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This post got me to thinking that there may be things I do that would be helpful to you guys, and I figured there should be a thread to share tips like this. Also, if you guys have any good ideas I'll learn something, which is the real me-first reason I started this thread. :D

 

If you don't have kitchen twine or don't want to tie the legs, cut a 1" slit in the flappy skin on one side of the cavity, near the tail (or where the tail would be). Stick the "knuckle" of the leg on the opposite side of your cut through the slit, then cross the other leg under the first. Pressure from the second leg pushing on the first should keep them together, and the skin is tough enough that it *usually* won't rip. If it rips, cut a slit on the opposite side and try again.

 

You can also tuck the wings back and behind the back of the bird, although describing how to do that is a bit wonky. I don't think about it, I just do it.

 

The best thing about doing it this way is that you don't get your twine roll full of chicken bacteria, or if you've cut your twine ahead of time, you're not guessing how much you need and having waste or finding out you have too little.

 

A few other things I do that makes things better/easier...

 

Making Stock

 

Save your bones, save your vegetable peels. Ever use chicken, beef, pork, vegetable or fish stock when you cook? If you buy it, you're cheating yourself. You can make excellent stock from the stuff you typically throw away.

 

Vegetable peels are gold and should be treated as such. Root vegetables such as onions, garlic, carrots, celery and potatoes are something you're usually going to be cooking with, and you're going to have waste. Onion ends/skin, that knobby bit on the bottom of the carrot, your garlic paper and tips/ends, typically you're going to throw that all away, or compost it.

 

Instead, rinse them all clean (I use a colander) and toss them in a gallon freezer bag. A gallon freezer bag full of this waste will make approximately two gallons of vegetable stock, depending on the strength you prefer.

 

Got chicken bones, like from a roast chicken? Or beef bones, pork bones from a shoulder, stuff like that? Don't throw them away, freeze them. When you have a bunch, put them in a pot with a few handsful of your veggie peels, boil them for about ten minutes and then simmer for an hour or so, and you've got great, free stock. Same goes for shrimp shells (fresh - not cooked in a broth or any dish). Freeze your shrimp shells, throw in some veggie peels, and you've got fantastic fish stock.

 

Your butcher, or even the butcher at your local grocery store, should have beef bones in the back, and often they're just thrown away. My grocery store butcher sells me giant marrow bones for $1 a pound - less if I show him a bit of leg. I have him cut those into 10" sections. I give them a slight dousing of olive oil, then roast them in the oven at 350 for an hour or two with root vegetables (but not peels). Once out of the oven they go into my ginormous pot and simmer for a while. What comes out is beefy magic, and serves as the base for many of my recipes. I use it in a lot of recipes, and since it's the real deal good stuff, you can render it down to demi glace if you want - and sometimes you do want.

 

I do the same with chicken bones, although the chicken bones I use are typically leftovers from deli roasted chickens that I've pulled the meat off of (discard the skin - if they spice their chicken, you don't want their spices in your broth).

 

If you're a composter, you can toss your used veggie scraps on the compost heap after you've made your broth.

 

This is the biggest no-brainer idea I've ever had. I felt like an idiot (not a genius) when I first thought of doing this because why hadn't I been doing this for years?

 

EDIT - here's Anthony Bourdain's beef stock recipe. It's basically what I do.

 

 

Storing stuff

 

I freeze most everything I make, including broth, stock, pesto, various sauces/ragu, etc. I have plenty of freezer space, but it gets filled up fast if I don't organize it properly.

 

The best way I've found is to fill my quart or gallon freezer bags full, squinch out all the air, then lay it flat to freeze. I have some boxes that exactly fit both quart and gallon freezer bags, which helps them not flop around as they're freezing.

 

Once frozen I take them out of the boxes and stand them upright in the freezer, usually set into short-walled boxes (like the flats you get at Sam's Club). Standing them upright saves space, and freezing things flat makes thawing more uniform and things thaw far quicker than if it's a big lump.

 

 

The easiest way to fill quart freezer bags is to stuff them in a quart drinks cup , then drape the closey end over the sides of the cup. I'll use a drinking glass to stuff it down in properly, then pour/ladle whatever I'm storing in, pull it out, get the air out on the counter, and lay it flat. If you have a gallon pitcher you can do the same thing with your larger batches.

