Kitchen Cookware And Accessories

Stainless steel is made from iron and other metals, which is strong and resists against wear and tear. It is inexpensive, long lasting and is most popular in North America. The metals used in stainless steel or iron, may produce health effects such as iron, nickel and chromium.

Ceramic pottery, enamel or glass cookware is easily cleaned and can be heated to fairly high temperatures. Ceramic is glazed; similar glazes are applied to metals to make enamelware. These glazes, a form of glass, resist wear and corrosion.

For cooking and storing food, plastic is lightweight and nearly unbreakable. Many containers have been made for use in microwave ovens, where metal cookware is not suitable.

Stainless steel cookware should be washed in hot, soapy water or a warm ammonia and water solution, thoroughly rinsed and immediately dried to avoid water spots. Use mild, stainless steel cleaners or light scouring with a plastic or stainless steel scouring pad to remove most stains; don’t use steel wool, chlorine bleach or alcohol

Cast iron cookware is usually pre-seasoned coated with unsalted fat and heated to prevent rusting, unless porcelain coated. It should be washed in warm, sudsy water and frequently treated by coating the cast iron interior surface with unsalted shortening, left until its next use, and then wiped out. To re-season, scour the pan completely, rinse and dry; then coat the inside with unsalted fat and leave in moderate oven for two hours. Remove and wipe off excess grease

To remove copper cookware discoloration, use commercial cleaner or a mixture of flour, salt, lemon juice and ammonia applied before regular washing. Wash chrome cookware with warm water and soap or detergent. Do not use abrasive cleaners.

Kitchen Appliance Reviews And Information

Kitchen appliances are a central part of most kitchens. They make life so much more simple in the kitchen. Not only are they safer, they speed up meal preparation time. Because they are so useful, there are dozens of small kitchen appliance makers giving you hundreds of appliance choices to make. You can spend hours and days searching and researching different models and makes in the hopes of finding the appliance that is right for your needs.

When you set out to buy a new appliance for your kitchen, there are several important things to keep in mind. Space, cooking needs, and cost are at the top of the list of things to decide before you buy any appliance. Of course matching your kitchen’s decor is also fairly important to some.

With the space in most kitchen always limited, you need to think about both how much space you have for your new appliance, and also where that space is located. If the only space you have is directly under your kitchen cabinets you may not want to place a rice cooker there since it let of lots of steam causing water damage. Location of your electrical outlets is also something to keep in mind.

Any appliance you buy needs to match your lifestyle and eating needs. If you drink very little coffee, a one cup brewer is probably more reasonable than a 12 cup model. If you’re like me and enjoy an extra 5 minutes of sleep a timer on the coffee machine is a blessing. Every person has different cooking needs. Simple think about your daily food habits and routines and get the appliance that suits you best.

Finally, about price and how much should you spend. Well, that is entirely up to you. A $200 espresso machine may be great, but you can get nearly the same result from a cheaper model so if you’re on a budget…well you get the picture. No matter what appliance you are looking to buy you need to decide if the benefits the more expensive models provide are worth the extra money. In many cases they are, but not all. If you’re in doubt, step back a second and think about what it is that you really NEED vs. what the sales pitch is trying to make you want.

In the end, the choice is always yours to make. With a little bit of fore-thought and reading some good reviews will get you well on your way. Add in a little thinking about your kitchen’s layout, your cooking habits, and lifestyle, you will buy the kitchen appliances that best suit your needs.

Keeping Food Safe During Cookout Season

Summer is the ideal time to enjoy cookouts and backyard feasts. Unfortunately, hot weather combined with eating outdoors can be a breeding ground for food-borne illness. Every year, an estimated 76 million cases of food-borne illness and 5,000 associated deaths occur in the United States.

It’s easy to avoid food poisoning if you take some simple precautions. Here are some ways to keep yourself safe:

• Avoid cross-contamination. Do not let food not yet cooked come into contact with anything ready to be eaten.

• When shopping, buy meat and poultry products last, and unpack them first at home.

• Cook food thoroughly, especially poultry. Even rare meat should be cooked to an internal temperature of at least 140ºF.

