5 Tips to Keep in Mind While Following Recipes
Ever took time to follow a recipe just for it to not work out? Isn’t it just frustrating?! Perhaps some mistakes could have been avoided with the right tips. Here are 5 tips that will help your recipes come out perfect every time!
1. Play it Safe
If a recipe calls to bake something for 20 minutes, start with 15 and add on time if there is a need. Your oven could be different than the oven used in the recipe. Just take the time given in the recipe as an approximate time. This way you will ensure that the food that you are baking does not burn or get too dark. This is the same reason that some recipes, such as our barley ginger cookie recipe says to bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. Always start with less time and add as needed.
2. International Box Measurements
Sometimes you will use baking/food products from other countries that require measuring. For example, the halal jell-o packets from Pakistan call for two cups of water. This water is boiled and the sachet of jell-o is poured and mixed in. Now, here in Canada, one cup is 240ml, whereas in Pakistan 1 cup is 200ml. So you could imagine what happens when you add extra liquid with the jell-o sachet – it doesn’t set. If you are using a product from another country, just make sure that you read the instructions carefully to make sure that you have the appropriate measurement required.
3. Less is Better Than More
Anytime that a recipe calls to add to taste, start with a small amount, and work your way up. For example, if you are making a pasta sauce that says to add pepper to taste, start with a little bit of pepper and add more if you would like. The same applies for when recipes put more of an ingredient to your liking. For instance, a recipe might call for two teaspoons of red chilli powder and you know that for your taste that is too much. Again, start with a small amount and work your way up as needed. Perhaps the cook in the recipe had a low quality chilli powder, so they had to put more for their personal liking. It’s okay to add less of an ingredient than a recipe calls for. This tip works better with cooking. You don’t want to cut down on certain ingredients in baking such as baking powder, baking soda, and yeast.
4. Research Your Recipe
Say you want to make chocolate chip cookies. Look up a number of recipes and compare them. This will help you find the best one. The more recipes match each other, the more you know that the method was successful. Overtime, with experience you will be able to pick out the right recipe faster as you will have an idea of how the recipe should be. You will have an idea of how the recipe for a cookie, cake, brownie, meringue, and so on should be.
5. Go to the Blog and Watch the Video
If you are following a recipe off of YouTube, check if there is a link in the description to the written recipe. Sometimes a cook can forget to add certain details to their videos. Going to the recipe blog will allow you to not only see the recipe all together, but see if there are any tips and details that were left out in the video. Also, if you’re reading a recipe off of a blog and there is a video, always watch the video. Sometimes the written instructions are not in detail because they are hard to explain. Watching the video will allow you to see the proper method and technique.
These are just some tips that you can keep in mind and follow. Cooking and baking can be enjoyable. When a recipe doesn’t work out, it can be sad, mostly because you wasted ingredients and you were looking forward to eating something that you no longer can :(. Well, at least that’s the sad part for me… The main thing is to continue trying. The more successful recipes you have, the more your confidence in the kitchen will increase. There are so many recipes and information these days that it can be overwhelming finding the right recipe. With COTU’s Kitchen, we try to bring easy and delicious recipes that will work every time. Let us know if there is any recipe that you would like us to share!
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