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Yar
04-02-2012, 02:28 AM
Over the past year or so, I've been trying to get a lot better at cooking. I love cooking! So much fun and when my food comes out decent it makes my belly happy.

Share with me random cooking tips you've learned! I want to know everything. :D

NeoTifa
04-02-2012, 05:48 AM
The fire alarm isn't the timer.

Hollycat
04-02-2012, 05:59 AM
Don't throw water on boiling grease.

Rantz
04-02-2012, 10:41 AM
This isn't the Girly Forum!

Use real butter.

Slothy
04-02-2012, 01:16 PM
Use real butter.

This and cook with lard if you can get your hands on it. Then be amazed at how everything instantly tastes better.

Jinx
04-02-2012, 01:24 PM
If you're cooking scrambled eggs, remember to coat the pan in oil or butter first so they don't forever cement themselves to the pant.

:x

Sephex
04-02-2012, 05:31 PM
Don't just light **** up with gasoline. It makes stuff taste like profits.

Hollycat
04-02-2012, 07:15 PM
Don't cook the intestines, serve them raw with a side of gallbladder.

Peegee
04-02-2012, 07:38 PM
The first tip for cooking well is not to ask a forum.

The second tip for cooking well is to cook your own food and practice.

The best tip for cooking well is to have a chef for a father.

Sephex
04-02-2012, 08:07 PM
The first tip for cooking well is not to ask a forum.

The second tip for cooking well is to cook your own food and practice.

The second tip for cooking well is to cook your own food and practice.

The best tip for cooking well is to have a chef for a father.

Did it before anyone else makes the joke...

Peegee
04-02-2012, 08:24 PM
The first tip for cooking well is not to ask a forum.

The second tip for cooking well is to cook your own food and practice.

The second tip for cooking well is to cook your own food and practice.

The best tip for cooking well is to have a chef for a father.

Did it before anyone else makes the joke...

you're reaching. But definitely practicing by yourself is the best thing to do.

Yeargdribble
04-02-2012, 08:31 PM
Almost anyone who has ever entered a kitchen should know this, but I still catch tons of people screwing it up. As a general rule, more heat so that it will cook faster is NOT the way to cook almost anything (though some people grilling on open flame outdoors may disagree). Almost nothing cooks better fast. Low, even heat for everything from browning meat to cooking eggs. It's always better to err on the side of caution and increase it from there.

Shlup
04-02-2012, 10:41 PM
Follow the recipe to the letter the first time you cook it. Adjust to your liking the second time.

I have a friend who always tries to adjust recipes to her liking as she makes them for the first time, and ruins them. xP

Miriel
04-03-2012, 01:48 AM
I have a friend who always tries to adjust recipes to her liking as she makes them for the first time, and ruins them. xP

Ahh, it drives me nuts when I read reviews for recipes and it's like:


** Stars. I substituted onions for shallots, I used water instead of chicken broth, and I skipped the red peppers cause I don't like spiciness and we left out the wine. The dish was just ok.

Wtfffff??

Um, advice. Always season your food as you're cooking it. Salt/pepper added after the dish is done cooking never tastes as good as salt added during the cooking process. Everything should be seasoned at the start, including your water for cooking pasta, blanching veggies, etc.

Use as much aromatic herbs and veggies as you can. It makes everything taste better. Learn how to layer your flavors. Don't overcook your food. Mushy veggies or pasta or dry chicken/steak/fish is the worst. Use good ingredients, that makes all the difference. If you have super fresh veggies, you don't have to do much, you can practically serve it raw and it'll taste good. Learn the different stages and uses of different ingredients. IE: The difference between butter in it's solid state, melted butter, browned butter, and clarified butter. Or how garlic that's sliced and toasted tastes different than garlic that's minced and cooked in oil, or chopped and added to vinaigrette, or roasted and added to potatoes.

If a recipe calls for wine, ALWAYS use a wine that you would drink, and not a wine designed to be a "cooking wine".


Almost anyone who has ever entered a kitchen should know this, but I still catch tons of people screwing it up. As a general rule, more heat so that it will cook faster is NOT the way to cook almost anything (though some people grilling on open flame outdoors may disagree). Almost nothing cooks better fast. Low, even heat for everything from browning meat to cooking eggs. It's always better to err on the side of caution and increase it from there.

