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Home › Making Soup › Beef StockSome things are just better homemade. And once you know how to make beef stock, you’ll wonder how you ever used the canned kind.

Learning how to make beef stock isn’t hard, and the results are so worth it. A homemade beef stock is a lot healthier than anything you can buy – because you make it yourself, you know that you’re not putting in chemicals, preservatives, or tons of sodium.

And that’s not all…. it’s just a whole lot cheaper! You can make an amazing beef stock by saving beef bones that you’d normally throw away, or by buying inexpensive bones.

In this article, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about how to make beef stock. Just read on, or click on one of the links below to jump directly to that section.

Here we go!

 

What Is Stock?

Beef stock may sound like something complicated that you can’t possibly make at home, but nothing could be further from the truth. It’s just become so convenient to pick up a can at the grocery store that a lot of us have forgotten what it really is.

Beef stock is just what you get when you simmer beef bones and meat in water for a very long time. Yup, that’s pretty much it. Of course, there are a few tricks to knowing how to make beef stock, but that’s essentially it.

A well-made stock is an awesomely flavorful liquid that you can use to make a lot of dishes better. But it also has a special texture.

When you simmer the beef bones, the collagen from the bones turns to gelatin and enters the stock. It’s what gives a stock its particular mouthfeel that makes it so great.

It’s also what makes a stock different from a broth. A broth is made up from meat, not bones, simmered in water – no bones means no gelatin. A broth just can’t get the same depth of flavor that a good stock has.

Why Make Beef Stock?

Alright, we know what beef stock is. But before learning how to make beef stock, let’s go over why you’d make it:

• The first thing that comes to mind as a use for beef stock is soups and stews. If you’re making any kind of beef based soup, using beef stock will really enhance the flavor.
• You can also use stock instead of water to cook rice or grains. It’s a whole lot more flavorful, and it adds a lot of nutrients too.
• If you’re boiling vegetables, you can boil them in beef stock instead of water. It’ll add some flavor to them, which might help some picky eaters eat their greens.
• A beef stock is the perfect base for delicious gravies and sauces, especially when combined with pan drippings.

Those are all good reasons to use beef stock. And the real reason to learn how to make beef stock rather than use canned is that in this case, homemade is better. Trust me. If you make it right, you’ll never want to go back.

And it’s so easy to make in large quantities to store for later, so it’s almost just as convenient!

So let’s learn how to make beef stock!

How To Make Beef Stock

Now that we’ve gone over what beef stock is, and why to make it, we can talk about how to make beef stock. First, I’ll go over what you’ll need to do it, and then I’ll talk about how to do it.

What You’ll Need

Before you start making beef stock, it’s a good idea to gather all your ingredients and equipment. Here’s what you’ll need:

• One baking sheet or roasting pan. It should be big enough to hold all your beef bones.
• One pot, big enough to hold all your ingredients: the bones, the vegetables, the water, and the seasonings.
• Most importantly, you’ll need beef bones.
  • You can use all kinds of bones – rib bones, marrow bones, soup bones, knuckles… pretty much anything goes. If you can, chop them up so they’re about 2 inch chunks.
  • The bones can definitely have meat on them… In fact, they should! It’ll add an extra meaty flavor to the stock. But the main ingredient should be bones. Try to have about 3/4 bones to 1/4 meat.
  • If you want, you can use a veal knuckle, too. It’ll add a lot of gelatin to the stock, giving you a stock with a lot more body.
  • You can use leftover roasted bones, too. If you do, you can skip the part where you roast the bones in the instructions below.
  • If you have leftover bones, you can freeze them, and keep adding to them until you have enough bones to make a big batch of stock.
• You’ll also need some cold water. You’ll need enough to cover all your bones and vegetables.
• You can also use a bit of vinegar. If you use about a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar per quart (or liter) of water, it’ll help extract all sorts of good nutrients like calcium from the bones, so you end up with a more nutritious stock.
• Aromatic vegetables are an important ingredient in any stock. Onions, celery and carrots are the ingredients to add to enhance flavors. You can also add a bit of garlic.
  • You can use one onion, one large carrot, one celery stalk, and a few cloves of garlic for every 2-3 pounds of bones you use. There’s no right amount though. Just try different things to see what you prefer.
  • You can chop the vegetables really coarsely. They’ll be simmering long enough to leech just about everything out of them no matter how big your pieces are. Just cut them so they fit easily in your pot.
• Finally, you can add seasonings to a beef stock.
  • Salt, pepper, thyme, parsley, bay leaves, and lots of other herbs make a really nice addition to any beef stock.
  • Be sure to season sparingly. The stock will reduce as it simmers, which will intensify the flavors.
  • If you’re worried about overpowering the stock, add your seasonings during the last hour or two of cooking. It’ll give you a bit more control.

And that’s what you need! The next step is to put it all together and learn how to make beef stock.

How To Make Beef Stock

Alright, now that we have all the ingredients and equipment we need, let’s learn how to make beef stock.

1. Preheat your oven to 375F.
2. Arrange the beef bones on your baking sheet, and bake in the preheated oven for about an hour, until they’re nicely browned.
   • It’s not necessary, but you can brush the bones with a bit of oil to prevent them from sticking.
   • You don’t have to roast the bones before making your stock. It does tend to give the stock a meatier, richer flavor though, which is a good quality in a beef stock. It’s definitely worth it.
   • The bones should never char, or they’ll make the stock bitter. If they start to burn, reduce the heat. They should brown, not burn.
3. Meanwhile, clean and coarsely chop your carrots, onions and celery and place them in the stock pot.
4. When the bones are browned, place them in the stock pot.
   • If your roasting dish can go on the stove, you can deglaze it with a bit of water or wine and scrape up all the brown bits, and toss the mixture in the stock pot.
   • If not, you can just try scraping off what’s left in the pan. Those brown bits, the fond, are nice and flavorful. Just be sure not to damage your pan!
5. Cover everything with cold water, and add the vinegar.
6. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, then simmer for about 8 hours. Skim the scum that forms on the surface every so often.
   • Yes, it really does need to simmer 8 hours, to extract as much as possible from the bones. Trust me, it’s well worth it. The taste will be outstanding. And you don’t have to stand there watching it the whole time!
   • The stock should barely be simmering. The surface should be still, but you should still see some tiny bubbles rising from the bottom. That’s the best way to extract gelatin from the bones.
7. Strain the stock.
   • You can strain it through a colander first to remove the bigger chunks of vegetables and bones.
   • If you like, you can also strain it through a strainer lined with cheesecloth to get a clearer stock.
8. Let the stock cool down to room temperature, then store it in the fridge.

And now you know how to make beef stock. It takes a long time, but not a lot of effort. And it’s very easy, and so worth it.

Notes

• If you included some marrow bones in your beef bone mix, try to find the marrow and eat it – it might be floating, or it might still be in the bone. I’m not a big marrow fan myself, but a lot of people swear it’s the best part of making beef stock! Just spread it on a bit of bread or crackers and enjoy.
• You can throw out pretty much everything you strain out of the stock. It’s cooked long enough that almost all its nutritional value has been leeched out. Everything that was good is in the stock!
• While the stock is cooling, all the fat will rise to the surface. Once it’s had time to cool down in the fridge, the fat will solidify, making it very easy to skim off to get an awesome, delicious, low fat beef stock.
• If you like, you can reduce the stock again after straining it. Just bring it to a boil, then simmer it until it’s reduced by half. This is called a demi-glace, and it’s essentially a super concentrated beef stock. You can use it for a super burst of flavor, or dilute it with water later to turn it back into a stock.
• If you’ve done everything right, the stock will be very gelatinous once it’s had a chance to cool down in the fridge. Don’t worry. That’s what makes it great! And it’ll liquefy again as soon as it’s heated.

All About Storing Beef Stock

Now that you know how to make beef stock, it’s time to store it. There are two ways to store beef stock: in the refrigerator, or in the freezer.

Storing In The Fridge

Storing In The Freezer

Home › Cooking Beef › How To Make A Hamburger

Summer is the time to learn how to make a hamburger at home. Sure, hamburgers are great all year round, but for me, there’s just something about cooking hamburgers on the grill and eating them outdoors. It’s just linked to summer in a mysterious but delicious way.

Now, hamburgers have kind of gotten a bad reputation as being pretty unhealthy fast food, and in a lot of cases that’s not too far from the truth.

But if you know how to make a hamburger, you can actually even make something that’s not too bad for you.

And it’s not hard. Hamburgers are super easy to make. I often end up cooking hamburgers when I looked in the fridge and realized I should have gone grocery shopping 3 days ago, and only had 30 minutes until dinner.

But even though it’s not hard, there are still a few tricks you need to know if you want to know how to make a hamburger that’s just right for you.

This article will go over everything you need to know about cooking hamburgers: what meat to choose, how to make a patty, how to cook the hamburger, and what to serve the hamburger with.

