Why does my curry explode?
Lesley Fitzpatrick
I have a very interesting phenomena happening in my kitchen cupboard.
As the curry I make has to be relatively mild for the kids, I purchased
my SO some curry paste to jazz his up with. Unfortunatly, when the
curry paste is left alone in the cupboard and no one is looking, it
explodes. I wipe the jar, make sure it is well sealed, and it is
only about 3/4 full. Two days later, there is oil (reddish color)
seeping out in a circle around the jar. The jar does not seem to be
cracked, and there is a line of oil down the side of the jar.
So tell me, is this curry paste sooooo hot that the oil is trying to
escape? It seems to be defying gravity (and making a mess).
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Lesley
Ramone
In article <32879C...@mks.com>, les...@mks.com says...
It MUST be fermenting, and the fermentation is producing gas to force
the stuff out of the jar. Now, as to whether the fermented stuff is
still edible or has become unuseable, I have no idea. If it was beer,
I would drink it, but curry paste: I don't know.
Hervey
> I have a very interesting phenomena happening in my kitchen cupboard.
> As the curry I make has to be relatively mild for the kids, I purchased
> my SO some curry paste to jazz his up with. Unfortunatly, when the
> curry paste is left alone in the cupboard and no one is looking, it
> explodes. I wipe the jar, make sure it is well sealed, and it is
> only about 3/4 full. Two days later, there is oil (reddish color)
> seeping out in a circle around the jar. The jar does not seem to be
> cracked, and there is a line of oil down the side of the jar.
> So tell me, is this curry paste sooooo hot that the oil is trying to
> escape? It seems to be defying gravity (and making a mess).
> Any suggestions would be appreciated.
>
> Lesley
Seeping is not exploding! Geez, you got my interest with this woderful
post title (I imagined, "Curry explodes in kitchen. Five wounded. Film at
eleven") and then disappointed me. :(
Shaun
Nyani-Iisha Martin
I don't know anything about curry pastes, so someone might post and
correct what I'm about to say. If they do, well and good. However, I do
know a little about microbiology, and it sounds like something is
fermenting that curry paste and producing gas, which is pushing out the
oil. The fermenter may not be friendly to humans, so, to be safe, I'd
chuck that curry paste.
Ny
--
____________________________________________________
Nyani-Iisha F. Martin nfma...@fas.harvard.edu
"I'm sorry. I may marry you and father your children,
but I'm not giving you my root password."
----Bill Duetschler, my SO
jmclarke
My jar of curry does the same thing. It does look or smell like it is
fermenting or going bad. I have used the contents in making curries and
the food turned out as delicious as usual... and no one have ever become
even remotely sick after eating. It never occurred to me that anything
might be wrong with the contents. But yes, the jar does say "Refrigerate
After Opening"... which I will do from now on.
Joan C. (not going to tempt fate any more)
Janet H.
> I have a very interesting phenomena happening in my kitchen cupboard.
> As the curry I make has to be relatively mild for the kids, I purchased
> my SO some curry paste to jazz his up with. Unfortunatly, when the
> curry paste is left alone in the cupboard and no one is looking, it
> explodes. I wipe the jar, make sure it is well sealed, and it is
> only about 3/4 full. Two days later, there is oil (reddish color)
> seeping out in a circle around the jar. The jar does not seem to be
> cracked, and there is a line of oil down the side of the jar.
> So tell me, is this curry paste sooooo hot that the oil is trying to
> escape? It seems to be defying gravity (and making a mess).
> Any suggestions would be appreciated.
>
When I store juice in a Tupperware container, it ferments because
Tupperware (wonderful stuff) is airtight. I solve the prob by
leaving the lid open a crack. Will curry paste go bad if you
don't seal it in an airtight jar?
Janet H.
James Rowan
In article <eu64tir...@murray.cogsci.ed.ac.uk>, ja...@cogsci.ed.ac.uk
(Janet H.) wrote:
> In article <32879C...@mks.com>, les...@mks.com wrote:
>
> > I have a very interesting phenomena happening in my kitchen cupboard.
