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The quickest way to ruin a perfectly marbled $25 steak? Cutting into it to figure out if it’s medium rare. Yes, the Thermapen is $95, but four steaks later, you’ve broken even.
Soup could have used more tomato? Chicken needed ten more minutes in the oven? Make a note of it and you’ll never make that mistake again.
Whisk a little salt and sugar into some white vinegar. Pour over thinly sliced raw vegetables. Wait 20 minutes. Eat.
You may have a steel or a sharpener at home, but once a year, get a pro to revive those knives. Your chopping will get faster, more precise—and, believe it or not, safer.
Chicken breasts are expensive and can get dull after a while; thighs are juicier, cheaper, and more flavorful.
Ground spices die quickly. So give them a whiff—if they don’t smell like anything, they won’t taste like anything. And if they don’t taste like anything, you’re cooking with a flavorless, brown powder.
At a minimum, you’ll learn how to cook kale fifteen ways. At a maximum, you’ll broaden your culinary horizons by finding ways to use up all that fresh produce.
Do your scrambled eggs slide off the pan if you don’t use oil or butter? They should. Might be time for an upgrade.
There’s nothing worse than limp herbs. Next time, trim the stems and put the parsley in a glass of water, fit a plastic bag over it, and stash it in the refrigerator.
Want gorgeous scalloped potatoes or perfectly julienned carrots? Buy a mandoline. Are you a scaredycat? Wear a cut-resistant safety glove until you feel comfortable bare-handed.
Having cooked grains in your fridge means that fried rice, pilafs, rice bowls and robust salads are just minutes away.
Look, the 40-watt lightbulb in your oven hood isn't going to cut it. Get a cheap clamp light from a hardware store so you can see what you’re doing.
What else are you going to roast your vegetables on? How else are you going to make quick dinners of fish en papillote?
A freezer full of roasted turkey necks and bony beef cuts will ensure you always have what you need to make broth.
Remember that thing about super-cheap cuts of meat? Think of rinds as cheese bones.
Existential question time. If your sponge is filthy and smells, how can you expect it get your dishes clean?
Seems obvious, but if you don’t know, now you know.
Salad spinners? So bulky and annoying. Instead, pile your just-washed greens into a clean dish towel, gather it by the ends, and swing that sucker around until your salad is dry (or your arm is tired).
Chicken fat is amazing stuff, whether you’re frying onions in it, sautéing greens in it or spreading it on toast. So after eating your roast chicken dinner, drain the now-cooled liquid fat into a plastic container and store it in your freezer. (Pro tip: This also holds true for bacon fat.)
Hat tip to Rachael Ray. Buy a large bowl and keep it at the ready to fill up with egg shells and other trash generated while cooking.
Like anecdotes about high school football games, peelers get dull, especially after a couple years. We recommend the Kuhn Rikon Swiss Peeler, which is just seven bucks.
You cannot toss a salad or mix cookies or make meatballs in a tiny cereal bowl. All you can do is make a bigger mess.
And they’re all evil. Glass cutting boards send shivers down your spine when you use them. They dull your knives. They’re slippery. And they’re hard to use. Use wood, bamboo or plastic instead.
Bread keeps really well in the freezer. And there are always plenty of uses for it. Just remember: Air is the enemy! Wrap that loaf in foil (sliced or unsliced) and put it in a freezer bag before stashing.
Food that's crowded into a cast-iron skillet or sheet tray gets steamed—and soggy—instead of crisp.
A quick stint in a dry skillet over medium heat wakes dry spices up and releases their oils, which means your paprika will taste a lot more paprika-y. Use whole spices, watch the pan like a hawk, and stir constantly until the spices are fragrant, then transfer to a plate to cool before using.
“These nuts are too crunchy,” said nobody ever.
It's the first step to building roasty, warm flavor. (Using quinoa? Toast it before you rinse it.)
Carrots, squash, tomatoes—these vegetables have a natural sweetness that’s enhanced by a dash (just a dash!) of sugar.
Especially when cooking meat. Smoke equals char, and char is delicious.
That way, your board won’t slip around as you chop.
Chopping your own chips creates pockets of melty chocolate throughout your cookies—some small, some large, all delicious.
It adds texture. It makes the dressing pop. It’s proof that there’s nothing—nothing—you shouldn’t be salting.
If you don’t, the temperature in the refrigerator will rise. And the only thing that benefits is mold.
Warm some butter or olive oil over medium-high heat. Lay in bread and fry until golden on both sides. Sell your toaster.
Those are the stores that sell them ripe.
They’ll keep longer that way, so you’ll always be able to add fresh lemon juice to everything from dressings to cocktails. Plus, you can use the squeezed rinds to clean and deodorize your wooden cutting boards.
A lot more—you’ll use the extras in omelets and sandwiches; on chicken, steak and pork; in pastas and stews.
Sick of shredding your knuckles instead of cheese? Buy a Microplane, which will provide years of shredding power for about $15.
Plastic warps over time, making them less precise.
The towel is there to absorb moisture, which keeps your greens crisper, longer.
Oh look, we just found them for you.
Serving it cold and hard on toast—on anything, really—is the one way to make butter bad. (Need it soft in a hurry? Here are four ways.)
A little shallot, some chopped herbs, maybe some lemon zest—boom. You just made compound butter.
So is a decent dish towel. Who has space for a dish rack?
The stuff just doesn’t keep very long.
Revive it with a minute or so in the microwave.
Having a stash of salt always within arm’s reach when you’re at the stove is the first step to better seasoner (see tip 57).
It heats more evenly than tin, and when your pie is perfectly golden-brown everywhere, you’ll know it.
When roasting vegetables, toss them in oil, then season them with salt and pepper and toss again. This way, the seasoning actually sticks to your food.
Toss fennel fronds, carrot ends and other vegetable scraps into a resealable plastic bag you keep in the freezer. When you reach critical mass, make vegetable stock.
Toss cubed bread on a rimmed baking sheet with oil, salt, pepper and whatever other tasty thing you fancy. Bake at 350, tossing once or twice, until golden brown. Now see if any actually make it to your salad.
After you’ve unwrapped and rinsed your bird, pat it dry, salt it generously, and let it stand in the refrigerator, uncovered, for a few hours before roasting. The bone-dry skin will cook up to a crackly, crunchy, golden brown.
Not only will it last longer, it will grate it more easily.
Mozzarella, feta, and fresh goat cheese? Delicious. Mozz, feta and goat cheese marinated in olive oil, chile flakes, and fresh herbs? More delicious.
The ice cubes that come out of the dispenser in your fridge? They’re watering down your cocktails. Cubes made in silicone ice trays are denser and keep your Bourbon cold for hours (or, you know, however long it lasts).
Because if you wait until the end, it’s probably too late.