Here we go!

Selecting your Hamburger Meat

The first thing to know about how to make a hamburger is what meat to pick. Of course you’ll be picking some kind of ground meat, but there are a lot of choices out there… lean, regular, beef, turkey, bison. You can make burgers with any of them.

Here are a few tips when picking meat for hamburgers:

• Traditionally, hamburgers are made with ground beef, and generally that’s what people expect of a burger. But you can also use other ground meats, like ground pork, bison, turkey, lamb, or even little bits of sausage, and you can even mix different meats together.

• Fat. Fat, sadly, can be pretty delicious. The most flavorful and juiciest burgers are usually made with ground chuck, 80% lean, 20% fat.

  • If you prefer a burger with a pure beefy taste, with no spices or anything, you’ll get much better results with an 80% lean beef.

  • If you like to spice up your burger though, you can go for leaner cuts. I’ll show you how to make a hamburger that’s lean, but juicy and flavorful.

  • The same applies to other meats. The leaner the meat, the more flavoring you might need to add, unless the meat already has a very strong flavor of its own.

• The texture of the burger is affected by how coarsely the meat is ground up.

How to Make a Hamburger Patty

Now we have our meat selected. The next step in learning how to make a hamburger is forming the patties. In this section, I’ll talk about seasoning first, and then I’ll go over how to shape the hamburger patties.

Seasoning the Hamburger Patties

• Finely chopped or grated vegetables. I like to put onion and garlic in my burgers, but you can put anything. Mushrooms, scallions, hot peppers, zucchini, celery. It just needs to be very very finely chopped or grated. If the pieces are too big, the meat won’t hold together well and you’ll have trouble shaping the hamburger patties.

• There are lots of spices that go great in burgers. Onion salt, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, basil, mint… there are too many possibilities to name. Just experiment and find out how to make a hamburger that’s right for you.

  • Try a little bit in your burger, see if you like it. You can also use prepared spice blends like Montreal Steak Spice, or even dried onion soup mix.

• There’s also a number of liquids you can add to burgers. These’ll add moisture to the hamburger patties, which will make the burger juicier, especially if you chose a lean meat. Try Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, mustard, Tabasco sauce, tomato juice, bacon fat, wine, vinegar, beef stock, olive oil or barbecue sauce.

• Breadcrumbs aren’t exactly a seasoning, but sometimes the ground meat might be too wet to stick together properly. Defrosting meat can do that. Breadcrumbs can remove some of that moisture.

  • Adding breadcrumbs comes at a cost – flavor. If you can avoid it, do, but it’s better to have burger that holds together.

Notes

• When you mix your seasonings into the meat, it’s important to remember that the more you handle the meat, and the more you squish it around, the more dense your burger will be. You might also squeeze out some of the juices and end up with a drier burger.

  • If you want to know how to make a hamburger that’s less dense, here’s what you do: handle the meat as little as possible. Mix in the ingredients with a spoon or a spatula, and avoiding smooshing the meat too much.

• Getting the meat mixture just right can be a bit tricky. If it’s either too dry or too wet, it won’t really hold together when you’re ready to form the hamburger patties.

  • If the mixture looks too dry, try adding some moisture, either by adding liquid or some shredded vegetables, or even an egg.

  • If the mixture is too dry, add breadcrumbs until you can form a hamburger patty that sticks together.

  • Sometimes, if the meat is too wet, you can leave it covered in the refrigerator for a few hours, and it’ll get a bit drier.

Shaping the Hamburger Patties

The next step in this guide on how to make a hamburger is how to shape the hamburger patties. First, I’ll go over a few general guidelines.

• When ground meat cooks, it gets smaller. The more fat in the meat, the smaller it gets. Be sure to make your hamburger patty wider than the bun.

  • 80% lean ground meat can reduce by as much as 25%.

  • Lean meat doesn’t reduce all that much, so the hamburger patty doesn’t need to be much wider that the bun.

• Try to get your hamburger patty as flat as possible. It doesn’t necessarily have to be super thin, but it should be uniformely flat.

• When hamburgers cook, the middle tends to round up. This makes it a pain when you’re putting the burger together – all your toppings will slip off. Here’s how to make a hamburger flat:

  • Keep the patty as flat as you can.

  • Don’t make the burger too thick compared to its width. A very wide burger for a big bun can be up to an inch thick. A smaller patty meant for a small bun should be closer to 1/2 an inch.

  • After you shape your hamburger patty, make an indentation in its center. Using your fingers or a spoon, press a 1 or 2 inch circle about 1/4 of an inch deep into the meat. This’ll help it not round up as you cook it. Start cooking it indentation side up!

Now, for the actual shaping of the hamburger patties! Here’s how you do it.

1. Split the meat into as many even portions as you want burgers. Usually this means about a quarter pound per burger, but that’ll vary depending on the size of your bun.
2. Take a portion of ground meat and form it into a ball the size of a tennis ball. Place the ball on a flat surface.
3. Press down on the ball to flatten it. If the edges crack, you can cup your hands around the patty to press them back together, and then flatten again. Repeat until the burger is wide enough for your bun.
4. Make sure the hamburger patty is evenly flat! Press in a little indentation in the center of the burger, as described above.
5. Keep doing this until you run out of meat! And that’s how you make a hamburger patty.

Tips

• Instead of pressing down the burgers by hand alone, you can use either a hamburger press or even just a lid from a jar.

  • Just pick a lid that’s the same size you want your hamburger patties. Line it with plastic wrap, and gently press the meat into it. The lid will take care of cracking edges as you press it in, and you’ll have perfectly uniform burgers.

• Remember, the more you handle the meat, the denser and less juicy your burger will be. So don’t squish it!

• Wondering how to make a hamburger patty ahead of time? Well, hamburger patties will keep in the fridge for a few hours, or in the freezer for weeks.

  • To keep them in the fridge, you can keep the hamburger patties separated by wax paper.

  • Patties stored in the freezer should be very well wrapped.

• If you’re worried that your burgers aren’t firm enough and might break up when you cook them, try putting them in the fridge for 10 to 30 minutes. It’ll help them stay firm on the grill.

Cooking the Hamburgers

By now, we already know a lot about how to make a hamburger. But the most important part is coming up – cooking the hamburger.

There are a few ways to cook hamburgers. Depending on the weather, whether or not you have a grill, and even just your personal preference, you may need different cooking methods.

But there are a few things that you need to know no matter how you plan to cook your hamburgers. In this section, we’ll talk about these important facts, and then we’ll go over how to cook a hamburger on the grill, in the oven, and on the stove.

Thing To Know About Cooking Hamburgers

There are a few important things to take into consideration before you start cooking your hamburgers.

• Ground meat is just that – meat that’s been ground up. That means that any bacteria that was on the surface of the chunk of meat ends up mixed in all throughout the meat.
  

  • The longer you leave ground meat without cooking it, the more chance that bacteria has to multiply inside the meat. That means if you want to kill all the bacteria that can make you sick, ground meat needs to be cooked until it’s well done (165F).

  • If you had a fresh chunk of meat that you just ground yourself, then it’s not as dangerous. The bacteria that was on the surface will still be in the meat though – it just won’t have had a chance to multiply.

  • Ground meat isn’t like a steak. Cooking hamburgers to well-done won’t ruin them. Instead of being a naturally tender cut of meat, it’s been mechanically tenderized by grinding it, breaking up the elastin. The small bits of meat that are left don’t bunch up as much as the fibers in a big piece of meat, so it stays tender.

• The best way to tell if your burger is done is by using a meat thermometer. Ground beef is cooked when it reaches 165F.

  • Stick the thermometer in the thickest part of the hamburger patty to see if it’s hot enough.

  • Cutting the burger isn’t a good idea to see if it’s done. Some leaner meats will stay pink even though they’re hot enough, and fattier meats will brown before they’re cooked. You could end up overcooking your burger or undercooking it.

• No matter which cooking method you pick, here are some tips to follow, whether you’re a pro or you’re just learning how to make a hamburger:

  • Don’t press down on the hamburger while it’s cooking. It really doesn’t help the burger cook or anything, and it presses out the juices, leaving you with a drier burger. If you’re just trying to keep it flat, make an indentation in the patty before you cook it.

  • Only flip the hamburger once. Cook it half way, flip, then cook the rest of the way. This’ll help it keep its juices and reduces the risk of it breaking up if you had a bit of a loose burger.

  • Once the hamburger is on the grill, don’t move it until it naturally releases. The outside will get firm and crispy on its own, and it’ll unstick from the pan or grill. Then you can move it without tearing the burger.

Cooking Hamburgers on the Grill

1. Preheat your grill to high heat.

2. Place the hamburger patties on the grill, indentation side up.

3. Cook the hamburgers for about 5 minutes. They should lift off the grill easily after this time. Flip the burgers over and cook for another 5 minutes.

