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You are in: Home --> Cooking Tips
Top Tips on Cooking Dairy Products
Jump to Tips on: Dairy Products Eggs Eggs should not be stored in the fridge because the shells are porous and they will absorb the aromas of anything that smells strongly that is in there. Also, they tend to be better to cook with (like when making an omelette) if at room temperature.
To tell if an egg is fresh, drop it into a glass of water... If it sinks then its fresh, if it floats, throw it away.
When poaching an egg, boil some water in a pan and before adding the egg, use a spoon to swirl the water around so that when the egg is cracked into the centre, the spinning water keeps the albumen in the middle and helps the egg stay whole.
Poached eggs can be made beforehand and kept in the fridge, then just heated up for 20 seconds in hot water when ready to serve.
A quick way to separate the yolk from the white of an egg is to crack the egg into your hand then allow the white to slip through your fingers until you are left with the yolk in your hand.
When whipping egg whites for a soufflé, do not whip them until they are dry, you should stop when you have soft peaks. Before putting a soufflé into the oven, fill the mould and run a thumb all around the edge to create a small indentation or 'moat', this allows the soufflé to rise evenly and upwards.
When making sweet soufflé, adding a little lemon juice into the egg whites before whipping will denature the proteins, allowing the soufflé to hold its shape once cooked.
Egg whites whipped by hand puts more air in than when whipped by machine, this makes for a lighter end-product. Also, ensure that the bowl and whisk are not wet or have any grease on them before starting.
Storing eggs in an air-tight container with some truffles will provide a truffle flavoured omelette without adding the truffle, meaning you can use it for another recipe.
Butter Adding a small knob of butter to fish at the end of pan frying will add extra flavour.
Adding a small knob of butter to a some sauces just before serving will enhance the taste.
Butter will burn if cooked at a high temperature, so meat or fish that is fried in a hot pan should be done in oil.
When coating a mould or cake tin with butter, if you use softened (room temperature) butter, then it sticks to the sides better and doesn't sink to the bottom in clumps.
Cheese Always serve cheese at room temperature to provide the maximum flavour, so remove it from the fridge at least 2 hours before serving.
Instead of grating parmesan cheese, try making slivers of cheese as a garnish to food by using a potato peeler or sharp knife to shear off a strip.
Milk/Cream If you over-whip cream so that it goes solid, adding a little milk will bring it back to a softer consistency.
Pastry When pricking the surface of rolled out pastry (e.g. for a tart-tartin) use a knife and not a fork. This stops it becoming soggy because the escape holes will not close up.
Adding a teaspoon of corn (maze) flour into a short-crust pastry will reduce the cracking around the edges when rolling.
Rolling pastry that has been placed inside a plastic bag, or between two sheets of cling-film will cut down on mess and stop the need for adding extra flour into the pastry.
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