 

LABEL EVERYTHING. I still have this problem, and I kick myself every time if I grab an unlabeled bag and can't figure out if it's chicken or veggie broth, or a specific kind of pesto or even what meat it is. Frozen foods look different than thawed. Label, label, label.

 

 

 

 

This took a little longer to type up than I thought, so that's it for now. I'll add some more stuff as I think of it.

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Buy the best chef's knife that you can afford. You're better off (in my experience) buying a higher end chef's knife and settling for lower quality on your other knives than buying a middle of the road complete set.

 

Potato ricers. Worth the money.

 

Regular olive oil for cooking, extra virgin olive oil for dipping/dressing.

 

Trader Joe's is a great place for stocking up on less common staples like cheap and high quality arborio rice and canned plum tomatoes but it generally isn't a great place to buy produce. (Also, HyVee probably has the worst quality produce that I've seen of the major chains in Omaha and Lincoln.)

 

If you (or a family member/friend) have a Costco membership, for gods sake buy your cheese and booze there. Excellent cheese selection at prices that can't be beaten at any of the grocery chains. I always have at least a pound of kirkland pecorino romano and kirkland parmesan in the fridge. Grate the former into pasta sauces. Top pretty much anything with the latter.

 

 

 

In a pinch for supper?

 

Cacio e pepe can be prepared from shelf stable staples in less than 15 minutes. http://www.saveur.co...ta-Cacio-e-Pepe

11422_cacio_pepe_pasta_600.jpg

 

 

Hazan's tomato sauce can be prepared in around 45 minutes (only 5 minutes of actual work) from canned tomatoes, butter, and a single onion. http://www.amateurgo...uce-recipe.html

10022656083_4796a3ed9f_o.jpg

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The larger of these two knives is what I mostly use.

 

IJStTc5.jpg

 

 

I have an older version of this set, and I like it, but the larger knife above fits my hand very well.

 

I would agree that getting a good-quality chef's knife is essential to cooking, but I would also say that having a knife that best fits your hand is as important.

 

 

What do you use your potato ricer for? Just mashed potatoes? If so, how often do you use it?

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What do you use your potato ricer for? Just mashed potatoes? If so, how often do you use it?

Just mashed potatoes. Probably once a month. I'd like to use it more often . . . but the calories.

 

I boil yukon golds with the skin left on and throw 3-4 heads worth of unpeeled garlic in the pot. Run the garlic and the potatoes through the ricer into a milk and butter mixture.

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My tip? Brine that poultry.

 

If you want to keep that chicken or turkey moist and juicy be sure to brine it, especially if you will be grilling, roasting, or smoking it. You can find all kinds of brine recipe on the web but the important thing is not the herbs/spices/flavoring that can be adjusted and widely varied but rather the ratio of salt and sugar. Don't ever pull a dried out chicken breast off your grill again.

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You can buy the best knives in the world. But if you don't sharpen them correctly and often, you might as well use a butter knife. I've been cooking professionally for 30+ years now and sharpening is one thing I pound into my Sous chefs heads. You will often see the TV chefs steeling their knives really fast and "showy". That's all for show. Before my cooking career I cut meat at Monforts in Grand Island and that is where I mastered the proper use of sharpening steels.

The most important thing to remember is that when you are running the edge down the steel. The angle of the edge to the steel must be the same on each side. If you view a sharp edge under a microscope the sharpest edges are the ones that are the truest. Think of it this way: When the edge is completely straight down the entire length of the blade it will be the sharpest. When that micro edge starts to curl to the left or right that is when dulling appears and you have to "properly" steel the edge back to being true once more.

 

I use up to 4 steels depending on what I need to get out of the edge. There are diamond steels, smooth, coarse, ceramic etc. etc. If you tap your blade on metal or just nick it (even a little) it's time to steel.

 

One more tip: If you have one of those magnetic knife holders on your kitchen wall to keep your knives out of the drawer. It's a nice idea, but throw that mother away as far as you can. Any kind of magnetization will "curl" your beautiful sharp edge everytime.

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Use a knife that you made totally by hand. It is very rewarding to use something you've made. :)

Those are beautiful. What'd you use for the steel? I've tried my hand at making knives from really old saw blades . . . but that sort of artistry/detail work isn't really my strong suit.

