Cooking Tips You Won't See on Food Network

[Jester]

I was doing some prep work for my chili that I'll be cooking for this weekend's chili cookoff. And while I was (slowly) prepping my veggies, thought about a few things that might be helpful to some other home cooks, stuff you won't see on any of the cooking shows.

Non-Standard Cooking Tip #1: Don't buy your gloves at the grocery store. No, seriously. If you use gloves for anything, buy them at the hardware store. And I'll tell you why. The latex surgical gloves that are very useful in the kitchen can be found in the grocery store, usually in either a 6 pack or a 12 pack, for about 3 bucks. For a few bucks more, you can find the exact same gloves in the hardware store (check the paint aisle), but in boxes of 50 or 100. Now, if you work with things that you'd need or want gloves for often enough (I do), the choice is pretty obvious.

As an aside here, I recommend wearing such gloves when dealing with any spicy peppers. I would have normally said any really spicy peppers, but I got schooled last night in that one. I cut up a red bell pepper and two poblano peppers without gloves, and then donned some gloves for the serrano peppers and the habanero peppers. And my hands are burning! Well over six hours later. Now, I didn't see any holes in the gloves, so I shall discount that possibility. And red bell peppers are, well, bell peppers. So no. So yeah, the poblanos, which are not very spicy peppers, were spicy enough, apparently, to make it so I am now sitting down to pee and studiously avoid rubbing my eyes with my hands, something I normally do quite frequently. So, yeah, wear your damn gloves, kids.

Non-Standard Cooking Tip #2: One of the best tools for de-seeding the insides of hot peppers, like poblanos, serranos, or habaneros, is a small measuring spoon. I use my 1/8 teaspoon spoon myself, and it is perfect because it is small, it is sturdy, and it just scoops those puppies right out, better than a standard spoon could.

So, anyone else have non-standard cooking tips? You know, things you've picked up along your cooking career that work for you but are not necessarily obvious, and things you probably would not see on your average cooking show. Things like the above, or Rachael Ray's use of a "garbage bowl."

Bring 'em on out!

[Sandman]

Something my dad and I taught my mom when I was still living at home.... when you try and experiment when you are cooking something.... COOK USING THE DIRECTIONS FIRST! Then, after your first attempt.. you can experiment with different ingredients. That way you know what it SHOULD taste like. There have been many times she has cooked something for the first time and absolutely destroyed the dish when she modified it first.

[Eisa]

This should probably be obvious. But I still remember my mom making the kitchen fill up with smoke.

When putting a dish in the oven, take special care to ensure that nothing like paper is attached to the bottom of the dish. It will definitely be set on fire, fill the entire kitchen with smoke, and set off the smoke alarm.

I must also agree with the tip about hot peppers. They're all hot, darlin'! Even the yellow ones are not pleasant to deal with.

[Jester]

COOK USING THE DIRECTIONS FIRST! Then, after your first attempt.. you can experiment with different ingredients.

I think this really depends on your level of talent and your ability to improvise. I often will take a recipe I find online and modify it on paper or in my mind before I ever actually hit the grocery store or the kitchen. Do I screw some dishes up? Sure. Who doesn't? But the last time I did just this, I absolutely nailed the dish, and dare say I improved upon the original. Though of course I can't say for certain, having never actually made the original.

When putting a dish in the oven, take special care to ensure that nothing like paper is attached to the bottom of the dish. It will definitely be set on fire, fill the entire kitchen with smoke, and set off the smoke alarm.

And if you know you are going to have a lot of smoke in your kitchen (which you will if you blacken or pan sear fish, or if you sear chicken wings, or if you use a homemade smoker in your oven, all of which I have experience doing), make sure you have a window open and a fan on....and if you have a smoke detector anywhere near the kitchen, disable that puppy if you value your ears.

I must also agree with the tip about hot peppers. They're all hot, darlin'! Even the yellow ones are not pleasant to deal with.

If you mean yellow bell peppers, no, they're not. Not all peppers are hot. Just hot peppers. Now, if you meant yellow habaneros, well, yeah...all habaneros are hot, I don't care what color they are.

