Learning to cook can be one of the best things a person can learn to do. Cooking is something that one can always learn more about and share with others. The following article can add to your enjoyment of the art of cooking and give you information that can enhance your skills.
When cooking stock, make it in a large quantity and store it in smaller bags in the freezer. Stock has a long freezer life and can be useful in so many recipes. Making a larger batch is no more difficult than making a small batch. You’ll save yourself time later by having a freezer store to turn to.
Here’s a way to turn that thin sauce around. Put some corn starch into water and mix it in your sauce. Add this mixture to the sauce while it simmers in order to thicken it up. Make sure you combine them gradually and consistently so as to prevent the sauce from thickening too much.
Microwaving a lemon or a lime for a few seconds can release the juices. Sometimes the citrus at a grocery store is not as fresh as it could be, making it difficult to juice. If you microwave it for 10 seconds, and then roll it between your hand and the counter it will release more juice.
Whenever possible, avoid canned ingredients in your cooking. They have numerous disadvantages. Canned food has lost vital nutrients that you want in order to cook the healthiest possible meals. They also taste different – if not downright worse – than fresh ingredients, potentially ruining your recipes. Finally, canned foods have unhealthy additives – especially extra sodium – that you do not need in your food.
When heating oil on the stove top to use for frying, use a low setting and slowly turn the burner up to reach the desired temperature. Most foods do not require much more than 350 degrees, for the oil to fry it to a nice golden brown and not end up burnt to a crisp on the outside, while raw on the inside. If you crank the temperature setting knob to its highest point, you not only run the risk of spattering and burning yourself, as well as the food you are trying to fry, but you are also wasting time while you wait for the oil to cool down enough to use. Oil heats up quickly, but it is very slow to cool down, once it has gotten too hot.
As was previously noted at the beginning of this article, learning to cook can be one of the best things that you will ever learn. It can be a skill, a gift, and a hobby. It can bring families together and is something that can be passed along to future generations.
