Cooking Tips
Baking Pans
Use shortening instead of oil to grease your baking pans. The oil gets absorbed into the batter and won't keep baked goods from sticking.
Bread
A small dish of water in the oven while the bread bakes will keep the crust from getting hard.
For quick breads and muffins, get smooth edges and no crusty rims every time by greasing the pans on the bottom and only halfway up the sides. The batter will cling to the sides of the pan rather than sliding back down during baking.
Let nut breads and other quick breads stand for 10 minutes before removing from pan to allow them to become firmer. Do not cool completely in the pan or they will become soggy.
Candy
Try to avoid making candy on a damp, rainy day. If it cannot be postponed, cook the candy 1-2 degrees higher.
Cookies
To make hard cookies softer, store in an airtight container with a piece of white bread. The bread's moisture will soften the cookies.
Eggs
When baking with eggs, bring them to room temperature first to avoid curdling the batter. Soak eggs in a bowl of warm water to quickly bring them to room temperature.
Egg whites will whip up to greater volume if used at room temperature.
Raw or hard-boiled? Spin the egg. If it wobbles, it's raw. If it spins easily, it's hard-cooked.
Frying Meat
Sprinkle a little salt into the frying pan before adding the fat to avoid splashing when adding meat to be fried.
Greasy Food
If gravy is too greasy, add a little baking powder which will absorb the extra grease.
Absorb excess grease from the top of your soup by placing a lettuce leaf in the soup. Remove and throw away the lettuce once its done the job.
Lettuce
Perk up soggy lettuce by placing it in a bowl of cold water with lemon juice. Refrigerate for at least one hour.
Margarine
If your recipe calls for margarine, make sure your product is not a margarine substitute that may have extra water added.
Meringue
To cut cleanly through a meringue pie, coat both sides of the knife with butter.
Potatoes
Prevent potato eyes from budding by storing an apple with them.
Salt
If you add too much salt during cooking, drop in a peeled potato to absorb some of the excess.
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