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Cooking Tips

 

Eggs

  • Hardboiled eggs are easier to peel if they are dropped in hot water

  • For soft boiled eggs, start with cold eggs and submerge in hot water so that the whites cook while the yolks remain liquidy

    • Instructions:

    • 1. Bring pot of water to a boil (3 quarts of water for every 6 eggs). Shut off heat.

    • 2. Drop in eggs. Cover.

    • 3. Cook ~7 minutes.

  • Sunny-Side Up Eggs

    • Do not cook them over low heat because that will cook the yolk

    • If you cook them over medium heat, there will be a good amount of liquid at the top while the bottom half will be quite firm

    • If you cook them over high heat, the whites will completelyl set, the yolks will be liquid, but the bottom of the egg will burn before the rest of the egg is ready to eat

  • Light, Fluffy Scrambled Eggs

    • Ingredients:

      • 8 eggs

      • 3/4 tsp kosher salt

      • 3 tbsp milk

    • Directions:

      • 1. Combine ingredients. Whisk until frothy

      • 2. Let rest 15 minutes

      • 3. Whisk again until foamy

      • 4. Cook over medium-high heat stirring constantly (~2 minutes)

  • Creamy Scrambled Eggs

    • Add salt 15 minutes before cooking

    • Cook over medium-low heat stirring ocassionally

 

Boiling Water

  • Quivering (130-170 degrees)- tiny bubbles on the bottom and sides of the pan (do not rise to the surface)

  • Subsimmer (170-195 degrees)- bubbles from the side and bottom begin to rise to the surface

  • Simmer (195-212 degrees)- bubbles break the surface regularly from all points

  • Boil (212 degrees)- bubbles escape extremely rapidly

 

Ground Meat

  • Place the meat grinder in the freezer at least one hour before grinding

  • Grind from large to small die, chilling it between batches

  • Use flavorful cuts (tough cuts are ok, since you will be grinding them)

  • Simmer meatballs in sauce for a maximum of 10 minutes. To add the rich meaty flavor to the sauce, take a few raw meatballs and brown them in a Dutch oven. Allow the sauce to simmer an hour. Then, after browning the rest of the meatballs, add them to the sauce.

  • If making a thicker burger, to form a patty that cooks up flat, just make a slight depression in the center of each patty.

  • Cooking the burger through and ten searing results in more evenly cooked meat than the opposite.

  • Transfer to the hot side of the grill once burgers are within 10 degrees of your desired temperature. By doing this, you will warm the meat to the point that a well-charred crust can develop in about half the time.

 

Grilled Cheese

  • Low and slow cooking

  • Toast bread and then add cheese to toasted side before closing and proceeding as normal

 

Notes on Bread

  • Bread becomes stale much faster at cooler temperatures

 

Sweet Potatoes

  • The longer a sweet potato spends between 135 and 170 degrees, the sweeter it becomes

 

Tips for Perfect Steak

  • Dry steak and season 45 minutes before cooking

  • Cook the interior as slowly as possible. Then sear it as quickly as possible.

  • Use the heaviest pan you have (cast iron is a good choice)

  • Let rest before serving

  • To reheat steak

    • For cuts thicker than 1.5 inches: warm it in a low oven until it is 10 degrees below the desired cooking temperature and then sear it in a hot skillet to crisp up the exterior

    • For thinner cuts: you can simply sear them in a skillet straight from the fridge

    • A microwave also works. Just don't let it rise above the initial temperature you cooked it to

 

Temperature to Cook Beef or Lamb

  • 120 degrees- rare (red in middle)

  • 130 degrees- medium-rare (pink and warm); preferred temperature

  • 140 degrees- medium; totally pink, starting to dry out

  • 150 degrees- medium-well; gray and pink, significantly drier

  • 160 degrees- well done; completely gray; very little moisture

 

Notes on Cooking Chicken

  • Small, younger chickens have more tender but less flavorfulmeat. Older birds have more flavorful meat but are tougher.

  • All chicken in the U.S. are free of hormones and steroids. However, some birds are raised with antibiotics.

  • Cook the interior as slowly as possible. Then sear it as quickly as possible.

  • Basting is not effective at making meat juicier

  • Trussing a bird's legs is also a bad idea, since it shields the inner thighs, making them the slowest to cook.

  • Roasting at a lower temperature helps make it easier to have juicy meat/chicken/turkey

 

Temperature to Cook Poultry To

  • Until thickest part of the breast registers 140-150 degrees for chicken (150 degrees for turkey) and thighs and drumsticks register 170-175 degrees for chicken (and 165 degrees for turkey leg)

  • To be safe to consume, chicken breast should remain at 140 degrees for 25 minutes and turkey breast should remain there for 28 minutes. At 150 degrees, chicken only needs to remain there for 3 minutes and turkey for 4 minutes.

  • Let a chicken/bird cooked to 150 degrees rest until it reaches 143 degrees (10-15 minutes for chicken, ~30 minutes for 10-12 pound turkey)

  • 145 degrees: pale pink, very juicy

  • 150 degrees: white, opaque, juicy, firm

  • 155 degrees: becoming dry

 

Temperature to Salmon To/ Cooking Tips

  • Goal is to keep as much of the salmon below 140 degrees as possible (preferably closer to 125 degrees)

  • 110-125 degrees: medium rare; relativelyl opaque; juicy and moist

  • 125-140 degrees; medium to well-done

  • Always cook with skin on

  • Dry before cooking

 

How to Tell if a Pan is Properly Preheated

  • If water forms a cohesive until that elevates above the surface of the pan and skids around, it is hot enough

  • If water evaporates rapidlly, it is under 350 degrees, a suboptimal temperature for searing

 

Sou Vide Cooking

  • Ideal for hanger, blade, flat iron

 

Resting Time

  • Allow meat to rest until center is 5 degrees below maximum temperature

  • This translates to about 10 minutes for a 1.5 inch steak or chicken breast (and as long as 45 minutes for prime rib)

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