Your own kitchen may seem boring sometimes. You can change that feeling by turning cooking into a hobby out of cooking. Here are a few tips to get you a few ideas.You should keep your spices and herbs in a space that is cool and away from light. Heat, humidity, and light will all weaken your spices’ flavor. Ground herbs and spices retain their flavor for 12 months under normal circumstances. Though if you have whole spices, you will notice the flavors are strong for 3-5 years. If spices are stored properly there is a better chance that they will stay fresher for a longer period of timeIt is important that your knives when cooking. Dull knives can actually be dangerous and the certainly make chopping difficult.Always bake pie and tart crusts for longer than the recipe specifies for best results. The crust should turn a golden color, not simple blonde. This is because the golden color lets you know that the sugar from the crust has caramelized, which give it that sweet, yet crisp taste.To make your French fries crisper, let the raw potatoes soak for about half an hour in cold water prior to frying.Have you ever thrown away food that is old and felt bad about it? Ever thought if you could just pick out the mold and salvage the fruit? The truth is that a rotten spot often signifies that the whole fruit is bad. Immediately dispose of any fruits with a little rot because this can cause mold to grow deep into the fruits that can’t be seen by the human eye. This mold can cause you to become extremely sick.Ice cube trays can be a great tool for freezing and storing leftover sauce. This makes it easy to prepare a quick meal which you can reheat at a later time. The frozen sauce will keep extremely well until the trays.To maintain nutrients and color in your vegetables, quickly steam them until just crisp-tender. With slower cook times, the overall value of the vegetables is decreased, mainly taste and nutrition. You have an added bonus, because these certain techniques make vegetables healthier in general. Learning to give them just a quick steam is the best way to cook them.Oil and butter have fat that is often unnecessary. A god nonstick spray is a wonderful substitute for the oils and is not as unhealthy.If you are watching your weight and trying to eat healthy, it is essential to reduce the amount of oil you use when you cook. Butters and oils contain unnecessary fats. Try cooking with a cooking spray so that you will use less oil but the same effect.If you want to cook a pumpkin, cut it exactly in half from top to bottom. Place them upside down on an ungreased baking pan with the cut side down.You should read the labels when you are buying ingredients for a recipe. You might be surprised how many common cooking implements have ingredients concealed within that are unhealthy. Too much salt, sugar, and those dreaded unpronounceable chemicals can really alter the flavors of dishes and be generally unhealthy for you.This procedure will keep fruits to stay fresh throughout the year. This is also advantageous for those seasonal fruits that are out of season.If your dish calls for a bit of garlic, make sure the garlic is as fresh as possible. The fresher the garlic, the sweeter the taste. You will also find that fresh garlic has firm skin and is free of bruises.
Measure cooking oil you are using! This will help you reduce how much fat in your foods while cooking. This should enable you keep an eye on just how much oil that you want to use.Make sure that you do not dispose of any leftovers after your Thanksgiving dinner. It is smarter to divide up the meat and seal it in airtight containers that you freeze. This will help the turkey to stay fresh over the next few weeks so that you can make sandwiches with the leftovers.Spices should be replaced every 6 months. The flavor of spices fade just a few months after opening the container. If you know you will not use the whole spice bottle, give it as a gift to someone who will use it.It is essential to remain organized when cooking, so that you do not burn food or make other blunders. You can ensure that you are efficient when you are organized. A cluttered, unorganized cooking area will leave you scrambling to find things while your food gets more and more “well done”. You will end up burning things and throwing them away when simple organization would have allowed you to cook a wonderful dish!Place unripe fruits in a plastic bag that is perforated right after you buy them. If you put them in the bag with holds the air will go through the bag, the air can circulate and assure that the gas is retained, keeping the fruit fresh and tasty.When cooking with fresh herbs like parsley or dill, bunch them together and cut them with a pair of scissors. This practice does not get herbs wet like chopping would, and makes them generally fluffier and lighter.You need to stay organized when you are cooking, which could be costly. Having an organized will help you are productive when cooking. Being disorganized can make it quite easy to make it impossible to find things when you need them, wasting valuable time and money!For dishes such as macaroni and cheese, follow the instructions carefully. This ensures that the macaroni is cooked to perfection and that the cheese is the right consistency to blend well with the pasta. Use a solid face spoon when you serve to make sure you get plenty of cheese scooped up with the macaroni. Spice up the dish with a bit of salt and black pepper.Use salt liberally in the water when you are cooking pasta. This allows the pasta to take on the seasoning more efficiently. Salting cooked pasta will not have the flavor.Wash your dishes as you use them, when you are cooking. Make it easy on yourself by filling your sink with water, while reserving a separate section for rinsing. Mixing bowls and your utensils rinse rather easily and can be cleaned and wiped before the next ingredients in your meal.One great cooking tips you can find is to use your own thing. You need not follow a recipe to the “T”. That is a sign of a real chef!Add plenty of salt to the water when you are cooking pasta. The salt will hold better while cooking because it is absorbed by the pasta along with the water. Salting after boiling your pasta will not give the same effect of absorption.Use these ideas to spur new ideas of your own. Make delicious meals that your family will love, meals that you relish and feel good about. Try cooking as a relaxing hobby that can also improve your health. The heart of many a great home is in its kitchen; make yours one of them.Impress your friends with a perfect sandwich by spreading the mayo evenly on the entire surface of the bread. A lot of times people rush and only put mayonnaise in the center of the bread. When you take the time to spread them evenly across the entire slice of bread, you ensure that every bite contains maximum flavor.