[Eisa]

Oh yes. *shudders* I still remember my roommates in the dorm setting off the smoke alarm...with bacon, of all things. Really, who decides to make bacon in the dorm?

And definitely NOT yellow bell peppers! I think along the lines of these? I remember they were about the same hotness level as a jalapeno. Had them with pot pies as a child all the time, actually.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I second use of gloves when cutting up peppers. You get that stuff on your skin, and not only can you not wash it off, but it literally causes horrible painful and itchy dermatitis on my hands.

You would think something you were going to put in your mouth would be okay to touch with your hands. Not so.

I buy boxes of gloves at Sam's Club for reasonable price. I would want to make sure if I got gloves from the hardware store they were safe to use on food.

[Jester]

Anyone who thinks we're being wussy Nancys on this whole glove thing, keep in mind I love hot peppers, I cook with them all the time, and the relatively mild poblano peppers still have my hands burning.....9 hours after the fact.

[drunkenwildmage]

Don't forgot you can also get gloves in the pharmacy section of a lot of stores also.


Food tip: Open the oven door to make sure nothing is in it, before you turn it on... My Wife's Grandma, who lives with us, had a habit of using the over to store her kitchen wares.. At this point I wasn't aware she did that, turned the oven on, opened it 15 mins later to the puddle of plastic off a heavy spatula in the bottom of the oven.

[AdminAssistant]

Well, as you know, Alton Brown is a big fan of going to the hardware store for cooking supplies, so there is that.

The only tip I can think of right now is - wash dishes as you go, if you can.

[Shangri-laschild]

Anyone who thinks we're being wussy Nancys on this whole glove thing, keep in mind I love hot peppers, I cook with them all the time, and the relatively mild poblano peppers still have my hands burning.....9 hours after the fact.

Hell, accidentally getting some in your eye is good enough reason to use gloves. I once got cayenne pepper on my fingers and thought I washed my hands good. I found out otherwise when I went to put my contacts in...

[draggar]

Thaw shrimp in the fridge or in cold water. DO NOT (DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT) use hot water.

Cupcakes / muffins - put some of the mix in the cup before you put thecup in the tin.

Making rice - chicken broth makes a great substitute for water. THe same goes for stuffing and instant mashed potatoes (don't hate - some of us don't have the time to make mashed potatoes from scratch!).

[lordlundar]

Well, as you know, Alton Brown is a big fan of going to the hardware store for cooking supplies, so there is that.

Curse you! you ninja'd me. I was going to say that every tip Jester said WAS on the Food Network from Good Eats.

And Jester, you really need to check that show out. Every piece of cooking advice I've given to you came from that show.

[CoffeeMonkey]

Always chill your cookie dough before baking. It lets the fat set up again so that the cookies don't spread as much in the oven. You get fatter cookies. I like to freeze them solid before baking.

However, scooping chilled dough is a PITA. So what I do is line a baking sheet with plastic wrap, then I use my disher to scoop the balls of dough while it's still soft. Line them up on the sheet, freeze for an hour or two, then they can be just broken up with your hands, arranged on the sheets and baked.

[ArcticChicken]

COOK USING THE DIRECTIONS FIRST! Then, after your first attempt.. you can experiment with different ingredients.

I have to agree with Jester on this one, it really depends on your level of ability. I used to not modify anything before I made it once, but I do it all the time now.

Although, I won't do it if I haven't cooked with those flavors before. Basically, if I have most of the ingredients at home already, I'll mess with it, if I have to go out and buy most of the ingredients (especially the spices), I usually won't mess with it.


As for the hot pepper thing, the way I've found to get the most off your hands if you forget the gloves is to first smear dish detergent all over your hands, THEN get a little wet and lather, then rinse. Still, don't touch anything sensitive for at least a few hours.

[telecom_goddess]

I like thinner crisper cookies, not fatter ones so good to know that refrigeration causes them to spread less...I'll be sure to not do that if I ever make cookies again .

I like the gloves idea..I don't work much with hot peppers at all....but it sounds like a good idea.

My tip....when cooking a whole bird like a whole chicken or turkey, pre heat the oven to something fairly hot like 450 or so....then when you put the bird in immediately turn it down to 325 or 350, that initial high heat seals in the juices.