Article created by-Andrews Brooks

Every cook loves to learn new things about cooking. The same can be said about novice cooks. Cooking can be a chore sometimes, but more often, it can just be an enjoyable experience which culminates in a delicious meal. This article can add to your knowledge and joy of cooking.

When cooking any recipe, use the best ingredients that you can afford. Splurge a little on imported cheeses or better quality meats when you can, so that you can experience a restaurant, quality-tasting meal at home. To enhance the experience even further, try to creatively plate up the meal with a little thought, for something different every now and then.

You want to make certain you have the prep work done ahead of time. It is essential to have all prep work finished before it's time to begin cooking. When you have a schedule as to how long you plan to be cooking, things can get a little stressful in the kitchen. Try to complete your preparations, so you can avoid scrambling later on.

If you would like to bake a berry desert in the winter (when most berries are out of season), use frozen berries as a delicious and more eco-friendly alternative to fresh ones! Thaw your frozen berries for 45 minutes, drain the excess, then use as you normally would when making a berry pie or cobbler.

If you are cooking pastries or foods that can get very messy, make sure that you wear an apron at all times. The last thing that you will want to do is to get food on your clothes and have to change before you eat your meal with friends or family.



If you are following a recipe take extra caution to make sure that you don't skip a step, or that you are reading the measurements correctly. Especially in baking, a small mistake can completely ruin a dish. To avoid this just check the recipe a couple of times before adding in the ingredient to the mixture.

Always store baking supplies such as baking mixes, flour, and sugar in airtight containers. When you store food in airtight containers, it will not spoil so readily, and bugs won't be able to get into it. You buy them pretty much anywhere and they are a beneficial asset.

When cooking with a sauté pan, turn the handle of it in the opposite direction of you. Keeping the handle facing you increases the chance of bumping into and spilling your food. This is also a safety concern because you can burn yourself if the pan tips or falls over.

To keep your cakes from falling flat, mix dense batters by hand with a wooden spoon. Electric mixers beat too much air into the batter, causing the cakes to fall when they are baked. Meanwhile, by using a wooden spoon to gently mix thick batters like carrot cake you protect the consistency of the batter from absorbing too much air.

When cutting vegetables or meat it's very important to have sharp, high quality knives. This will help you to get the look and evenly cooked meal that you desire. If you use dull, low quality knives, instead of cutting your food, they will rip it which can cause uneven cooking and a not so appetizing looking meal.

To take the metallic taste out of canned pumpkin pie filling, heat the filling with all of your spices first. Simply mixing your filling with the other ingredients and then baking traps the metallic taste in your finished pie. But by heating your pumpkin filling alone with the spices first, you release the metallic taste of the filling and simultaneously imbue it with the richer taste of spices like nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger.

If you find yourself with part of a loaf of stale bread, don't throw it away or feed it to the birds. Instead, turn it into croutons for a soup or salad by tossing cubes of bread with oil and seasonings and baking them until crispy. You can also turn stale bread into breadcrumbs for many recipes.

Check your meatloaf or meatballs by test cooking a small piece. You want your meat to taste perfect, so when you make a mini hamburger patty, and fry it up to taste it, you can decide if the seasoning is just right or if you need to add more flavor. Doing this ensures your meatloaves and meatballs are perfect when you pop them out of the oven.

Avoid the temptation to press your hamburger patties too tightly when shaping. Though you may feel that this will help them to hold their shapes better, in reality, this just provides denser, dryer hamburgers once cooked. Also, don't press the patties down with a spatula when cooking, as this simply drains the juices.

When you are deep frying foods, try not to fry too much food at once. Overcrowding the deep fryer, will cause the oil temperature to drop and the food will not be as crispy. The key to successful deep frying is to keep enough oil around the foods to keep up the temperature.

To save money and improve your health, cook the recommended portion sizes and plan your meals ahead of time. Meat is one of the most expensive ingredients on your plate. By eating https://docs.google.com/file/d/1uQrkDXrmi1wFWB8SgTd1ORfYK3zfAIjzdcezxxkPpIY/edit can be sure that your family is getting plenty of vegetables and whole grains.

To add a little extra special flavor to a plain vanilla or yellow cake mix, use the liquid from any canned fruit that is packed in water instead of the plain water called for when making the mix. Most every variety of canned fruit around comes packed in syrup or water. Choose a water-packed can of fruit your family loves to make a plain cake extra tasty. Frost the cake using vanilla or butter cream and add the fruit chunks as decoration on top.

Check your meatloaf or meatballs by test cooking a small piece. You want your meat to taste perfect, so when you make a mini hamburger patty, and fry it up to taste it, you can decide if the seasoning is just right or if you need to add more flavor. Doing this ensures your meatloaves and meatballs are perfect when you pop them out of the oven.

Cooking doesn't have to be hop over to here and boring. It's a chance to shape your family's nutrition, as well as to relax and create. Cooking can be much more than mixing ingredients together. Since you have to cook anyway, why not learn to enjoy it? Follow these tips and start having fun in the kitchen.