days ago)
I've heard/read that adding olive oil to pasta before saucing it can lead to the sauce running off and not sticking the way you'd like, but that's referring to it served hot. No idea what effect storing it cold and then reheating would have.

-- Laurel, Friday, April 27, 2007 6:17 PM (3 days ago)

I worked in a pizzeria that had a pizza that they topped with spaghetti and meatballs and fresh basil (it was actually very delicious, and a carb bonanza). We would cook the noodles and douse them with olive oil. We sauced it, but it didn't so much matter if the sauce stuck to the spaghetti. Still, I'm thinking that using the oil and having slightly less sauce adherance is a far better thing than having a solid mass of congealed noodle that holds sauce.

Therefore, I vote YES on Proposition Oily Noodle.

― Jesse, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 05:29 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, Jaq, I should really find something like that that works for me...I only wash hair 2x a week anyway & if I found a good dry shampoo, I might go to 1 or 1.5x/week. Already use baking soda as an exfoliant.

Jesse, if you serve pasta hot out of the water, you don't have to do anything to keep it from sticking together...I feel like adding oil is a convention of food services that have to keep the stuff servable over time, ie not an ideal home situation. Not an ideal restaurant situation, either, I mean, why not coil it into 1-portion-sized parboiled nests and drop them back in the hot water to finish & be fresh? Etc etc other solutions.

― Laurel, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 18:50 (nineteen years ago)

Laurel, I'm thinking some combination of finely ground oatmeal/baking soda as a dry shampoo combined with the wet baking soda treatment and vinegar rinse might be worth trying out. Also, using this oil cleansing method on scalp once a week (or every 2 weeks). I'm growing more and more concerned about daily exposure to hydrocarbons/detergents these days. (Though can I give up coloring it??? I don't know.) Another interesting thing is the possibility that baking soda might calm down static - have to do more research on that.

― Jaq, Wednesday, 2 May 2007 20:30 (nineteen years ago)

i would assume that dry shampoo would start to build up and actually attract dirt if used more than a few times in a row...?

― lauren, Wednesday, 2 May 2007 20:47 (nineteen years ago)

(i'm basing this assumption on the gumminess that results from using baby powder or commercially prepared dry shampoo.)

― lauren, Wednesday, 2 May 2007 20:49 (nineteen years ago)

Baby powder and cornstarch are so fine - I've never had much luck using them. I think they absorb the oil okay, but I can't get enough of it out. I'm thinking oatmeal might be less likely to stick and maybe the alkalinity of the baking soda might keep the oil from being so sticky too. Also, this idea of less static so more ionic repulsion instead of attraction. But on top of all that, using a wettish mix of baking soda every few days, massaging that in and rinsing it out, should (theoretically) saponify even more of the oils and carry them away, taking the remnants of the powdery stuff with it.

All good in theory, right? I need to start experimenting.

n.b. - the idea of rubbing a small amount of pure jojoba oil into my wet hair this morning was probably a good one, but I used too much and now it's lank and too greasy looking :(

― Jaq, Wednesday, 2 May 2007 21:01 (nineteen years ago)

If you're going to vinegar rinse frequently, I'd cut back on the ratio -- I normally use 2 parts water to one part apple cider vinegar but that's about twice a year, like I said. I pour it onto dry hair and work it into the scalp & throughout, then shampoo & condition with the usual commercial products. I don't color, I just bleach! Also, I already use a mixture of corn meal, Quaker oatmeal, and honey as my body exfoliant so I'm pretty well set to try repurposing some combination of those ingredients.

Lauren, I read an old interview w/ Catherine Deneuve's stylist about how he kept her hair so tousled and full-bodied and he said he never got it wet! How the hell...?

― Laurel, Thursday, 3 May 2007 02:23 (nineteen years ago)

Yeh Laurel, I meant oiling your pasta for future use. Though maybe doing a little bain marie on it might work just as well, who knows.

― Jesse, Thursday, 3 May 2007 04:05 (nineteen years ago)

Ha! I finally found the Should We Wash Our Hair? thread.

― Jaq, Thursday, 3 May 2007 16:29 (nineteen years ago)

Just bought a book on cooking techniques. They suggest poaching by dropping the egg in with a big spoon in vinegar water. I shall attempt this. :-)

― nathalie, Sunday, 6 May 2007 08:28 (nineteen years ago)

Wonderful. I like to put a couple of eggs in my ramen noodles and let them poach.

― Jesse, Thursday, 10 May 2007 04:57 (nineteen years ago)

How do I shot brown rice that doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot? I've tried using a little more water (it comes out mushy and STILL sticks), a little extra oil, the lowest heat possible, bit it keeps happening.

― Hurting 2, Monday, 14 May 2007 06:29 (nineteen years ago)

rice cooker.

― lauren, Monday, 14 May 2007 14:13 (nineteen years ago)

four years pass...

This was a good thread!

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Friday, 16 March 2012 10:17 (fourteen years ago)

I was too mean in this thread in 2007. I will be nicer.

