Anyone who is alive needs to eat. Just eating “survival food” gets boring fast, though. Cooking great food can be even more rewarding than eating good food. This article will address a few ways that you can improve your cooking skills.
If you have time when you are reheating food, use an oven rather than a microwave to avoid dry food and puddles of extremely hot liquid. Microwaves cook with intense heat that causes the oil to separate because the oil cooks faster. Baking, though, provides an even, consistent heat, even if it is a little slower. This way, the ingredients and flavors of the food stick together.
Blot your ground beef with a paper towel before you brown it. It is a good idea to always blot away the moisture. Any moisture that remains there will be released during cooking. It will cause the meat to sizzle. Searing of the meat will be inhibited and lead to steaming instead.
If you cookware is nonstick, do not use metal utensils when cooking. Metal or wooden utensils will scratch nonstick coating. This is both unappetizing and possibly dangerous.
If you are learning to cook for yourself or your family, pick up a cookbook from your bookstore or library. Look for one that has basic, easy recipes that will be fun to cook. Be patient, and try several recipes. Like any skill, cooking can take practice.
You can repair a crust. If you have kneeded your dough too much, it can get cracks in it. You can easily knead out these cracks with your finger if you sprinkle a dash of cold water on them first. If the cracks pop up on the top of the crust, dab it with milk and then sprinkle some sugar over it. After it gets baked, the crust will be beautifully glazed and the cracks will be hidden.
There are many things you can do ahead of time to save time during your meal preparation. Look through any recipes you make before you begin and prep accordingly, this can save you time before you cook letting you concentrate on your task when the time comes. There is a lot you can do the day before to prepare for the next day’s meal. This takes a lot of the stress out of even the most complicated recipes and dishes.
When adding oil to cooking food, pour it on the sides of the pan. This way, it will already be heated by the time it reaches the food. Doing so will maximize the flavors of the food you are cooking by keeping them inside the food.
Create flavored butter to add complexity and pizazz to breads, dinner rolls and corn. Make sure that your butter is room temperature by either leaving it on the counter for a while or softening it in the microwave. Then mix in herbs, spices or sauces to add an extra burst of flavor. You can dabble in any sort of taste from hot peppers to acidic citrus, or even the sweetness of honey.
In order to eliminate some strong odors caused by items such as garlic or other pungent foods, just use stainless steel on your hands for a few seconds prior to washing them. The stainless steel will help to remove the offending odor restoring your hands’ freshness. You can find stainless steel on your kitchen sink basin, on cutlery or even in specially designed stainless-steel soap bars.
Learning to cook and having fun with it can be as much fun as eating. Use these tips to make them a part of your experience, add some new things as you go. Your cooking will get better, and everyone you know will ask for your cooking wherever you go.