More Helpful Kitchen Tips

Since you can never have too many tips in your arsenal, here are some  that I think are great:

• Use a wine cork to lift hot lids off of pots.  Just slide a cork under the handle before you start cooking and the cork will stay cool and you won’t have to search for a pot holder.

 

• Don’t you hate running out of propane when you are grilling?  To check the propane level bring a cup of water to a boil and pour over the side of the tilted tank, feel the tank and where it is warm to the touch there is no propane!
• If you said real men/women don’t use propane, then try this one.  If your fire starts to go out before you even get anything on the grill you can revive it with your hairdryer. Turn the hairdryer on high and direct it on the base of the coals and the dryer will act like a bellows and get the fire going again.
• Need an extra cooling rack or don’t have one at all?  Lay dinner knives pointing in opposite directions on the countertop and place pan or cookie sheet on top.

• To help ease the pain of cleaning the microwave place a large bowl of water in the appliance and heat it on high for 10 minutes.  The steam will make it much easier to get rid of the spatters and spills.
• Do you get icing all over your hands when you try to fill a pastry bag or zip top bag?  Use a Pringle’s potato chip can or a tall thin glass (maybe a pilsner?) place the bag in the can/glass and fold the top over the edge. 
• I can never seem to simmer on a gas stove without getting some stuff stuck on the bottom of the pan.  To help keep your food at a low simmer make a foil ring with aluminum foil by cutting the foil to 3 feet and squeezing it into a “rope” and then shape it into a ring to fit your burner.

• How many recipes do you have where you can show someone what the sauce actually looks like because it is on the paper? Keep recipes clean by slipping them into a  gallon sized plastic bag or a sheet protector.  Even easier, use a glass pot lid to protect the recipe card.
• A dull vegetable peeler can really make peeling a chore, sharpen yours by using the backside of a paring knife (not the cutting edge!) to scrape the burrs off of the back and front sides of the blades.

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