Cooking tips/tricks/tools/recipes/etc

Best mistake I ever made was forgetting to grease foil before baking. I had a horrendous time with banana bread sticking to my loaf pans. So I figured I would line with foil and then butter/grease the foil. I figured I could at least get it out of the pan in one piece even if it stuck.

I forgot to grease the foil. The loaf came out of the pan in one piece, and the foil peeled right off. No burnt crust on 3 sides of the loaf, and now I use foil for ANYTHING that goes in the oven. Cookies (tonight's were peanut butter kahlua) chicken breast, wings, cakes, everything. Nothing ever sticks, and no over cooking the contacting surface.
 
JOhnH said:
You must cook monster steaks. I cook 1# steaks about 3 mins per side, the. Let them rest about 5 mins. Usually I only flip once but sometimes I want those cris crossed grill mKs and flip twic. It doesn't seem to affect the taste or juiciness.
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Man, you guys like burnt steaks. Rope it to the plate and brand it, or 90 seconds on a side, which ever comes first. :D
 
overdrive148 said:
Here we go. Goodbye mediocre cooking?

RyYmWip.jpg
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Goodbye fast cooking at least. Cast iron on electric stove is going to take 20 min of prep heating before you actually cook anything.
 
Lately I've been using the slow cooker a lot. Pretty convenient when you are cooking for one person. Put everything in before I go to work and it is ready to eat when I come home. Plus I usually have lunch leftovers for the next two-three days.
 
One Short said:
Man, you guys like burnt steaks. Rope it to the plate and brand it, or 90 seconds on a side, which ever comes first. :D
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Yeah, but you climb to pattern altitude when approaching a field to land. :D
 
Learn the finger-poke method of guaging steak done-ness.

It works on 3/4-1 inch steaks. To calibrate: use your index finger and poke the meaty part of the palm of your other hand, at the base of your thumb. Relax your hand when you do this. That's rare. Touch your thumbtip to the tip if your first finger, that's med-rare. Middle finger is med, ring finger is med-well, and pinky is well.

All you should need to remember is what rare and med rare feel like. Then you can cook your steaks on various grills, broilers, and other things and not have to think too hard about timing.
 
Lol, the finger poke method was one of the mistakes listed in one of the above links. I just use a therm. Way more precise.
 
EdFred said:
Lol, the finger poke method was one of the mistakes listed in one of the above links. I just use a therm. Way more precise.
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heh - I missed the link. I poke, works for me. But I usually cook the same cut and thickness each time.
 
Cast iron instantly stuck the meat and rapidly began burning a layer to smoke. Immediate back burner and the hood took as much smoke as it could after removing meat. More after
 
You'll want to do a bit of reading about cast iron cooking. It's a different animal than a $5 Wal-Mart pan. Also, keep in mind that while the pan comes "pre-seasoned", it might make sense to give it a round of seasoning yourself, and to do frequent cooking on it, before you expect it to be real non-stick. For now, the greasier the the foods, the better for building the seasoning. But just cooking in it and then taking care of it afterward will do fine. It will continue to build non-stick qualities as you build the seasoning. Bacon, mmm. If you take the time to learn to cook with it, I think you'll learn to appreciate it.

Did you use some hot oil for your steak just now? I assume you didn't throw it in a screaming hot, dry, pan? Sounds like you may have had it too hot, too.

Here's a massive guide the searing steaks in cast iron.
 
overdrive148 said:
Cast iron instantly stuck the meat and rapidly began burning a layer to smoke. Immediate back burner and the hood took as much smoke as it could after removing meat. More after
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You either need to season the pan better or turn down the heat. For SS or cast iron, you'll need to back off the "right temps" from your nonstick cookware quite a bit once it is hot.

For example, searing round 1" steaks in nonstick, I crank the power burner up high. Using SS, half power will insta-fry anything smaller than a full chicken; 1/3 power (just above medium) works well for searing.
 
EdFred said:
Best mistake I ever made was forgetting to grease foil before baking. I had a horrendous time with banana bread sticking to my loaf pans. So I figured I would line with foil and then butter/grease the foil. I figured I could at least get it out of the pan in one piece even if it stuck.