   • Some grills have areas that are hotter than others. If you’re cooking multiple burgers, be sure to watch the ones on the hotter area – they may need to flip earlier.

   • The meat will brown as it cooks, starting from the bottom and moving up. You should flip the burger when it has browned about one third of the way up.

4. If you want to make a cheeseburger, add a slice of cheese during the last minute or two of cooking.

Broiling Hamburgers

1. Preheat your oven to the broil setting.

2. Place your hamburger patties on a lightly greased baking sheet.

3. Place the baking sheet in the over so that the burgers are 3-5 inches away from the heat source.

   • The closer the meat is to the heat, the less time it will take to cook. Too close, though, and your hamburgers will burn.

4. Cook the hamburgers for about 5 minutes, flip, then cook another 5 minutes.

   • Like when you grill, the meat will brown as it cooks, but from the top down. It’s time to flip the burger when its browned about one third of the way down.

5. If you want to make a cheeseburger, it’s best to add the cheese after you’re done cooking the hamburgers. It’ll have more trouble melting, but you lose a lot of heat opening the oven so it’s best to avoid it.

Pan-frying Hamburgers

1. Heat a bit of oil in a pan over medium high heat.

2. Place the hamburger patties in the pan, indentation side up. Be sure not to crowd the burgers or they won’t cook properly.

3. Cook the hamburgers for about 5 minutes. They should lift off the pan easily. Flip them over and cook them for another 5 minutes.

   • Just like grilling, the meat browns as it cooks, from the bottom up. It’s time to flip the burger when it’s brown about one third of the way up.

4. If you’re making cheeseburgers, add a slice of cheese on top of the patty during the last minute or two of cooking.

Alright, we’re almost done learning how to make a hamburger. The last part I’ll go over is how to serve the hamburger.

• One of the most important parts of the burger aside from the patty is the bun. It can be toasted or not, depending on how you like it.

  • If you have a bit of a flimsy bun, very very fluffy bread, it may be best to toast it or the grease and condiments will make it way too soggy.

  • Don’t be afraid to try different types of buns, like a flat bread or a French roll.

• The next step is condiments. There are so many choices. Add ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, relish, salsa, guacamole, baconnaise, chutney, chili, steak sauce, barbecue sauce, anything…



• Finally, the toppings. Again, there’s an almost infinite number of choices. Just look at the menu in a restaurant you like for some inspiration. But here are a few ideas: bacon, sliced tomato, sliced pickles, fried mushrooms, fried onion, grilled onion slices, grilled pineapple rings, grilled vegetables like eggplant or zucchini, avocado slices, hot peppers… again, anything you like.

  • Don’t be afraid to get creative. If you don’t like something, you can always pick off the topping and never do it again! You have to try different things to find out how to make a hamburger that’s perfect for you.

• A quick note about cheese. Sometimes, a slice of American cheese is all I want on a burger. But it can also be nice to dress it up a bit. Try all kinds of cheeses: provolone, Swiss, mozzarella, Monterrey jack, Gruyere, brie, Camembert, goat cheese, feta, Roquefort… any cheese you like could potentially make an awesome burger.

And then… just put all your toppings on the burger, and you’ve got a delicious meal waiting.

And that is how to make a hamburger… enjoy! 

Home › Cooking Chicken › How To Fry Chicken (Part I)

Go To How To Fry Chicken – Part II: Deep and Southern Fried Chicken

Whether you’re making dinner or planning a picnic, fried chicken is a delicious idea.

It’s crispy, it’s juicy, it’s yummy, and it goes great with all sorts of tasty sides – mashed potatoes, biscuits, corn on the cob, potato salad, and so many more.

There’s actually quite a bit to know about frying chicken. It’s not too hard once you learn how to fry chicken, but there are a lot of different ways to do it, and quite a few little tricks to learn to be able to make the perfect fried chicken for you. 

In this two-part article, I’ll show you how to fry chicken. In Part I, we’ll talk about the preparation steps – what parts of the chicken to use, brining, and breading. In Part II, we’ll talk about how to cook fried chicken, and how to make an awesome gravy to go with it.

Selecting the Chicken

The first thing to learn about how to fry chicken is knowing how to pick the chicken. There are a couple of things you can do.

• Pick a whole chicken. You can get a 3 or 4 pound fryer or roaster, and that’ll be just about the right size for frying. This is a great option if your family likes all the parts of a chicken! If you do pick a whole chicken, here are a few things to consider.

  • You’ll have to cut up the chicken yourself. Split it into 2 legs, 2 thighs, 2 wings, 2 backs, and 2 breasts. If the chicken is really big, the breast can be split into 4 pieces.

  • You’ll have to be pretty careful when you fry the chicken, because white meat cooks quite a bit faster.

  • If you get 2 chickens, you can fry a batch of white meat and a batch of dark meat. It’s easier, and you’ll have plenty of leftovers (or not, if you’re serving a crowd!)

  • If no one wants the backs or wings, you can save them to make an awesome stock instead of frying them.



• Buy pre-cut parts. You can also buy, say, a package of drumsticks and fry those up. There are advantages and disadvantages, of course.

  • If everyone in your family likes the same part of the chicken, you can avoid waste this way.

  • When frying chicken, all the pieces should be about the same size. If they’re from the same size chicken, you’re fine, but if you buy a package of parts, that’s not necessarily the case. Just be careful when you pick them! They should look like they came from a 3-4 lb chicken.

  • Generally, a whole chicken is more fresh than a package of drumsticks or breasts, because you cut it up yourself.

Whether you decide to cut up a whole chicken yourself, or buy parts, I’d recommend you get something with skin on. It provides a base for the breading, and makes the chicken crispier.

It’s true that it’s not as healthy, but we’re talking about frying chicken. It’s not that great for you to start with. So if you’re going to splurge, do it right! 

Brining the Chicken

Alright, now for the next step: brining. Brining chicken means soaking it in a solution of salty water for a few hours. It’s a completely optional step, especially if you’re short on time, but if you want to learn how to fry chicken and get exceptional results, brining is a good trick to know.

• Brining makes the chicken taste better. The salt in the water seeps into the chicken and enhances its flavor.
• Brining also makes the chicken even juicier and prevents it from drying out when you cook it.
• If you add some ice to the brine, it’ll also help keep the chicken’s skin taut and that’ll make the chicken even crispier!

If you’re interested in brining, it’s very easy to do. It takes about 3 minutes to set up, and about an hour of wait time. You can learn all about it in our article on brining chicken.

I’d recommend brining if you have the time. Personally, I find it makes a huge difference when you’re frying chicken, and it’s really worth a try!

Breading the Chicken

One of the most important steps of learning how to fry chicken is learning how to bread the chicken. If you have no idea how to bread chicken, the best thing to do is to have a look at our two part chicken breading article. It’ll give you all the basics.

That article will actually tell you almost everything you need to know about breading chicken. But since we’re learning how to fry chicken, I want to emphasize a few points.

• Generally, if you’re frying chicken, you should use a flour breading. You can use any method: 1, 1-2, or 1-2-3, but the last coat should be flour. Breadcrumbs and those sorts of breading tend to burn too fast in oil, and are better suited to oven-fried chicken.
• Flour doesn’t usually make as thick a coating. If you like thick breading, you can repeat the dipping step and coat it twice.
• If you’re going to deep-fry rather than pan-fry, you can make a batter to coat the chicken. Instead of soaking and then dredging, you can slowly add flour to the liquid… just add enough so that the liquid is thick enough to coat the chicken and stick to it.
• The most popular liquids for frying chicken seem to be buttermilk and an egg wash, but really, you can use anything you like. Just try different things and see what you like best!
• You can add a bit of baking powder to your flour coating to make it crispier and puffier. About 1 tsp of baking powder per half cup of flour can make a real difference.
• You can also replace some of the flour with cornstarch to make a crispier chicken. You can replace any amount you like, but using about 1 part cornstarch to 3 parts flour is a good start.

And… that’s it for Part I! Preparing chicken for frying really isn’t hard… but it can be a bit time consuming, especially if you decide to marinate it.

Now it’s time for Part II of How To Fry Chicken: Deep Fried and Southern Fried Chicken.

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Home › Cooking ChickenHow to cook chicken
Preparation Methods – Cooking Methods – Cooking By Cut

Chicken has always been one of my favorite foods.

No matter what the time of year, there’s a great way to cook chicken. Summer? Chicken on the barbecue, skewered, marinated in teriyaki sauce. And that first roast chicken in the fall – with mashed potatoes, peas, and carrots – always feels like an extra special treat.

But… you need to know how to cook chicken if you want it to be delicious.

Knowledge… It’s the difference between ending up with burnt, dry chicken, and ending up with a perfectly seared, juicy chicken breast.