 

Thanks man! I used 1084, it's not the best for kitchen knives because it's not stainless, but if you keep good care of it it's fine.

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You can buy the best knives in the world. But if you don't sharpen them correctly and often, you might as well use a butter knife. I've been cooking professionally for 30+ years now and sharpening is one thing I pound into my Sous chefs heads. You will often see the TV chefs steeling their knives really fast and "showy". That's all for show. Before my cooking career I cut meat at Monforts in Grand Island and that is where I mastered the proper use of sharpening steels.

The most important thing to remember is that when you are running the edge down the steel. The angle of the edge to the steel must be the same on each side. If you view a sharp edge under a microscope the sharpest edges are the ones that are the truest. Think of it this way: When the edge is completely straight down the entire length of the blade it will be the sharpest. When that micro edge starts to curl to the left or right that is when dulling appears and you have to "properly" steel the edge back to being true once more.

 

I use up to 4 steels depending on what I need to get out of the edge. There are diamond steels, smooth, coarse, ceramic etc. etc. If you tap your blade on metal or just nick it (even a little) it's time to steel.

 

One more tip: If you have one of those magnetic knife holders on your kitchen wall to keep your knives out of the drawer. It's a nice idea, but throw that mother away as far as you can. Any kind of magnetization will "curl" your beautiful sharp edge everytime.

 

Do you have someone sharpen your knives or do you do it yourself (as in, not truing the edge on your steel but actual grinding)? If you do it yourself, what do you use?

 

 

 

 

 

@TheRedCarver - that's a beautiful knife. Nice work!

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You can buy the best knives in the world. But if you don't sharpen them correctly and often, you might as well use a butter knife. I've been cooking professionally for 30+ years now and sharpening is one thing I pound into my Sous chefs heads. You will often see the TV chefs steeling their knives really fast and "showy". That's all for show. Before my cooking career I cut meat at Monforts in Grand Island and that is where I mastered the proper use of sharpening steels.

The most important thing to remember is that when you are running the edge down the steel. The angle of the edge to the steel must be the same on each side. If you view a sharp edge under a microscope the sharpest edges are the ones that are the truest. Think of it this way: When the edge is completely straight down the entire length of the blade it will be the sharpest. When that micro edge starts to curl to the left or right that is when dulling appears and you have to "properly" steel the edge back to being true once more.

 

I use up to 4 steels depending on what I need to get out of the edge. There are diamond steels, smooth, coarse, ceramic etc. etc. If you tap your blade on metal or just nick it (even a little) it's time to steel.

 

One more tip: If you have one of those magnetic knife holders on your kitchen wall to keep your knives out of the drawer. It's a nice idea, but throw that mother away as far as you can. Any kind of magnetization will "curl" your beautiful sharp edge everytime.

 

This is probably the one area where I honestly need the most help in the kitchen. I have no idea really how to sharpen my knives. I'm interested in hearing what others use to really do a good job.

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I get a pretty decent edge on my knives using the sharpener on the back of my can opener. Sounds silly, but it works. I hone that on my sharpening steel and I have some pretty wickedly sharp knives.

 

Only problem is, that's a small stone and it's getting pretty worn. I need a new sharpening stone. Anyone have any recommendations?

 

 

 

Also, how do you guys check the sharpness of your knife? I've always drawn the blade across my thumbnail, perpendicular to my finger. If it catches or snags, it needs more sharpening. If it glides across and makes a neat, sharp furrow, you're good. Picked that up when I worked in a smoke house in my early 20s and I've done it ever since.

 

First time my wife saw me doing that she about freaked out. Thought I was going to cut my thumb off. :D

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Knapp, I use different brands of knives ( Wusthof, Henckels and Forschner ) and one of the first things I do is contact the manufacturer. I get the hardness of the stainless used and the beginning grind angle on the edges. Depending on the blade thickness I can either taper the edge more or less.

I always use a 3 way stone to maintain the angle of the edge. I never take knives to be sharpened by someone else. Too many people will just hollow grind an edge because it's easier for a novice to keep an edge on the knife. Once you get to know your knives and their characteristics the hand stones are the best way to maintain them.

 

Carver those are some beautiful knives!

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