I forgot to grease the foil. The loaf came out of the pan in one piece, and the foil peeled right off. No burnt crust on 3 sides of the loaf, and now I use foil for ANYTHING that goes in the oven. Cookies (tonight's were peanut butter kahlua) chicken breast, wings, cakes, everything. Nothing ever sticks, and no over cooking the contacting surface.
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Parchment paper is better, as long as the temps don't go above 400-425 (depending on what type of parchment paper). No need to grease anything.
 
murphey said:
Parchment paper is better, as long as the temps don't go above 400-425 (depending on what type of parchment paper). No need to grease anything.
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My biscuits are done at 475, so... :eek:
 
asechrest said:
You'll want to do a bit of reading about cast iron cooking. It's a different animal than a $5 Wal-Mart pan. Also, keep in mind that while the pan comes "pre-seasoned", it might make sense to give it a round of seasoning yourself, and to do frequent cooking on it, before you expect it to be real non-stick. For now, the greasier the the foods, the better for building the seasoning. But just cooking in it and then taking care of it afterward will do fine. It will continue to build non-stick qualities as you build the seasoning. Bacon, mmm. If you take the time to learn to cook with it, I think you'll learn to appreciate it.

Did you use some hot oil for your steak just now? I assume you didn't throw it in a screaming hot, dry, pan? Sounds like you may have had it too hot, too.

Here's a massive guide the searing steaks in cast iron.
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In my experience - A ribeye, seasoned with salt and pepper and dropped into a dry cast iron skillet is outstanding. A leaner, less marbled, cut will require a little oil.
 
Found my pans! Actually it was a skillet and Dutch oven....Multiball!!!

The skillet looks like it has a small amount of mildew along the side is there a way to clean that off?? I bet these pans have been in the bin better than 6yrs.

I get thick cut ribeye and cook 4 min flip 3 min than I put them on a plate and cover them with tinfoil for about 5min. We like are steak medium rare.

Never smash down a hamburger paddy
 
MotoFlier said:
Found my pans! Actually it was a skillet and Dutch oven....Multiball!!!

The skillet looks like it has a small amount of mildew along the side is there a way to clean that off?? I bet these pans have been in the bin better than 6yrs.
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Scrape it off with a wire brush. Give the whole pan a good wiping with a good cooking oil with a high smoke point (peanut oil is good), then put the pan in the oven at about 250 degrees for about 15 minutes. Any mold will be killed by the heat.

My temps and times were just approximates. Maybe someone else can give better numbers, but the procedure is solid.
 
MotoFlier said:
The trick with stainless is to make sure the pan is hot before putting food in it. Get your hand wet and flick water droplets onto it they should evaporate immediately. Than use any cooking oil, butter whatever to grease the pan.
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the trick to searing steaks with stainless steel... is to use cast iron like everyone else said. :rofl:

do yourself a favor and find an antique, they're a lot smoother and better quality, estate or garage sale maybe? They're not worth much :dunno:
 
MotoFlier said:
Found my pans! Actually it was a skillet and Dutch oven....Multiball!!!

The skillet looks like it has a small amount of mildew along the side is there a way to clean that off?? I bet these pans have been in the bin better than 6yrs.
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They can be cleaned with soap and water (which should kill and get rid of the mold) and/or treated with a some weak vinegar, though I only use that to get rid of rust. Cover inside and outside with very thin layer of vegetable oil (any kind will do) and bake on your grill at a temperature above the smoke point of the oil (probably 500 to 550°, depending on the oil. For high protein foods like eggs and steak I've found that pre-greasing the pan with a bit of butter or oil will minimize sticking. Older pans are better if you can find and recondition them. Cast iron never made anyone a good cook. They just make good cooks better.
 
steingar said:
Cast iron never made anyone a good cook. They just make good cooks better.
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This is important, for the OP and others just starting with cast iron. Cast iron is a tool. If you learn to use it, it'll serve you very well for a broad array of dishes. It's not the best for everything, but it's certainly great for many things.
 
I inherited my cast iron pots and pans from my grandmother, who got them from her grandmother. They have their own special storage space (nothing else allowed near them) and NO ONE is allowed use them except me or with me in attendance.
:D

The kids, and one of the grand kids are already maneuvering to take possession in the event of my untimely demise.
:hairraise:
 
So I took the stuff off the pan, gave it a quick hot water + scrub (no soap) wash, dried it with a towel. Then onto the large electric burner to a 7 (0-10 scale) and let it heat up. I kept checking the heat with droplets of water and found that after about 5 mins it was ready to go.

Dropped the peanut oil in, couple tbsp worth (enough to cover the entire pan base) and it began smoking immediately. I dropped a bit of meat in to test it (covered with water/cornstarch/seasoning beforehand) and it hit the cast iron and instantly stuck. I started to try to get it moving and the stuck meat/cornstarch mixture burned brown to the bottom, and then within a couple minutes started to smoke. I knew the pan would be hard to cool down with small changes so as soon as I saw the meat stick I turned the heat way down. The smoke got bad, I took it off the burner completely after removing the meat, and then started using another pan while it cooled under the hood on high.

