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Ask HN: What kitchen/cooking hacks that have been really effective for you?

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Re: Ask HN: What kitchen/cooking hacks that have been really effective for you?

#41

Post by ilovetux »

zer00eyz wrote: post #34
ilovetux wrote: post #27

Good quality equipment especially a good stand mixer, food processor and stainless steel everything helps a lot. Shop at Sam's club or costco and potion large items ahead of time. Plan menu items that can be prepared in individual servings like a restaurant so everyone can have what they want for dinner with little hassle. The above tips let me run a family of 5 for about $300 per month food budget while serving deli…

I have to say that a decent blender is ALMOST a requirement as well. Off the top of my head things you can do with a blender that don't go well in the other devices you listed: Broccoli soup, vegetable stock and hollandaise have all come out of my blender recently. The blender makes all of these items rather trivial to make compared to their classical preparations.

I agree, I missed blender because my stand mixer has a blender attachment, pasta maker and meat grinder so I tend to lump them all together, but yes a blender is absolutely essential.

Re: Ask HN: What kitchen/cooking hacks that have been really effective for you?

#43

Post by nicwolff »

These all fall in the "buy restaurant stuff" category:

1. Cheap stainless steel prep bowls. [0] They're just $1-$3 each, so you can get enough that you never have to hunt for a bowl while chopping or cooking. Get a bunch of little ones, a few 3 or 4 quarts, and a couple of big ones for making salads.

2. Big square graduated plastic containers, for storage and transport of liquids. [1]

3. Universal pot lid. [2] Use this to cover any pan to finish or hold proteins or veg, or steam reheat starches.

4. Cheap spring-steel tongs [3] Get at least three, they're $2 each – use 'em for everything. Much less fussy than the hinged tongs.

5. Sous vide, as mentioned above – I like the Anova.

6. Shoulder tenders. This is the cut of beef from the teres majer muscle often sold in restaurants as the "petite filet" – because it is as tender as filet mignon, more flavorful, and much cheaper. Sous vide at 128F for 2 hours, sear and eat.

[0] https://www.webstaurantstore.com/3-qt-standard-weight-stainl... [1] https://www.webstaurantstore.com/4-qt-clear-square-polycarbo... [2] http://amzn.com/B000GHKIDG [3] https://www.webstaurantstore.com/12-stainless-steel-black-sc...

Re: Ask HN: What kitchen/cooking hacks that have been really effective for you?

#44

Post by yesenadam »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #13

Uncooked corn cobs snap easily in half. There is no need to get out a knife, which is a huge pain and does a lot of collateral damage to the corn. Just break it in two with your bare hands before cooking. Potatoes are a staple food that you can nearly live on with nothing else. Keeping easy to cook versions of them on hand that you can add a little something to makes it easy to throw together a fresh, healthy meal. E…

It's true about the olive oil! I left some in a glass in the fridge recently, and it solidied to a soft translucent yellow the consistency of moderately soft butter, perfectly spreadable. Why it isn't more of a thing I have no idea.

Re: Ask HN: What kitchen/cooking hacks that have been really effective for you?

#45

Post by DoreenMichele »

yesenadam wrote: post #44
DoreenMichele wrote: post #13

Uncooked corn cobs snap easily in half. There is no need to get out a knife, which is a huge pain and does a lot of collateral damage to the corn. Just break it in two with your bare hands before cooking. Potatoes are a staple food that you can nearly live on with nothing else. Keeping easy to cook versions of them on hand that you can add a little something to makes it easy to throw together a fresh, healthy meal. E…

It's true about the olive oil! I left some in a glass in the fridge recently, and it solidied to a soft translucent yellow the consistency of moderately soft butter, perfectly spreadable. Why it isn't more of a thing I have no idea.

It would be a great way to make flavored spreads easily. Toss in herbs of your choosing, refrigerate. Voila! Flavored butter substitute for almost no effort.

Re: Ask HN: What kitchen/cooking hacks that have been really effective for you?

#46

Post by gaius »

ambivalents wrote: post #37
gaius wrote: post #22

I'm starting doing this today https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/tip-eat-rice-without-... Already cooked the first batch And yes I know that reducing the calories of a staple food is the very definition of a First World Problem...

