Handy Tips thread

[Earthmaiden Profile]

Do you mean that both storage methods worked similarly?

[Sakkarin Profile]

Yep.

[Earthmaiden Profile]

Interesting. I still find that keeping them in a paper bag is as good as anything.

[Pampy Profile]

I think storage is affected by the type of fridge that you have. I have a frost free fridge freezer (try saying that when you've had a few ) and the fridge is kept cool by cold air being blown in from the freezer. This has a very drying effect so helps to stop things going off if they are left open or covered by something permeable.

[jeral Profile]

Hi, not food but hygiene as I couldn't get the plunger on my "Simple" soap pump to pop up to dispense, although could easily unscrew. (Same with all three that I must have bought on offer.)

Youtube 45 seconds shows to unscrew and remove top/stem, wipe clean, firmly hold top of stem under the top and firmly and swiftly turn the nozzle anticlockwise. Yay, worked, although I did need to use grips to stop the stem swivelling in my fingers.
https://www.google.com/search?client=fi ... LKzaH4Cw11
---
Stokey Sue gave a handy tip of using the thick silicone baking sheet stuff for open freezing, and that needs a place on this thread.

Please add the ones you remember when you see them.

[halfateabag Profile]

I nearly always fill the oven when it is put on and nearly always bake an onion while it is on. To maximise on the space I have found that the cat food foil dishes make the perfect receptacle for a baked onion cut in half horizontally a smidgeon of nutmeg in the middle, top put back on and covered in foil and baked. Today I have also baked a beetroot and a baked apple using another 2 foil dishes.....

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I’ll put this here as it might feel intrusive on Tea & Sympathy at the moment

I - or rather someone on Facebook - have cracked the steamy glasses

It’s a dry anti-fog spec wipe, I suspect there is probably more than one brand that would do the job, might be worth checking with your optician
This is the one I have, as suggested to me

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08 ... UTF8&psc=1

Not cheap, but it supposedly lasts 3 months
I think it may get more effective with repeated use but a quick wipe on the way into a shop enables me to see the products properly for the first time in months, I really don’t have enough sight to cope with any reduction at all due to fogging

[Hickybank Profile]

Mayonnaise is good for removing residual sticky stuff on jars.
Store opened yoghurt, cream etc. in a jar, it saves finding something to cover the lid as many only have a foil seal these days. it also keeps it fresher for longer. I use a whiteboard marker to write on the glass what is in it.

WD40 is great for getting sticky stuff off jars as well

[Wic Profile]

If you have a box of white wine and no room for it in the fridge, use an empty, screw top wine bottle and decant from the box into it, and you can cool the wine. It also means you have a good idea of how much you’ve used and how much is left.

You may have to drink the wine in a screw top bottle to give yourself the tool for the job before you can do this, of course, but it’s probably worth the suffering!

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I weigh the box to check if the wine is running out - a litre of wine weighs near enough 1 kg
But I weigh everything - lab habits die hard!

[Wic Profile]

It just shows, you can’t take the scientist out of the girl!

[jeral Profile]

Wine boxes still exist? Seems they must do.

I decant all sorts into more manageable-size bottles from bigger containers. I hid a vodka bottle (carpet shampoo) in case the plumber thought I was an old soak hiding booze. Unfortunately he had to empty the cupboard to reach the stop tap. The "vodka" was replaced at the front (I get sternly told off for not labelling things, incidentally.)

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Wine boxes are very much making a comeback
Here’s wine expert Fiona Beckett in the Guardian a few weeks ago
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/o ... SApp_Other

It should be pointed out that wine keeps much better in a bag-in-box, even once opened, than it will when exposed to air by decanting, though obviously a decanter or jug may look better on the table

[Rainbow Profile]

Apparently cask wine sales have surged here, in Oz, since April - just like UK.

But unlike UK we still call them casks - not sure why you lot changed it to 'boxes'. After all, Aussies did invent them

[Stokey Sue Profile]

It would be really confusing if we called them casks here where cask ale,; beer conditioned in a wooden cask, is a really big thing in our pubs. Also a term used in making Scotch whisky.

If it isn’t wood, and the wood doesn’t influence the flavour, the UK drinks trade wouldn’t call it a cask

[Rainbow Profile]

Thanks for that, Sue. Makes sense.

[PatsyMFagan Profile]

Wine boxes are very much making a comeback
Here’s wine expert Fiona Beckett in the Guardian a few weeks ago
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/o ... SApp_Other

It should be pointed out that wine keeps much better in a bag-in-box, even once opened, than it will when exposed to air by decanting, though obviously a decanter or jug may look better on the table

Daughter buys a lot of her wine in boxes, but this is usually demolished in a couple of days, so keeping it has never been a consideration --- she does drink a bottle of wine most days when she's not working ... (and yes, I do know she has a problem, but try telling her that !!! )

[Wic Profile]

It used to be that box wine was mostly Vino Collapso, but it’s much better now.

If we go on a self-catering break, (those were the days), we take boxed wine, it’s easier to pack. And since Covid has been around and wine suddenly got difficult to find, we’ve had boxes quite frequently.

I’m always amused when it says on the box that it will last six weeks. It probably does, but we’ve never actually managed to test it out.

[Hickybank Profile]

Keep Carrots on a container with water in, they last for ages

[jeral Profile]

How? If that's not a stupid question. Ta.