• Cranberries may be a natural and delicious way to make that summer barbeque a safer one. New research finds cranberries may offer a unique line of defense against food poisoning with their unique ability to reduce the growth of Salmonella and E. coli and other types of bacteria found in food. Incorporating cranberry into food preparation, one day, may be a natural way to minimize food contamination.

SPICY CRANBERRY CHICKEN DRUMMETTES

1/2 cup Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce

2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce

1 tablespoon chili sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

20 chicken drummettes, about 2 pounds

Combine all ingredients, except drummettes, in large resealable plastic bag; mix well. Add drummettes. Seal; turn bag to coat chicken. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight. Preheat oven to 400º F. Pour chicken and marinade in ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Bake 40 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink near bone, turning 2 or 3 times and brushing with marinade. Transfer chicken pieces to serving dish; discard any remaining marinade.

Since cranberries are also antioxidants, they provide a dual anti-adhesion and antioxidant health benefit. With more PACs and antioxidants per gram than most fruit, cranberries ward off certain bacteria and bolster the body’s defenses against free radical damage that can contribute to many chronic diseases including heart disease.

Keep That Cooking Area Clean

One of the most prevalent illnesses today is food poisoning. It starts as a slight discomfort a few hours after eating and grows into a life- threatening episode requiring hospitalization.

The most common cause are the salmonella e-coli and listeria bacteria. And, they can be common problems in the chef’s kitchen.

Common breeding grounds for bacteria are kitchen towels, dish rags and brushes, cutting boards, kitchen sinks, door, drawer and refrigerator handles. Little things like timers, whisk handles, pepper mills and salt shakers also become breeding grounds for bacteria. You can also add bottles of oil, spice jars, can openers and the controls on your stove or ovens.

Food itself can be storage places for bacteria with the culprits chicken and other poultry, eggs, raw meats, dairy products, and even fresh fruits and veggies.

In addition to washing your hands regularly while cooking here is a list of things you should do in your kitchen to reduce the likelyhood of food poisoning:

1. Wash poultry in ice cold water when you bring it home from the supermarket and refrigerate immediately. Cook it as soon as possible.

2. Wash your hands and everything else that comes in contact with raw poultry.

3. Wash, never reuse knives, cutting boards, towels or anything else that touches raw poultry without washing them. This means don’t use the cutting board or knives to chop vegetables or anything elsethat will not be cooked immediately.

4. Wash your hands after going to the bathroom. Your family is not immune to your personal e-coli!

5. Wash all vegetables immediately after you bring them home from the market. This includes all fruit including watermelons, strawberries, peaches, mangos, grapes, and almost every other fruit including bananas.

6. Use a lot of paper towels that can be thrown away. Dish rags and towels are one of the biggest breeding grounds for bacteria.

7. Keep your kitchen counters clean. Use a diluted bleach or disinfectant before and after meal preparation.

8. Refrigerate foods as much as you can and read the labels on condiments, sauces, jams and jellies to see if they need refrigeration after opening. DO NOT LEAVE MAYONNAISE ON THE COUNTER ON A SUMMER DAY! That goes for anything made with the mayonnaise as well.

9. Gently wash eggs in ice cold water before putting them in the fridge. There is nothing sterile about an egg that came from the chicken coop.

10. Buy your meat, especially hamburger, from a reputable butcher shop.

11. Make sure you have a meat thermometer and make sure all meat is cooked to the proper temperature to kill the dangerous bacteria in meats, poultry and fish.

12. Wash your hands!! I can’t repeat this enough!

13. Plan your grocery shopping so you go home immediately after you purchase perishable foods.

14. If fish smells like fish, don’t buy it! If anything smells “off” or not what
you are accustomed to, don’t buy it.

15. If a can or jar whooshes when you open it, throw it away or better yet, take it back to the store.

16. Drain things over the sink, not in it. This place is teeming with bacteria. Sterilize it often, but still keep edible food out of it.

Is It Frosting? Or Is It Icing?

Home cooks most generally use the term frosting and icing interchangeably. This can cause confusion.

In order to reduce that confusion I like to make a distinction between the two on my website.

