Food Preparation

You’ve got the invites out, you know what you are going to serve, your margarita machine is on standby – all you need now is the best margarita mix for your machine.

Using a margarita mix helps you to spend less time in the kitchen and more time with your guests. With some culinary ingredients, like lemon slices, there really is no substitute for fresh. Fortunately, the same is not true for margarita mixes.

With the mixes that we will be going over in this post, no one is going to notice that you didn’t make the drinks from scratch – They’ll be too busy enjoying them and complimenting you.

All you need to do is to stock up on ice and tequila and get your mix on.

Read moreBest Concentrated Margarita Mix for Your Machine

Candymaking is fun and rewarding. Hands down, the most popular, traditional home-made confection is fudge.

A few simple tools and a little patience will yield wonderful results, but before you start you’ve got to have the right equipment, and that means a great pot needs to be your first priority.

What Makes a Great Fudge Pot?

A fudge pan needs to be large enough to hold all of your ingredients, even when they expand and bubble during cooking.

The minimum volume I’d recommend for candy making is 3.5 quarts, but in many cases you might wish to use a bigger pan as some recipes call for a fairly large volume of ingredients and you wouldn’t want to risk the serious burns and mess that can be a problem if you boil over a hot sugar mixture.

In addition to size, you also need a pot with a heavy bottom that will distribute heat evenly and protect your confections from scorching.

Tall sides are a plus, as is a pour spout and a nicely fitted lid. Sturdy handles will allow you to move the pot off of a hot burner safely and help immensely when transferring hot candy from the cooking pan to a mold or sheet pan for cooling.

Let’s take a look at a few pots that work well as fudge pots, and I’ll explain why I like each one, as well as tell you which one is my hands down favorite.

Read moreBest Saucepan for Making Fudge and Candy

Do you love a good cappuccino or latte? Wouldn’t it be great if you could get the same great quality at home, without needing to pay out a good few hundred dollars for an espresso maker or kidnapping a barista?

You can get similar results at home without paying a fortune or committing a felony by investing in a milk steamer. In this post, we are going to have a look at your top options in this area so that you can make coffee like a pro in no time.

Shouldn’t I Look for a Frother?

Milk frothers have become pretty popular over the last few years. They offer a convenient way for you to create a creamy topping for your coffee.

The problem with frothers is that all they do is to whisk the milk up very fast. If you want your coffee to be hot when you drink it, you’ll need to heat the milk up first and then froth it. It’s a pain.

That’s why it is a lot better to simply start off by using a steamer from the outset. A steamer will both heat the milk and get it all frothy. You get your coffee and milk piping hot and nice and creamy.

Are you ready to look at the best options?

Read moreBest Home Milk Steamer

There’s nothing quite like a hot cup of tea for breakfast time or anytime. Leaf lovers have their own unique taste and techniques for brewing a personal best cup, but it all starts with the right vessel.

If you have a gas stove, it’s important to consider the materials and your habits before purchasing a new kettle. Before we reveal our top 5 teapots, it’s important to first discuss metal and glass.

Read moreBest Teapot for Gas Stoves

Other than, perhaps, the ingredients themselves, chefs know that the most important thing you can have in a kitchen is a good cooking knife.

No matter how good it is, the knife will not work very well without being regularly and professionally sharpened. Or as they say: A knife is nothing without its edge.

For that reason, having a good knife sharpener is very important. Luckily, modern technology has provided us with the wonder of electric knife sharpeners. Precise and efficient, these fantastic machines are capable of producing the sharpest edges quickly and without making mistakes.

Now, it should be noted that there are many types of knife sharpeners out there. One of the most important differences between electric knife sharpeners is the angle in which they sharpen. The reason for having this differences is that not all knives are meant to be sharpened at the same angle.

While Western knives are typically sharpened at a 20-degree angle, Japanese knives are meant to be sharpened at a steeper 15-degree angle. By having a tighter angle, these knives are capable of cutting with more precision and less effort.

There are various models of electric knife sharpeners capable of sharpening at a 15-degree-angle. However, not all of them have the same capabilities.

