Never throw grease down the sink! If you have bacon grease or any other kind of grease that you want to discard, line a prep bowl with foil then pour bacon grease inside. When it hardens, crumple and toss.
Archive for category: DYB Tips
Always season meat and fish evenly; sprinkle salt and pepper as though it’s “snowing”. This will avoid clumping or ending up with too much seasoning in some areas and none in others.
The challenge of baking, and really any oven cooking, is getting the middle cooked properly without overcooking the edges and exterior. How to prevent a dish from burning on the top when baking? If a dish starts to burn on top before it’s done baking, gently lay a piece of nonstick sprayed foil on top […]
Yucky baked on, caked on, sizzlin cooked on food is going bye bye with this quick and easy slow cooker clean up tip.
This is an easy and simple solution to keeping your herbs neat and tidy on your cutting board.
Here in Do You Bake? we are always looking for tips and tricks for make your cooking time YUMMY and easier! If you want to keep the brown sugar ready to use, try this! Keep a piece of bread in brown sugar bag or container to prevent it from hardening.
Do you want to cut corn more easily? Minimize waste and mess when cutting corn from the cob by mounting the cob in the hollow center of a Bundt cake pan, where it will be secure. When you run a knife down the cob, kernels will collect in the pan.
Assemble salads in advance! Try a salad that uses escarole and frisee, for example, won’t wilt into a soggy mess. Or try this pro trick that doesn’t require assembling a salad a la minute: Start by adding some dressing to the bottom of the salad bowl, then top with the heartiest ingredients that aren’t prone […]
When you roast a whole chicken, the breast always overcooks and dries out because the legs have to cook longer. This is a really simple way to keep a chicken breast moist: Separate the breast and the leg. Season as you normally would and roast as you normally would, but remove the breast sooner than […]
When we talk about cookies, there are many important factors. From the recipe, to the size of the cookies and the decoration, everything matters! How to roll cookies the same thickness? Use two chopsticks or 1/4″ dowel rods as rolling pin guides to make sure cookie dough rolls out to the same thickness.
Are you storing your flours in the cupboard? It’s better if you do it this following way! Store nut or seed flours in the freezer to prolong freshness.
Why a bay leaf in the flour canister? A bay leaf slipped into a container of flour, pasta, or rice will help repel bugs. From beetles to weevils, moths, cockroaches, ants, and flies, all hate the herb’s fragrance.
Keep pots from boiling over! Prevent over-boiling by placing a wooden spoon across a pot. Because wood is not a good material for conducting heat, the hot water strays away from the handle.
When seasoning a salad, use coarse sea salt mixed with a little olive oil. It will stay crunchy when combined with the vinaigrette.
Make your tomatoes last longer! Store tomatoes stem end down to keep them from spoiling as quickly. This prevents air from entering and moisture from exiting the scar where the tomato once attached to the vine. Storing them at room temperature rather than in the fridge also makes them last longer.
Bring new life to wooden spoons. When wooden spoons don’t exactly look (or smell) like they used to, boil them in a pot of water and leave them lying in the sun to dry.
Avoid messy stains and get at a pomegranate’s arils faster by slicing it in half, then submerging it in a bowl of water. The seeds will sink while the pith floats, making them easy to separate.
Pit stone fruits with a twist! Cut stone fruits, such as plums and nectarines, into two equal halves, then twist the halves in opposite directions. Use your thumb to pop out the pit (if your thumb doesn’t do the job, gently pry it out with a butter knife, or cut the fruit into quarters for […]
To cut avocado more easily, slice it while it’s still in the skin. Not using the whole thing? Leave the pit in the remaining avocado to prevent browning.
Buy brown sugar as you need it, in as small a quantity as possible. The stuff just doesn’t keep very long. But if your brown sugar is rock-hard, don’t throw it out. Revive it with a minute or so in the microwave.
Hull strawberries! Use a straw to hull strawberries. Press a straw through the bottom of a strawberry until it breaks through the top and takes the hull—the white part of the center of the berry—with it. Remove any remaining leaves with your fingers.
Freshen stuffed animals! In between baths (through the washing machine, of course), groom your kids plush pals by giving them a quick once-over with a lint roller.
For best results when you’re baking, leave butter and eggs at room temperature overnight. When at room temperature, eggs, butter, and other dairy ingredients form an emulsion which traps air. While baking in the oven, that trapped air expands and produces a fluffy baked good.
Toast your grains and nuts. It’s the first step to building roasty, warm flavor. Using quinoa? Toast it before you rinse it. Using almonds? Toast it for more crunchiness!