100 Cooking Tips

[JR]

I'm a pretty good cook but there were some tips here I didn't know, like this one:

16. Here's a low-tech way to test the doneness of roast turkey or chicken. Poke a metal skewer into the flesh and carefully touch the tip to your hand or cheek. If it's very hot, the meat is done. (Just don't burn yourself.) This method always makes me laugh. It was passed on to me by my mother-in-law, who learned to cook without a lot of kitchen gadgets.

http://www.thestar.com/Life/article/206650

 

[Moderator1]

Yeah, 160 degrees is VERY hot.

 

[leo1]

Yeah, 160 degrees is VERY hot.

true. but isn't 130 pretty damn hot, too? a 130-degree chicken isn't done.

 

[farmerjerome]

Before I give my tip, let me point out that I do very little cooking.

From an Easter mishap, make sure that when you bake cookies the baking powder is evenly distributed.

 

[Frank_Ridgeway]

Good stuff, JR.

18. Use refrigerated or frozen leftover potatoes, boiled, baked or mashed, to make creamy soups without cream. Add the spuds to simmering vegetables in stock, then purée.

About 10 years ago I bought Paul Prudhomme's "Seasoned America" in which the primary thickener for New England clam chowder is grated potato. (BTW, this is an extraordinary recipe, best NE chowder I've tasted.) Which got me thinking. We never eat instant mashed potatoes, but the powder is a handy thickening agent instead of flour, not just for soup but for gravy. It seems to dissolve better with less clumping than flour.

 

[slappy4428]

101. When using baking powder, be sure to place the dough or mixture in a container that allows for the product to expand.

First time I made my mother's gingerbread recipe, I filled a pan to the top with the concoction... if I hadn't placed a cookie sheet under it, I'd still be picking gingerbread out of the oven-- 10 years later

 

[shotglass]

102. Many neophyte chefs burn almost anything they bake. There's a fairly easy solution to that. Take cookies, bread, etc., out of the oven two minutes before you think you should. The reason? The baked goods continue to bake inside the pan AFTER you take them out of the oven.

 

[zeke12]

Number one mistake I see neophyte cooks make with meat:

If it's done in the oven, you overcooked it.

Pull any roast slightly before you think it will be done, tent it with foil and allow it to rest. Then you can hit it with the meat thermometer, and if it isn't done, YOU CAN ALWAYS PUT IT BACK IN.

Once it's overdone, that's your ballgame.

 

[HejiraHenry]

Zeke putts onto the green of the No.1 mistake I confront: You have to let a big piece of meat rest. (No quips, stop it.)

My in-laws fixed a very nice turkey a couple of Thanksgivings ago ... pulled it out of the oven and dug right into cutting on it.

Arrrgh. That first bite in the kitchen was great, but the whole damn thing was dry by the time we got it to the table.

 

[zeke12]

Zeke putts onto the green of the No.1 mistake I confront: You have to let a big piece of meat rest. (No quips, stop it.)

My in-laws fixed a very nice turkey a couple of Thanksgivings ago ... pulled it out of the oven and dug right into cutting on it.

Arrrgh. That first bite in the kitchen was great, but the whole damn thing was dry by the time we got it to the table.

Another golden rule, Henry.

Another tip for entertaining:

Put out finger food that doesn't have to be scalding hot to taste good.

That way, you give yourself some flex time in the kitchen to rest meat, dress salads right before you serve them, etc.

DO NOT bow to the pressure to put everything on the table at once because "people are hungry".

Four-star restaurant chefs would not try this, yet your average mother-in-law feels the need to plate everything and serve and entire four- or five-course meal at once.

 

[User 1019]

When cooking a filet meduim rare, four minutes per side, please.

 

[Songbird]

After you've made a large pan of kasha, don't throw it in the sink to prove a point.

 

[slappy4428]

After you've made a large pan of kasha, don't throw it in the sink to prove a point.

Oh, I don't know HOW many times that's happened to me.

 

[slappy4428]

103. Yes, lutefisk IS supposed to look like that.

 

[User 1019]

You can substitute two parts milk, one part butter for heavy whipping cream. It works. Trust me. It has saved the day.

 

[Big Buckin' agate_monkey]

Zeke putts onto the green of the No.1 mistake I confront: You have to let a big piece of meat rest. (No quips, stop it.)

My in-laws fixed a very nice turkey a couple of Thanksgivings ago ... pulled it out of the oven and dug right into cutting on it.

Arrrgh. That first bite in the kitchen was great, but the whole damn thing was dry by the time we got it to the table.

So to speak.

 

[Cadet]

So nice of you all to say "neophyte cooks" when you really mean "idiots". And yes, I resemble that remark.

But I do know this: store your Saran Wrap in the freezer, because it doesn't stick to itself when it's cold. One less frustration to deal with.

 

[Songbird]

94. When your girlfriend, and I use that loosely, excitedly offers a burrito recipe that calls for potatoes, do not -- DO NOT -- reply, "That's just stupid." It will end the relationship.

 

[slappy4428]

94. When your girlfriend, and I use that loosely, excitedly offers a burrito recipe that calls for potatoes, do not -- DO NOT -- reply, "That's just stupid." It will end the relationship.

And you know this... how?

 

[Songbird]

<------- said those exact words, slappy. And yes, it was the final straw.