A lot of Asian cooking requires fast/hot heat. Scallops need super high heat too. To the point where you want the oil to smoke. In fact, any time you want to sear anything you're gonna want high heat. My favorite way of cooking steak is Alton Brown's method of using extremely high heat to sear the steaks for about 30 seconds on each side and then finishing it off in the oven. And the best way to get fluffy scrambled eggs is actually to start cooking them in very high heat and then bring it down to low heat.

rubah
04-04-2012, 03:58 AM
don't spray the pan after it's already hot

krissy
04-04-2012, 04:48 AM
1.5 cups of water for 1 cup of rice


cover your pan when making eggs


don't let stuff go bad. you can make something out of anything that's sitting in your fridge or pantry. just google.

Parker
04-04-2012, 11:17 AM
low and slow for omelets (and lots of other things)

don't be afraid of cooking that takes a long time to prepare and cook, its a lot of fun and doesn't take as much time as you think (yes, it may need to simmer for 2 hours, but you don't need to be stood at the stove the whole time), and at the end you will feel like God

braising really cheap cuts of meat will save you a lot of money and will still taste fantastic

learn how to use a wok for day-to-day, learn french for the opposite sex, learn BBQ for summer and manpoints

NeoTifa
04-04-2012, 06:34 PM
Experimentation is fun. Sick of one dish? Add shit to it so it changes it up.

Pike
04-04-2012, 06:39 PM
1.5 cups of water for 1 cup of rice

Trying this next time I make rice, which is the one thing I know how to make. xD (Aside from grilled cheese sandwiches. I make a glorious grilled cheese sandwich.)

NeoTifa
04-04-2012, 06:42 PM
I always did 2 cups of water per 1 cup rice. And speaking of rice, for the love of the gods, if you're making fried rice, RINSE YOUR FUCKING RICE! Nothing worse than fried rice goop. One mistake I'll never make again.

krissy
04-04-2012, 08:55 PM
yeah wash rice before you do stuff with it

noodle strainers work just fine, not as much gets out as you'd think.

i mean boiling rice for the 1.5 thing though, i dunno what it's like for other stuff. once it's boiling, go down to low heat and cover it but at a tilt. check for holes every now and again; once you're getting them craters cover it all the way (this is optional)


POTATOE PEELERS

http://chzgifs.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/69de2ad1-056f-4b35-9f17-988c9d7056db.gif

Shiny
04-05-2012, 02:41 AM
Douse sauteed chicken in white wine.

rubah
04-05-2012, 03:09 AM
I still use about 1.5 cup water for 1 cup of rice when using a rice cooker.

high burning omelettes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWmvfUKwBrg)
(I just made one of these. it was nommmmm)

Iceglow
04-05-2012, 11:08 AM
Cooking advice? You can never have enough bacon. Get those bacon strips going.

Peegee
04-05-2012, 06:41 PM
why do people not wash their rice when they cook O_O

do I have to go all chinese up in here?

Værn
04-06-2012, 03:46 AM
If you do the cooking by the book, then you'll have a cake. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAw3V8ScLeI)

NeoTifa
04-06-2012, 05:53 AM
For some reason I thought you were going down this route.... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ryog-cgp9_I)

Marshall Banana
04-06-2012, 04:47 PM
http://chzgifs.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/69de2ad1-056f-4b35-9f17-988c9d7056db.gif
In the time it takes to prepare this method and wait, you could have already peeled a potato, I think. XD

Værn
04-06-2012, 05:12 PM
http://chzgifs.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/69de2ad1-056f-4b35-9f17-988c9d7056db.gif
In the time it takes to prepare this method and wait, you could have already peeled a potato, I think. XD

Sure, if it's just one potato. But what if you're doing something that requires you to peel a dozen potatoes?!
I want to try that out sometime though, just to peel potatoes without a knife. Although I'll still probably manage to cut myself somehow. I still haven't found a way to explain that incident with the orange x.x

NeoTifa
04-06-2012, 05:14 PM
Put 3 wheat in a row and you get a loaf of bread.

Shattered Dreamer
04-06-2012, 05:16 PM
When stir-frying Beef, Pork & Chicken, just as they are finished cook to your personal preference, cook them in Worcester sauce for 2 mins. You won't regret it.