When purchasing meat, it will help your budget if you consider the price per serving, not the price per pound. It is more economical to buy slab bacon and slice it as you need it. Slab bacon with the rind on is cheaper than sliced bacon, and it keeps better. When you're making hamburger patties to freeze, make a nickel-size hole in the center of each patty. You won't have to thaw the hamburger before cooking, and the hole will close during cooking. When wrapping chops, chicken parts, or hamburgers for your freezer, place sheets of waxed paper between the pieces of meat. That way the meat will separate easily and defrost faster.
It's best not to freeze cured, smoked, or canned ham, because freezing causes flavor and texture changes. Refrigerate this type of ham instead. Dropping a few tomatoes in the pan will help tenderize a pot roast. Acid from the tomatoes helps break down the roast's stringy fibers. When a recipe specifies thinly sliced meat, it will help to put the meat in the freezer for a short time before cutting it. Meat slices more easily if it's slightly frozen. A mixture of olive oil and vinegar will tenderize meat. Rub the mixture on the meat and let it stand several hours before cooking.
Another way to tenderize meat is to rub baking soda into it, let it stand for several hours, and then wash and cook it. Meats can be marinated in a plastic bag: Put the meat in the bag along with the marinade, seal the bag, and turn it a few times during the day. If you've forgotten to thaw meat but want to cook it anyway, cook it half as long again as you would if it were thawed.
Meat will shrink less during roasting if it's cooked longer at a lower temperature. Since a roast will thaw more quickly if all sides are exposed to air, elevate it on a cake cooling rack or use the burner grill from your range. Put newspaper or a plate under the rack to catch the water and other drippings. A shallow pan is better than a deep one for cooking a roast because it allows heat to circulate around the meat. If you need to defrost frozen ground beef quickly, try sprinkling it with the amount of salt recommended for cooking (salt is a great thawing agent), or heat it in your dishwasher turned to its drying cycle.
A roast slices more easily if you let it stand for about 15 minutes after taking it from the oven.
To eliminate most of the smoke and grease when broiling fatty meats, pour a cup ofwater into the bottom portion of the broiler pan before putting it in the oven. For pan drippings that have superb flavor, support poultry or meat on a grid of celery sticks and carrots rather than a metal roasting rack. Roast as usual.
To make relatively grease-free hamburgers in an electric frying pan, prop up one of the legs of the pan and then fry on the pan's elevated side. The grease will drain down to the lower side of the pan. Be careful, especially if there are children around, that the pan cannot tip over or the contents spill out. Want perfectly rounded, flat meat patties? Press down on a piece of meat with a can and trim off the excess. For particularly juicy burgers, put a tablespoon of cottage cheese in the center of each before frying or broiling.
If you're barbecuing hamburgers for a large group of people, you can save on grill time by partially cooking the burgers indoors. Line the bottom of a baking pan with foil and lay down a layer of patties; set a piece of foil over this layer, and add another tier of patties. Repeat this procedure till you have 4 tiers. Place this oversized layer cake in a 350°F oven for about 15 minutes; then finish grilling the patties outside. You can do the same thing with hot dogs, but cook them only a few minutes. Either way, you've solved the problem of too little grill space.
A meat loaf can be stretched with raw oatmeal, grated carrots, crushed corn, flakes, or instant potato flakes. If you want to keep your hands clean when mixing meat loaf, place the ingredients in a plastic bag and knead them through the bag. Still using the bag, shape the mixture into the form of a loaf, and gently ease it out of the bag and into a loaf pan. Meat loaf won't stick to the bottom of the pan if you bake it on top of a few raw bacon slices. The bacon adds flavor, too.
You can cut the cooking time for meat loaf by cooking the mixture in muffin tins or in a flat, shallow pan. So that meatballs won't fall apart when you cook them, chill them first. An ice cream scoop is useful in shaping perfectly round meatballs. For smaller meatballs, use a melon scoop. Do you like your steaks rare on the inside but well done on the outside? If so, grill them straight from the freezer without thawing. When cooking red meats, it's time to turn the meat over to brown the other side when juices bubble to the surface of the meat.
