Thanks.
My first impression was that the final mixture is so strong and gets you so wired you start banging into things!
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Food Hacks And Tips
- Thread starter StudioStuntz
- Start date
Thanks.
My first impression was that the final mixture is so strong and gets you so wired you start banging into things!
That's my gauge on when to sharpen my knives, at the first hint of irritation.
Which raises the subject of sharp knives. Anyone who does a lot of cooking should learn by practicing on an old knife how to use a steel. I don't have to sharpen my knives more than once a year or so because I keep the edge in good shape with a few strokes on the steel every time I use them, or more as needed.
Buy a real one and not those useless half size ones that are practically useless.
Once you get the feel for it you will not only work better and faster will less risk, you will also wow your friends and be the envy of your block.
I find that I don't need the rounds more than about once a week. I just sharpened my knives last month after about 18 months. I always use either a maple cutting board (veggies) or a nylon one (everything else; nylon is non-porous, won't contaminate between meat, fish etc.) A glass or other hard surface will dull the knife in as little as two or three strokes.
Absolutely.
I use a wooden board for everything except poultry, I have a small Teflon board I use for that.
Plastic is actually way less hygienic than wood, if wood is properly cleaned. All plastics hold bacteria in the micro-cuts the knife makes and hand-washing does not remove it. Like a lot of hygiene laws they are often counter-intuitive or plain silly, but are designed for the best results with untrained people.
The best way to avoid cross-contamination is to have a few boards you use separately, but in the end it's really not such a big deal. The biggest risk is fresh poultry, best to keep a board you can put in the dishwasher handy and use it only for this.
I use a wooden board for everything except poultry, I have a small Teflon board I use for that.
Plastic is actually way less hygienic than wood, if wood is properly cleaned. All plastics hold bacteria in the micro-cuts the knife makes and hand-washing does not remove it. Like a lot of hygiene laws they are often counter-intuitive or plain silly, but are designed for the best results with untrained people.
The best way to avoid cross-contamination is to have a few boards you use separately, but in the end it's really not such a big deal. The biggest risk is fresh poultry, best to keep a board you can put in the dishwasher handy and use it only for this.
Just a little heads up on a future post here.
I was at a swank party recently and they had these weird looking glassy-semitransparent thing-ees which everyone there seemed to be referring to as ice kewbs.
It really made some of those less than palatable beverages go down much easier.
I am eagerly awaiting an emailed copy of the recipe, and as soon as I get it I will be more than happy to share with all (I just hope they include all the ingredients, as some people always seem to intentionally leave one or two items out).
I was at a swank party recently and they had these weird looking glassy-semitransparent thing-ees which everyone there seemed to be referring to as ice kewbs.
It really made some of those less than palatable beverages go down much easier.
I am eagerly awaiting an emailed copy of the recipe, and as soon as I get it I will be more than happy to share with all (I just hope they include all the ingredients, as some people always seem to intentionally leave one or two items out).
Don't laugh, as an ex-barman I could write a book on ice.
Cracked ice, shaved ice, cubes, it's a jungle out there, which isn't good for ice.
Do they still grind to live music or is it now piped in...doesn't really matter, as long as they remove the veils after the second number.
The old Turks and Greeks used to leave the grinds in the bottom of the cup as One Drop suggested, then place the cup upside down in the saucer, let it stand for five or ten minutes, turn it back over and read your fortune!
You probably could and should.
Certain ices for certain drinks.
Authentic(?!) Thai iced tea requires shaved or snow-cone type ice, not small cubes, but since many strip-mall/mom-pop eateries can't justify a second machine for such limited use, we get what we get.
I think one of the newer(?) ice ideas is using one ball of ice per drink (glass), slightly smaller than the circumference of the glass.
It also keeps the beverage cold, but w/o melting too fast, thus ruining the taste and/or the potency of the liquid.
It's the dull knives that cause most of the injuries, due to the sawing-type motion that dull knives require.
The inside edge would be another way of saying it
I was pretty sure that's what you meant, it's just that others, including me, have made a couple of jokes here, and I wasn't sure if you were making a joke regarding The Chew or the cook.
