I spent years burning butter in the pan and getting sad, greasy toast. A friend at work told me to try margarine instead and I called her crazy. Tried it last Tuesday with a $2 tub of store brand and my sandwich actually came out golden and crisp. Has anyone else had a similar flip on a basic cooking staple?
I was trying to make a grilled cheese last week and the cheese leaked out everywhere, stuck to the pan so bad I spent 20 minutes scrubbing. Then my neighbor saw me complaining and said to just lay a sheet of parchment paper down before the cheese hits the pan. Tried it yesterday with a gooey cheddar melt and it slid right off, pan was clean in seconds. Anyone else got a simple trick like that that saves cleanup time?
I was over at my grandma's place last week and she saw me about to throw out a whole tray of cookies I'd accidentally left in the oven too long. They were dark brown on the edges and kinda hard. She grabbed one and said 'you know, my mom used to scrape the burnt bits off with a butter knife and call it caramel.' I thought she was joking but then she showed me how to lightly grate the burnt part off with a cheese grater. It saved maybe 8 out of 12 cookies and they actually tasted decent. Now I feel dumb for tossing so many batches over the years. Has anyone else got a weird trick from a relative that made you feel like you've been doing it wrong forever?
I was baking in my tiny apartment kitchen and forgot to let the egg whites rest at room temp, so they never got those stiff peaks and everything flattened out in the oven. Has anyone else tried saving a failed macaron batch by crushing them up for ice cream toppings?
I was complaining to my neighbor about how my cookies always come out dark on the bottom but raw in the middle. He asked if I ever checked my oven temp with a thermometer. I bought a $8 oven thermometer from my own store and tested it. Set it to 350, thermometer read 400. No wonder my dinners have been looking like campfire leftovers. Anyone else ever cook for years before realizing their oven was lying to them?
I tried to make grilled cheese last week with my new nonstick pan and it stuck like crazy. Cheese got all over and the bread burned in 45 seconds. Pulled out my grandma's old cast iron skillet from the 70s, put some butter in it, and the sandwich came out perfect in 3 minutes. The cast iron just holds heat way better and doesn't warp. Has anyone else ditched their new cookware for an old hand-me-down?
I was ALWAYS team parchment paper because I figured those mats were just a gimmick, but after burning through three rolls in one week making cookies for a school bake sale I gave in and bought a $12 mat set online. First two batches came out perfect, but by the fourth use the edges curled up and the middle got this weird sticky film that wouldn't wash off. Anyone else have mats that just don't hold up past a week?
After 6 years of burning my forearms with oven mitts that never seem to grip right, I finally used a pair of metal tongs to flip my pancakes last Sunday. Night and day difference no more smashed edges or slippery flops. Anybody else switch up their flipping tool and wonder why they waited so long?