Chef Secrets

Chef Secrets

Always store your knives in a drawer, or on the wall on a magnetized strip.  Never in a butcher block blade-side down.  Removing and placing the knife in the block will make it dull.

Chefs always have a small notebook handy to take notes, and write down recent creations.

Use fresh ground pepper, never the pre-ground stuff.

You can use the back side of a pan to make crepes!

Unbleached flour is always better than bleached.

An immersion blender can create amazing gravy, soups, and sauces.

If your sauce breaks, turn the heat off, and whisk in a pat of butter- most of the time that will re-create the emulsion.

If you want to create vinaigrette, grab any variety of frozen concentrated fruit juice- combine with balsamic and olive oil, mix, and viola!

Never use a damp towel to take something out of the oven, you will burn yourself.

Sauté your vegetables in a small amount of olive oil prior to adding them to soup, this will add flavor and sweetness.

Save raw bones and vegetables in a special container in the fridge- they’re great for soups and sauces.

Save salmon trimmings for mousse, or soup.

If you put a small amount of oil in your pancake batter, they won’t stick to your grill.

Never use soap on a Teflon pan- wipe it out after use with a paper towel, and store.

You can quickly cool a cooked liquid by placing it in a metal bowl, then placing that bowl on ice.

Before making whipped cream, place the mixing bowl and whisk in the freezer for 15 minutes.

If you use a scooper when making cookies, they will be the same size, and cook evenly every time.

Lemon juice is the best preservative.

Every kitchen should have a Kitchen Aid mixer.

Tip your butcher during the Holidays, he/she will give you preferential treatment, and the best cuts of meat.

Put a few tablespoons of flour or raw tapioca in your apple pie mixture before putting it in the shell and baking, this will prevent the pie from being watery.

Always put pie crust in the refrigerator before rolling in out, this relaxes the gluten and makes it easier to work with.

Don’t add water or milk to your scrambled eggs, this takes away from the purity of the egg, and taste.

Fresh fruit juice makes for a great meat marinade.

Put some extra brown sugar in your cookie batter, they will be chewier.

That’s it for now.  If I’ve missed anything let me know!

Get Cooking!

Chef Chuck Kerber

chuck@cooksandeats.com