Plan ahead to have steaks with that unmis-takable "outdoor" taste even when the weather won't let you grill outside. Partially broil the steaks over charcoal and then store them in your freezer. When it's raining, snowing, or cold outdoors, just finish broiling these steaks in your kitchen and they'll have that wonderful outdoor taste. An unopened tin can can be used to pound flour into meat for Swiss steak but wash the can first. For particularly tender liver, soak it in milk and refrigerate it for 2 hours. Then dry the liver, sprinkle on breadcrumbs, and saute. Another tenderizer for liver Soak it in tomato juice for 3 hours before frying or broiling. If you partially freeze liver before slicing it, the skin will peel off easily.
To make breaded pork chops that are almost greaseless, bake them on a wire cake rack in a baking pan. Any grease will drip into the pan. To tenderize pork chops or chicken pieces before barbecuing, boil them in a saucepan for 15 minutes, drain them, and then marinate them in barbecue sauce for half an hour. Then position them on the grill and barbecue as usual. Bacon slices won't stick together if you roll the package into a tube held with a rubber band before refrigerating.
Bacon will curl less during frying if it has first been soaked in cold water. If you want bacon strips to maintain their shape with minimum shrinkage, start fiying them on a cold skillet and periodically prick them with a fork during cooking. You won't have to clean a greasy frying pan every time you want bacon if you fry a large quantity and freeze it. Place the slices on cookie sheets so that they won t stick together and when they re frozen, repackage them in plastic bags and store. Reheat foil-wrapped slices in the oven for just a few minutes.
Here's a way to impart additional tenderness and flavor to both meat and bun when barbecuing: Immediately after removing a hot dog or sausage from the grill put it in a bun and place the bun in a plastic bag for 60 seconds, temporarily sealing the bag's open end by twisting it. Steam will form in the bag, imparting additional tenderness and flavor to both meat and bun.
Before opening a canned ham, run hot tap water over the container for several minutes. The gelatin will melt and the ham will slide right out. Frying thin slices of ham for breakfast maybe more economical than frying bacon. Save time and effort when broiling sausages by putting the links on a skewer so you can turn them all with one movement. If you chill a chicken for an hour after flouring it for frying, the coating will adhere better during cooking.
For guaranteed tenderness, marinate chicken breasts in buttermilk, cream, or ordinary milk for 3 hours in the refrigerator before baking. Unpleasant poultry odors can usually be eliminated by washing the bird with lemon juice and rubbing it with salt. You needn't slam away at a chicken with a knife in order to debone it. Kitchen shears make the job easier. When frying broiling, or grilling chicken, always use tongs to turn the pieces. If you use a fork you're likely to pierce the skin, and natural juices will escape. If you want a fresh chicken to stay fresh longer, loosely wrap it with waxed paper (not plastic wrap) and refrigerate. Cook it within 3 days.
For pure white breast meat, defrost a chicken by letting it stand for a time in heavily salted cold water. The salt draws out all traces of blood. Rinse well with clean water before cooking. A chicken will baste itself if you cover the bird with strips of bacon during roasting. Remove the bacon before the end of cooking to brown the bird further. Chicken livers won t splatter during cooking if you first perforate them with a fork. Puncture several holes in each.
It's best to baste a chicken only during the final 30 minutes of cooking. Sauce won't penetrate during the early cooking stages and may cause the chicken to brown too quickly. Don't risk having your hands and wrists splattered with hot fat when adding steaming water to a browning chicken. Use ice cubes and place the lid on the pan before they melt. If you don't care for roast poultry dressing you still can make the bird flavorsome and juicy by pouring a cup of water mixed with Vi cup of pineapple juice into the body cavity. If you want a turkey to be extra juicy, use a basting needle to inject the raw bird with XU pound of melted margarine in 6 to 8 places around the breast and thighs. Then roast according to your usual recipe.