Frosting

Frosting is a fluffy, thick concoction that will hold its shape. You can pipe decorations with it like you see on cakes.

Even though it holds a shape it stays soft and keeps its creamy texture.

There are as many variations of frosting recipes, as there are cookie recipes. One of the most popular is butter cream.

Even within the butter cream category there is no one definitive recipe.

It seems that every country that can get its hands on butter has its opinion of what butter cream frosting should be. Some are made with eggs and butter. Some varieties you have to cook sugar to a softball stage.

There are others that use shortening or a combination of shortening and butter. Still others don’t use butter or shortening at all but another substance such as peanut butter.

A simple butter cream is just butter, sugar, flavoring and a liquid beaten and beaten until it is light and fluffy. It can be flavored with most any flavoring and colored any color during the beating stage.

After beating, other ingredients such as dried fruit, nuts or melted chocolate can be folded in.

Icing

Icing is normally much thinner than frosting and in this state will not hold shapes. Because it’s more liquid it flows easily and thins out filling in nooks and crannies.

What differentiates icing from frosting is that as icing dries it becomes smooth and will harden when completely dry. This makes it perfect glue for cookie construction projects, such as a gingerbread house.

For the cookie decorator that’s not handy with a piping bag icing is the ideal cookie decorating medium.

Just like frosting there are hundreds and hundreds of icing recipes and recipe variations. An icing recipe can be as simple as powdered sugar mixed with a liquid to more complicated meringue varieties.

One of the better known meringue variations is Royal Icing. Depending on the amount of liquid used Royal Icing can be piped and will hold shapes like frosting but it will harden as it dries.

So is it icing? Or is it frosting?

In my humble opinion it boils down to one thing. If it stays soft (within reason) it’s frosting. If, when it dries, it hardens then it’s icing.

I Need Some Pots And Pans To Cook In – What Should I Buy?

If you’ve shopped for cookware recently, you may have gotten a headache from looking at all the choices and brands available. And all of them seem to be telling you the same things – I’m the best; I’m a great value; buy me.

What should you buy? Before you start considering your cookware options consider the following five questions.

1) Do you cook for a few people or a lot of people? This will determine how many pots and pans you need and also how big you need them to be.

2) What kind of cooking do you most often do? I like to make homemade soup so a large stockpot is essential for me. On the other hand, I never steam anything on the stovetop (I use an electric steamer) so a stovetop steamer is useless to me. Think about what you cook or what you want to learn how to cook so you can determine what pieces of cookware you’ll need.

3) How important is ease of cleanup to you? If you hate cleanup you should probably buy non-stick cookware. If you want to be able to put your cookware in the dishwasher you’ll need to look at the sets you’re considering to see if it’s advisable. For example, hard-anodized aluminum cookware (http://www.acooksdelight.com/cookware/anodizedaluminumcookware) is a very popular type of cookware but the outside of the pots will change color and darken if you wash them in your dishwasher. I own this type of cookware and I love it. But there are days when I don’t love having to take the time to hand-wash it, but I do because I don’t want it to get discolored in my dishwasher. Most professional cooks prefer stainless steel cookware. It’s nice to cook with but clean-up can be fairly time-consuming.

4) What type of stove do you have? Do you have a smooth-top electric stovetop? If you do, you need flat-bottom pots and pans. I didn’t think about this when I purchased my smooth-top stove. I quickly discovered my pots and pans weren’t flat bottomed and that they didn’t work well on my new stove. As a result I had to go buy new cookware that had flat bottoms. If you have an induction cooktop you needs pots and pans with ferrite in them, which means they need to be magnetic.

5) What is your budget? I highly recommend buying the best quality cookware you can afford. The best quality is not always the most expensive cookware available, but it’s never the cheapest. If you buy a $49.99 set of cookware, you’ll be getting a bargain but you won’t be getting a good set of cookware.

Now that you’ve thought about your needs and know how much you can afford to spend, it’s time to go look at cookware. You’ll likely be using your cookware every day so you want something that you’re comfortable working with. But the number one thing to look for in cookware is weight and heft. Heavier weight cookware won’t warp over time which causes you to lose the flat, even cooking surface on the bottom of your pan; and you can control the heat better in heavier weight cookware. I’m not saying you have to buy cookware that you need to join the gym to be able to lift out of the cupboard but don’t buy cheap flimsy pots and pans.

