Natural Cooking Tips
Tips for Tools and Ovens
Dark cookie sheets are best for baking meats or potatoes. Light cookie sheets will help cookies not burn.
In a microwave oven, round dishes heat food more evenly than a square one. Rectangular dishes will cook food on the ends more and the inside less, so half the food is overcooked or undercooked.
Always turn the pot or pan handle to the side so the hot food cannot be pulled down by a child or knocked over by anyone. Lots of kids have been horribly burned this way.
Pre-heat an electric oven for ten minutes before cooking. A gas oven does not need to be pre-heated because the flame comes on immediately.
To prevent food from sticking, heat the frying pan, then add oil.
You can tell if a pan is hot enough for cooking by getting your fingers wet and flicking them at the inside of the pan. If the water droplets sizzle and bounce around, the pan is ready.
Make your microwave popcorn more buttery by cooking it for 20 to 30 seconds less than normal.
Fixes
Add a few pinches of brown sugar to gravy that is too salty.
If your sauce or soup is too salty, add a few pieces of raw potato. They will absorb the salt, and you can pull them out of the sauce or soup before serving.
Photo: www.D70.be - © 2004 - 2005 Dirk De Kegel (Sabam Belgium)
Baking Tips
Dark cookie sheets are best for baking meats or potatoes. Light cookie sheets will help cookies not burn.
Baking recipes call for medium to large eggs. Extra large eggs can cause your cake to fall while cooling.
Flakier pastry is made with cold water. Pastry made with hot water crumbles.
When adding nuts or fruit to a cake batter, put them into a bag of flour first and shake it up. When covered with flour, the ingredients will blend into the batter more thoroughly.
Muffin pans can be filled quickly and with less mess if you use an ice cream scoop.
Vegetable Tips
When boiling vegetables, add a little milk to the water to help keep their colors bright.
Before boiling corn on the cob, add a pinch of sugar to bring out the corn's natural sweetness.
Boiling cabbage can make the whole house stink. Cut down on the odor by adding 1/8 teaspoon of vinegar to the water.
Seafood Tips
Fry fish without the fishy smell by adding thin slices of lemon to the pan while cooking.
Cook shrimp without odor by adding celery leaves to the pot.
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More Natural Cooking Tips
Egg Tips
Adding 2 tablespoons of white vinegar per quart of water before boiling will prevent the eggs from cracking, and make the egg shells peel off faster and easier.
Add a little milk to eggs for scrambling.
Add a little water to eggs for omelets or "scrambled" egg sandwich.
To make perfect hard-boiled eggs, place the eggs in a pan and cover them with water. When the water comes to a boil, remove the pan from heat and let it set for 25 minutes on a cool burner. The eggs will not be tough, and the yolks will be a beautiful yellow.
To turn fried eggs without breaking them, keep a spatula just for them. Start with a new one, never let it set in a hot pan, and never use it to scrape out a pan. This way its edges will stay silky smooth.
Poultry Tips
Roasting chickens with the breast down will help keep the meat more moist.
Bake your turkey until the top is a gorgeous brown, then cover it with a tent of aluminum foil.
Basting a turkey often will keep it moist and juicy.
How long you cook your turkey depends on the color of the pan, if the pan is covered or open, and if the turkey is stuffed or not. Choose your desired method before looking up the time. Using a dark pan requires less cooking time, and basting often requires more cooking time. Doing both together equal things out.
Even those that are health concious might set aside one item per year to splurge. That would be the Thanksgiving turkey. For the turkey that is the most flavorful, prettiest brown, and the moistest, use butter. Spread butter on the entire top of the turkey, and add a little butter inside. This will also allow for earlier basting.
Tips for Meats
For dietetic casseroles that use hamburger meat, rinse the meat it in a colander after frying it up to remove most of the fast.
Ground beef will not stick to the pan if you put a little salt in the pan before adding the meat.
Don't use a fork to turn steaks, or they will lose some of their juice. Use tongs or a spatula instead.
Remove bacon from the frying pan before they are totally done. They will continue to cook a in their own grease after you remove them.
Put a few pieces of dry bread in the broiler pan when broiling meats. The bread will soak up the fat that drips, eliminate the smoking, and may even prevent a grease fire.
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