Adding milk to your scrambled egg mixture will make them more fluffy, creamy.
Adding milk to your scrambled mixture makes your eggs rubbery rather than fluffy, resulting in a meal that requires far too much chewing. To achieve this texture, it would be best to add sour cream to your eggs, for example, once they are cooked.
You should never check on your rice while it cooks.
When you open the lid to check on the rice, you release both steam and heat, which messes up the rice to water ratio. It's best to just trust the process
The best way to cook potatoes is at a full rolling boil.
Cooking your potatoes at a full rolling boil will not cook the inside of your potatoes properly. It is best to simmer them for about 15 minutes to get them fully cooked.
A metal bowl is ideal for marinating your meats.
Most marinades are very acidic and will react with the metal in a metal bowl. Rather than a delicious dish, you'll find yourself digging into a meal with an odd metallic flavor. Instead, marinate your meat in a plastic bowl, plastic bag, or ceramic dish.
You should always flip your steak frequently while cooking it.
It is a misconception that you should only turn your steak once. When you flip your steak more frequently, you allow the inside to cook evenly and eliminate the opportunity for one side to heat up or cool down too quickly.
The best way to prevent your pasta from sticking is to add oil to your cooking water.
While oil will help your pasta not to stick together, it will also keep the sauce from sticking to your noodles. Instead of adding oil, stir the pasta as you cook it to keep the noodles from sticking together.
The onions only need about a minute to soften up before adding the other ingredients.
Any more time on the stove will result in burnt onion bits that add an unwanted smoky flavor to your meal. Remember, the onions will still cook as you add other things to the pan.
There is no need to rinse canned beans.
The beans actually need to be rinsed off before they go into your cooking. By not rinsing the beans, you fail to wash off a whole lot of sodium and extra starch that will find it's way into your dish.
You should never open your oven to check your food.
Every time you open the door, you release heat and decrease the temperature of the oven. When the door is closed again, the oven has to get back up to temperature, which could extend your cooking time.
You should never cook egg dishes until they are completely done.
Egg dishes should only be cooked until they're just before done. Then, when you transfer your omelet or scramble to the plate, it will continue to cook, resulting in perfect eggs, every time.
Non-stick cookwares are ideal for any occasion.
Most chefs say that you should only use non-stick pans when cooking omelets or scrambled eggs. Eliminating the brown residue, called "fond" at the bottom of your pan can affect the flavor of your food. Fond actually adds a lot of flavor to your dish, particularly if you're cooking meat or fish.
You should always cook your meat "5 more minutes", just in case.
Cooking your meat "just 5 more minutes" could be the difference between a moist, tender piece of chicken, or one that is dry and chewy. If you can't trust your instincts, use a meat thermometer to verify when you should take something off the stove.
It is essential to stir your dishes occasionally while cooking.
If you forget to stir, you run the risk that the bottom of the pan will burn. As it burns, that smokey flavor will infuse into your dish, essentially ruining your meal.
Using fresh or dried herbs is the same.
Most professional chefs agree that dried herbs simply can't live up to what fresh herbs bring to a dish. They don't have as much flavor, which means they don't pack as big of a punch when added to your meal.
You should never sauté wet veggies.
If you place wet veggies into a pan, the excess water will actually cause them to steam. Instead of crispy, crunchy veggies, you'll end up with a mushy, unappetizing mess.
You have to completely preheat your oven before putting your dish in.
As soon as you open the door, the oven temperature drops. If your oven isn't preheated all the way, it could mess up your cooking time and subsequently your entire dish.
You should never seasoned your cooking water.
You should always season your cooking water, whether you are cooking pasta, potatoes, vegetables or anything else. A little salt in the water allows you to enhance the flavor of whatever you're cooking.
You should never cook meat in a cold pan.
Cooking your meat in a cold pan will cause it to stick to the bottom of the pan and you will not get a nice, deep sear on your meat.
You should never add pasta water to your sauce.
Each time you cook pasta, you should reserve half a cup of the pasta water and add it to your sauce. The starchy, salty water not only adds flavor to your sauce, but it can also help the sauce stick to the pasta more effectively.
It is always possible to increase the temperature to speed up the cooking process.
Some recipes, particularly stews, will ask you to simmer your meal for two or more hours. By speeding up de cooking process, instead of a final dish that looks appetizing, you'll end up with dry meat and a thin sauce with little flavor. Remember, slow and steady wins the race.
You can freeze wine for later use.
Pour it into an ice cube tray and pop it in the freezer. Next time you need to use it for cooking, you can pop out a couple of frozen cubes and add them straight to your pot.
You can use a slice of bread to keep your cookies fresh.
You can keep your cookies tasting almost as fresh as when you first pulled them out of the oven with just a simple slice of bread. When you store your cookies in a container or bag, put in a slice of any type of bread with your sweet treat. It provides moisture for the cookies to soak up, keeping them nice and soft.
You can put an ice cube on your burger patty to make it juicier.
As the burger cooks, the ice cube will melt, distributing juice throughout the meat. With that added dose of liquid, the burgers will come off the grill perfectly juicy and ready to eat.
Putting unripe food in a paper bag won't make it ripen any faster.
The bag will trap the ethylene gas inside, allowing the fruits to mature much more quickly than they would in the open air. Just be sure to check on it fairly regularly. If you leave it in the bag too long, you'll just end up with rotten fruit!
