Have a Cooking Question? Ask Food Pickle

by Jennifer Lawinski, Posted Sep 17th 2010 @ 3:00PM

Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, Creators of food52 -- Photo: Sarah Shatz, courtesy food52

What should I do with leftover pie dough scraps?

Which kind of soy sauce -- Japanese or Chinese? Low sodium? -- would be best for a Pan-Asian dinner party?

These are just a few of the questions people are asking each other on Food Pickle, a real-time food Q&A at food52, the cooking website of food writers and cooks Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs. Users can ask and answer questions either through Twitter -- @foodpickle -- or directly on the food52 web site.

"We're calling it the first real 911 for food and cooking online," Stubbs told Slashfood.

As food experts, Hesser and Stubbs were used to family and friends coming to them with cooking questions.

"We've happily answered them over the years, but we thought there was really a need for a service like this to ask quick questions when you're in a bind," Stubbs told Slashfood. "We also realized that these questions were already happening in the comments sections of our recipe pages and our blog posts -- our community was asking and answering these really great questions."

On the Food Pickle Q&A site, users can give thumbs-up to answers they find more useful than others, helping refine the answer to questions.

Stubbs said she and Hesser do sometimes weigh in on questions. "But really only if we feel truly inspired or feel like we have a really great answer, because actually answers are coming in very quickly to all the questions even though we've only been publicly launched for a day or two. People are jumping in and sharing their knowledge."

One of the more interesting conversation's she's seen is about charcoal versus gas grilling. "Not everybody is in the charcoal camp, which was a surprise to us," Stubbs said.

Questions about specific ingredients are also popular. "One woman did a great series of questions where she took pictures of a bunch of herbs that she didn't recognize, asked what they were and how to use them," Stubbs said.

Food Pickle has been quietly living at the food52 site for a few weeks, and officially launched yesterday.

Head on over and ask a question -- what's the best vinegar for making pickles, perhaps?

Filed Under: Online
Tags: amanda hesser, food52, foodpickle, merrill stubbs

Chew on This

Royal Wedding Cake Details Revealed! - YumSugar

Make Your Own Pop Tarts - CHOW
Denny's Introduces a Maple Bacon Sundae - Eater
Whole Foods Opening Bars in Stores - USA Today
Rules Of Bar Etiquette -- For The Bartender - HuffPost Food

Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

11-23-2010 @5:35PM Rose Pellitteri said... how do you make roasted potatoes crispy and not mushy?
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

11-23-2010 @11:02PM Tim said... how long to defrost a 21lb turkey and how long to cook it also any ideas on seasoning it 1st time cooking for the family
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

11-23-2010 @12:32PM Denise said... You can defrost a 21 lb turkey in one day (approx 8 hrs) if you put it in a large bucket of cold water and change the water every couple of hours. It takes way longer in the refrig - more like 3 days.

Vote upVote downReport

11-23-2010 @8:06PM Neil Brumm said... I make a bbq sauce and i need some advise,it is a sweat sauce with its base ingrediants of ketchup and brown sugar spices vinigar,molasas,liquid smoke.
My problem is that it tends to jell some and the liquid smoke separats some.
Can you help me keep it mixed and pourable.
Thanks Papaneil.
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

11-23-2010 @1:25AM Erin said... Hi,
I usually buy a bottom round roast but they had on sale an eye round roast. So being frugal I bought it cause I could get more for less $$$. My question is will it taste the same? What is the difference? I plan to roast in the oven with veggies. Thanks, Erin
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

11-23-2010 @12:31PM denise said... Eye rounds are very good , but they have much less fat than a bottom round. I serve it with a good mushroom gravy or even plain brown gravy. Also, season it well with salt and pepper and a little oil on it befo re roasting.

Vote upVote downReport

11-23-2010 @2:17PM Diane said... The adults chose not to eat turkey. I have 6 drumsticks -almost 5 lb. - for the kids. How long do I cook them? Thanks.
Reply