In the event you don’t like making use of that big coffee pot for just a single cup of coffee, perhaps you should try utilizing a French press instead! French presses come in numerous sizes, from as small as only a cup or two to the size of a medium coffee pot, but they all work in the same way.
Note that a French cup is 4 ounces, which is only half as much as the American cup most of us are used to (which is 8 ounces.) So when you see a press on the shelf that says, “makes 4 cups,” that press makes four 4-ounce cups, not four 8-ounce cups (unless the box says otherwise). Keep this in mind when you are measuring out your normal water and coffee grounds!
With French presses you don’t want the paper filter most of the coffee makers have. All you need to do is just measure out your coffee grounds and place them inside the bottom of your French press before you pour the standard water in and put the top on. Just make certain that your coffee grounds are relatively coarse, since a fine ground may arrive via the wire filter and you will have little bits of coffee bean inside your cup.
Now, if you ever have a water cooler that dispenses hot water also, then you can just pour the desired amount of normal water right into the press on top of the coffee grounds. Should you don’t have the hot normal water feature, you’ll be able to just boil some drinking water in the microwave or on top of the stove. After you pour the standard water in, put the top on, but don’t press down around the top part that pushes the wire filter down (the plunger) just yet. This is where French presses differ from those dripping coffee pots. With coffee pots, the normal water falls on, and by the coffee grounds, not giving the grounds enough time to sit and soak. French presses let the standard water and coffee grounds sit together, thus releasing additional bean’s flavor.
Depending on how strong you like your coffee, it is possible to let it sit and steep for about five minutes, or longer in the event you like your coffee genuinely strong. Once you’re ready to pour, slowly press downon the plunger as far as it will go. (If you press lower as well fast or the plunger is not straight as you press down, some of the coffee grounds may possibly escape into the upper part, giving you “coffee silt” floating inside your cup.)
Now all you ought to do is pour your coffee into your favorite cup, add cream and sugar, and you’re all set for the day!
April 2, 2010
How to Use a French Press
February 24, 2010
A Bakers Guide To Chocolate
Cocoa is the dry chocolate powder derived from chocolate liquor. It comes in two types: natural and Dutch process. Dutch processed cocoa is processed with an alkaline. It is slightly darker, smoother, and more easily dissolved than natural cocoa. In many recipes, natural cocoa and Dutch cocoa are not interchangeable. Natural cocoa is slightly acidic and will therefore chemically react with baking soda to create carbon dioxide bubbles and some leavening power. Dutch cocoa is slightly alkaline, will not react with baking soda, and must rely on baking powder for leavening.
Bitter (unsweetened) baking chocolate is made from pure chocolate liquor. By specification, it must contain 50 to 58 percent cocoa butter though with inferior products, vegetable oil may he added. Depending on the producer, milk solids, vanilla, or salt may be added. I have a package in front of me that contains only chocolate and milk solids. Unsweetened chocolate has a bitter taste and relies on sweeteners in the recipe to make it palatable.
Sweet baking chocolate–bittersweet, semisweet chocolate–has sugar added. These products must contain 35 to 50% cocoa butter but may have as little as 15% chocolate liquor. Because unsweetened chocolate has twice the chocolate liquor, we prefer to use unsweetened chocolate in most of our baking.
Bittersweet and semisweet chocolate can be used interchangeably in recipes though there is a difference in flavor. Often, bittersweet is a more expensive chocolate and to many, a better, richer-flavored chocolate.
Milk chocolate is made with ten percent chocolate liquor. It contains a minimum of twelve percent milk solids. Because it has such a low percentage of chocolate liquor, rarely is it melted and added to batter or dough.
White chocolate contains no chocolate liquor but is made with cocoa butter. Historically, the FDA has not regulated the manufacture of white chocolate so you need to read labels carefully. If the product was made with vegetable oil instead of cocoa butter, it will not perform the same as a product with cocoa butter.
Chocolate chips are made with chocolate liquor with only minimal amounts of cocoa butter. Instead, they are made with vegetable oil and stabilizers to help them hold their shape. Without the cocoa butter, chocolate chips have a different taste and mouth feel. Chocolate chips will have a firmer set in puddings, pie fillings, and sauces than baking chocolate. Chocolate chips can be purchased in milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate.
About the author: Jon Benson works in an immigration agent and ebusiness is on http://contactslenses.co.nz