In order to help you understand what’s most desirable in this kind of tool, this review will go over the characteristics of the best 15-degree electric knife sharpener on the market: the Chef’sChoice 15 XV Trizor.

Read more15 Degree Angle Knife Sharpener

High-heat cooking is popular for many reasons. Not only is it faster than cooking at lower temperature points, but also it provides that ideal “browned” or “seared” coloration that is often associated with delicious dishes. Moreover, cooking over high temperatures can impart a new flavor even to familiar meals.

As with all cooking techniques, there is an art to high-heat cooking. Get the art wrong, and you’ll end up with a dish that’s burned on the outside and raw on the inside. When things go right, you’ll have a flavor experience that you’re not likely to forget.

High-heat cooking may be referred to by many different terms. When a recipe directs the cook to “brown,” “saute,” “panfry,” “sear” or “stir fry” a dish, this implies cooking with high heat. Just as using the correct oil is essential, so is using the right pan.

Not every pan is built to withstand high-heat cooking. Accordingly, it pays to know your materials and how well they perform. Using the wrong pan can not only ruin what you’re cooking, but also destroy your pans.

Read moreBest Safest Cookware For High Temperature Heat Cooking

Is there anything that tastes better than the catch of the day cooking over an open fire? In my book, there isn’t. That’s why I think that a fish grilling basket is an essential tool for any kitchen.

Of course, not just any fish basket will do. In order to turn out a really succulent filet, it’s important to use one of the best fish baskets on the market.

Read moreBest Fish Grilling Basket

Properly cutting up cooked chicken requires technical knowledge, skill and practice. Above all, it’s necessary to have the right knife.

Inexperienced cooks may use the same knife for every chore. This will do in a pinch, but if you really want to be efficient and cut waste to a minimum, then it’s essential to buy purpose-specific knives.

In this case, what’s necessary is a carving knife. These knives generally have a long, thin blade that makes it easy to carve around bone and cartilage. With its sharp, tapered point, the carving knife is easy to distinguish.

Another element that makes the carving knife distinctive is that it’s not serrated. Frequently, these knives will have what is called a Granton edge. This edge consists of shallow dimples that run along both sides of the blade. The dimples prevent the meat slices from sticking to the blade.

The blade itself must be quite sharp and smooth. This allows for the cleanest, most effortless cuts. Ideally, the blade is thin, which helps to eliminate sawing. Flexibility is crucial, as the knife needs to be maneuvered around bones and cartilage.

Handle comfort similarly must be considered. If the knife isn’t comfortable in your hand, then you won’t use it. The knife’s handle should feel natural in your hand, and the entire tool should feel well-balanced.

Blade length is an vital determinant of a quality carving knife. Eight inches is likely the shortest that a carving knife should be, with 10 or 11 inches being a more desirable length for slicing larger cuts.

Here are my favorite picks for knives that excel at cutting up cooked chicken.

Read moreBest Knife for Cutting A Cooked Chicken

Grilling is a national pastime: Mintel’s Grilling and Barbecuing US 2015 report found that 47% of Americans plan to buy a unit within 2 years. The proportion of indoor grills is increasing too, as more consumers change from gas and charcoal to electric models.

Indoor grills have steadily improved, and there’s a large variety to choose from: from models that specialize in producing the perfect steak, to all-around grills that can handle whatever food you put on.

Read moreWhat’s the Best Indoor Smokeless Grills For Cooking Steaks

Whisks are a relatively new addition to the modern kitchen. Although the idea of a whisk has been around since at least the 18^th century, Julia Childs introduced the whisk into American kitchens in 1963 when she used a wire whisk to prepare omelets instead of electric egg beaters.

More air is beat into the eggs using this method, and the omelet is much lighter when you use a wire whisk.

Most whisks are made from stainless steel wire, but they are made from other materials, including wood and nylon plastic, or silicone-coated wire.

Keep in mind that, since most whisks are made of metal, they are not good for the non-stick coating of your pots and pans.

Read moreBest Kitchen Whisk for Eggs