If a pan feels like you could bend it, don’t buy it. I’m not suggesting you walk into a store, pick up every pot and pan and try to bend it, but look at one of the saucepans. If you push a little on the sides and that saucepan has some “give” to it, it’s not going to hold up well on your stove.

To get a good quality cookware set you’ll probably need to spend a minimum of $200 (. If you don’t have that much to spend consider buying only the essential pieces you need to get you started such as a 2-quart saucepan, a sauté pan and a stockpot. Add pieces as you can afford them. Although you’ll typically get the best value for your money if you buy a cookware set versus buying the individual pieces don’t buy a poor quality set just so you have an entire set of cookware. You’ll end up spending more money in the long run replacing those pots and pans when they get warped and ruined (which won’t take long).

If you take the time to consider your needs, do some shopping around, and purchase the best quality set of cookware you can afford, you’re likely to be happy with your purchase for a long time.

How To Teach Your Children To Cook

If you’re ready to teach your children how to cook, here are some simple tips for teaching them the basics, and giving them skills that will last them a lifetime!

First of all, think safety. Any child that has to stand on a stool or chair in order to reach the stove is too young to cook. Start younger children off by letting them help set and clear the table, gathering ingredients, and stirring, mixing or adding ingredients.

Next, set rules about handling knives and other sharp instruments and handling hot pans or boiling ingredients. Some parents start teaching their children to cook by showing them how to make things that don’t require cooking first, and then graduating to letting them make food in the microwave.

Create a relaxed atmosphere that is fun when teaching your kids to cook. Remember what it was like when you were learning to cook? Chances are, you made a few messes and broke a few dishes. It happens. Learning to cook should be fun, not drudgery, although there are certain responsibilities that go along with the privilege, such as cleaning up as you go along, and leaving the kitchen clean when you’re finished.

Start with the basics. Show your kids what the different utensils are used for, and the right way to use them. Teach them about herbs and spices, and using the right ingredients for the right dishes. Cooking is a great way to learn fractions and chemistry, and your kids might not even realize they’re learning while they’re having fun!

Begin with simple recipes. There are some great cookbooks for kids on the market today, that include step-by-step instructions and pictures so kids can see what something’s supposed to look like while they’re assembling the recipe…let success build on success.

Give your kids a chance to shine. As they learn to cook more complicated recipes, let them be responsible for planning — and cooking lunch or dinner one night. Letting your kids plan the meal — and even shop for the ingredients will help them to realize and appreciate the effort that goes into cooking.

As your kids become more skilled, begin including foods from different cultures. Many recipes such as French crepes or Italian lasagna are not difficult to make, and your kids will develop an appreciation for many different kinds of food.

Especially for younger children, having tools that are their own size not only make cooking more fun, but make it easier for them to participate. Kid-sized kitchen utensils can be found at many department or specialty stores.

Make sure you take plenty of pictures — you may not realize it now, but you’re making memories that someday will be as delicious as that batch of chocolate chip cookies you’re baking now!

How To Smoke A Turkey

For those who long for the wonderful taste of smoked turkey but forgo the luxury because of how much it costs in stores, take heart! It’s surprising just how easy and economical it is to make your own smoked turkey at home. Not only will you enjoy this tempting morsel, but just think how much you’ll impress your friends and family.

you don’t need a smoker; any covered grill will give the same effect. Simply place the turkey breast on the cool side of the grill and use soaked wood chips.

It’s important to allow yourself plenty of time to smoke the turkey until it is completely cooked. Smoking time depends on the size of the turkey, the distance from the heat, temperature of the coals, as well as the outside air temperature. You can roughly estimate about 20 to 30 minutes per pound of turkey, but it’s important to use a meat thermometer to be sure your turkey is thoroughly cooked. The turkey is done when the food thermometer, placed in the inner thigh, reaches 180° F (be sure the thermometer is not touching the bone).