And hey! It’s a lot more fun to spend time in the kitchen when you know you’ll end up with a fantastic meal.

There’s a lot to know about cooking chicken. How to prepare baked chicken breasts, barbecued chicken wings, whole roasted chicken. How to fry chicken, how to braise it, how to grill it. There are endless possibilities.

Not sure what the best way to cook a particular piece of chicken is? Go ahead and keep reading this page. You’ll find links to a series of articles that I’ve written on cooking chicken. Just pick one of the three categories:

Just looking for quick and easy chicken recipes? Click here to visit our chicken recipe collection.

I hope these articles help you learn how to cook chicken. It’ll make your life easier and your kitchen life a bit more delicious and a bit more fun.

 

Preparation Methods

There’s more to cooking chicken than the actual cooking part. You can make your meal better before you ever turn on a burner.

In this section, I’ll go over various preparation techniques – things you do to your chicken before cooking it. A little bit of effort goes a long way!

• If you’re going to roast a whole chicken, it’s worth learning how to truss chicken.
• Brining is a technique that you use before cooking the chicken. It really improves the taste and texture of your chicken. Check out our article on brining chicken to find out how to do it!
• Planning on making delicious fried chicken or oven-fried chicken? Well, the first step is to bread the chicken. Find out how in our two part article on breading chicken:

Cooking Methods

After going through all the preparation steps, it’s time to learn how to cook chicken!

In this section, I’ll go over various cooking methods for cooking chicken, from frying to roasting. Just click on the links to reach any article that catches your eye – or your taste buds!

Fried Chicken

If you’re looking for juicy, delicious fried chicken, you’re in the right place. We even have an article on making a healthier oven fried chicken!

• Before frying chicken, you have to know how to bread it. Find out how to do it in our two part chicken breading guide:
• Once you know how to bread it, you can fry it! Learn how in this two part article:
• Looking for a healthier alternative to fried chicken? Find out how to make oven fried chicken.

Roasted Chicken

One of my favorite meals is a whole roasted chicken. There are lots of great ways to do it. Check out our article on roasting chicken – it’ll tell you everything you need to know about it from different cooking methods to all kinds of ways to season the chicken.

Pan Fried Chicken

Pan frying is a super versatile way of cooking chicken. It’s just one method, but you can literally make dozens of unique, delicious recipes with it. In this article on making pan fried chicken, I’ll show you how to make perfect golden chicken, with an awesome sauce to go with it.

How To Cook Chicken By Cut

Different cuts of chicken need to be cooked differently. In this section, I’ll go over how to cook chicken by cut – for each cut, I’ll talk about the best ways to turn it into an awesome meal!

Whole Chicken

One of the best way to cook a whole chicken is to roast it. Check out our article on roasting chicken to find out lots of ways to season and cook a whole chicken.

Chicken Breasts

A great way to cook boneless, skinless chicken breasts is to pan fry them. Find out how to get a beautiful golden crust and a tasty pan sauce in this article on making pan fried chicken.

Using Cooked Chicken

Chicken leftovers are a great thing. And one of my favorite ways to use them is to make a delicious, easy chicken pot pie.

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Once you’ve got the cooking techniques down (or even before!), check our easy chicken recipes.

Home › Cooking Vegetables › How To Cook Brussels Sprouts

How To Cook Brussels Sprouts:

Brussels sprouts probably have the worst reputation of any vegetable. They’re the classic example of the vegetable hated by both kids and adults, only eaten because they’re so good for you.

But the truth is, if you know how to cook Brussels sprouts properly, they can really be delicious. Which is especially awesome, because part of their reputation is actually deserved – they really are that good for you!

So what’s the deal? Why does everyone hate Brussels sprouts? Well, it’s a historical thing. There was a time when people felt that the only right way to cook a vegetable was to boil it until it was just about mushy. And for Brussels sprouts, that’s a recipe for disaster.

Brussels sprouts contain things called glucosinolates. They’re compounds that actually have all sorts of health benefits, but have the unfortunate tendency to release lots of sulfur the longer they’re cooked. The result? The taste of overcooked Brussels sprouts might remind you of rotten eggs.

So no matter how you’re doing it, rule #1 of how to cook Brussels sprouts is don’t overcook the sprouts! And if you follow that rule, you’ll find that a perfectly cooked Brussels sprout actually has a wonderful taste with a bit of a nutty tone to it. So get ready to forget all you knew about “icky” Brussels sprouts!

Of course, “don’t overcook” doesn’t tell you all you need to know about how to cook Brussels sprouts. In this article, I’ll go over how to prepare Brussels sprouts for cooking. Then, I’ll talk about five different ways to cook Brussels sprouts: steaming, boiling, braising, sautéing, or roasting. Each method has its own advantages and brings a different quality of this little veggie into the spotlight.

Preparation Steps

Before learning how to cook Brussels sprouts, there are a few preparation steps, no matter which cooking method you pick: washing, trimming and cutting.

Washing

No matter what kind of Brussels sprouts you get, it’s a good idea to wash them. Washing the sprouts helps gets rid of any dirt, insects and pesticides that might still be on the surface or inside the tightly packed leaves.

• You can let the Brussels sprouts soak in lukewarm water for about 10 minutes. Any dirt will just sink to the bottom. You can gently stir the sprouts once or twice to help dislodge any dirt, but be careful not to agitate the water too much – you want the dirt to stay at the bottom!The disadvantage with this method is that your sprouts can end up being a bit waterlogged. If you’re planning on sautéing them or roasting them, you’ll need to let them dry first.
• Instead of soaking, you can also just rinse them under lukewarm water. It’ll get rid of the surface dirt, but may not get everything on the inside. Not all Brussels sprouts really have dirt between the leafy layers though, so this method is usually perfectly fine.Just rinsing the sprouts keeps them dryer, which is much better if you’re planning on making sautéed or roasted Brussels sprouts.

Notes

• When you’re washing vegetables, lukewarm water gets rid of dirt and chemicals better than cold water.

Trimming

Alright, the next step in learning how to cook Brussels sprouts. Once the vegetables are washed, you want to make sure they look good! And that means a few things.

• You’ll want to remove any yellow or brown leaves from your Brussels sprouts. They’re wilted and won’t be any good. Just keep the nice, tight, bright green sprout!
• After a while, the Brussels sprouts’ stem can get kind of tough. You can trim a little bit of the stem off to get a more tender sprout. Don’t take off too much though – not much more than an eighth of an inch – or the leaves will just won’t hold together anymore.

Cutting

Finally, once the sprouts are clean and trimmed, you may need to cut them up a little bit. It’s important that the sprouts not be too big, or it’ll take too long for them to cook. And then by the time the center is cooked, the outside will be overcooked and will release that nasty sulfur smell.

It’s also important that your Brussels sprout pieces all be about the same size, for just the same reasons. If some pieces are much smaller, they’ll be overcooked by the time the bigger ones are done! And that’s no good.

So here’s what you need to do:

• Any Brussels sprout that has a diameter much bigger than an inch and a half should be cut in half.
• If you have a variety of sizes, cut the medium sprouts in half, and the bigger ones in quarters, so that all the pieces are about the same size.

And that’s pretty much all you need to do! And we’re ready to learn how to cook Brussels sprouts.

Steaming

Steaming is a really easy way to learn how to cook Brussels sprouts. It lets you get the sprouts perfectly tender, without overcooking them. And because you’re not immersing the vegetables in boiling water, they don’t end up soggy or waterlogged.

Here’s how to cook Brussels sprouts by steaming.

1. Prepare the Brussels sprouts, as described above. Be sure to cut them into even sized pieces, if needed.

2. Fill a pot with an inch or two of water, and bring the water to a boil.

3. Place the Brussels sprouts in a steaming basket, and place the basket over the boiling water.

4. Cover the pot, leaving a little gap for steam to escape. It’ll help prevent the sprouts from losing their bright green color, but will keep most of the steam in the pot to cook them.

5. Steam the Brussels sprouts until a knife stuck into the stem slides in easily. It should take 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the size of your sprouts.

And that’s how to cook Brussels sprouts by steaming them! And once the sprouts are cooked, you can serve them with a bit of butter, lemon or orange juice, salt and pepper, or even a bit of mustard. They’ll be delicious!

Boiling

Boiling is another super easy way to learn how to cook Brussels sprouts. By immersing the vegetables in boiling water, you do leech out some of the flavor – but that can make the sprouts a little milder tasting, which isn’t always a bad thing.

Here’s how to cook Brussels sprouts by boiling:

1. Prepare the sprouts, as described in the preparation section, being sure to cut them into even sized pieces if needed.

2. Bring a pot of water to a boil. The more water, the better – it’ll help the water come to a boil again faster after you add the sprouts, reducing the cooking time.

3. Once the water is boiling, you can add a bit of salt. A half teaspoon per quart (liter) of water is usually about right.