You should always freeze your butter if you need to batter it while baking.
Combining cold butter with your batter isn't easy. The most effective way is to freeze your butter and grate the desired amount. The butter will combine with the dry ingredients much more easily.
There is no way to save a tomato sauce that has gone a bit acidic.
Peel a carrot and toss it into a pan with your sauce. Simmer the sauce for a few minutes until it's heated all the way through, then remove the carrot before serving. The carrot will add a bit of sweetness that takes away the acidity of the tomato sauce, leaving you with a fresh sauce that's almost as good as new.
The best way to keep your fresh herbs longer is to put them in the refrigerator.
Placing your fresh herbs in the refrigerator will help them last longer, but it's even better to take your bunch of herbs and trim off the stems. Then, put the entire bunch into a glass of water and cover the top with a plastic bag. You can put the herbs into the fridge or even store them on the counter and ensure fresh leaves for weeks, rather than days.
You can rescue a salty soup with apples.
If you accidentally add too much salt to your soup, add a few apple slices in it, and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the apple slices and your soup will have lost its excess of saltiness!
You can cook a potato in the microwave.
Cooking a potato in the microwave for a quick and tasty side dish to your meal is a great idea, but you should always use toothpicks to do that, or you may notice that your potato won't be cooked evenly.
You can't shred chicken using a mixer.
Using a mixer is the easiest way to shred chicken! Place the boneless chicken in the bowl of a standing mixer and snap the paddle attachments into place. Turn the mixer on at low speed and leave it for a few minutes until it shreds the chicken.
It is not necessary to sear your meat on all sides before putting it in the oven.
Even cooking is always important! If your meat is uneven and difficult to sear on all sides, use a pair of locking tongs. Take the meat as close as possible to the side you want to cook or sear, and then lock the tongs. Place them on the edge of your pan and the uneven side of your protein will cook by itself!
To keep the shape of your burgers during cooking, make a small thumbprint in the center.
By pressing your thumb into the center of the patty, you change the shape of the burger just slightly. That small indentation ensures that the burgers won't bulge in the center as they cook. Instead, they'll form perfectly around the sides, making sure that each patty aligns with the bun.
You can always use a hair dryer to create your BBQ fire quickly.
A hair dryer allows you to get right to cooking. First, get a little flame going on your grill. If that's too difficult, at least make sure the coals are slightly hot. Then, bring your hair dryer outdoors and point it directly at your BBQ. The heat and air from the hair dryer boosts the oxidation process by blasting your flame with constant oxygen.
To know if an avocado is ripe, you only have to pull back the stem.
If the stem pulls back easily and shows a green interior, you have the perfect avocado. If it's difficult to pull the stem away from the fruit, it's not yet ripe. If you pull back the stem and the inside looks brown, the poor fruit is past its prime.
You should never freeze your meat in order to cut it more easily into thin pieces.
Putting your meat in the freezer before you start slicing is the best way to cut thin slices easily. Don't let it get too hard—15 minutes should be plenty of time. Once the meat is a little colder, you'll notice that it's much easier to slice.
It is impossible to cut anything other than an apple with an apple slicer.
An apple slicer can cut into a lot of other things. For example, it can help you save a lot of time when you want to make home fries. You only have to cut off one end of a potato and stand it up on a hard surface. Position your apple slicer over the potato and push down to create perfect, even wedges.
To get more juice from your lemons, you should microwave them before juicing.
Before you juice your next lemon, toss it into the microwave for a short seven to ten seconds. Once the timer goes off, roll the lemon back and forth across the counter underneath your palm, applying a little bit of pressure. Then cut it and juice it as you normally would.
Brush your fish with moyonnaise to prevent it from sticking to the grill.
Before you throw your fish on the grill, brush it with a bit of mayonnaise. The mayonnaise will prevent your fish from sticking to the grill. A thin coating won't change the flavor of your fish, but it will promote even browning for a fish fillet any chef would be proud to serve.
It is not necessary to always measure your ingredients perfectly when baking.
If you're cooking something in a pan, you might be able to get away with guesstimating your ingredients. When baking, however, you have to be very precise in your measuring. The science of baking requires that ingredients be added in exactly the right proportions, in order to end up with moist, fluffy baked goods.
You should always store your natural peanut butter upside down.
You should rotate your natural peanut butter jar after every use. Because the liquid tends to rise, you always end up with the oil on top and need to stir your peanut butter. By rotating your jar, however, the oil will have to keep making its way back to the top, mixing itself with the rest of the peanut butter.
Quizzes
Everyone loves quizzes, but why?
Well, it seems that our passion for quizzes comes from the fact that they are an insight into our own life story and that, deep down, human beings find comfort in being a type, in being part of some group. We are always searching for a better understanding of ourselves, of who we are as human beings, but also as unique individuals.
One of the reasons why personality quizzes are so popular is that they are a way for us to dig deeper into our inner selves and get to know ourselves.
Steven Myers, a professor of psychology, explains about quizzes, “you could introspect and think about yourself, however that has its limits… when we take these self-assessments, they give us another mirror inward.”
Although we are all unique and original beings in our individuality, no one can deny being reassured when they feel they are part of a group, a type, in some way. We naturally feel good when we fit into a box, and personality quizzes offer exactly what we are looking for: confirmation that we fit a certain type, just like millions of other people.
