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Handy Tips thread

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Handy Tips thread

Postby jeral » Tue Mar 10, 2020 4:17 pm

Thought I'd start a new one due to a couple of things seen on TV recently.

- Lay a box grater on its side, grate away from the handle using whole length. Cheese collects in the middle. (Living on the veg, ITV Sundays 10.30-11.30am)

- Use two skewers together to hold minced meat packed around for koftas. This being in the absence of the preferable wide flat ones which none of us have. (RSC)

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Re: Handy Tips thread

Postby Amyw » Tue Mar 10, 2020 8:18 pm

If I’m on a bit of a baking spree , I keep a block of butter in the freezer and grate it onto the scales to be weighed .

I microwave citrus fruit for about 15 seconds to make it easier to juice

Often keep a bag of chopped chillies in the freezer and hardy herbs like rosemary .

Wooden spoon on top of a pan of boiling water stops it from boiling over

I find bags of salad go off quite quickly do if they’re starting to look a bit forlorn I either add them to soup or stir fry with some butter , garlic etc

Potato peelings cooked with some oil in the oven and sprinkle with salt make a good crisp snack

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Re: Handy Tips thread

Postby cherrytree » Wed Mar 11, 2020 2:34 pm

Put a small piece of terracotta ( like a bit from a broken flowerpot) in packs of brown sugar. The sugar doesn’t harden that way. My husband found this tip in New Scientist.

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Re: Handy Tips thread

Postby Sakkarin » Wed Mar 11, 2020 3:46 pm

Oh dear, I threw away a bunch of weeny terracotta tiles a few weeks back!

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Re: Handy Tips thread

Postby cherrytree » Wed Mar 11, 2020 4:32 pm

There will be more I’m sure!

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Re: Handy Tips thread

Postby Sakkarin » Wed Mar 11, 2020 7:14 pm

It's not really a tip as there must surely be a better way of dealing with it.

I've had reduce some liquid several times recently, and it invariably say "reduce by half" or suchlike, but without pouring it all out into a measuring jar, how do you know when it's reduced enough?

It's not very pretty, but I use a skewer, wrapped with gaffer tape at the "start height" of the liquid, which allows me to make a mark where the halfway point is, and just keep dipping the skewer in until the liquid is reducd to the second mark. I'm surprised noone has invented a gadget for it.

P.S only really works for a saucepan with straight sides.

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Re: Handy Tips thread

Postby scullion » Wed Mar 11, 2020 8:57 pm

how about using a clean rubber band round the skewer instead - like you do on a drill bit to get the right depth of hole for putting in screws - at least there's no chance of getting gaffer tape glue in your food!

ps. a metal hem gauge - or 3"/6" stainless steel ruler?

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Re: Handy Tips thread

Postby Sakkarin » Wed Mar 11, 2020 9:18 pm

I did that the first time I used a skewer, but it takes loads of turns to get the rubber band on :-(

And I have great difficulty reading steel rulers even when they're in front of my face, rather than in a steaming pot of something.

No idea what a hem gauge is...

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Re: Handy Tips thread

Postby Pampy » Thu Mar 12, 2020 12:18 am

My pans are marked on the inside at 0.5l intervals, which I find very handy.

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Re: Handy Tips thread

Postby Sakkarin » Thu Mar 12, 2020 11:34 am

scullion wrote:ps. a metal hem gauge


That looks the perfect solution, Scullion, I presume the middle red bit is adjustable...!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/323378558513?c ... iiEALw_wcB

Great idea having graduations on a saucepan Pampy, although half litre increments is a bit big when you're cooking smallish quantities.

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Re: Handy Tips thread

Postby Pampy » Thu Mar 12, 2020 1:28 pm

They are, but at least you can use them as an approximate guide if nothing else is to hand.

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Re: Handy Tips thread

Postby Renee » Thu Mar 12, 2020 3:37 pm

Thanks for the great thread jeral! The box grater idea is such a good one.

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Re: Handy Tips thread

Postby jeral » Thu Mar 12, 2020 7:13 pm

Thanks Renée, possibly too good as I've just shaggy dogged and spent 30 mins after the hem gauge tip learning how to insert a sleeve cap with a French seam :lol:

Back on course, microwaving garlic cloves for just five seconds allows them to slip out of their skins.

A tip of mine, which someone thought was a good idea when seeing it, is a frying pan lid that I turned inside out:

A 9" pan if used with a bigger lid causes condensation drips to run down outside and onto the hob.

However if you unscrew the knob from a large old spare lid then insert the knob from the other side, the dome shape is downwards towards the centre. Et voila, condensation drips into the pan :) Works with any pan size smaller than the lid.

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Re: Handy Tips thread

Postby Renee » Thu Mar 12, 2020 8:08 pm

That's very clever jeral!

I cut a ginger root into chunks and keep in the freezer. A quick rinse under the tap when I need to use one, makes it easy to peel. I slice the frozen chunk which will then chop very finely.

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Re: Handy Tips thread

Postby Wic » Sun Mar 15, 2020 12:29 pm

I make marmalade and the odd jar of jam and crabapple jelly.

It is really boring getting the labels off jars these days, so I save my old cleaned jars and, if I buy new jars of other things, when they are empty I put the jars into the recycling bin but save their lids. They are fairly standard, so it means that I usually have a nearly new lid to fit on an old jar for the next batch of marmalade.

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Re: Handy Tips thread

Postby DEB » Mon Mar 16, 2020 10:25 pm

I find that sticking the label to the lid helps since I find they come off better

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Re: Handy Tips thread

Postby Lokelani » Sun Apr 05, 2020 8:04 pm

I'll have to think for tips, but on the topic of the ones already discussed:

A teaspoon really easily scrapes the skin off ginger, frozen or fresh.

I sew & quilt & all sorts of crafts & that metal hem gauge is one of my favourite tools. The red bit does slide, but is plastic & I can't say I've ever heat tested it! :lol:

As someone who loathes washing up I constantly try to find ways to avoid it or make it easier... On the rare occasions I bake I have worked out that if I make the buttercream in my Kenwood Chef, I can then make the cake mixture in it, without washing the bowl up in between. I can't if I do it the other way round. Same as with the Magimix. Grate the cheese, chop the bacon or whatever greasy task, then chop the breadcrumbs, parsley or whatever. It helps to clean it a little to make washing up easier.

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Re: Handy Tips thread

Postby herbidacious » Sun Apr 05, 2020 8:35 pm

My only really useful tip is one you probably all do anyway (I know StokeySue does), which is to use a melon baller to removed the seeds from squash. This was a game changer when I discovered it for myself.

If you are crushing garlic, cut the cloves in half and the skin comes off much more easily.

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Re: Handy Tips thread

Postby Stokey Sue » Sun Apr 05, 2020 9:46 pm

The glue on most labels these days is not water soluble, but if you fill the jar with really hot water and put the lid on the warm dry label will often come off easily as the warm glue softens

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Re: Handy Tips thread

Postby karadekoolaid » Mon Apr 06, 2020 3:03 am

I get lots of neighbours giving me used jamjars/pickle jars/all sorts of jars.
First of all, I soak them in a bucket overnight; sometimes for a couple of days.
Then, I remove the labels with an old knife. That get´s rid of most of the glue.
Then I scrub them with a scourer to remove the final, stubborn bits.
And then I cook them in boiling water for 20 minutes to thoroughly sterilize them.

as for the lids, theré´s not a lot you can do. I clean them with soap and water, then pour boiling water in them before re-using. They can´t be boiled like the jars because the sanitary seal (the latex-like substance around the inside) will get wrinkled and destroyed.

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