Cooking Tips 102

Here are more great tips from my kitchen to ya'lls. We all can use handy dandy tips that help make the job in the kitchen a little bit easier.

Does anyone else have any good tips...If so leave a comment or send me an email!

Grilling: Preventing Flare Ups
Trim excess fat from your meats to prevent sudden flare-ups. To ensure more even cooking, bring foods to room temperature before placing them on the grill.

Grilling Shrimp
Start with a good marinade with a citrus base. Place shrimp on a hot grill, preferably on skewers for easy handling or in a grilling basket. Watch closely. If the shrimp cook too long they will become tough and flavorless. When the shrimp start to turn pink on the sides, turn and cook until there is no more gray. Remove immediately and serve. Do not let cooked shrimp sit out for very long.

Avocado, Keeping Fresh (Thanks Cassie)
If you are only using half an avocado, leave the pit in the unused half and refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap. This will retard discoloration.

Breading Chicken (Thanks Lynn)
When breading chicken, coat the pieces with mayonnaise instead of egg. The mayonnaise clings to the chicken and doesn't drip like the egg does. Plus, it adds nice flavor.

Brownies, Adding Flavor (Thanks Georgia)
To give a fruit flavor to your brownies, use flavored soda pop instead of water in the mix.

Burnt Food Odors
To neutralize burnt food odors in the house, mix 1/2 cup whole cloves with 2 cups water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer cloves for 15-30 minutes. The house smells wonderful and the burnt odor is gone.

Cake, Cooling when short on time
To cool a cake quickly for frosting, pop it into the freezer while you make the frosting. By the time frosting is ready, the cake will be cool and ready to slip out of the pan.

Preventing Splattering When Frying
A little salt placed in a frying pan will prevent splattering.

Cake, Getting Rid of Air Pockets
To keep holes and tunnels out of your cake, run a knife through the batter after you have finished mixing it. This removes air holes.

Flouring Cake Pans
When flouring a cake pan, take into consideration the flavor of the cake. If you plan to serve the cake dusted with powdered sugar, a white ring on the side of a chocolate cake takes away from the appeal. For light cakes, use white flour to flour your pans. When making a dark cake, use powdered cocoa. The cocoa works in the same manner as the flour with regard to release and it doesn't leave a white ring around the edge or on top of the cake.

Cake, Keeping Fresh Longer
To keep loaf cakes fresher longer, cut slices from the middle rather than from the end. When you're finished slicing, firmly push the two leftover sections together to reform a loaf. This way, you eliminate leaving an exposed, quick-to-dry-out "end" slice.

Cake, Keeping the top from browning too fast
If the top of your cake is browning too quickly, place a pan of warm water on the rack above the cake while it is baking in the oven.

Cake, Keeping the top from cracking
To prevent cakes from cracking while they cool, add one envelope of unflavored gelatine to the dry ingredients of any cake batter. This will prevent cracking, and will also make the cake fuller. The gelatin does not change the flavor or moistness of the cake.

Cake, Makeshift Decorating Bag
Make a cake decorator by rolling up a piece of wax paper into a cone shape so that one end has a smaller opening than the other. Snip the small end with scissors to make a good point. Put icing in and squeeze it out through the pointed end.

Cake, Making Mocha Chocolate Cake
Use cold coffee instead of water when making a chocolate cake from a box. It gives the cake a rich, mocha flavor.