― Carlos Pollomar (WmC), Friday, 16 March 2012 13:06 (fourteen years ago)

You were. I was appalled.

― Jaq, Friday, 16 March 2012 14:02 (fourteen years ago)

I'm glad this thread was revived -- I have no memory of being that horrible, but there's the evidence. Jergins and ILC, I apologize.

― Carlos Pollomar (WmC), Friday, 16 March 2012 14:09 (fourteen years ago)

You weren't that bad! Jergins is a capable lad, he can sort himself out.

― drawn to them like a moth toward a spanakopita (Laurel), Friday, 16 March 2012 14:10 (fourteen years ago)

you've said worse things to me in the past DAY

― lex pretend, Friday, 16 March 2012 14:34 (fourteen years ago)

how about i go get a döner kebab and some beer and forget i ever started this thread.

― jergincito, Saturday, March 10, 2007 7:28 PM (5 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i am feeling this post at the moment tbh

― lex pretend, Friday, 16 March 2012 14:35 (fourteen years ago)

lex would you ever get an EZ cracker

― flagp∞st (dayo), Friday, 16 March 2012 14:45 (fourteen years ago)

could everyone here cook for me so i never have to learn

― markers, Friday, 16 March 2012 14:46 (fourteen years ago)

i can heat up water for instant oatmeal

― markers, Friday, 16 March 2012 14:46 (fourteen years ago)

no because gadgets and kitchenware are some of the things that most often go wrong with cooking, along with the rest of it

― lex pretend, Friday, 16 March 2012 14:48 (fourteen years ago)

Markers, do you have a microwave oven?

― Carlos Pollomar (WmC), Friday, 16 March 2012 14:48 (fourteen years ago)

wait markers, the 7-11 lets you heat up water?

― flagp∞st (dayo), Friday, 16 March 2012 14:49 (fourteen years ago)

wmc: yes!

dayo: yes!

― markers, Friday, 16 March 2012 14:53 (fourteen years ago)

Cool, then here's an oatmeal tip: regular oatmeal is just as easy as instant oatmeal, tastes better, has a better texture, and is more adaptable as far as flavoring it to your personal preference. Probably healthier too. 2 parts water to 1 part oats, pinch of salt, nuke for 3:00 on high.

― Carlos Pollomar (WmC), Friday, 16 March 2012 14:59 (fourteen years ago)

― markers, Friday, 16 March 2012 15:14 (fourteen years ago)

thank you! i didn't really know you could do that. i think we might have some of that stuff upstairs. i'll check and try something like that out and report back

― markers, Friday, 16 March 2012 15:16 (fourteen years ago)

Haha WmC you say all that and then you say to microwave it?? Probably takes 2 minutes longer on the hob

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Friday, 16 March 2012 15:23 (fourteen years ago)

But washing up the pan is a task from Hell.

― Fizzles, Friday, 16 March 2012 15:24 (fourteen years ago)

(incidentally - you're better off soaking with cold water, not hot, for starchy things like pasta/potatoes/porridge).

― Fizzles, Friday, 16 March 2012 15:25 (fourteen years ago)

But washing up the pan is a task from Hell.

― Fizzles, Friday, March 16, 2012 10:24 AM (6 minutes ago)

Exactly!

― Carlos Pollomar (WmC), Friday, 16 March 2012 15:34 (fourteen years ago)

How do I toss a salad so all the heavy stuff doesn't just wind up on the bottom and keep the presentation looking nice?

― the prurient pinterest (Hurting 2), Friday, 16 March 2012 15:43 (fourteen years ago)

Dress the greens and then add the toppings afterward.

― drawn to them like a moth toward a spanakopita (Laurel), Friday, 16 March 2012 15:44 (fourteen years ago)

If the toppings need dressing, do it in a separate bowl first.

― drawn to them like a moth toward a spanakopita (Laurel), Friday, 16 March 2012 15:45 (fourteen years ago)

xxp: oh phew, this is I Love Cooking

― thuggish ruggish Brahms (DJP), Friday, 16 March 2012 15:45 (fourteen years ago)

I don't toss a salad -- I just put the stuff I am going to eat in the bowl I'm going to eat it from, dump vinegar and oil on it, then cut it with a knife and fork so it blends. I don't EVER eat creamy/thick dressing though.

― Laura Lucy Lynn (La Lechera), Friday, 16 March 2012 16:03 (fourteen years ago)

I like to taste the vegetables I'm eating, so not a lot of dressing for me in general.

― Laura Lucy Lynn (La Lechera), Friday, 16 March 2012 16:04 (fourteen years ago)

xxpost LOL

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Friday, 16 March 2012 16:04 (fourteen years ago)

washing up the pan is a task from Hell.

give me a break. first of all, don't let it burn on the bottom. second of all, if you DO let it burn on the bottom, just squirt some detergent in it, put some water in and let it soak for 10 minutes or whatever, sheesh. i like doing it on the hob so i can stir in raisins, pour in a bit of milk, etc. i think the stirring makes it creamier.

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Friday, 16 March 2012 16:06 (fourteen years ago)

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