So You Think You Can Cook? Taste These Tips!

Some people find successful cooking to be virtually effortless, while others consider cooking to be an elusive art. Becoming good at cooking isnt difficult if you educate yourself a little and persevere. Learning to cook is an extremely useful skill to have as everyone has to eat! This article includes some great tips for the beginner cook and for the experienced cook, as well.

When storing your herbs and spices, they should be kept in a cool, dark spot. When exposed to light and heat, spices will lose their sharpness and flavor. Most ground spices will keep their flavor for at least one year. Spices that have not been ground may still be worth using for three years or a little more. When stored properly, spice stay fresh for longer periods of time.

When cooking stock, make it in a large quantity and store it in smaller bags in the freezer. Stock has a long freezer life and can be useful in so many recipes. Making a larger batch is no more difficult than making a small batch. Youll save yourself time later by having a freezer store to turn to.

Use a heavy duty, zip-lock plastic bag to separate pan drippings. After roasting meat, pour the pan drippings into a zip-lock plastic bag. Let the fat rise to the top. Carefully snip off one of the bottom corners on the bag, and pour out the fat-free broth. The fat will stay in the plastic bag, and you will have a tasty broth as a base for gravy or a sauce.

To prepare for the meal that you are going to cook, make a comprehensive list of everything that you are going to need to cook your meal when you go to the supermarket. This will allow you to stay as organized as possible so there is no part of your meal that you leave out.

As you cook your meal during the course of the night, make sure that you taste it at several different points. This will allow you to pinpoint exactly when it is done, so that you do not run the risk of overcooking it. Tasting your food is important to achieve the quality you desire.

When it comes to cooking a good habit to do after preparing garlic is to rub your hands on the stainless steel sink vigorously for about 30 seconds. This will remove the unwanted odor from your hands. Washing them less than 30 seconds will not take all the odor away.

Nutrition

When certain recipes call for milk or water, try adding some other liquids that you would see fit to experiment with flavors. Use chicken broth, beef, or juice in places where you would normally use water. As an alternative to milk, try using thinned sour cream, yogurt, soy milk or buttermilk. Try making your recipes stand out and more nutritious by interchanging your liquids.

To preserve more of the nutritional value of your vegetables dont cook them for too long. As you cook a vegetable, its nutrient content diminishes. Good techniques for quickly cooking vegetables are steaming and stir-frying. Slow cooking has its place, but dont neglect the quicker techniques with their greater nutrition.

As stated previously, cooking isnt all that difficult, especially if you arm yourself with some knowledge. Improving your cooking skills can be very rewarding in numerous ways. Just imagine the compliments you will receive from your friends and family as you serve that new dish you created yourself. By using some of the ideas presented in this article, youll be well on your way to becoming the kind of cook youve always wanted to be.