Important points about how to smoke a turkey:

Food safety is of primary concern when smoking turkey. Turkey breasts, drumsticks, wings and whole turkeys are all suited for smoking, although for safety’s sake, stick with whole turkeys that weigh 12 pounds or less. A larger turkey remains in the “Danger Zone” – between 40° F and 140° F for too long.

Do not stuff a turkey destined for smoking. Because smoking takes place at a low temperature, it can take too long for the temperature of the stuffing to reach the required temperature of 165° F, not to mention that smoked stuffing has an undesirable flavor.

Here’s a wonderful and easy recipe:

Chili-Spiced Smoked Turkey Breast

1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (6-pound) whole turkey breast
2 cups mesquite chips
Cooking spray

Combine the first 10 ingredients in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; cool. Combine lime juice mixture and turkey in a large zip-top plastic bag. Seal and marinate in refrigerator 2 hours. Soak wood chips in water at least 30 minutes. Drain well.

Preheat gas grill to medium-hot (350° to 400°) using both burners. Turn left burner off. Place wood chips in a disposable foil pan or a foil packet pierced with holes on grill over right burner. Remove turkey from marinade; discard marinade. Place turkey, skin side up, on grill rack coated with cooking spray over left burner. Cover and cook 1 1/2 hours. Turn turkey over; cook 15 minutes or until meat thermometer registers 170°. Remove turkey from grill. Cover loosely with foil, and let stand at least 10 minutes before carving. Discard skin.

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 3 ounces)

If you prefer an actual smoker, water smokers are available in electric, gas or charcoal model, and all work well. Charcoal smokers have two pans – one for charcoal and one for liquid which creates the moist, hot smoke needed for cooking. These are available wherever barbecue grills are found, but here’s an economical secret: start going to garage sales. For some reason, smokers seem to be a popular item, possibly because a lot of folks don’t know how to use them. However, as stated above, a smoker is not necessary to get the full, smoky flavor you desire. Unless you’re really into smoking many different things (cooking, not inhaling!), it’s an expense you can do without. Not only will you save money, you’ll also save space.

But, if you do have a smoker, here’s an easy how to smoke a turkey recipe:

1 15 pound turkey, fresh or thawed
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Prepare smoker for a 6 to 8 hour smoke at about 230 degrees. In a saucepan melt butter. Add wine, honey and cinnamon. Heat on low temperature until mixture is smooth and thin. Using a turkey injector, inject half the mixture into the turkey in all meaty areas. Brush remaining mixture over turkey. You can reserve some of the baste to apply later, during the cooking process. Place turkey in smoker. When the internal temperature of the turkey reaches 165 degrees the turkey is done. Remove from smoker and let rest for 10-15 minutes. Carve and serve.

Enjoy!

How to Satisfy Summer Time Fresh Tomato Cravings Today

Disappointment reigns heavily when it comes to out of season tomatoes. Yes, summer is over as the harsh freezing cold temperatures blanket the entire North American continent and we are missing, craving more than likely, the incredible taste of vine ripe tomatoes straight from the garden. Perfectly picked at their peek of freshness and aromatic fragrance.

Sure you try the produce market at you local grocery looking for bright red tomatoes that give a little to the touch but don’t feel mushy. Your journey is unsuccessful instead you settle for the less than perfect specimen, pale and still a little green in color. Your hope is it will ripen at room temperature on the kitchen counter and be ready to use in a couple of days. Disappointment follows it has no taste whatsoever.

Cravings are persistent and lead to more intense desires for the fresh taste of summer time tomatoes.

Ouch, did you hear the weather report? Several more days of below freezing temperatures are ahead with no end in sight.

Capt’n Salsa has a simple and acceptable solution for you. Considering the snow covered garden out the back window and your cravings are growing more intense each day it is time to reach for the “canned tomatoes”.

Hey hear me out just a minute, okay?

Canned tomatoes, yes whole canned tomatoes are the closest tasting to fresh tomatoes you can find. Look for whole tomatoes packed in juice not the sauce or the puree for the best taste. The whole canned tomatoes can easily be chopped or even added whole during cooking to most of your favorite recipes. Actually, go ahead and use the diced canned tomatoes again grabbing the ones packed in juice.