   • Adding the salt when the water is hot helps it dissolve right away, rather than pooling at the bottom, where the salt crystals can damage your pot.

4. Add the Brussels sprouts to the boiling, salted water. Boil them uncovered for 5-10 minutes, until a knife inserted into the stem slides in easily.

And you’re all done learning how to cook Brussels sprouts by boiling! If you’re not going to serve the sprouts right away, be sure to shock them in a bath of ice water, to stop the cooking process, or they could end up overcooked.

Like steamed sprouts, you can served boiled Brussels sprouts with butter, salt and pepper, or a bit of citrus juice or mustard, to dress them up a little.

Notes

• Some people like to cut a little “X” into the sprouts’ stems. The idea is that the slit will help the core cook faster, so that there’s less chance of overcooking the outside while trying to get the inside cooked. I’ve done it both ways, and they’ve both turned out delicious, but I’ve never actually gone ahead and tested to see if it really does cook faster!

Braising

Braising is sort of a cross between steaming and boiling. When you braise Brussels sprouts, the vegetables are partially submerged in the water, but not completely. So they’re partially cooked by boiling water, and partially cooked by steam. The water helps the sprouts cook fast without getting them waterlogged.

Here how to cook Brussels sprouts by braising them:

1. Take a pot big enough to hold all your Brussels sprouts in a single layer, and fill it with about an inch of water.

2. Bring the water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, you can add a bit of salt, if you like.

3. Add the Brussels sprouts to the boiling water. Cover the pot, but leave a little slit for some steam to escape.

   • Normally, when you braise food, you don’t want any steam at all to escape. But for green vegetables, covering the pot can make them turn a dull, olive green because of the interaction of dissolving acids and chlorophyll. Leaving a little slit won’t make you lose too much steam, but it’ll keep the vegetables a nice, bright green.

4. Braise the sprouts for about 5 to 10 minutes, until a knife inserted into the stem comes out easily.

Notes

• Just like boiling, you can cut an “X” into the base of the sprouts to help them cook faster.
• Since you’re only using a small amount of liquid, you can actually replace the water with something more flavorful, like chicken stock. It’ll give the vegetables a bit of extra flavor.
• Once the Brussels sprouts are done, you can use the liquid left in the pot to make a quick and easy sauce. Try adding a bit of butter, mustard, fruit juices, or herbs and spices. Then let the sauce boil down till it’s just the right taste and consistency, and serve it with the sprouts.

Sautéing

Sautéing is a different and delicious way to enjoy Brussels sprouts. Cooking them in the pan just doesn’t seem to break down the compounds in the sprouts the same way that boiling, steaming or braising does.

That means it doesn’t smell as strong when you cook them, and it’s also a lot harder to overcook the sprouts.

When you’re sautéing Brussels sprouts, you can also let the sprouts caramelize a little bit, which really brings out the sweetness and delicate nutty flavor.

Here’s how to cook Brussels sprouts by sautéing them:

1. Prepare the Brussels sprouts, as described above. It’s especially important that the pieces not be too big, so halve or quarter the sprouts if you have to.

2. In a pan big enough to hold the sprouts in a single layer, heat some oil over medium heat.

3. Once the oil is hot, add the sprouts to the pan and stir them to coat them in oil.

4. Cook the sprouts until they’re browned, but not burnt, stirring every so often. It’ll take 10 to 15 minutes to cook them.

5. Season with a bit of salt and pepper, and they’re ready to serve!

Notes

• Try sautéing a bit of onion or garlic in the oil before adding the sprouts. It’ll give a great flavor.

• You can also cook a bit of bacon, crumble it up, and add it to the sprouts. Or prosciutto, or ham, or anything else similar. It’s an amazing combination!

• Once the sprouts are cooked, try sprinkling them with a bit of grated cheese, or with some lemon juice or even some slivered almonds. It’s a simple way to dress up the dish.

• Instead of sautéing whole or quartered sprouts, you can split the sprouts into leaves.

  • Just slice a bit off the stem, and then peel the leaves off from the bottom up. When you can’t peel any more leaves off, try slicing off a bit more of the stem. When the core is too tight to split into leaves, just slice it thinly.

  • Splitting the sprouts into leaves really gives the dish a whole new taste and texture, and can easily convert a Brussels sprout hater into a die-hard fan.

Roasting

If you want to know how to cook Brussels sprouts so that even Brussels sprouts haters will enjoy them, then roasting is a great option. Roasting vegetables just gives them a different flavor, by caramelizing their natural sugars and bringing out the vegetables’ natural sweetness.

And it works the same for Brussels sprouts. With just a bit of oil, salt and pepper, you can make an amazing side dish everyone will love.

Here’s how to cook Brussels sprouts by roasting them.

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.

2. Prepare the Brussels sprouts as described above. Be sure to quarter them or halve them if they’re too big.

3. Toss the sprouts with a bit of oil, salt and pepper. You can also add some herbs or spices to the mix. Garlic is especially good!

   • Each sprout should be coated in oil, to keep it from drying out, but it doesn’t need to be very thick at all. In fact, the thinner the better!

4. Place the Brussels sprouts in a roasting pan in a single layer.

5. Roast the sprouts for 35 to 40 minutes, until they’re starting to get nicely browned. Stir them halfway through the cooking time.

6. Serve, and enjoy!

Notes

• During the last 5 to 10 minutes of cooking time, you can add a bit of grated cheese, or some cooked bacon or ham, or some pine nuts or almonds, to dress up the sprouts a bit.
• Try adding a bit of balsamic vinegar to the sprouts about 10 minutes before they’re done. Stir them well, and put them back in the oven.

And that’s how to cook Brussels sprouts! Trust me, it really is worth a shot. You might find out that you really do love this great little vegetable after all.

Home › Cooking BeefHow to cook beef
By Cut – By Method

When I think about cooking beef, the first thing that comes to mind is a big, juicy steak cooked on the barbecue, with a baked potato and some greens on the side. Yum, mouth-watering!

Steak is probably my favorite way to eat beef, but there are plenty of other cuts that I love to cook… and eat! Pot roasts, ribs, beef stews, hamburgers… there are so many fantastic options.

But all these options means that there’s a lot to know about cooking beef. In this series of articles, you’ll find everything you need to learn how to cook beef. No more tough, dry results – just delicious, tender beef.

But first, a little about beef in general.

First, I’ll talk a bit about what beef is made of: all the different things that make up beef, and how they affect cooking and the meal you end up with. Then I’ll talk about the two types of cooking: dry heat and wet heat, and how you can use these to get the best possible beef.

Finally, I’ll talk about how to actually cook beef. I’ve made two categories:

 

What’s beef made of?

The first thing to know is what makes up a piece of beef. There’s actually quite a bit going on in there! But to know how to cook beef, the main things you need to worry about are:

• protein. The protein molecules go through a bunch of changes when you cook your piece of beef.

  The first thing that happens is that they bunch together into fibres. Then, as you cook the beef, the fibers lose moisture and shrink, making your meat tougher.

• Every piece of beef has some fat in it, some more than others. Is that a good thing? Well, it’s tough to say.
  • Fat has a bit of a bad reputation, right? Too much fat in your diet can cause health problems, so sometimes it’s best to go for a leaner cut.
  • On the other hand, when you cook your piece of beef, the fat creates a protective layer around your protein fibers, which helps prevent the meat from drying out. It also adds a lot of flavor. So it’s your call whether you go for the cut marbled with fat or a leaner cut.
• Meat is actually mostly made up of water. A piece of beef is at least 60%, and up to 75% water! When you cook a piece of beef, some of that water is lost. The less water you lose, the juicier the beef you end up with, so it’s important not to overcook your beef.
• Collagen and elastin are connective tissues. They’re produced by the muscle when it works hard. They both make the meat a lot tougher.
  • The good news? Collagen melts when you heat it, so a piece of beef that has lots of it can be tenderized by cooking. The only catch is it needs to cook for a long time to melt all the collagen. The best way to cook a cut of beef that’s high in collagen is to cook it slowly at a low heat.
  • Unfortunately, you can’t break down elastin the same way. The only way to do it is by physically breaking the bonds. You can do this by pounding the meat or grinding it. In fact, cuts of beef that are high in elastin often end up as ground beef.

What it all means

The two cooking types:
dry heat and wet heat

There are lots of different ways of cooking beef. But they all boil down to two main types of cooking: dry heat, and wet heat.

Dry Heat

The second thing that happens is that the beef loses its moisture. It evaporates from the surface first, and then the moisture from the inside moves outward. This gives the meat a more concentrated flavor.

Unfortunately, losing too much moisture can make your beef pretty dry. So be careful not to overcook it!

Wet Heat

How To Cook Beef – By Method

In this section, I’ll go over different methods for cooking beef – from roasting to frying up steaks. I’ve split these up into dry heat and wet heat methods.

