KitchenHelper.comHelpful Tips
New cooks often don't know a lot of the simple tricks that seasoned cooks use to make things go smoothly around the kitchen. I have decided to let you in on a few of my favorite little tips and tricks. These range from cooking tips, to storage, to serving and to cleaning up. I hope you enjoy these!
Cooking Tips
Here is a little bit of helpful information to make your cooking experience go a little smoother.
Salt the water when you boil pasta.
Put salt in the water when you boil your pastas. According to Chef Mario Batali the water should be as salty as the sea. Don't add extra salt to the pasta after you boil it. The pasta will take in the salt as it cooks. Be sure to bring your water to a full boil before you add the pasta!
Cook pasta to al dente.
Professional Italian chefs only cook pasta to al dente and then add the pasta to the sauce and let it cook a bit longer. This cooks the taste of the sauce into the pasta and makes for a much better tasting pasta. It takes a little practice but is well worth the effort!
Don't put the heat too high!
Many novice cooks try to cook with a thin skillet on an electric stove and jack the heat up to high. All this is going to do is burn the food and ruin the pan. Slow down a bit and use a little less heat.
The only times you really need high heat is if you are frying food or want to sear it. On most stoves you have to put the heat on high to bring a large pot of water to a full boil as well. Other than this, medium or lower heat will usually be just fine for most of your cooking needs.
How do I know if my oil is hot enough?
350° is a good temperature to fry most foods. If you don't have a thermometer that will read that high lying around then just test the oil. To see if the oil is hot enough to fry—just sprinkle a little flour into the oil. If it sizzles the oil is hot enough.
Keeping Food Fresh
These tips will help you keep the food you buy a little fresher longer and help you choose foods that will last longer to begin with.
Lettuce getting a little wilty?
Soak it in a large bowl of water with a little bit of vinegar for a few minutes to crisp it back to life. It doesn't take much and shouldn't affect taste. Try something like 2 tablespoons per gallon of water.
Get a decent set of canisters!
Invest in a decent set of canisters to keep your flour, sugar, coffee and tea nice and fresh all the time. I love Tupperware! I have had my set for 30 years and they always keep my ingredients fresh and moisture free.
Don't store your produce in those plastic bags.
Take them out of the plastic bags and put them in paper bags and they will last longer. If you don't have paper sacks lying around then simply open the bags up some to let the air circulate and let out the gases the food is letting off.
Buy the freshest food possible.
Look at where your food is coming from. If it is grown locally, then it is going to last a lot longer than stuff shipped in from China or Guatemala.
Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold!
If you are making anything with dairy products you need to keep it cold! Many a picnic has ended in disaster because potato salad (mayo) was left out in the sun too long. Likewise, once hot food gets cooler bacteria begin to multiple exponentially, so keep it warm! About 20 minutes or so on the table and you need to start thinking about putting the foods back to the fridge or oven.
How cold is cold and how hot is hot?
Your refrigerator should be just above freezing to keep food fresh. If you want to keep food in the oven to eat later I would set the oven to at least 150 degrees.
Don't buy processed foods!
They add chemicals, bad fats, salt, sugar and who knows what else to that stuff. It really isn't that hard to make good food. It takes the same amount of time to make my Macaroni and Cheese as it does the boxed variety—but mine tastes better and I know what is in it!
Cleaning Tips
You don't have to have an army of cleaning products. In fact, I only keep a few on hand and manage to keep my home free of the nasties. I know, sometimes a sticky mess arises and you just don't know what to do about it, so I offer a few helpful hints to help you out.
The sniff test
The sniff test is a simple easy way to help keep your kitchen clean. We all use washcloths, towels, etc. At least 2-3 times a week give them the "sniff test" and smell them. If they smell at all mildewed or moldy then it's time to get a new one.
You can keep things clean by washing them often, but if you are one of those folks who just isn't into cleaning, then I suggest you soak them in a 10% (1 part bleach to 9 parts water) bleach solution for about 20 minutes and then rinse them really well with water. This should kill off 90% of the germs known to man.
Keep on hand
I always keep these things on hand--Dish soap, SOS pads, bleach, vinegar, a stiff brush, a sponge with an abrasive sleeve for dishes. DO NOT MIX BLEACH AND VINEGAR! It might kill you and I am broke so don't bother suing me.
- I use regular dishwashing soap to wash all of my knives and pots and pans.
- SOS pads keep your stainless steel cookware shiny and new.
- Bleach disinfects well but it is not so good for people - be sure to rinse well if you use it around any food areas.
- Vinegar is a mild acid and disinfects to a point - nothing kills all germs.
- A stiff brush is good for cleaning vegetables, but PLEASE, use different brushes for vegetables and cleaning uses.
I keep a sponge with a plastic outer sleeve to make clean-up easy. Sponges will harbor germs, so I always make sure that I rinse mine well and change it often. I also make sure I simply wring all of the water out of it when I am done. Be sure to changes them out often and give it the "sniff test" frequently.
Dishwashing - the bane of all cooks
I use Palmolive dishwashing liquid because I wash dishes by hand and it is one of the few that (I'm told) uses a vegetable based soap instead of a petroleum based soap. Who wants petroleum products in their food anyway?
Yes, I do have a dishwasher, and I use it. I like it. It is my friend. However, sometimes they just don't quite get the job done. I hand-wash my knives because the abrasive ingredients in standard dishwasher soaps can dull them.
I hand-wash my pots and pans mostly because I don't use non-stick and I prefer to scour them with an SOS pad—it's just as quick and makes them shine. The rest of the stuff goes in the dishwasher and more power to it.
OMG! I have cheese permanently attached to my cookware!
Even the best of us occasionally burn something. Even if we are remarkable cooks, sometimes foods will cause a nasty mess. I hate the cheesy messes. This is what you do (this also applies to other "fatty" messes as well).
Take the pan and soak it in VERY hot water and dish soap for a little while. Use a stiff brush to brush away the residue. If that doesn't help, place the pan on the stove and heat it up a bit with some water and a tiny bit of soap. Watch it closely and bring it to just below a boil. Let it set a few minutes and the fats in the cheese or whatever (it's always fatty things) will break up and then you can wash it away.
If that still doesn't work then use a little elbow grease. Good food is not always without its price. :)
This seems like a lot of work.
No, it's really not. When you cook and something is particularly messy (cheesy or fatty) simply take your pans and put them in the sink and fill them with hot water when you are done using them. After dinner, take a stiff brush and run it across the pans to rinse away the mess. It only takes about 5 minutes and is well worth it if you ask me.