As meat prices continue to rise, it is valuable to know how to use what in the past were called utility cuts. Which is a nice way to say if you don’t handle them properly you will be chewing them for a couple days. But when you do use the right process they will give you some of the best tasting meat you can cook up for friends and family. For that reason some utility cuts from … [Read more...]
Cooking Temperatures for Meat, Seafood, Candy & Baking
In this guide we will breakdown everything you need to know about basic heat reactions and cooking doneness temperatures for meat, seafood, baked goods and candy. Distilled down to the essence, cooking is applying heat to organic material to alter it in a positive way. Hopefully positive, although we know that too much heat can lead to disaster. How and why heat affects … [Read more...]
Electric Skillet Cooking
Depending on your generation, electric skillets may have played differing roles in the cooking you grew up with. First hitting the market in 1953, Sunbeam was setting the trend in the electric kitchen. The most notable feature of the electric skillet is that it offers a thermostatically controlled hot cooking surface. To this day, most ranges and cooking surfaces have … [Read more...]
Ceramic Knives [50 Tested, Reviewed & Ranked]
Most technologies start out getting pooh-poohed by people in the field. There’s usually a good reason — they don’t match up to the established tech. Sometimes the new technology works its way past the hurdles and finds a niche; other times it never turns the corner and just fades away. For years, I’ve seen cookbooks and shows dismiss ceramic knives with a quick paragraph, but … [Read more...]
Best Kitchen Knife Sets – Tested & Rated
Choosing the best set of knives for your kitchen can be a tricky problem. You can save time and money by simply purchasing a premade knife set. The potential downside to this is that you can end up with a cheap collection of knives that serve better as a decoration than for cutting. Your knives are the backbone of your kitchen, and they deserve careful consideration, … [Read more...]
Best Instant Read Thermometers – Tested, Reviewed, & Ranked
Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat. I’m Just Here for the Food: Food + Heat = Cooking by Alton Brown. We measure the salt, fat, acid, and food with spoons and cups and scales, but all too often we just eyeball the heat. An instant-read thermometer is a kitchen essential for the twenty-first century, and your path towards better cooking. About Instant-Read … [Read more...]
Best Electric Skillet – Buying Guide, Testing, & Reviews
Electric skillets are making a comeback from their heyday in the 60s. An article published in 1955 by Good Housekeeping said, Today, the popularity of these skillets has picked up enough that manufacturers like Faberware are releasing vintage-style models. Why Own an Electric Skillet? When it comes to cooking for a crowd or within the confines of a limited space, or if … [Read more...]