Dry Heat Methods

• Grilling.
• Roasting. If you’re wondering how to cook beef for special occasions, try cooking roast beef. Start with a large tender cut, and end up with slices of pure deliciousness!
• Pan-frying. Find out a great way to cook steak in our article on how to pan fry steak. It’s a great alternative to grilling on cold days or if you don’t have a grill!

Wet Heat Methods

• Braising beef is a great way to cook some of the tougher cuts and end up with a tender, delicious meal.

Each cut of beef has its own particularities. If you have a cut of beef and you don’t know what to do with it, just browse down. Our articles will tell you what to do!

Ground Beef

There are so many delicious ways to cook ground beef. To find out how to cook beef into delicious dinners, check out our ground beef articles:

• Learn how to make a hamburger in this guide. It’s not hard, but there are still a few little tricks to it.
• Tourtiere is a delicious meat pie made from ground beef or pork (or both). Find out how to make it in our article on making tourtiere.

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Confident that you know how to cook beef? If you’ve got the cooking techniques down (or even if you don’t!), check out our easy beef recipes.

Home › Christmas Dinner › How to Cook a TurkeyIt’s a good idea to learn how to cook a turkey when the holidays roll around. After all, if turkey is on the menu for Thanksgiving or Christmas, you want it to be perfect, right?

Cooking turkey can be kind of scary. If you have lots of guests coming over, you want to impress them. But there always seems to be a lot going on, which means you can’t give all your attention to your cooking turkey.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Learning how to cook a turkey is definitely tricky, but when you understand what’s going on and know the tricks, you’ll find that it’s not so hard after all!

In this article, I’ll show you how to cook a turkey so that it’s perfectly moist and tastes awesome. I’ll cover four topics:

 

Choosing The Right Turkey

The first step to learning how to cook a turkey is picking the right turkey. And there are a few things to keep in mind when you’re selecting a turkey.

Size

You want to be sure that you have enough turkey for everyone, and some leftovers, too!

• If you count about 1lb per person, you’ll have a medium amount of leftovers. For more leftovers, count a bit more.
• If you’re buying a frozen pre-stuffed turkey, keep in mind that the stuffing is counted in the weight.
• Smaller turkeys tend to be more tender than a really big one, so you might want to think about getting two small ones instead of a big one, if presenting a big roast turkey isn’t an issue.

Enhancements

Some turkeys have been enhanced. That means that they’ve been specially treated to make them juicier or better tasting.

• A lot of times, you don’t know exactly how they’ve been treated. They could be brined, or self-basting, or any number of things. But generally, it means a tastier turkey.
• When you’ve learned how to cook a turkey, you can do all of those enhancements yourself, with as good or better results. And then you know exactly what’s in your turkey – all natural goodness. Keep reading to find out more.

Type

There are a few kinds of turkeys you can get, like heritage, organic, or just a regular turkey.

• Heritage turkeys are raised to have a more natural lifestyle, closer to wild turkeys. They have a richer taste, but it can be kind of gamey if you’re not used to it.
• Organic turkeys have been raised according to certain agricultural practices, which generally involves more natural feeding, fewer chemicals, and that sort of thing.
• It’s up to you what you like best and what fits your budget. I think they’re all tasty. I’d feel a bit better getting an organic turkey, because I know it probably had a better life, but I can’t always get one.

That’s pretty much all you need to think about when picking a turkey. If you have a brand you know you like, then that’s a great choice!

And now, let’s move on and find out a bit more about how to cook a turkey.

Choosing The Right Pan

Alright, let’s move on to step 2 of learning how to cook a turkey —picking the right roasting pan. Here are the things you want to look for in a roasting pan.

Weight

Your roasting pan should be solid enough to safely hold a turkey, and light enough that you can lift both the pan and turkey easily.

• Porcelain covered steel, like a Graniteware roasting pan, is a lot lighter. It can easily handle medium sized turkeys. It’s not as sturdy as stainless, but it gets the job done.

Size

Knowing how to cook a turkey is about finding the right size roasting pan, too.

• Your roasting pan needs to be big enough so that the turkey fits inside completely, with at least an inch of space between it and the sides.
  • That way, all the drippings end up inside the pan. That gives you a great basis for a gravy, and avoids any accidents.
  • Having a bit of space between the pan and the turkey is important because it gives better airflow around the turkey — and you need airflow for it to roast evenly.
• If your pan is way bigger than the turkey, the drippings will be spread out over a larger area. That’ll make it easier for them to burn, so you’ll have to keep a close eye on them.

The Sides

The roasting pan needs to have sides that are high enough to contain all the drippings with no spills, but low enough to let air flow around the turkey.

• 3 inches is generally a good height for the sides.
• If you have a rack the lifts the turkey off the bottom of the pan, the sides can be a little higher.

A Rack

Some roasting pans come with racks to place your turkey in. They’re useful for a few reasons.

• By lifting the turkey off the bottom of the pan, you’re letting air flow all around the turkey. That helps the turkey cook better and more evenly, and keeps the bottom from getting soggy.
• If you want to flip your turkey while it’s roasting, a rack is a huge help. The turkey is a lot less likely to stick to a rack than to the bottom of the pan.
• Racks have disadvantages, too. If they’re not really solid in the pan, they can make handling the turkey and pan tricky. And they can be a pain to clean, too.

Handles

Really, they’ll make your life much, much easier. It’s so much easier to get a turkey out of the oven when the roasting pan has handles, and it’s a lot less dangerous.

The pan you like really depends on you. I have a really nice stainless steel one with a neat rack. I absolutely love it. But I got that from my mom because she hated it, and went back to her old Graniteware that she’s always used and loved.

So you never know what you’ll like! Part of learning how to cook a turkey is figuring out which roasting pan works for you.

Preparation And Seasoning

Before we go over how to cook a turkey, we need to go over a two little steps first: preparation and seasoning.

Preparation

Let’s go over the preparation steps you need to know to know how to cook a turkey.

1. If your turkey is frozen, you need to thaw it, and you need to thaw it properly. For more detials, check out our article on how to thaw a turkey safely.
2. Once your turkey is thawed, remove the giblets and neck. You can use them for turkey stock or gravy.
3. The next step is optional. If you don’t already have an enhanced turkey, you can brine the turkey.
4. After letting the turkey brine, you can season and stuff it, but we’ll go over that in the next section.
5. And finally, you can truss the turkey.

And now let’s move on to the next step of how to cook a turkey: seasoning.

Seasoning

And now, an important part of learning how to cook a turkey, seasoning.

When it comes to turkey, I usually feel like less is more. Turkey is more flavorful than chicken, and doesn’t really need as much seasoning to be delicious. But still, sometimes it’s nice to have something a little different.

So what are the different ways to season a turkey?

• Season the cavity. Seasoning the cavity helps season the meat by releasing flavors inside the turkey.
  • If you’re cooking stuffing inside the turkey, that’ll help season the meat. And the turkey will flavor the stuffing, too!
  • If you’re not stuffing the turkey, you can rub some herbs and spices on the inside, or add things like onions, celery, carrots, lemon wedges or orange wedges.
• Season the skin. It’s the simplest way to season a turkey. Just sprinkle some spices like salt and pepper all over the turkey.
  • Unfortunately, the skin will prevent the seasonings from really penetrating the meat. You’ll get tasty skin, but it won’t really affect the flavor of the meat much.
• Season under the skin. This is my favorite way to season a turkey, but it does mean you have to handle the raw turkey a bit more.
  • Start on the breast side near the opening, and you should be able to lift the skin right up. You may need to cut a few membranes here and there.
  • Then, rub the herbs and spices directly on the meat. Without the skin keeping out the seasonings, they’ll be able to flavor the meat a whole lot more.
• Buttering the bird. You can rub a little bit of softened butter over and under the skin.
  • The butter on the skin will help the turkey brown more evenly and more easily.
  • The butter under the skin will seep into the turkey and baste it. So you end up with a moist and juicy self-basting turkey.

As I said, turkey is pretty tasty all on its own, especially if you brined it. Salt and pepper under the skin, and a bit of butter are really all you need. But you can use any seasonings you like if you want something a little bit different: garlic, rosemary, thyme, sage… it’ll all be good.

And that’s how you season a turkey. It’s not hard, and you really don’t need much. And now, let’s learn how to cook a turkey.

Cooking The Turkey

Alright, we’re almost done, and we’ve reached the most important part:how to cook a turkey.

There are a lot of things to keep in mind when you’re cooking turkey. Learning how to cook a turkey makes it easier to adjust your cooking to end up with the perfect turkey. So what’s important when cooking a turkey?

