The blog of cooking-ez.com

5 really useful cooking tips


5 really useful cooking tips
Cooking is about recipes, of course, but it is also an impressive collection of small gestures, ways of doing things, knowing what to do and what not to do.

All these little tips and tricks can be very important: they can affect the way a recipe turns out, simply because you did just the right thing at the right time.

I'm starting here with a series of 5 very effective tips. I hope they will help make life – and cooking – easier for you…
20K 4.9/5 based on 15 reviews
Grade this page:

Last modified on: March 29th 2016

5 really useful cooking tips

1) When melting butter, cut it into small pieces first

Don't:
When you put butter to melt in a hot pan, it is easy just to put in the required weight as a whole lump, without thinking.
This is not the way to do it, as a large lump of butter will start to melt around the outside. It will then start to burn before the middle has even melted.

Melted butter

Do:
It is better to cut the butter into small pieces before putting it in the pan. Then it will melt more evenly without burning.

Melted butter in small pieces


2) Don't try to pick out a bit of eggshell with your fingers

When breaking eggs for an omelette, sometimes a bit of eggshell falls into the bowl.
Don't:
It is no use trying to catch it with your fingers – the viscosity of the egg white makes this almost impossible.

Broken eggshell

Do:
Take a broken half shell and use this like a spoon to pick out the small piece of eggshell – you'll find it works very well.

Eggshell as spoon


3) Pastry in a flat cake, rather than a ball

Don't:
Although many recipes tell you to do it, you should NOT gather sweetcrust or shortcrust into a ball. When cooled, it becomes brittle in a ball and tends to crack.

Pastry in ball

Do:

Gather the pastry into a large flattish cake. This will be much easier to roll out after it has been refrigerated.

Pastry in flattish cake


4) Grill your bacon

Don't:
When cooking bacon, avoid frying the rashers in a pan as they will shrink and become tough.

Bacon in frying pan

Do:
Cook them under the grill on a wire grid to allow the excess fat to drain off.

Bacon in the oven


5) Squeeze a lemon over your hand

Don't
When adding lemon juice to a recipe, it is easiest just to squeeze half a lemon over the pan or bowl.
But this is how we end up with pips in the recipe, which is not what we want.
Squeezed lemon

Do:
Squeeze the lemon with one hand, holding the other hand underneath to strain out any pips that fall. Hold your fingers just far enough apart to let the juice flow through, but not the pips.
Squeezed lemon with hand



Lasts posts
The different cooking modes
The different cooking modes
In cooking, cooking means bringing food into contact with a source of heat, to transform it: improving its taste, and sometimes its texture. This contact with the heat source can be achieved in a number of ways: these are the cooking methods, and let's take a look at the main ones.
4965 July 24th 2024
Clean your mixer easily
Clean your mixer easily
If you use a "bowl" or "blender" mixer, as opposed to a plunger, you've probably noticed that it's a bit of a hassle to clean it after use. And yet, with a simple trick, it can be done very quickly. See how here.
1,8425 June 26th 2024
Preserving egg yolks
Preserving egg yolks
If you're using only the egg whites in a recipe (such as meringues ), you'll need to store the yolks until you're ready to use them again. There's nothing very complicated about this in principle - all you have to do is chill them, but there are a few pitfalls to be avoided in practice.
2,3175 June 18th 2024
Preservative oil, an asset for taste
Preservative oil, an asset for taste
When you prepare a dish using an ingredient that has been preserved in fat, for example a springtime mixed salad with tuna in oil or sun-dried tomatoes, you're probably going to make a french dressing (vinaigrette) next. In that case, why not use the preserved oil from the tuna or tomatoes?
2,4605 June 5th 2024
Don't throw away disposable piping bags
Don't throw away disposable piping bags
Nowadays, it's fairly easy to find what professionals use as piping bags, i.e. disposable or "single-use" plastic ones. They're practical, functional and inexpensive, but disposable? That's debatable...
3,8605 May 28th 2024
Other pages you may also like
Making the most of seeds: Dry roasting
Making the most of seeds: Dry roasting
In cooking, and particularly in baking, there are a lot of seeds we can use, such as linseed, sesame, poppy, etc. Usually, recipes simply say to add them just as they are to the mixture or dough. To make a seeded loaf, for example, prepare a plain bread dough as usual, then, towards the end of...
56K4.0 January 30th 2015
Parmesan cheese crusts
Parmesan cheese crusts
If you use Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano) in your recipes, you may have already noticed: when you grate it, it becomes (very) difficult near the crust, especially if it is a slightly aged parmesan, as the cheese gets harder and harder. So we stop grating, leaving some crust on top, and a...
12K4.8 September 14th 2022
Candied fruits: don't get ripped off
Candied fruits: don't get ripped off
Do you like candied fruit? You might like to nibble a handful or add it to a recipe, like a classic fruit cake or delicious Italian specialities like panettone or sicilian epiphany pie.
54K 24.2 June 21th 2017
Should a sausage be pricked before cooking?
Should a sausage be pricked before cooking?
If you are using sausages in a recipe, you may have already asked yourself the question: Should you prick it before cooking it, or not? You will certainly find as many opinions "you should prick" as "you should not". Let's try to untangle all this.
42K4.1 September 29th 2018
Chive flowers
Chive flowers
Did you know that? Chive flowers are not only a beautiful purple color, but they are also edible and delicious.
43K4.4 May 29th 2019
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing
Follow this page (as 2 people already do)
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.

Back to top of page