Learn Things You Did Not Know About Cooking / Cooking Tips / By Bary Smith No ratings yet. No ratings yet. It is common knowledge that people need food to live. Why limit yourself to subsistence grade food? Cooking something will make you feel proud, and you will enjoy your meal even more. This article will address a few ways that you can improve your cooking skills. If you have not yet cooked with skewers you should definitely consider this fact. Try to buy twisted or other shaped skewers when they are metal, the food will stay on. If you are first embarking on a quest to prepare more of your own food, head to the nearest library or bookstore and find a cookbook with simple, basic recipes that you will enjoy preparing. Try different recipes until you come up with something that works for you. Golden Color A pie crust should be baked a little bit longer than you would think. The crust should have a nice golden color to be fully cooked. The golden color is a sign that the sugars in the crust have finally caramelized. When you are making stir-fry dishes, make certain the meat is thinly sliced on the bias. Sometimes, however, this can be a little challenging and tedious. Then take the meat of out the freezer when it has firmed up a little, but has not frozen yet, and cut the meat at 45 degrees with the grain. Freeze meat partially to facilitate slicing meat into thin strips. This technique is particularly good for meats served in Asian cuisine. With meat that is somewhat frozen, the fibers tend not to stretch or tear as much when they are sliced, making for much cleaner cuts. However, always thaw your food before cooking it. TIP! If you are cooking a meal for someone you want to impress, stick with something you are already familiar with. Refrain from enthusiastically whipping up a new dish or using untested ingredients. If you partially freeze meat before slicing it, you will find that it is much easier to cut it into thin strips. This provides ideally thin meat for Thai, Chinese, or other Asian recipes. It’s easier to slice meat that has been partially frozen because the fibers don’t tear and stretch, so you can make clean cuts. Just remember, though, to let the stripped meat completely thaw out before you start cooking. This keeps the meat from cooking unevenly. During cooking, it’s essential that you have sharp knives accessible. Dull knives are not only difficult to cut things with, but they are also very dangerous to use. If you have to work on forcing a dull knife to go through something, you’re much more likely to accidentally cut yourself in the process than with the one quick, clean cut of a sharpened knife. Be careful when using garlic because the flavor and aroma can be transferred to a variety of surfaces, including your hands. To remove the odor, simply take your hands and rub them against the sides of a stainless-steel sink. This works for garlic and for other foods that leave behind a strong odor on your hands. The steel will clean your hands and remove the smell. You can buy stainless steel “soaps” at your local kitchen store to keep on hand. This seasoning not only goes well with meat, but it can also work with other foods. Add this savory seasoning to snack foods like Chex mix, or use it to spice up your omelet. You will have everyone asking what the secret spice is! TIP! Fresh ingredients are much better to use in all of your cooking than those that are frozen or dried. Use fresh ingredients whenever possible, as they make the food more flavorful, and they may cost less over the long run. It’s very frustrating to try to cook a tasty hamburger and see it deformed or ruined, because it gets stuck to your grill. You should brush a thin layer of vegetable oil over the grill before you begin cooking. This will keep the food from becoming stuck to the grill surface. Chicken Stock When you make chicken stock, a good piece of advice is to make it in a big quantity. If you make a large pot of stock, you can freeze it and store it for future use. Having this delicious chicken stock on hand will be useful when you are making soups, casseroles, stews and so much more. To preserve your stock for future use, just simply make sure that it is stored in heavy duty freezer bags and frozen solid. This way the stock should keep for several months or so. Reduce the amount of cooking oil you use if you are looking to lose weight and make your diet healthier. There is a lot of unnecessary fat in butter and oil. A great alternative to oils is a nonstick cooking spray. Not only does it provide the same results as cooking with oils, it also contains less unhealthy ingredients. TIP! Read nutrition labels when you buy foods. You might be surprised how many common cooking implements have ingredients concealed within that are unhealthy. Sometimes eating is not as enjoyable as serving your own well-cooked dishes. Build up your fund of cooking knowledge by incorporating the preceding tips into your kitchen skill set, and keep your eyes peeled for more great ideas. You’ll become a more accomplished chef and your food will be in high demand! Please rate this Please Rate Winnellie Supermarket Post navigation ← Previous PostNext Post →