> > As the curry I make has to be relatively mild for the kids, I purchased
> > my SO some curry paste to jazz his up with. Unfortunatly, when the
> > curry paste is left alone in the cupboard and no one is looking, it
> > explodes. I wipe the jar, make sure it is well sealed, and it is
> > only about 3/4 full. Two days later, there is oil (reddish color)
> > seeping out in a circle around the jar. The jar does not seem to be
> > cracked, and there is a line of oil down the side of the jar.
> > So tell me, is this curry paste sooooo hot that the oil is trying to
> > escape? It seems to be defying gravity (and making a mess).
> > Any suggestions would be appreciated.
> >
>
Several years ago, a multi-cultural dinner at my university resulted in
many people winding up in the emergency room because one of the curry
dishes was stored at room temperature before reheating. One of my Jamaican
friends said that they were "looking for death" by doing that.
Bubblying is a really bad sign.
Curry should be kept either refrigerated (as in your jar of paste) or
having been already used in a dish, served promptly (and leftovers quickly
refrigerated).
Definitely throw out that jar of curry!
Shankar Bhattacharyya
In article <eu64tir...@murray.cogsci.ed.ac.uk>,
>When I store juice in a Tupperware container, it ferments because
>Tupperware (wonderful stuff) is airtight. I solve the prob by
>leaving the lid open a crack.
Well, it's not that your juice ferments because it is in an airtight
jar - you just find out about it because the jar is airtight and so
the carbon dioxide causes an increase in headspace pressure, so you
hear a hiss when you open the bottle or, quite possibly, see a
swelling of the container along the way.
By leaving the lid open a crack you do not influence the fermentation,
you just compromise your ability to detect it.
Some sort of anaerobic process is not out of the question but I'd be
surprised if that were in fact the case here.
- Shankar
Daneel Olivaw
James Rowan wrote:
Unfortunatly, when the
> > > curry paste is left alone in the cupboard and no one is looking, it
> > > explodes. I wipe the jar, make sure it is well sealed, and it is
> > > only about 3/4 full. Two days later, there is oil (reddish color)
> > > seeping out in a circle around the jar. The jar does not seem to be
> > > cracked, and there is a line of oil down the side of the jar.
> > > So tell me, is this curry paste sooooo hot that the oil is trying to
> > > escape? It seems to be defying gravity (and making a mess).
> > > Any suggestions would be appreciated.
> > >
Bublying over? Can you say F E R M E N T A T I O N ?
D.
Shipra Panda
In article <328F9B...@surfsouth.com>, Donna McCurley <dmcc...@surfsouth.com> writes:
|> I just got one of those upright thingys used for roasting chicken.
|> You're supposed to stand the chicken on end and insert the
|> roaster in the cavity and all the fat drains away. Has anyone
|> used these before and how did it work out? Also, any good
|> suggestions for marinades, cooking times, etc.? This is a small
|> size stand, so I'll probably use either a small chicken or a large
|> (is there such a thing?) cornish game hen.
|>
|> Thanks bunches!
|>
|> Donna
I roasted a rather large chicken and in turned out horribly. My husband
insists that the skin of the chicken should be crispy, and in a normal
roasting pan he complained that only the top breast portion of the chicken
gets crispy. With the upright roasting pan however I just couldn't get
a crispy skin. The longer I cooked it, the top part of the breast started
to burn while the legs and thighs towards the bottom of the pan were still
raw. I had to finish cooking it in a conventional roasting pan. Part of
the problem may have been that the chicken was to big, but overall I was
very disappointed.
Shipra
Carol L. Hall
I have one. The chicken is good, but the grease spatters all over the
inside of your oven
Carol
John David Auwen
In <1996Nov1...@accord.ece.cmu.edu> spa...@ece.cmu.edu (Shipra Panda) writes:
>insists that the skin of the chicken should be crispy, and in a normal
>roasting pan he complained that only the top breast portion of the chicken
>gets crispy.