For the most accurate thermometer reading of a roasting turkey, immerse the thermometer in warm water before sliding it into the turkey. When you insert it, keep it away from fat and bones, both of which render inaccurate readings. To hold in stuffing truss a turkey with unwaxed dental floss it's extra strong and doesn't burn. Or, instead of trussing use 2 heels of dampened bread to block the cavity and keep the dressing in place. Position the crusts so that they face out and then overlap each other. One or 2 raw potatoes could also be used to seal the cavity.
It's best not to freeze cured, smoked, or canned ham, because freezing causes flavor and texture changes. Refrigerate this type of ham instead. Dropping a few tomatoes in the pan will help tenderize a pot roast. Acid from the tomatoes helps break down the roast's stringy fibers. When a recipe specifies thinly sliced meat, it will help to put the meat in the freezer for a short time before cutting it. Meat slices more easily if it's slightly frozen. A mixture of olive oil and vinegar will tenderize meat. Rub the mixture on the meat and let it stand several hours before cooking.
Another way to tenderize meat is to rub baking soda into it, let it stand for several hours, and then wash and cook it. Meats can be marinated in a plastic bag: Put the meat in the bag along with the marinade, seal the bag, and turn it a few times during the day. If you've forgotten to thaw meat but want to cook it anyway, cook it half as long again as you would if it were thawed.
Meat will shrink less during roasting if it's cooked longer at a lower temperature. Since a roast will thaw more quickly if all sides are exposed to air, elevate it on a cake cooling rack or use the burner grill from your range. Put newspaper or a plate under the rack to catch the water and other drippings. A shallow pan is better than a deep one for cooking a roast because it allows heat to circulate around the meat. If you need to defrost frozen ground beef quickly, try sprinkling it with the amount of salt recommended for cooking (salt is a great thawing agent), or heat it in your dishwasher turned to its drying cycle.
A roast slices more easily if you let it stand for about 15 minutes after taking it from the oven.
To eliminate most of the smoke and grease when broiling fatty meats, pour a cup ofwater into the bottom portion of the broiler pan before putting it in the oven. For pan drippings that have superb flavor, support poultry or meat on a grid of celery sticks and carrots rather than a metal roasting rack. Roast as usual.
To make relatively grease-free hamburgers in an electric frying pan, prop up one of the legs of the pan and then fry on the pan's elevated side. The grease will drain down to the lower side of the pan. Be careful, especially if there are children around, that the pan cannot tip over or the contents spill out. Want perfectly rounded, flat meat patties? Press down on a piece of meat with a can and trim off the excess. For particularly juicy burgers, put a tablespoon of cottage cheese in the center of each before frying or broiling.
If you're barbecuing hamburgers for a large group of people, you can save on grill time by partially cooking the burgers indoors. Line the bottom of a baking pan with foil and lay down a layer of patties; set a piece of foil over this layer, and add another tier of patties. Repeat this procedure till you have 4 tiers. Place this oversized layer cake in a 350°F oven for about 15 minutes; then finish grilling the patties outside. You can do the same thing with hot dogs, but cook them only a few minutes. Either way, you've solved the problem of too little grill space.
A meat loaf can be stretched with raw oatmeal, grated carrots, crushed corn, flakes, or instant potato flakes. If you want to keep your hands clean when mixing meat loaf, place the ingredients in a plastic bag and knead them through the bag. Still using the bag, shape the mixture into the form of a loaf, and gently ease it out of the bag and into a loaf pan. Meat loaf won't stick to the bottom of the pan if you bake it on top of a few raw bacon slices. The bacon adds flavor, too.
Plan ahead to have steaks with that unmis-takable "outdoor" taste even when the weather won't let you grill outside. Partially broil the steaks over charcoal and then store them in your freezer. When it's raining, snowing, or cold outdoors, just finish broiling these steaks in your kitchen and they'll have that wonderful outdoor taste. An unopened tin can can be used to pound flour into meat for Swiss steak but wash the can first. For particularly tender liver, soak it in milk and refrigerate it for 2 hours. Then dry the liver, sprinkle on breadcrumbs, and saute. Another tenderizer for liver Soak it in tomato juice for 3 hours before frying or broiling. If you partially freeze liver before slicing it, the skin will peel off easily.
