Looking for some helpful cooking hints and tips? Then, you have come to the right place. We have gathered many helpful cooking hints and tips for you! Find information regarding various cooking methods and various types of food.
 

 

 BBQ Grilling Accessories

 

 

Various Cooking Methods – Helpful Cooking Hints & Tips

 

o Vegetables will dry out quickly if it does not have enough water content. The harder root vegetables such as potatoes, winter squash, and beets are more suited for baking.

Crock Pot
o Add your vegetables into mixture for the last 20-30 minutes to retain as many nutrients as possible.

Steaming Vegetables
o Steaming allows for short cooking times resulting in less nutrients lost. Start with the more solid vegetables then add in the smaller ones.
Approximate steaming time
Vegetable         -    time(minutes)                      Vegetable   -   time(minutes)

Green Beans    -  45                                                    Beet     -    45
Potatoes            -  35                                           Green Peas -   20 – 40
Onions               -   20 – 30                                        Carrots  -    25
Broccoli w/stalk -  25                                    Brussels Sprouts  20
Celery                 -  20                                              Tomatoes -    15
Cabbage            -  15                                         Corn on Cob -    15
Cauliflower         -  12                                     Green Peppers-     5

Wok Cooking
o May lose some of the fat-soluble vitamins if you cook vegetables too long in oil.

 

Blanching Vegetables

o When blanching only a small amount of vegetables, place them in a wire sieve and place in boiling water for approximately 40 seconds. Then immediately place them into ice cold water.

 

o They have a protective coating, so do not wash them until ready to use.

o Use only stainless steel cookware and utensils for artichokes to prevent discoloring.

o Rub all surfaces with lemon to retard browning.

o If it is not real fresh, then add 1 tsp of sugar (to add sweetness) and ¼ tsp of salt (to retain their color and taste) to each cup of water used.

 

o To revive limp asparagus, place stalks into a bowl of ice water in refrigerator for 45 minutes.
o To tenderize the stalks, take a peeler and remove the outer surface.
o Cook asparagus until it is barely tender, it will continue to cook for another 45 seconds once removed from heat. Do not over cook.
o Most common seasonings are lemon juice, mustard sauce, parmesan cheese and butter.
 

o To check whether a bean is fully cooked, squeeze the bean and you should never feel a hard core.
o If you find any holes in dried beans, throw them away.
o Can add brown sugar or molasses to enhance taste.
 

o When boiling beets, remove the skin after boiled. When making beet soup, remove skin first.
o Can bake beets by wrapping in foil and baked in oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
 

o Can cut an X on the bottom of each sprout to allow them to cook evenly.

 

Cabbage
o When cooking cabbage, add a small amount of vinegar to the water and it will help eliminate 60-70% of the odor. If you add to much vinegar, the cabbage will absorb some of the taste.

 

Carrots
o Discard the top greens before storing carrots, as they will continue to absorb the moisture from the carrot drying it out.

o Adding a small amount of orange juice to cooking carrots adds a nice flavor.

Cauliflower
o Only cook until it is tender as over cooking will turn it somewhat bitter.

Celery
o Cooking in boiling water for 2-3 minutes should be good.

Corn
o Try cooking your corn in a half milk and half water boiling mixture, and will produce a tender, sweet cob of corn.

Mushrooms
o As soon as they start to darken, they should be removed and cooking discontinued.
o When broiling, brush them with olive oil.

Onions
o When cooking onions and garlic together, start cooking onion first, then when ½ cooked add in the garlic. This way the garlic won’t over cook.
o To keep onion white, never cook in an aluminum or iron pot.
o To improve flavor of onions to be used in a casserole, sauté them in corn or olive oil for a few minutes to sweeten them up.

Peas
o Peas are easy to over cook. They will lose their taste and color. They can be boiled in water for ½ - 1 minute.

Zucchini
o Slices can be steamed for 5 minutes to tenderize them.

Tomato
o Never use aluminum foil on tomato product. The acid in the tomatoes will cause the aluminum to break down and the aluminum may get into the food.
o Can add a pinch of sugar to tomatoes or sauce to intensify the flavor.
o When diced tomatoes are called for in a recipe, the tomatoes should be peeled and the seeds removed by squeezing the tomato.

Potatoes
o Always use warm or hot milk in mashed potatoes. If you add cold milk, it mixes with the starch and makes it heavy and lumpy.
o A pinch of baking powder will fluff them up. Never use baking soda or they will turn black.

Potato Salad
o Red potatoes are best for potato salad.

 

Apples
o Cut a few slits on the skin for expansion to avoid wrinkled skin on apples when baking.
o Apples can be pared easily by pouring scalding water on them prior to peeling.

Apricots
o To poach apricots, place them in a pan after peeling and halving them into simmering fruit juice.

Bananas
o Always choose bananas that are not quite ripe when preparing for dishes that call for them. The ingredients will provide the sweetening and the bananas will not fall apart and become mushy.

Berries
o Stains can be removed from your hands using lemon juice.
 

 

Burgers
o Don’t squeeze the meat to hard when forming the burger or it will be too dense and take to long to cook. For best results start burgers on a very hot grill and don’t overcook or they will dry out.
o For a great flavor, try adding a few tablespoons to the hamburger while mixing.

Marinating
o Turn meat occasionally for best results. Always refrigerate meats while they are being marinated.
o Never baste meats or any food with left over marinade unless you boil it to protect against bacterial contamination.

Roast
o It will not take as long to cook a roast with a bone in it as the bone will conduct heat to the centre.
o If your roast has high fat content, sprinkle the top of the roast with dry mustard to reduce the amount of fat from entering the roast.
o It will help to seal in the juices by rubbing a thin layer of oil against the roast.

Steak
o If the fat on a steak is white, the steak will be more tender. White indicates corn fed and yellow indicates grass fed.
o Round bones are associated with tougher cuts and flat bones are associated with tender cuts.

Ham
o It is best to remove a quarter inch of the fat before glazing.
o To caramelize the exterior of a ham, use light brown sugar.

Chicken
o It is recommended to remove the skin since that is where the majority of the fat content is.
 

Fish
o The flesh of a fish is normally translucent, when it turns a white the fish is coagulated and the fish is fully cooked. Cut into the thickest part of the fish with a fork and if it flakes, the fish is done.
o Light colored flesh usually indicates a low fat fish, dark colored flesh usually indicated fish with a higher fat content.

Using these helpful cooking hints & tips will help your cooking experience to become more enjoyable! We will be adding more helpful cooking hints & tips in the future. Please share your favorite helpful cooking hints & tips with us.