You can get both sides of a roast chicken to be crispy if you:
1) Cook it on a rack
2) Rotate it during cooking. I normally rotate min every
15 minutes.
Dave
Daneel Olivaw
You should have put it on a turning spit, rotiserie style. You can do
one on a Weber that way with the optional rotiserrie attachment.
d.
sf
|> I'll probably use either a small chicken or a large
|> (is there such a thing?) cornish game hen.
The way I understand it, there is no such thing as a Cornish game hen. They are
all very young (6 weeks) broiler/fryer chickens.
Chas Douglass
Donna McCurley wrote:
>
> I just got one of those upright thingys used for roasting chicken.
> You're supposed to stand the chicken on end and insert the
> roaster in the cavity and all the fat drains away. Has anyone
> used these before and how did it work out? Also, any good
> suggestions for marinades, cooking times, etc.? This is a small
> (is there such a thing?) cornish game hen.
>
>
> Donna
>
My mother-in-law gave us one of these. I think they are wonderful!
We call it "stand up chicken". Our favorite recipe (from memory) goes:
1 tbsp olive oil
12 (or so) small red potatoes, cleaned
2 medium onions, quartered and separated
1 garlic bulb, cloves separated
1 2-3 lb boiler/fryer chicken
Set oven to 500F. When hot, place roasting pan with olive oil in oven
long enough to heat, 5 minutes(?). Toss potatoes and onions in hot oil
to coat. Clear a spot, and place chicken roaster in pan. Bake for 15
minutes. Add garlic. Bake for 30 more minutes, tossing vegies every
ten minutes. You may need to partially cover the bird with aluminum
foil if it starts to burn. Check for doneness with meat thermometer.
The onions carmelize and are particularly DELICIOUS!
Make sure to use a high quality oil. Most oils will burn and smoke
badly at 500F. Butter/margarine would be a BAD choice.
Chas Douglass
Larry Phillips
In article <329B72...@appliedvoice.com>,
Chas Douglass <cdou...@appliedvoice.com> writes:
> Donna McCurley wrote:
>>
>> I just got one of those upright thingys used for roasting chicken.
...
> My mother-in-law gave us one of these. I think they are wonderful!
>
> We call it "stand up chicken". Our favorite recipe (from memory) goes:
First, thanks for the recipe. Sounds great!
I saw one of these last saturday for the first time, and thought it
looked like a good idea. I plan on making one or more, but rather than
metal, I'll be making it in pottery.
Quick question... do the wires in the unit you have get pretty hot?
I am wondering how much of the material I should allow to touch the
chicken, and how much to leave open for air circulation.
--
Socrates said that no man is truly free.
Socrates was never a pilot.
Stan Horwitz
Larry Phillips (la...@furble.tvinet.com) wrote:
: Quick question... do the wires in the unit you have get pretty hot?
: I am wondering how much of the material I should allow to touch the
: chicken, and how much to leave open for air circulation.
I used to have one of those vertical chicken roasters. Mine was all metal.
You just clean a whole chicken, spice and marinade it to your preference,
and insert the chicken onto the roaster through the cavity. The metal
parts get very hot and help sear the inside of the chicken. Don't worry
about airflow or anything like that. Chicken's are not airtight!
In fact, I used to use my vertical roaster by putting it in the base of a
Weber charcoal grill (the kind with a domed top) and cook the chicken
that way. I just sprinkle a little salt, pepper, and garlic powder on
the chicken immediately prior to cooking it. The chicken takes about 30 -
45 minutes to cook, depending on the amount of charcoal you use and the
weight of the chicken. The resulting chicken tastes incredibly juicy and
the meat is so tender that you can literally push gently on the wings or
legs to get them to separate from the rest of the chicken.
One problem with using a vertical roaster in a barbecue is that you need a
barbecue that can hold the chicken upright. Another problem is that after
using the roaster in a barbecue for a few times, the heat from the roaster
destroys the base of the roasting unit. In fact, its been a couple of
years since the last time I did this because I haven't bothered to replace
the last vertical roaster I had.
--
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