And More Helpful Hints

Here are some more helpful hints for the kitchen.  Tricks to keep you from running to the store at the last minute.

 Baking powder will go bad,  and the best way to check it is Mix 1 teaspoon (5gm) with 1/2 cup hot water.  The mix should bubble immediately.  If it doesn't toss it out.  You have bad baking powder

Baking powder should be replaced every 6-12 months

To test Baking soda, ¼ teaspoon to 2 teaspoons VINEGAR mix should bubble immediately

To make Baking Powder is a pretty simple thing to do.

• 1 teaspoon baking soda


• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar

Mix the baking soda and cream of tartar together until well combined. The yield is one tablespoon.

______________________________

Cream of Tartar

Cream of tartar is the common name for potassium hydrogen tartar and also tartaric acid salt.  It is obtained when tartaric acid is half neutralized with potassium hydroxide, transforming it into a salt. Grapes are the only significant natural source of tartaric acid, and cream of tartar is obtained from sediment produced in the process of aging wine. It is found on the insides of the wine barrels and sometimes at the bottom of bottles of wine. It crystallizes out as a hard crust in the barrels.

Cream of tartar is best known for helping stabilize and give more volume to beaten egg whites. It is used as the leavening agent in baking powder.

Normally when cream of tartar is used in a cookie, it is used together with baking soda. The two of them combined work like a double-acting baking powder. When substituting for cream of tartar, you must also substitute for the baking soda.

__________________________________

Self-rising flour

If your recipe calls for self-rising flour and you only have all-purpose, here's how you can save the day.. Measure out the amount of flour into a separate bowl and for each cup of flour add 1.5 teaspoon baking powder and one half teaspoon of salt, Mix that up and  POOF you have self-rising flour.

Can be stored in an Air tight container for Months 

______________________________

 Brown Sugar  

Your out of Brown sugar, but you have granulated sugar and you have molasses.  The formula or recipe is 1 cup sugar and 2 Tablespoons molasses.  In a stand mixer (can be done by hand with a fork).  Put the sugar and molasses in your mixer bowl and with the whisk attachment, start that puppy up..... run on medium speed till all mixed,  this may take a while to do. But it does go together. If you have some clumps that refuse to break up,  use a fork to break them up.  And POOF again,  you've made brown sugar.

 ______________________________

I hope these little hints will help,  everyone runs short on stuff, and just maybe this will help.

 

MORE HELPFUL HINTS

Here are some more hints that might help around the kitchen.  

Photography by Michael Long

_________________________

Here is the YEAST SUBSTITUTIONS:

To convert cake yeast to instant yeast:

For 1 packed tablespoon cake yeast use 2 teaspoons instant yeast or

2-1/2 teaspoons active dry

OR

To convert recipes calling for instant yeast to active dry yeast: Use 1.25 times

the weight; or, for 1 teaspoon instant yeast, use about 1 1/4 teaspoons active dry

yeast

To convert recipes calling for active dry yeast to instant yeast: Use 0.67 times

the weight; or, for 1 teaspoons active dry yeast, use 3/4 teaspoon instant yeast

To convert recipes calling for fresh compressed yeast to instant yeast: Use 0.32

times the weight; or, for 1 packed Tablespoon (21 grams) fresh yeast, use 2

teaspoons instant yeast

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f19/instant-yeast-vs-active-dry-yeast-1551.html

_________________________

Get some long Tweezers for the kitchen.  They are great for working with very small foods or objects. You can use them for plating, Getting that little bit of paper that stuck to the butter...That kind of thing.  A lot of hardware stores carry them.  I use mine for putting that little bit of garnishment on top of the plate. 

__________________________

Funnels are always handy around the kitchen.  I have one for wide mouth canning that is used probably the most.  I also keep a bunch of plastic ones of different sizes, That I got from the hardware store. 

__________________________

Probably the Best thermometer I've ever had is one put out my Polen.  It has a long cord for the probe, Has magnetic back,  Has a lot of features that you will find very helpful in the kitchen. 

__________________________

Blue painters tape, and sharpie's,  You can label most anything you want, and date it right then.  The Blue tape doesn't leave a mess, peels off very easy.  Great for the left overs.  Leftover name, date. etc... 

_______________________

A set of small cans, like the kind you would get creamed corn in.  Take the  ingredients out of the cans,  peel the paper off the can, cut the bottom out of the can, run through the dishwasher, and poof, you have plating molds, or baking molds, or what ever you want to use them for.  And if you bend one, eat more corn. 

__________________________

Wire whips,  Try hanging them under your upper cabinets along the back on cup hooks.  They are handy, out of the way, easy to get to,  And make your kitchen look pretty cool.  I have about 8 whips hanging up ranging in size from a 12" on down. 

__________________________

I put my recipes in plastic sleeves.  It protects the recipe, you can add notes to the recipe either with removing the recipe and writing on them direct. With a china marker you can check things off the recipe as you go along.  That way you won't forget anything ingredient or step.

__________________________

Having problems with your cutting boards falling over,  Try using bookends. The metal ones,  works great.  I keep my boards in the cabinet above the frig.  And they are always standing up, just waiting for me to grab one and do my thing.  I also have the boards in different colors, one for Chicken, Vegs, Meats, Pork, CHOCOLATES, & Breads.

While your at the office supply house or store,  get some magazine holders.  They are just the right size to hold the rolls of wax paper, plastic wrap, that sort of thing.  And you can probably put 4 or 5 rolls in each one.  They also fit very nice next to the cutting boards. 

_________________________

Remember the coldest part of the frig is at the bottom.. heat rises, cold sinks.  So I keep my thermometer at the top shelf.  That way I know the bottom will be cold. 

______________________

I hope that I've given you some ideas to make you kitchen easier to work in. I'm sure that a lot of you have already found and using some of these tricks and have more than the ones that I've talked about.  But what the heck.  If you have some ideas, or tricks that you use and want to share them, let me know and I will put them up here for all to enjoy.