Secrets from my Kitchen

Posted on 13 July 2010 by tiffany | 32 responses

Here are some of my kitchen secrets for you to use and pass on to your little homemakers. Some of these I learned from my mom or other women, and some I learned on my own. I hope you find these useful and practical!

Do you want your biscuits to bake up with flaky, buttery layers? The key is to make sure your butter is kept really chunky when gently stirring your batter. No pea-sized pieces here – chunks!

Are you all out of eggs but have a recipe calling for one? Flax seed will work in a pinch! One tablespoon ground flax seed plus one tablespoon of water mixed together is equivalent to one egg. In order to keep the integrity of your recipe, I would suggest only using this in recipes that call for one to two eggs.

Is your microwave caked with food splatters? Simply wet a sponge – get it really wet – and place it in the microwave. Microwave the sponge for about two minutes. Open the door and let the sponge sit in there for a few minutes. Then take the sponge and easily wipe the mess away!

Do you have stuck on/burnt on food on the bottom of your pan? Take a dryer sheet and put it in the bottom of the pan and fill it with hot water. Allow the pan to soak over night. It should come clean in the morning.

Want to save time when you make potato salad? You can boil the potatoes and eggs together. Just do not forget to remove your eggs after 12 minutes! Your eggs can cool while your potatoes finish cooking!

Tired of sticky measuring cups? Before measuring a sticky substance (aka honey or peanut butter) run really hot water into your measuring cup for a few moments. Dump out the hot water and immediately measure your sticky substance, and it should slip right out!

Tired of fighting your pie crust? The secret to making pie crust is to make sure your water is icy cold and your butter is very cold.

Don’t want your cake frosting to stick to waxed paper or aluminum foil? Simply rub a little butter over the paper or foil that will go directly over the cake.

Want to prevent your cookies from going stale quickly? Place a slice of white bread in the container with the cookies.

Want to soften brown sugar that has gotten hard? Place a slice of white bread in the container overnight with the sugar.

Are you having trouble getting your breads to rise properly? Make sure you are not mixing yeast and salt directly together. The salts interferes with the rising process.

Having trouble with your pies being too juicy? Add a few tablespoons of instant tapioca to the filling. Microwave the filling for a few minutes before pouring it into your pie shell.

Do you want your cookies to bake more evenly? Divide your time in half. For the first half put one tray on the bottom rack of your oven. When the timer goes off, move it to the top rack to finish baking and put a new sheet on the bottom rack. Continue.

Are you trying to eat healthier but you still enjoy baking? You can successfully eliminate oil from most of your baking recipes and substitute it for an equal portion of  plain applesauce.

Does your recipe call for self-rising flour but you only have all purpose on hand? If your recipe calls for one cup of self-rising flour you can replace it with one cup of all purpose flour and 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt sifted together.

What are some of your kitchen secrets? Please share them in the comment section!