After it cooled down enough, I dropped it under hot water and a scrubbie, it took some generous work to get all of the burned stuff removed. By this point I had the meat done with the regular non-stick, so I decided to try the onions for the fried rice on a much lower temp, 4-5. Worked beautifully, browned them pretty quickly and evenly. I figured that the onion juices and the oil I added after would help the non-stick action so I tried a very small bit of rice to see if I could stir fry that. It stuck to the pan again. I put the cast iron on the backburner immediately and used the other non-stick to finish out.

I was using round steak cut into maybe 1-2in long strips.

The seasoning on the pan is stock, used basically as you can see in the picture last page. At this point I'm betting based on feedback that the heat was way too high, the $5 wok had to be up that high and even then it would only make the beef kind of froth. I got a little frothing with the one batch that I did complete on the cast iron but not nearly as much as other ways, nonstick included.

Issue exists between carpenter and tools.

Also where would I find somewhere to season the pan myself, oven doesn't go high enough and the smoke would definitely cause problems. Closest thing I can think of is a barbecue stand like you'd find in parks.
 
overdrive148 said:
That looks a lot less painful than I imagined. Only 350?
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I might have done a little higher, but yes. it will smoke a bit though.

seems to help to turn the oven off and let the pan cool gradually in the oven with the door closed... subjective though.
 
sferguson524 said:
I get regular requests to make it, especially from coworkers
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I make hawaiian pork, spam musubi, mac salad, loco moco etc more often than I should, this will be nice in the rotation.
 
sferguson524 said:
any recipes?
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Sure!

it's simple:
Hawaiian pork:
Either a Kalbi (Whole Bottle) or Teriyaki base marinade
add 3 cups of brown sugar to cut the saltiness & 1.5 Tbsp of chili pepper flakes for a little heat
Take pork butt or country ribs and cut into 2x2 strips and marinade at least 2 days

smoke at 225 for about 2 hours or until the color is right. I usually buy 2 butts and double the recipe, each butt is 3 meals for the two of us so I freeze and vacuum seal individual meals.

mac salad:
1/2 lb elbow macaroni
1/4 c fine chopped red onion
1/4 c shredded carrots
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp sweet basil
1tbl sea salt for water
1-1/2 cup mayo

mix all the above, that's a half batch but plenty for us. Double for a whole.

Tenderloin:
2 cups aloha BBQ sauce (haven't found a recipe that replicates it, I get it at the asian market)
1/8tsp chinese 5 spice
vac seal the tenderloin for 24 hours
smoke at 350 until about 140-145 internal, serve with sticky rice and mac salad


I'm sure the above can be done on the grill with indirect heat if you don't have a smoker
 
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Slight update on the whole cast iron thing. Made homemade burgers for the first time, browned some sliced beef sausage, made some real bacon (not turkey for once :D) shortly followed by gravy with the grease. These went MUCH better with the heat not on 8/10 - 5 or 6 seems like a good range for most cooking. Minimal sticking, the only problem I encountered with these was the seasoning on the burgers fell off, piled up, and started to burn and smoke and stick after a while. I used some burger seasoning from walmart since there was some left. Salt and pepper was recommended, so probably my fault.

Tried hashbrowns, eggs, pancakes. All of these stuck, even after adding oil before cooking. Trying to stick to greasier food (no pun intended) as recommended. There's a light black patch in the pan that seems to be burned on that won't come off with normal scrubbing. Is this where the barkeep's stuff comes in or do I just need to really get on there for a longer while to get rid of it?
 
overdrive148 said:
Slight update on the whole cast iron thing. Made homemade burgers for the first time, browned some sliced beef sausage, made some real bacon (not turkey for once :D) shortly followed by gravy with the grease. These went MUCH better with the heat not on 8/10 - 5 or 6 seems like a good range for most cooking. Minimal sticking, the only problem I encountered with these was the seasoning on the burgers fell off, piled up, and started to burn and smoke and stick after a while. I used some burger seasoning from walmart since there was some left. Salt and pepper was recommended, so probably my fault.

Tried hashbrowns, eggs, pancakes. All of these stuck, even after adding oil before cooking. Trying to stick to greasier food (no pun intended) as recommended. There's a light black patch in the pan that seems to be burned on that won't come off with normal scrubbing. Is this where the barkeep's stuff comes in or do I just need to really get on there for a longer while to get rid of it?
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pour some dry kosher salt in there and scrub that area hard with a folded up paper towel. I cooked an egg in cast iron the other day, a little butter and that egg slid around like wet ice on wet ice. You did discover to use less heat than you are used to.

It sounds like you are getting closer, you might reseason the inside surface. Wipe with a tiny bit of oil, 350-375 oven for an hour and let it cool off in the oven. Wipe with a very light layer of oil when finished.
 
For chicken on charcoal.....on charcoal, not a gas fired grill. Google Cornell chicken recipe and follow exactly including storing in fridge overnight.
 
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