Cooking Tips

Do you have any cooking tips? Please share them with me! I will keep updating this page whenever I find more tips...

• When reheating casseroles and stews reheat them quickly at a fairly high temperature. Make sure that they simmer for at least 10 minutes before serving.

• Using up egg yolks: if they are not needed at once cover with a layer of water. Use to enrich a white sauce or soup, for home-made mayonnaise or custard, or to add to scrambled egg.

• Leftover egg whites can be stores in the refrigerator for at least a week. Keep until you have enough to make an angel cake (12 egg whites) or meringue (only 2 egg whites).

• Lemon and orange sugar: when using only the juice of either lemons or oranges finely grate off the rinds first and blend with caster sugar. Store in separate jars and use the flavoured sugar for lemon or orange Victoria sandwiches.

• An average-sized lemon gives about 3 tablespoons of juice. A good-sized orange yields about 5 tablespoons juice.

• To test if a melon is ripe, press gently with the thumb at both ends. If it gives slightly, the melon is ripe, it it remains firm it is not, and should be left for a few days before using.

• Brush day-old scones with a little milk and bake in a moderately hot oven for 10 minutes to make them fresh again. 

• To prevent baking paper slipping off baking sheets, sprinkle the baking sheet with a few drops of water beforehand.

• Only store one kind of cookie in a container. If you mix crisp and soft cookies they will all go soft and end up tasting the same.

• Never drop cookies on to a hot baking sheet. Use two baking sheets if instructed to, or cool the sheet in between batches.

• If honey has crystallised over time, stand the jar in a pan of hot water until it liquefies again.

• To prevent golden syrup from clinging to the side of the measuring cup, lightly grease the cup first or spray it with nonstick cooking spray. You can also measure golden syrup by flouring your scales well and pouring on the golden syrup.

• Boiled bacon tip: add a teaspoon of vinegar, two cloves and a little nutmeg to the water.

• When you are short on eggs, add a dessertspoonful of vinegar and one egg to a large plain cake for which, without the vinegar, three eggs would be used.

• To make dry bread crumbs: dry stale pieces of bread in the oven until crisp right through. Then grind in a nut mill, the breadcrumbs will keep a long time in a dry place.

• To defrost cookies: thaw baked cookies at room temperature and bake uncooked ones from frozen. 
• To revive celery that's gone a bit limp trim a small amount off the root end and stand the sticks in water for half an hour or so.