Here's the tl;dr for anyone else interested: > It's remarkably simple. By boiling the rice in water mixed with coconut oil, you change the architecture of the rice, turning it into a "resistant starch," where two polysaccharides, amylose and amylopectin, connect to form indigestible bridges. Chilling the rice for 12 hours leads to further conversion of starches. The result is a food with far fewer calories. How did y…

How did your first batch turn out? I've heard the same about potatoes - they are a resistant starch and with each subsequent cooling off/re-heating cycle you increase the resistant starch levels.

Pretty nice, slight coconut taste, no discernible difference in texture, what flavour there was was mostly obscured by the curry I made. I think this will be my regular technique provided I can be organised enough. Maybe whip up the evening’s rice while I make breakfast.

I wonder if you get that effect with triple-fried chips, which are very fashionable right now.

Re: Ask HN: What kitchen/cooking hacks that have been really effective for you?

#47

Post by DanBC »

ambivalents wrote: post #37
gaius wrote: post #22

I'm starting doing this today https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/tip-eat-rice-without-... Already cooked the first batch And yes I know that reducing the calories of a staple food is the very definition of a First World Problem...

Here's the tl;dr for anyone else interested: > It's remarkably simple. By boiling the rice in water mixed with coconut oil, you change the architecture of the rice, turning it into a "resistant starch," where two polysaccharides, amylose and amylopectin, connect to form indigestible bridges. Chilling the rice for 12 hours leads to further conversion of starches. The result is a food with far fewer calories. How did y…

> I've heard the same about potatoes - they are a resistant starch and with each subsequent cooling off/re-heating cycle you increase the resistant starch levels.

Don't do that to rice though, you significantly increase the risk of food poisoning. (And heat doesn't prevent it.)

Re: Ask HN: What kitchen/cooking hacks that have been really effective for you?

#48

Post by yesenadam »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #45
yesenadam wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's true about the olive oil! I left some in a glass in the fridge recently, and it solidied to a soft translucent yellow the consistency of moderately soft butter, perfectly spreadable. Why it isn't more of a thing I have no idea.

It would be a great way to make flavored spreads easily. Toss in herbs of your choosing, refrigerate. Voila! Flavored butter substitute for almost no effort.

ohh I didn't even notice I was replying to you. :-)

p.s. You said you've done a lot of blogging - where can I find that online?

Re: Ask HN: What kitchen/cooking hacks that have been really effective for you?

#49

Post by DoreenMichele »

yesenadam wrote: post #48
DoreenMichele wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be a great way to make flavored spreads easily. Toss in herbs of your choosing, refrigerate. Voila! Flavored butter substitute for almost no effort.

ohh I didn't even notice I was replying to you . :-) p.s. You said you've done a lot of blogging - where can I find that online?

I recently removed a bunch of my work from the web or simply stopped developing it. There is a partial list of new/current (not very fleshed out) projects here:

https://www.patreon.com/DoreenMicheleTraylor

An old personal blog with substantial content is here:

http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/

I also have an old health blog called Mic Eats on blogspot that has substantial content. Like the one above, it is not being further developed, but it is also not being removed from the internet.

I have a number of new projects kind of in the idea stage. When they have some content, they will be added to my Patreon site. I also tweet new posts when they are published, even for blogs I have no desire to list on Patreon.

Re: Ask HN: What kitchen/cooking hacks that have been really effective for you?

#50

Post by Broken_Hippo »

anotheryou wrote: post #20
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #17

Have a meal plan and make a list before you go shopping. Don't go shopping when you are hungry. It's OK to regularly cook and eat the same meals. Dried pasta is as good as fresh pasta. You don't need much in the way of equipment, one sharp knife, one pairing knife and one serrated knife will cover most things. Dried herbs don't last long, especially if you leave them exposed to light. Don't put bread in the fridge, i…

for me it is "Don't go shopping when you are not hungry" I'm so uninspired when I'm not in the mood for food :)

That simply means you are more likely to stick to the grocery list :)
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