Kitchen Tips

Cooking and Kitchen Tips

Here are a few cooking/kitchen tips that will help you work safer, and more efficiently in your kitchen.

Store your nuts in the freezer- make sure they’re in double Ziploc bags. This practice will prevent them from becoming rancid. I also keep my batteries in the freezer.

When cooking with liquor, make sure to add it to your pan when the flame is turned off. This will prevent you from getting burned, or burning your house down.

If you have a container of brown sugar that has become hard, simply place it in the microwave for 1 minute- it will become soft again.

Use unsalted butter when you’re cooking- this way you can better control the seasoning of the dish.

Never use soap on Teflon pans. Let the pan cool, and wipe it clean with a paper towel.

If you’re preparing a blended soup, add a few pats of butter at the end- this will add flavor and give your soup a beautiful sheen.

Always use a dry hand towel when removing food from the oven- damp towels transfer heat and cause burns.

I keep a squirt bottle in my kitchen with 1 tablespoon of bleach and the rest water- I spray down all the surfaces after I’m done cooking or preparing food. This keeps my kitchen sanitized.

Once a month, run an empty cycle in your dishwasher with a few cups of vinegar- this cleans the components, and gets rid of residue, odors and bacteria.
Use dish brushes instead of sponges- sponges are havens for bacteria and other nasty things. If you must use sponges, soak them once a week in a bleach solution, or better yet, just buy new ones.

Never store your knives blade-side down. This will dull your knives, and everyone knows a dull knife is dangerous. If you use a block to store your cutlery, make sure the blade is facing away from you.

Buy good stainless steel cookware- stay away from aluminum if at all possible. The handles on large soup pots should be held on by rivets or screws, not spot-welds.

If you’re a baker, never use glass bowls to mix your ingredients- they can chip. Stainless bowls are ideal, and relatively inexpensive.

If you have any tips to add let me know!

Chef Chuck Kerber

chuck@cooksandeats.com

Cooksandeats.com