Useful cooking tips that will transform your food forever

 

The saying goes "the only constant thing in life is change" and nothing proves this better than cooking.

Any great cook can attest to the fact that some of the best recipes are achieved by reinventing the wheel - trying out new procedures and even mixing seemingly unlikely ingredients.

In some cases however, there are certain tried and tested methods that are guaranteed to achieve great results everytime.

The following are tried and tested methods, via Redbook, that are guaranteed to have your cooking rival that of a cordon bleu chef's.

Check them out.

 Fruits on display in a market (Colour Box)

1. Selecting ripe fruit: To get the ripest fruits from a bunch, pick them up and weigh them - the heavier ones are the juicier ones. It's also important to smell them as fresh fruits have a nice scent.

2. Mixing ingredients for baking: Batters will have lumps because the more you mix it, the more air you lose which won't allow whatever you're making - pancakes, cakes etc light and fluffy. The trick, instead is to  to gently stir or fold your ingredients, this way there won't be lumps after cooking.

3. Frying meat/fish: To avoid meat/fish sticking to the frying pan, allow your meat/fish sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, then heat your pan to medium-high, wait a few minutes, then add the oil. Then, add the chicken to the pan and let it sit. Don't try to move it around before it gets golden, when the meat/fish is golden, it will release from the frying pan.

4. Salting: Don't just add salt at the end of your cooking. Begin your salting/seasoning from the beginning so it can seep into the ingredients properly.

5. To preserve spices: Never measure spices or herbs over a pot you're cooking in as the moisture can get into the bottle and make them go bad.