Cooking Tips

A Beginner's Guide to Cooking  

1. What You Should Know About Cooking on High Flame

If you are a beginner or have not been doing much cooking, one of the things you should know is that if the flame is relatively high, that doesn't necessarily mean your food will get cooked faster; in fact, it usually gets burned. Food generally cooks from inside out as opposed to outside in, but if you are not aware of this, you might tend to judge the readiness of the food based on its outer appearance. When you prepare food on a high flame, sometimes this only causes it to burn or get crusted on the outer surface, giving it this false appearance of a well-done piece of meat, for example. However, when you get to the middle of it, you will find that that piece of meat is still raw or uncooked on the inside. You may also use a tenderizer or try slicing the meat into thinner pieces if it's too thick.

If you have a piece of meat that is very tough and you need to prepare a meal but just don't have enough time on hand, instead of trying to have it done as quickly as possible over high heat or flame, why not use a Pressure Cooker instead? The best way to cook a tender piece of meat on the stove-top, for example, is to gauge the flame between medium and low and allow it to simmer from inside out in a timely fashion. If you watch carefully, you will notice the juice or liquid from that piece of meat gradually changing from bloody to pink to clear. This is one way of confirming that the inner portion of the meat is thoroughly cooked.

Grilling at High Temperatures - The Danger

Grilling protein at high temperatures for too long, according to some researchers, will increase the formation of cancerous substances on the outer surface of the meat. Thus, it's better to cook or microwave the meat for a couple of minutes before barbecuing. As long as the fluid is released from the meat and discarded, this will decrease the likelihood of introducing carcinogenic substances into your body. Another precautionary measure that you may also take is to remove the skin of the grilled meat before serving. However, the best way to lower the risk is to cook at a lower temperature and remove the meat from the heat source when it is medium-rare as opposed to well done.

2. The Importance of Knowing Basic Measurements 

For those interested in learning how to cook, most likely, you will be preparing meals based on recipes you found online or in cookbooks, initially. However, these meals will not turn out tasty enough or well seasoned if you don't follow the instructions correctly or fail to use the correct portion of each ingredient as specified by each recipe. For this reason, it's critical that you know the basic measurements. Then, as time goes by, or the more you cook, you will be better able to use your own judgment.

Some Basic Measurements

You may find the following conversions for common units of mass (weight) and volume useful. For example, 1 ounce = 0.06 pound. Therefore, 2 ounces would = 2 x 0.06 pounds, and 16 ounces = 0.96 pounds (rounded off to 1lb).

Units of Mass (Weight)

Metric Unit                   Equivalent Metric Unit                     Equivalent English Units

Kilogram (kg)                1,000 gram (g)                                35.3 oz

                                     1,000,000 mg                                  2.2046 lb

gram (g)                         0.001 kg                                        

                                      1,000 mg                                        0.353 oz

milligram (mg)                0.000001 kg                                   

                                          0.001                                       0.0000353 oz

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Units of Volume 

Metric Unit                    Equivalent Metric Units                     Equivalent English Units

Liter(L)                          1000 mL                                          1.057 qt

millimeter (mL)                0.001 L                                         0.001057 qt

 or cubic centimeter (cc)

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Measuring Cups

Don't take it for granted that everyone knows exactly what a cup of water is or even the difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon. I remember giving someone a meal recipe that required 1 cup of water and a teaspoon of certain ingredients. Unfortunately, the meal didn't turn out right, simply because the person got confused with the measurements. So instead of using a measuring cup, they used a drinking cup of water and a tablespoon of all the specified ingredients.

For those who are learning to cook/bake for the first time, just to let you know that measuring cups are very important pieces of apparatus you should have in your kitchen. They allow you to follow the instructions of others' recipes correctly, but they also allow you to experiment with different measurements of certain ingredients. Say, for example, the first time you baked a cake or prepared a certain meal, you weren't satisfied with how either of these turned out; the next time around, you can always increase or reduce the measurement of a certain ingredient or of all the ingredients until you have achieved you preferred outcome or taste.