• The water evaporating from the meat intensifies the flavor. But it also means less moisture in the turkey and drier meat. It’s important to find a balance between too much and too little evaporation.
• Generally, people prefer a nicely browned turkey with crispy skin. The trick is to get it to brown nicely, but not to let it burn.
• The drippings are really important, too. They’re the basis for an awesome gravy. As the drippings pool at the bottom of the roasting pan, they’ll cook and become more flavorful. But you don’t want them to cook so much that they burn.
• You want to be sure that the turkey cooks evenly. If the dark meat and white meat finish cooking at the same time, you won’t end up overcooking or drying out either one.
• The turkey needs to cook in a reasonable amount of time.

In this section, we’ll go over the different ways to make sure you control all those important factors, and then we’ll go over how to cook a turkey in our easy turkey cooking instructions.

Choosing The Right Temperature

Learning how to cook a turkey means knowing how hot to set your oven. It helps you control how fast and evenly the turkey cooks, how crisp the skin gets, and what kind of drippings you get.

And the best temperature to set your oven is 325F, or 350F, but no hotter. Why?

• 325F is a great balance. If you set the oven any cooler, it can take a really long time for the turkey to cook. But it’s not so hot that the outside will burn and get dry before the inside is done.
• It’s also great for the drippings. They’ll cook and become more concentrated, but they’re less likely to burn than if you set your oven to 400F.
• Sometimes, the turkey doesn’t quite brown at 325F. If you’re having that problem by the last hour or so of cooking, turn up the heat to 400F until the skin is as crisp as you like it.

To Cover Or Not To Cover

A lot of roasting pans come with a lid so that you can completely cover the meat. But do you want to use this for turkey? Or do you want to use a foil tent to cover it? Or nothing at all?

Knowing when to use a lid is an important part of learning how to cook a turkey. So here’s what happens when you cover turkey.

• When you cover turkey with a lid, you seal in all the steam and juices. Instead of roasting the turkey, you’re steaming it.
  • Steaming helps keep the turkey moist, because there’s not as much evaporation going on. Unfortunately, evaporation makes the turkey more flavorful, so you might end up with a blander turkey.
  • Steaming helps cook the turkey faster. If you’re in a rush, you can cover the turkey for at least part of the time.
  • The turkey won’t brown as easily if it’s steamed instead of roasted.
  • Because it can’t escape, the steam ends up in the drippings. The good news is you’ll have more drippings and they won’t burn. The bad news is they’ll be very diluted and won’t be very flavorful.
• You can also cover the turkey with foil. A foil tent doesn’t do the same thing as a lid at all, because it doesn’t seal any of the steam in. You’re still roasting the turkey.
  • The shininess of the foil tent helps reflect heat away from the turkey, which means it won’t cook as quickly.
  • It’s perfect if your turkey is browning too quickly for your taste. Just cover the part that’s browning too quickly with a piece of foil, or if the whole thing is cooking too fast, cover it with a loose foil tent.

Using a Rack?

Some roasting pans come with racks, and they can be a huge help when you’re learning how to cook a turkey.

• Lifting the turkey off the pan helps air flow all around it. That helps it cook more evenly, which means you don’t have parts that are overcooked and dry when others are just barely done.
• If you want to flip the turkey, a rack makes it a lot easier. If the turkey’s directly on the pan, it could stick and tear when you flip it, but it won’t stick much to a rack.
• If your roasting pan doesn’t come with a rack, you can make your own by placing a bunch of carrots and celery underneath the turkey. It’ll keep it off the bottom and let air flow.

The bad thing about using a rack is that it can leave marks on the turkey, where it was pressed up against the bars. It’s especially noticeable if you cooked the turkey breast side down for a while.

In my family, we always carve the turkey before bringing it to the table, so it doesn’t matter, but if you bring the turkey to the table whole, it might not look quite as good.

Breast-Side Up Or Down?

The usual way to cook a turkey is to place it breast-side up in the roasting pan, and let it cook. But let me tell you how to cook a turkey a little differently: breast-side down.

• If you cook the turkey breast side down, all the juices will seep down to the breast meat, and that’ll keep it moist and juicy.
• It does prevent the breast side from browning, so you need to flip it back breast-side up for the last third of the cooking time.
• You have to be careful. If you have a very heavy turkey, or one full of stuffing, flipping it might be a bad idea. It’s very hot, so unless you’re sure you can handle it, don’t. Better safe than sorry.
• You might need a V-shaped rack if your turkey isn’t stable breast-side down. The last thing you want is for it to wobble. That can be dangerous.

Learning how to cook a turkey breast-side down is a great trick for delicious, juicy turkey.

All About Basting

Basting means pouring liquid over the meat while it’s cooking. You can use the drippings and cooking juices, or just stock, water, juice or some other liquid. So is basting an important part of how to cook a turkey?

• The main goal of basting is to keep the skin from burning, and help it brown more evenly. If you see your turkey getting a little too brown, you may want to baste a bit.
• Basting doesn’t really do much to keep the meat moist and juicy. Most of the juices run off to the bottom of the pan, and they don’t penetrate very deeply into the meat.
• Opening the oven door to baste makes the temperature fluctuate, and that can make the turkey cook less evenly and more slowly. So if you do baste, do it once per hour, max.
• Instead of basting, you can rub a bit of softened butter under the turkey’s skin. That’ll make the turkey self-basting, keeping it moist without affecting the oven’s temperature.

My advice for how to cook a turkey is to use the butter trick. Don’t bother with basting unless the turkey is getting too brown.

Turkey Cooking Instructions

Now that we know all the important things about how to cook a turkey, here are some step-by-step turkey cooking instructions.

1. Preheat your oven to 325F.
2. Season the turkey lightly. I recommend just a bit of butter on and under the skin.
3. (Optional) Stuff the turkey.
4. Truss the turkey — you can just tie the legs together, and tie the wings down to the body.
5. Place the turkey in the roasting pan.
   • Generally, you’ll get better results if you let the turkey reach room temperature before putting it in the oven. Don’t let it sit out for more than an hour, but try not to put it straight from the fridge to the oven.
   • If you want, you can place the turkey breast-side down for the first two thirds of the cooking time, and then flip it breast side up. It’ll keep the breast meat moist. Just be sure that’s it’s stable, and that you can flip it safely while it’s hot — it shouldn’t be too heavy, or stuffed.
6. Place the turkey in the oven, uncovered, and let it cook.
   • If the whole turkey is browning too quickly, you can baste it, or cover it all with a loose foil tent.
   • If parts are browning too quickly, like the legs or breast, just cover those parts with a bit of foil.
   • If you’re not getting enough drippings, or the drippings are burning, cover the turkey with a lid, or add a bit of liquid (stock or water) to the bottom of your roasting pan. Remove the lid after an hour or so.
   • Knowing how to cook a turkey means being able to watch for these signs and react to them. So keep an eye on that bird!
7. Cook the turkey until it’s done. That means using a meat thermometer to tell when
   • The thigh meat is at 180F, and
   • The breast meat is at 170F, and
   • The stuffing, if any, is at 165F.
   • The turkey’s temperature will rise 5 to 10 degrees after you take it out of the oven. So you can actually take the turkey out when the meat is at 165F or so.
   • For an estimate of how long it’ll take, check out our turkey cooking time chart. But be sure to at least check up on the turkey 45 minutes before the chart says it’s done, to avoid overcooking.
   • Some turkeys come with a pop-up indicator to let you know when it’s done, but they usually pop up late. It’s best to learn how to cook a turkey with an accurate meat thermometer. But leave the indicator in, or you’ll create a hole and lose lots of the juices, giving you a dry turkey.
8. Remove the turkey from the oven. Cover, and let stand 20-40 minutes before carving.
9. Carve, serve and enjoy!

And that’s how to cook a turkey that’s perfectly moist and delicious. Enjoy!

Home › Making Soup › Homemade Vegetable SoupA homemade vegetable soup is a wonderful thing. It’s just so much better than anything you’d get in a can. For one thing, only ingredients that you like end up in the soup. Plus, you have the opportunity to make it much healthier. And, well, making something yourself is just more satisfying.

Making your own homemade vegetable soup is one of the easiest things in the world. And it’s just so versatile. There are a ton of different kinds of vegetable soups — like minestrone, cabbage soup, chicken noodle,beef barley… and so many more.

Vegetable soup is also a great way to empty your fridge before the next trip to the grocery store — you can put almost any vegetable in a good old fashioned vegetable soup.

But if you don’t know how to do it, you can end up with something less than spectacular… it’s not just vegetables boiled in some water and poured in a bowl!

In this article, I’ll go over how to make an awesome homemade vegetable soup. I’ll talk about the different elements that make up a vegetable soup and how they all fit together. Here they are!

 

The Broth

The broth is one of the most important parts in any homemade vegetable soup. In fact, for the most part, you can think of a vegetable soup as being made up of two parts: the broth, and all the rest of the stuff that goes in the broth.

