Kitchen Tips?

[Vraith]

Bread thaws out just fine, very quickly. I freeze half of my hamburger buns, hotdog buns, or even half a loaf of bread so that they don't go stale or moldy before I can eat them.

Side track from this...when I got my house, I opened a bottom kitchen drawer and it was tin box inside. I was confused...my mom said it was a bread drawer. A while after I accidentally left partial loaf of bread in it for a long time [it's a very long drawer, got pushed to the back].
It was neither stale nor moldy...it's good for at least a week even if I forget to close the bag...much longer if I remember.

The glove tip is a good one...I got addicted to gloves when I cooked for a living, and the 100boxes are super cheap. I use them to wash dishes, too...dishwater just feels disgusting to me for some reason.

Has anyone mentioned that seriously sharp knives make both prepping/cooking and eating so much more enjoyable?

[aliantha]

I can now confirm that oven-baked bacon does not spatter. Menolly demonstrated the technique this morning and there is no residue on the interior of my oven...just collected bacon drippings in the bottom of the broiler pan.

...but then you've gotta wash the broiler pan...

Here's the thing: bacon cooks up in either the microwave or on the stovetop in a fraction of the time it takes to oven-bake it. Running the oven for 20 or 30 minutes sucks up a lot more power than does turning on a stove burner for a few minutes, or running the microwave for two or three. If there's no advantage in taste (and I gather there's not), no advantage in cleanup, and definitely no environmental advantage, why would you bake bacon?

Hey, aliantha, I thought you could make your own bacon at home without the nitrates?

You can? I've never heard of this.

But see, there's also the fat content of bacon, and the fact that Magickmaker no longer eats red meat. So I probably wouldn't bother, in any case.

[Vraith]

and the fact that Magickmaker no longer eats red meat. So I probably wouldn't bother, in any case.

No worries there, pork is "the other white meat."
I like the tactile/texture of baked bacon...but it is inefficient in a lot of ways unless you're also doing something else with the oven at the same time.

[aliantha]

and the fact that Magickmaker no longer eats red meat. So I probably wouldn't bother, in any case.

No worries there, pork is "the other white meat."

Tried that, as I like a pork chop now and then. She's not buying it.

I agree about oven bacon if you're already using the oven for something else anyhow. But I can't see firing it up just for this.

Or maybe I'm just cranky today. Carry on....

[DoctorGamgee]

If you are going to freeze a pasta for later consumption, using dried onion in the sauce rather than fresh (which is counterintuitive) will keep it from getting weepy.

Raw dough comes off easier if you run it under cold rather than hot water, as the heating process serves to bind the flour into paste.

Clarifying butter before putting it over popcorn will leave less grease and more intense flavor.

Blanching broccoli before chopping it up will make it look better as an appetiser of in salads.

I love my cherry-pitter. One of the best purchases in my kitchen.

[Menolly]

I use so much garlic I rarely have a problem with fresh going bad, and I've gotten the peeling and slicing routine down where it barely takes any time at all, IMO.

Maybe you already know this, but if you'll take a spatula (or other flat object), lay it on the garlic clove, and then smash it with your fist, the peel will literally fall right off.

*nod* *nod* *nod*

I prefer the heel of my palm and slight increasing pressure over smashing, so the cloves remain as whole as possible. But yeah, the downward pressure definitely makes peeling fresh garlic a whole lot easier.

[peter]

A small quantity of salt will also aid in the pulping of a garlic clove big time But the reason for my visit here is to say this ...... and say it only once.

When cooking with kitchen foil........THE SHINY SURFACE GOES TOWARDS THE FOOD!.......[Haaaah, that's better now I've got that off my chest ].

[I'm Murrin]

The shininess of the foil makes no difference to the cooking process and is just a side effect of manufacturing.

[Cagliostro]

I can't quite relate to a lot of these tips, so here are mine:

1. Before a gathering of over 50 people, be sure the kitchen staff knows what is on the menu, and has allowed the wine bottles to breathe the required amount of time before being served.

2. Have your personal assistant check the larder now and again to make sure that things are truly fully stocked.

3. If a member of the kitchen staff has been stealing, it can be funny to have the maid mop in the area you plan on doing the firing (if you are doing it yourself) right before dropping the axe. They are usually so upset that they will slip on the wet floor while gathering their belongings.

4. If you do have a...dalliance, shall we say?...with a member of your kitchen staff, be sure that they are no longer cooking food for you when things start to turn sour. Unless, of course, you don't mind the taste of saliva or arsenic.

[Menolly]

The shininess of the foil makes no difference to the cooking process and is just a side effect of manufacturing.

^what murrin said^

[Ananda]

3. If a member of the kitchen staff has been stealing, it can be funny to have the maid mop in the area you plan on doing the firing (if you are doing it yourself) right before dropping the axe. They are usually so upset that they will slip on the wet floor while gathering their belongings.

brilliant idea!

[peter]

The shininess of the foil makes no difference to the cooking process and is just a side effect of manufacturing.

[...in that case, for aesthetic reasons alone, I repeat.....]

"THE SHINY SURFACE GOES AWAY FROM THE FOOD!"

[Ahh......better now that's off my chest!]

[peter]

If you do have a...dalliance, shall we say?...with a member of your kitchen staff, be sure that they are no longer cooking food for you when things start to turn sour. Unless, of course, you don't mind the taste of saliva or arsenic.

I knew a man who kept a hotel in Cornwall. I expressed sympathy at what I assumed must be the demanding and stressfull nature of the business, but he said it had it's compensation. "I employ twenty chambermaids and it takes my wife two hours to check every room in the hotel," he smiled.

[peter]

Back to the tin-foil controversy; Conspiracy theorists - THE SHINY SIDE GOES AWAY FROM YOUR HEAD! [Ahhh.... it's better to get that of my chest.]

[Ananda]

Back to the tin-foil controversy; Conspiracy theorists - THE SHINY SIDE GOES AWAY FROM YOUR HEAD! [Ahhh.... it's better to get that of my chest.]

That's true. If you put the shiny side toward your head, the hat not only doesn't block the rays, but it allows them in and then traps and amplifies them! you will become a new world order lizard man zombie within hours of donning such a cap.

[peter]

I'm glad you've 'bumped' this Ananda, because since posting I've done a bit of research and found that Murrin was completely correct and that the shiny side is a mere side-effect of the production process. But isn't the world in some way a better place because it's there - c'mon, you know I'm right!

[Cagliostro]

Back to the tin-foil controversy; Conspiracy theorists - THE SHINY SIDE GOES AWAY FROM YOUR HEAD! [Ahhh.... it's better to get that of my chest.]

That's true. If you put the shiny side toward your head, the hat not only doesn't block the rays, but it allows them in and then traps and amplifies them! you will become a new world order lizard man zombie within hours of donning such a cap.

How do we know you are not a part of the conspiracy trying to spread disinformation to get us to amplify these rays? I mean, really....we only get one shot to get it right.

[peter]

The conspiracy of misinformation begins and ends with the declaration that the direction of the shiny surface [while undoubtedly a side-effect of the manufacturing process {that demands that as the aluminium is rolled, the final 'roll' has two thicknesses of the sheeting 'back to back' (as it were) because the rollers can't roll to the thinness of one layer (for some reason)}] has to, by the very laws of physics, effect the cooking process. I contend (vigorously) that the 'radiant' element of the heat that the heating food will give of itself as it heats, will, if the shiny surface is placed facing the food, be reflected back into said food better and will thus effect a faster cooking process than if it is placed facing outwards. qed.