Tips! The thread.

[Pissy]

I'll start. 

In order to get non-rubbery skin on smoked chicken try removing the skin and scraping the fat off the inside, then wrapping the chicken back up and smoking.  Makes it so it doesn't come off in a sheet on the first bite. 

[RAGER]

Huh. Interesting. What if you left the skin on and after smoking blasted it with high heat in the oven to crisp up the skin? 

[Pissy]

You're suggesting that the skin has another step to go to get past the rubber stage?  I'll try to experiment. 

[RAGER]

It's kind like the reverse way of doing a prime rib where you blast it for 20 minutes to get the exterior crisp then to low and slow. But reverse. Like a reverse sear.

[Pissy]

Yeah.  I'll give that a shot. All the cool kids are reverse searing these days. 

[mortlock]

eggs last way longer than it says on the carton.

[Pissy]

Eggs last months on navy ships without refrigeration.  It's got something to do with rinsing them after they're laid.  If you don't rinse them, nor refrigerate them, they'll last. If you refrigerate them, then you have to keep them refrigerated. 

Or something. 

[mortlock]

To test eggs to see if they are still good put them in cold water. If it sinks its good. If it floats its bad.

[RAGER]

I wonder how many bad eggs I've eaten.  I know that trick but have never done it.

[Lumpy]

Prepare all your ingredients (wash, peel, chop, measure) before you start cooking. You don't want to be frantically chopping ingredients when they're supposed to already be in the pan. It's stressful and the results can be worse.

I still make this mistake sometimes... like my chopped garlic is already in the pan and starting to get too brown now, while i'm frantically opening a can of tomatoes (etc).

Exceptions might be certain slow cooking recipes where everything takes a long time.

[mortlock]

Dont stack your fucking dirty dishes in the sink. Put them on the counter. I cant use the fucking sink with dishes piled up in it.

[neighbor664]

Regarding dishes: A little mind trick. I try to keep in the habit of focusing on keeping the sink clean as my main goal. Washing the dishes just happen to be part of that process. Also, ideally nothing stays longer than the next meal. Sometimes easier said than done. Not that easy either with roommates who are less disciplined about such things.
Bonus bachelor tip: The fewer dishes you own, the fewer you can let pile up before you must wash them again.

[mortlock]

Its just me and the ms lock. I dont mind doing the dishes so ive taken that on. Also she will somehow go through an entire bottle of dish soap washing 3 dishes, so i save on that too. Most of the time i wash as i go but sometimes i dont and she will pile everything in the sink in some weird stack that defies the laws of physics and should fall over but doesnt. 

[RAGER]

One of my tips n reducing single use plastic is to reuse freezer storage bags. Especially for raw and cooked meat. I label what is in them and reuse ??. No need to wash. Just seal them folded or rolled and right back in the freezer empty and ready for the next batch of prepped meat.

[mortlock]

I prefer to dump reusable plactic into the ocean.

[Lumpy]

I should recycle my plastic baggies more.

My tip is to make sure the dishes are done before going to bed. It sucks to wake up to a sink full of dishes, and it's awesome to start the day with an empty sink.

I usually have a late night snack, so there will be a couple of things left in the sink overnight... I'm not a Nazi about it. But waking up to kitchen total chaos starts the day on a bad foot. I used to let dishes pile up, two days at a time (sometimes three days, yikes). I think it's a sign of depression.

[RAGER]

Just done doing last nights dishes.

[mortlock]

i hit 2 dish doing cycles a day with a mini cycle in the late afternoon if theres a coffee or a snack with the ms. both of my big ones hit early. one in the late morning as im both preparing brek and washing the previous nights dinner dishes. then i finish cooking brek, and right after i hit all the brek dishes. start fresh for the next dinner.

[Lumpy]

How dare you contradict my tip.

[Muffin Man]

I used to be a dirty dish procrastinator, now anymore I wash on the fly - as soon as the pan is plated I wash by hand. Kinda the reverse of mis en place. I wash whist cooking if need be. krazy.

[Pissy]

Things to do with bread heels.

I just made steak and eggs.  The heels are a perfect vehicle for folding the mess up like a taco for my gaping maw. 

Other things I've thought of that heels are great for:

• French toast
• homemade croutons

[mortlock]

Heels are great for classic bread and butter for dunking into sauce, stews or chili.

[Pissy]

Meat loaf
Bread pudding
Hotdog bun in a pinch; 2 for a hamburger bun in a pinch
Feeding to ducks

[RAGER]

When I buy a pork roast, in this case I think it's the picnic roast because of how it is cut up to remove the shoulder blade, I further take different cuts out of it. This small roast I got some fatty trim for stock or rendering out or even some chicharrone de carne, some chunks for slow grilling and a couple thick steaks.

[Pissy]

Pork shoulder dissection is a thing among the BBQ competition crowd.  A Boston butt for example has something they call the money muscle that basically looks like a tenderloin once they yank it out.  They use that piece for medallion slices in the finished product. 

Other parts are used for the pulled pieces and bark pieces.  Kinda crazy, they smoke a butt in 6 hours by separating those pieces (but only so much because by rule it can't be disconnected).  I normally do a butt for 14 hours.