Nice you took the high road, though it would have been kind of funny the other way as well.
Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but I have a few tricks (not sure how many of these would count as "hacks"):
1. Pre-cut/mince/julienne peppers, onions, shallots, celery, etc and measure out exactly amounts of each. Then wrap each measured portion in "Press 'n Seal" or a Ziplock freezer bag and write down the food and amount on the outside. Makes it a lot easier to add a portion of peppers or onions to a skillet in the morning before your coffee if you don't have to do any actual work in preparing them.
2. I like garlic, so I buy a lot of it, mince it as finely as I can and then put a saucepot of olive oil on the stove. When the oil is heated up just hot enough I add all of the garlic and wait until the garlic bits start to turn a yellow-orange, then remove the saucepot from heat and let it air-cool. It gives me what I call a cheater's version of roasted garlic, infuses the oil and if I store the garlic and oil together it'll last for a super long time. Now I can use just the garlic, the oil or both as a baste, drizzle or just to dip.
3. When buying cuts of beef, pork, poultry or fish I'll rub down the food with herbs, salt, pepper, oil or whatever then freeze the individual steaks/cuts/chops/fillets with the flavoring a still on them. That way I can take out one rosemary and cracked pepper steak, one Cajun tilapia fillet, one chipotle chicken breast and one BBQ pork chop from the freezer and have them all during the course of a few days.
4. I love to macerate fruit, particularly strawberries, and once the fruit has become nice and soft and is surrounded by its juices and sugar I'll divide up the juice. Freeze it in individual plastic containers and then you can get a shot of whatever juice you want in a morning smoothie sometime later.
5. Scrambled eggs are awesome and I eat them at least twice a week, so when I put the skillet on the stove I sprinkle in some herbs (usually rosemary, thyme or sage) in the bottom of the skillet, sometimes with a little bit of olive oil or bacon fat (from bacon that I've previously cooked and frozen separately). Now I can get started on preparing my eggs and when I can smell the aroma of the herbs warming up in the pan and releasing their oils I know that it's time to put the egg mixture in.
1. Pre-cut/mince/julienne peppers, onions, shallots, celery, etc and measure out exactly amounts of each. Then wrap each measured portion in "Press 'n Seal" or a Ziplock freezer bag and write down the food and amount on the outside. Makes it a lot easier to add a portion of peppers or onions to a skillet in the morning before your coffee if you don't have to do any actual work in preparing them.
2. I like garlic, so I buy a lot of it, mince it as finely as I can and then put a saucepot of olive oil on the stove. When the oil is heated up just hot enough I add all of the garlic and wait until the garlic bits start to turn a yellow-orange, then remove the saucepot from heat and let it air-cool. It gives me what I call a cheater's version of roasted garlic, infuses the oil and if I store the garlic and oil together it'll last for a super long time. Now I can use just the garlic, the oil or both as a baste, drizzle or just to dip.
3. When buying cuts of beef, pork, poultry or fish I'll rub down the food with herbs, salt, pepper, oil or whatever then freeze the individual steaks/cuts/chops/fillets with the flavoring a still on them. That way I can take out one rosemary and cracked pepper steak, one Cajun tilapia fillet, one chipotle chicken breast and one BBQ pork chop from the freezer and have them all during the course of a few days.
4. I love to macerate fruit, particularly strawberries, and once the fruit has become nice and soft and is surrounded by its juices and sugar I'll divide up the juice. Freeze it in individual plastic containers and then you can get a shot of whatever juice you want in a morning smoothie sometime later.
5. Scrambled eggs are awesome and I eat them at least twice a week, so when I put the skillet on the stove I sprinkle in some herbs (usually rosemary, thyme or sage) in the bottom of the skillet, sometimes with a little bit of olive oil or bacon fat (from bacon that I've previously cooked and frozen separately). Now I can get started on preparing my eggs and when I can smell the aroma of the herbs warming up in the pan and releasing their oils I know that it's time to put the egg mixture in.