So what exactly is broth? It’s the liquid part of the soup. If you look up a proper definition, it’s water in which vegetables, meat or fish have been simmered, until they give flavor to the water.

But for this article, I’ll use broth as the liquid part of the soup — it can be much more than just the standard definition of broth! It’s a combination of a whole lot of things: stock, flavoring liquids, and a mirepoix.

Stock

The most important part of the broth is stock. A stock is made from meat and bones simmered in water for a very long time. It can be chicken, beef or fish bones. For a vegetable stock, you just simmer some vegetables in the water.

• You can use any kind of stock in a vegetable soup.
• If you want a vegetarian soup, you’ll have to go with vegetable stock, but chicken, beef and fish stock add a lot more body to a soup. They contain gelatin, which helps the flavors blend better, and has a really nice texture.
• If you’re planning on adding meat to the soup, pick the corresponding stock — so beef stock for a beef and barley soup, chicken stock for chicken noodle, and so on.
• A homemade stock beats a canned stock any day of the week. Find out how to make some by checking out our article on making chicken stock.

Extra Flavors

A homemade vegetable soup broth can also have lots of other flavoring liquids in it. The stock is the main body; the flavoring liquids add a little extra something.

• You can add any kind of liquid to the broth to add flavor. If you think it’ll taste good, try it out! You can always test it in a small amount of stock to see if it’s good.
• Wine can be a nice addition. Just be sure to simmer it a little bit to give the alcohol a chance to boil off.
• Some soups have a tomato base. Just add a bit of tomato juice or even a vegetable juice like V8.

The Aromatic Mirepoix

The last element in a broth is a mirepoix. A mirepoix isn’t anything complicated — it’s just some chopped aromatic vegetables, sauteed in a bit of oil or butter.

• Just dice up some celery, carrots, onion, and maybe a little bit of garlic. Saute for a bit, and you have a mirepoix. The longer you saute, the more intense a flavor it’ll have.
• A mirepoix doesn’t just add flavor to a broth, it also helps enhance the broth’s flavor, and the flavor of your homemade vegetable soup.
• How much should you add? As much as you like. Even a single carrot and celery stalk can add a lot of flavor to a whole pot of soup, but you can easily use more without overwhelming other flavors. Just be sure to have plenty of room in your broth for the other ingredients in your soup.

Making the Broth

The only element I’d say is really necessary is a good stock, even better if it’s homemade. If you have that and you’re short on time, you can skip the rest. You’ll still end up with a great homemade vegetable soup.

Putting the various elements together isn’t hard. Here’s how you do it.

1. If desired, chop up some celery, carrots, onion and garlic, and saute them until the onion starts to get soft — this is your mirepoix.
2. If you’re adding wine to the soup, add it now. Let it simmer gently until it’s reduced by 1/4 or 1/2.
3. Add the stock and other flavoring liquids.

Meat, Poultry or Tofu

Even though it’s a vegetable soup, that doesn’t mean it has to only have vegetables. Some chicken pieces, chunks of beef, or even little squares of tofu can turn a light homemade vegetable soup into a very satisfying and wholesome meal.

So what kind of meat can you add? Just about anything!

Leftovers

Soup is great for leftovers. If you have some leftover meat, you can just toss it into the soup.

• I tend to make my soup from a homemade chicken stock made from the bones of a roasted chicken, so I usually have a few pieces of cooked chicken leftover to add in the soup.
• You can add any kind of meat you like — beef, lamb, etc… just avoid mixing different kinds, because that can taste kind of weird.

Cooking Meat

If you don’t have any leftovers, you can also cook the meat (or tofu) directly in your old-fashioned vegetable soup.

• If you want, you can just cut up the meat into pieces and toss it into the broth. You just have to make sure it simmers long enough to fully cook the meat.
• A better way to do it is to sear the meat before boiling it. It adds flavor, and it looks a lot more appealing.
• Before making the broth, sear the chunks of meat in your soup pot. Take them out, then make your broth, and toss them back in. They can finish cooking while the soup is simmering.
• This is the best way to add ground meat to a homemade vegetable soup.
• If you dredge your chunks of meat in a bit of flour, they’ll sear more evenly, and it’ll thicken the broth a little bit.

Notes

• You can add as much meat (or poultry, or tofu) to your soup as you like. It depends on what you feel like. The more you add, the more filling it’ll be, but then you won’t have as much room for nutrient-packed vegetables.
• It’s best to add small pieces of meat rather than big chunks.
  • First of all, you never want to have to cut anything in a soup with a knife and fork. You just need a spoon!
  • Second, it’s nice if the pieces are small enough that they’ll fit on a spoon with a few other veggies, too. An old fashioned vegetable soup is all about blending flavors!

Beans, Grains and Pasta

Just like a bit of meat, poultry, or tofu, beans, grains, or pasta can make your homemade vegetable soup a lot more filling. Beans and grains add a whole lot of nutrition, too. And of course, if you’re vegetarian, you can add as much as you like!

Beans, grains and pasta are a little bit trickier than meat though:

• Beans and grains can take a while to cook, especially if you’re starting from dry beans.
• Beans, grains and pasta absorb some water as they cook, making the soup thicker.

So here are a few tricks to making a great homemade vegetable soup with beans, grains or pasta:

• Try pre-cooking them, then adding them to the soup (discarding the cooking water). This is the simplest way, but for beans and grains it means throwing some nutrients down the drain with that cooking water.
• Start with more broth than you think you need to compensate for whatever will evaporate or be absorbed.
• Keep some extra stock on hand to add to the soup if you feel it gets too thick.
• Canned beans are already cooked/soaked, so they don’t mess up the liquid content of your soup.

Some beans and grains that work great in soup are barley, rice, chick peas, lentils, and quinoa. But you can try it with anything you like.

Vegetables

It wouldn’t be a homemade vegetable soup without some vegetables! But what kind of vegetables should you add? And how many? And how long should they cook?

Well, here are a few simple guidelines to follow when adding vegetables to your homemade vegetable soup.

• You can add any vegetable you like to a vegetable soup. But it’s a good idea to pick vegetables that go well together.
  • If you add some bitter vegetables, like broccoli, brussel sprouts, or turnips, try to balance it with sweet vegetables like sweet potato, carrots, or peas, and vice-versa. It’s not necessary though, if you’re going for a “sweet” soup.
• A lot of people don’t like overcooked vegetables. If you want to avoid overcooking vegetables, just figure out how long each vegetable needs to cook to be just right.
  • Add the veggies that need to cook longest first, letting them cook a bit before working your way to adding the vegetables that take the least time to cook.
  • Personally, I don’t mind overcooked vegetables in a soup one bit. If they’re soft, I’m happy. So if you don’t mind either, don’t be too fussed about cooking the vegetables for the exact amount of time.
• Be sure to cut the vegetables into bite-sized pieces.
  • A soup is all about blended flavors. If you use smaller vegetable chunks, you can fit a few different kinds on a spoon and get a better taste experience!
  • Smaller vegetable pieces cook faster, too, so it cuts down on your dinner preparation time.
• The only rule to how much to add is that you should have enough broth to cover all your vegetables. Other than that, just do what you feel.
  • If you want a lighter soup, just add fewer veggies.
  • If you want a soup that’s more of a meal, pack it full of vegetables so that each spoonful is full of veggies.

You can really add anything you like to a homemade vegetable soup. It’s a great time to empty out the fridge.

Try carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, sweet potato, peas, corn, brussel sprouts, tomatoes (canned or fresh), shredded cabbage, mushrooms, asparagus… anything, really!

You can even be adventurous and try adding some fruit like apple or pineapple.

My dad always added whole garlic cloves to the soup. Simmering for a long time made them pretty mild, and my brother and I always loved getting a whole clove, or an “eyeball” as we called it. And it’s so good for you, especially if you’re coming down with a cold!

Seasonings

The last thing that makes up a homemade vegetable soup is the seasoning you add in, the herbs and spices.

Again, you can add any kind of seasoning you like, but just be sure to pick something that goes well with your vegetables, meat, and grains.

Here are a few tips to adding seasoning:

• The broth in your soup will tend to reduce the longer you cook the soup. That means that any seasoning you add will get more intense as the soup cooks.
• However, some seasonings need time in the soup to really give some flavor, like fresh herbs, bay leaves, or star anise.

There are plenty of seasonings that go great in soup. Try ginger, rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano, cilantro, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, cloves or cinnamon.

Really, you can try out any seasoning you like. If you’re not sure it’ll taste good, just try it out in a bit of broth before adding it to the pot.

My dad often adds a pinch of cinnamon to his chicken soup. He makes a thick soup with lots of vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and sweet potatoes, and the cinnamon gives it a special warm autumn meal feel. You never know what’ll be good!

And that’s really all there is to it. You can put as much or as little as you like into your homemade vegetable soup. The real key is to use these basics to experiment and find something that you truly enjoy!