Cooking is a wonderful art to learn. Whether it is purely for nutritional purposes or for the joy of creating a meal from scratch for your family and friends, the relaxation that can be associated with this skill is immense. But if you were never taught the basics of cooking, and finding your way around a kitchen is not your forte, here are a few handy hints you need to know.
When deep frying foods, hold the food below the oil with the tongs for a few seconds. Holding the food under the oil for around five seconds will create a useful seal around the food. This seal will work to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
If you are following a recipe, make sure that you do not follow this religiously, as you should always add a personal spice to your meal. Instead of following a pizza recipe to the tee, add some red pepper to inject a punch into your dish to make it unique and individualized.
People want to use apples very often in fall and winter, but unless they are stored properly, they will spoil rapidly. Storing apples in warm, dry air will cause them to rot. Instead, store your apples in a cool place. Make sure to keep an eye out for rotting apples, because if you have one rotten apple, it will turn all the other apples rotten in no time.
In brief, learning how to cook is learning how to avoid pre-packaged foods and meals. These convenience food products, all too common today, have speed as their solitary real benefit. Home-cooked meals will always beat them in taste and cost. In most cases – even with meals that are not especially healthy – the version made in the kitchen will be healthier than the packaged version.
Keep a few cut up, washed, and prepared vegetables in your freezer. This will reduce your prep time when you’re cooking a recipe. Onions and peppers are great to freeze. Just buy them fresh, wash and cut them when you have time, and store them in individual zip lock bags.
If you are looking to save time for cooking dinners because of your busy schedule, being prepared beforehand can make all the difference. Having ingredients already prepared and measured out to be cooked, as well as having the meat thawed out can save you valuable time when it comes to making dinner for the family.
To get professional-looking results when dipping candy in melted chocolate, use a toothpick to dip the soft candy. Push the toothpick into the candy piece about halfway, ensuring not to go all the way through the candy. Dip the candy, drop it on waxed paper to cool, and quickly drop a tiny bit of the melted chocolate over the hole created by the toothpick. The toothpick hole is now cleverly filled with chocolate.
When you are cooking meat and adding seasoning to it, use an even sprinkling gesture to apply the seasoning. You should season from a decent height and aim to produce an even “snowfall” effect. Executed properly, this technique ensures consistent coverage and avoids leaving over-seasoned clumps or seasoning-free areas on the meat.
You should think big when preparing chicken stock. Make a giant pot and store what you don’t use in your freezer. You can use that delicious chicken stock in stews, casseroles, and soups. Freeze premeasured amounts of your stock in freezer proof containers or bags when cool.
There is no longer a need to hold onto any fear of the kitchen. By following these ideas and learning the basics of cooking, you will be rewarded. With a little time and practice you will be whipping up gourmet meals to impress your friends in no time at all.
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