Measuring cups are relatively inexpensive; you can purchase them at Kmart, Target, Amazon, etc., or even at your local Supermarkets and Dollar Stores. For example, for only a $1, you can get the following set of eight pieces:-
1 Cup/235ml
1/2 Cup/120ml
1/4 Cup/60 ml
2/3 Cup/158ml
1 Tablespoon (Tbs)/15ml
1 teaspoon (tsp)/5ml
1/2 teaspoon (tsp)/2.5ml
1/4 teaspoon (tsp)/1.25ml
As you can see, the above measuring cups also give you the equivalent measurements in millimeters.

How to Clean Pots Easily - Get Rid of Black Sooth and Pot Stain Quickly

Growing up was very rough. My family didn’t have the luxury of some of the simplest things in life, such as a cooking stove, so at least two days of the week, I had to go to the forest to gather firewood before school. Then, upon returning from school, after dinner, I had to then turn around and scrub the black soot and stain from the dinner pots caused by that same firewood. Thank God for these tricks I’m about to share with you.


If you're someone who cooks outdoors on occasion, for example, when you go camping or, let’s say, you cook every day over hot charcoal or with firewood, you know how black your pots can get from the buildup of black soot.


Cleaning black soot from a pot can sometimes be a daunting task, and most times, you will not be able to get rid of most of the stains that are also produced by burning wood or charcoal.


To minimize the staining and buildup of black soot on the outside of your pots, you always scrub the outer portion each time after using them. However, more importantly, you should coat the outer portion of your pots completely using firewood ash, dirt/soil, dish liquid soap, or cooking oil.


If you are using dirt, do the following:

1. simply loosen up or dig up a small portion of soil and wet it with water.
2. Wet the outer portion of the pot also to help the soil stick easier.
3. Next, apply the wet soil to form an outer coat on the button and around the pot. The thicker the coating, the better barrier between the pot and the burning flame.
4. If you're using liquid soap or cooking oil, just pour a reasonable portion of either one into the palm of your hand and use it to coat the entire outer portion of the pot.

All the above approaches will help minimize staining and black soot buildup and also help to make cleaning up a breeze.

When Your Soup is Too Salty

If a pot of soup you are preparing for your guest is a bit salty, the usual way to fix this is to simply add a bit more water to the pot. However, recently I have learned this new trick:

Add a raw potato to the soup and let it cook for a short time. The potato will absorb some of the salt. You can then remove it from the soup and get rid of it. You should try this the next time you accidentally add too much salt to your soup or stew.


How Soup Becomes Greasy

1)If you are preparing beef soup, chicken soup, etc., and do not trim the excess fat from the meat, the grease formed from the fat will float to the top of the broth, as it always does when grease is mixed with water.


2)When you make soup, if you allow the soup to boil instead of simmer, any fat from the meat or bones will be churned back into the broth instead of floating to the top. This will make your soup cloudy and sometimes greasy.

How To Get Rid of the Grease

You can try skimming the grease that forms on top, but that might be time-consuming. Also, you might wind up removing some of the broth with the grease. This is what you should do instead, wrap several cubes of ice in a plastic bag. Keep the bottom of the bag at surface level, and move it slowly over the surface of the warm soup. The fat will harden and cling to the plastic. You may have to repeat this a few times, reusing the same ice bag by holding it under running hot water just long enough to melt the fat. You can also put the soup in the freezer and allow it to cool for a while. The fat will solidify in one sheet on top, making it easier for you to remove it in one sheat.

cooking rice

How to Save a Burning Pot of Rice

Rice should be steamed, not boiled, so the flame should be low, not high. Also, You should use just enough water, not too little or too much water. Too little water will cause the rice to burn, and too much water will make it saggy.

If your pot of rice is burning, do the following:

1. Immediately remove the pan or pot from the heat.
2. Set it carefully into a sink of cold water (to stop the cooking).
3. Use a wooden spoon to remove as much as possible or that portion of the rice you can easily remove and transfer to another pot. Leave the burned amount that’s stuck to the bottom.
4. Smell or taste the portion you have transferred to a new pot to see if it smells burnt or smoky-tasting. 
5. Cover the pot with a damp cloth if it smells or tastes burnt, and let it stand for half an hour. If it still doesn’t taste right, it might be beyond restoration.