Costly Kitchen Mistakes & Their Easy Fixes

Costly Kitchen Mistakes & Their Easy Fixes

from: shopsmart

Here’s a sampling of some common kitchen mistakes and ways to correct them - the full list is available in June issue of ShopSmart.

• Don’t put your kitchen knives in the dishwasher. The high heat of the machine’s drying cycle can cause the blade and handle to expand and contract, so you could end up with a warped blade or cracked handle.

• Do wash knives by hand in hot, soapy water, and dry immediately to avoid rusting or spotting; then put them away.

• Don’t line the oven with foil. It can trap heat, throwing off the oven’s performance, or melt, damaging the oven or even causing a fire. Your warranty may be voided if the oven has a foil warning.

• Do use heavy-duty foil on the rack below the food that’s cooking – a sheet that’s a few inches bigger than the pan over it can catch drips and still allow heat to circulate properly.

• Don’t use nonstick pans over very high heat. Very high temps can break down the coating and create fumes that can kill pet birds and possibly cause flulike symptoms in people.

• Do use the pans on low or medium heat. Most pans indicate the maximum temperature on their label (usually 350°-400°F).

• Don’t run cold water over hot pots, pans, and baking sheets. Over time the repeated expanding and contracting of the materials can cause permanent warping and cracking.

• Do let the pan cool before removing stuck-on stuff from the bottom of a pan. For stubborn food, add a little water to the pan and warm over a low flame, scraping up any browned bits.

• Don’t refrigerate your tomatoes. Cold temperatures kill the flavor of tomatoes and can create a mealy texture. They also stop the ripening process.

• Do keep all tomatoes (even fully ripe ones) on the counter. Always place them stem side up to prevent bruising.

• Don’t ignore instructions to rotate baking pans. Many baking and casserole recipes suggest rotating pans during cooking to make sure the dish is uniformly cooked because home ovens might have pockets where one area gets hotter than another.

• Do halfway through cooking, rotate pans 180 degrees. If you’re cooking multiple items, swap the pans onto different racks.

• Don’t boil when the recipe says simmer. Even when you’re crunched for time, it’s important not to rush the cooking process. Foods will cook unevenly, meat can become tough, and the food at the bottom of your pot is likely to burn.

• Do keep adjusting the heat to keep the simmer steady – you should just see tiny bubbles covering the surface of the liquid. If you start to see bigger bubbles and hear them pop, turn down the heat.