Diced tomatoes are coarsely chopped during the canning process saving you a lot of time and of course the messy cleanup of chopping canned whole tomatoes. Add them right out of the can to your favorite sauces, soups and pasta dishes, using them just as you would your fresh garden tomatoes.

Homemade tomato salsa?

Sure, just remember to drain the juice first reserving it for a special “Bloody Mary” later.

How To Prepare Your Culinary Masterpiece

First thing is first. So you want a culinary masterpiece? Be careful and to follow these instructions to become great.

Prepare Your Food Lists

Do you have any ingredients in supply? Do you have enough for your recipe? Are the ingredients still fresh or have they spoiled? List what you’re missing and how much you need. If you’re just cooking for one or two, don’t get the family packages of perishables unless you can freeze the extra and use it up before it gets freezer burn. Most dry spices keep quite a while, but can lose potency if stored in warm, damp areas.

Check the grocery ads

See what’s on sale. There’s no sense in paying more than you have to. Consider how many people you’re cooking for and how much refrigerator and freezer space you have. Nothing is a bargain if you can’t store it long enough to cook and eat it. A large roast, for example, can be chopped into meal-sized pieces and frozen, or you can cook the whole thing, eat what you want, and save the rest for sandwiches, stews, casseroles, and snacks–if you have the refrigerator or freezer space to store it.

Using coupons: Coupons can save you money or cost you.
If the coupon is for something you would have bought anyway, it’s worth using. If it’s just a different brand, the coupon makes it cheaper than your regular brand, and you can’t taste the distinction, use it. If the only reason you’re buying the product is to use the coupon, forget it! If it’s something new that you’d like to try, and you don’t have to buy a large quantity, look at the price and decide if it’s worth the money to you. Go ahead and treat yourself occasionally. Little treats make it easier to stick to a healthy routine the rest of the time.

How much should you buy?

Most supermarkets have the prices marked on the shelves, and show a unit price on the ticket. Sometimes the larger package costs less per pound, or ounce, or whatever unit is used. Sometimes the smaller package is in fact the better buy. Small calculators are so inexpensive nowadays that getting one to take shopping with you can save you money, especially when one brand, for example, lists the price per pound and another shows the per ounce price.

With foods that have to be frozen or chilled, or fresh fruits and vegetables that spoil quickly (known as “perishables”) only buy as much as you can use before they perish. The fresher it is, the better the flavor and nutrition, so, even though you can keep a lot of stuff in the freezer for long periods, it’s better not to keep it for more than a few weeks. (Keep track of what’s in the freezer–date everything as it goes in–so that nothing gets buried in the back or bottom for years at a time.)

It’s real easy to overbuy when things are on sale. Then you risk either having to eat so much of it that you can’t stand the thought of it for a long time afterward, or being forced to throw out some of it when it spoils.

Are national brands worth the price? Are house or generic brands just as good as the national brands?

All of the major chain supermarkets have house brands or plainly packaged generic products. Some chains have both. Check out your local chains, try the house products, and decide for yourself when (or if) you want to spend a little more for the national brand. If you really prefer a national brand, especially in non-perishables, watch the ads, and when it goes on sale, stock up. Many of the house brands are made by the same companies that make the national brands. The only difference is that the supermarket chain buys in quantity, and the manufacturer has no advertising expense.

Staple supplies that every kitchen needs.
All-purpose flour, cornstarch (for thickening gravy), assorted noodles and pasta, rice, oils (vegetable, olive, peanut), vinegar (white wine, red wine, apple cider, plain distilled), canned soups (beef broth, chicken broth, tomato, cream of mushroom), assorted spices and flavorings (dried minced onion, oregano for Italian dishes, salt, pepper, any others you like.)Buy small quantities on new items and taste test before stocking up.

Other good things to keep on hand.
Canned meats and vegetables, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, favorite salad dressings, horseradish sauce, ready-to-eat cereal, quick cooking oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, Cream of Rice, grits, gravy mixes, drink mixes, any other favorite foods.

With these basic pointers you should be well on your way to having a well stocked kitchen and great cooking experience.

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