31 Things You Can Freeze To Save Time and Money! 40 Preserving Links: Beginner tips, pro tricks and canning with honey. Canning Recipes ~ Canning Homemade! 26 Things You Can Do With A Crock Pot. 26 Things You Can Do With A Crock Pot The Crock Pot Exchange‘s recent Crock Pot Party and now all the Facebook chatter over the Crock Pot Girls, I got to ponderin’ about all the wonderful things one could do with a crock pot.
I heart my crock pots. I mean what is not to love? They do all the work, clean up in a snap and have a very versatile range of awesomeness they can create, it doesn’t heat up my kitchen during the summer and it makes warm and toasty food for the soul in the winter. I have 3 that I use regularly… And my favorites are my programmable Smart Pots … admittedly partially because I just like saying smart pot (NOTE: I know some folks say they have trouble with them cookin’ hot, but both of my smart pots work just fine.) Anyhoo… with all this crock talk and fall a comin’ on, I decided to take pen to paper (and pin to Pinterest) to come up with a list of all the fantastic things you can do with the wonderful magical crock pot. 26 Things You Can Do With A Crock Pot Line them.
The Finger Test to Check the Doneness of Meat. Print Photography Credit: Elise Bauer There are two basic methods to test for how done your meat is while you are cooking it—use a meat thermometer, or press on the meat with your fingertips.
The problem with the meat thermometer approach is that when you poke a hole into the meat with a thermometer, it can let juices escape, juices that you would rather have stay in the meat. For this reason, most experienced cooks rely on a “finger test” method, especially on steaks (whole roasts are better tested with a thermometer). My mother has been trying to get me to test meat with my fingertips for years, and for years, being somewhat of a scaredy cat (won’t it burn my fingers?) Then my friend David showed me up. Now the point of this story is not to embarrass David (though that would be fun, if it were even possible) but to encourage you, if like me, you’ve been shying away from trying this approach. This is one of those things that gets easier with practice.
MethodHide Photos Hello! Common Ingredient Substitutions. Save Food from the Fridge by Jihyun Ryou. Although we seem to think and talk about food almost constantly, do we really know how best to preserve it or do we leave this responsibility to technology?
Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Jihyun Ryou feels we no longer understand how to treat food. Her Save Food from the Fridge project involves placing certain foods on a group of "knowledge shelves" outside the fridge. Perhaps through a better relationship with our food we may be able to waste less and conserve more energy. The ethylene gas produced by apples keeps potatoes from sprouting. And by removing the apples from other produce, the other fruits and vegetables do not over-ripen quickly. Storing root vegetables vertically keeps them fresher longer. The umpteen tiny holes on the surface of an eggshell allows odors from other foods to be absorbed, so keeping them out of the fridge will ensure their tastiness.
The glass cup of water is used to test freshness: a fresh egg will sink and remain horizontal.