To make breaded pork chops that are almost greaseless, bake them on a wire cake rack in a baking pan. Any grease will drip into the pan. To tenderize pork chops or chicken pieces before barbecuing, boil them in a saucepan for 15 minutes, drain them, and then marinate them in barbecue sauce for half an hour. Then position them on the grill and barbecue as usual. Bacon slices won't stick together if you roll the package into a tube held with a rubber band before refrigerating.
Bacon will curl less during frying if it has first been soaked in cold water. If you want bacon strips to maintain their shape with minimum shrinkage, start fiying them on a cold skillet and periodically prick them with a fork during cooking. You won't have to clean a greasy frying pan every time you want bacon if you fry a large quantity and freeze it. Place the slices on cookie sheets so that they won t stick together and when they re frozen, repackage them in plastic bags and store. Reheat foil-wrapped slices in the oven for just a few minutes.
Here's a way to impart additional tenderness and flavor to both meat and bun when barbecuing: Immediately after removing a hot dog or sausage from the grill put it in a bun and place the bun in a plastic bag for 60 seconds, temporarily sealing the bag's open end by twisting it. Steam will form in the bag, imparting additional tenderness and flavor to both meat and bun.
Before opening a canned ham, run hot tap water over the container for several minutes. The gelatin will melt and the ham will slide right out. Frying thin slices of ham for breakfast maybe more economical than frying bacon. Save time and effort when broiling sausages by putting the links on a skewer so you can turn them all with one movement. If you chill a chicken for an hour after flouring it for frying, the coating will adhere better during cooking.
For guaranteed tenderness, marinate chicken breasts in buttermilk, cream, or ordinary milk for 3 hours in the refrigerator before baking. Unpleasant poultry odors can usually be eliminated by washing the bird with lemon juice and rubbing it with salt. You needn't slam away at a chicken with a knife in order to debone it. Kitchen shears make the job easier. When frying broiling, or grilling chicken, always use tongs to turn the pieces. If you use a fork you're likely to pierce the skin, and natural juices will escape. If you want a fresh chicken to stay fresh longer, loosely wrap it with waxed paper (not plastic wrap) and refrigerate. Cook it within 3 days.
For pure white breast meat, defrost a chicken by letting it stand for a time in heavily salted cold water. The salt draws out all traces of blood. Rinse well with clean water before cooking. A chicken will baste itself if you cover the bird with strips of bacon during roasting. Remove the bacon before the end of cooking to brown the bird further. Chicken livers won t splatter during cooking if you first perforate them with a fork. Puncture several holes in each.
It's best to baste a chicken only during the final 30 minutes of cooking. Sauce won't penetrate during the early cooking stages and may cause the chicken to brown too quickly. Don't risk having your hands and wrists splattered with hot fat when adding steaming water to a browning chicken. Use ice cubes and place the lid on the pan before they melt. If you don't care for roast poultry dressing you still can make the bird flavorsome and juicy by pouring a cup of water mixed with Vi cup of pineapple juice into the body cavity. If you want a turkey to be extra juicy, use a basting needle to inject the raw bird with XU pound of melted margarine in 6 to 8 places around the breast and thighs. Then roast according to your usual recipe.
For the most accurate thermometer reading of a roasting turkey, immerse the thermometer in warm water before sliding it into the turkey. When you insert it, keep it away from fat and bones, both of which render inaccurate readings. To hold in stuffing truss a turkey with unwaxed dental floss it's extra strong and doesn't burn. Or, instead of trussing use 2 heels of dampened bread to block the cavity and keep the dressing in place. Position the crusts so that they face out and then overlap each other. One or 2 raw potatoes could also be used to seal the cavity.
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