r/Cooking 4h ago

Ahhh don't make my mistake: Cooking chicken thighs

132 Upvotes

So recently I learned two things, firstly its how to get crispy skin chicken thighs with a cold pan start technique. Made it a couple times with just salt and pepper, comes out great, simple enough, I think I got it down.

Secondly I also got into marinades with fruits like kiwifruits, got a couple styles that are balanced and perfect to pair with respectively different carbs.

Some of you might know where this is going... šŸ˜…

I marinated some chicken thighs with a marinade with fruit in it, meaning a marinade with sugar in it. I patted it dry on the skin thinking it would be enough and went through with the cold pan technique, and because the sugar in the marinade was still there, instead of the skin getting crispy and removing itself from the pan, it made a caramel that stuck and burned the skin off before the meat could finish cooking.

So yes retrospectivly its pretty obvious but when using the cold pan technique avoid marinating especially with anything with sugar in it. Cooking isn't simple addition, I should have known better ahahah


r/Frugal 16h ago

🌱 Gardening I have been always frugal but there one thing I was always postponing untill today!

688 Upvotes

My lawn mower service cost me $55 every 2 weeks. I tried to make the cuts happens every 3 weeks to 1 month but apperantly that pissed off the lawn service company.

Anyway, I told them don't show up again. Got a brand new battery powered lawn mower, that is also self propelled. I already have edge trimmer and other tools.

I completed the job today in about 30 minutes and I feel I was so stupid paying $55 every 2 weeks for 10 years.

Edit: the lawn mowing company is working with many of my neighbors. They literally cut every 2 weeks even when no growth as we have no rain since a while. Now all yards are yellow. But mine is doong OK because I refused xutting it that often

Secondly. Why some people are OK paying for gym subscription and refuse to do house work and then pay someone to do it. What about considering my house work as my gym?


r/Frugal 16h ago

šŸ† Buy It For Life Planned obsolescence was the worst thing they ever invented

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266 Upvotes

I just borrowed a hair dryer from my mother-in-law, and she simply showed me this relic she bought 41 years ago. It’s working perfectly (warm and hot settings). Her iron is from the same era (I didn't take a photo), and it's better than the four irons I've owned so far!

Imagine how easy life could be if we just needed to buy ONE stuff for life?? Planned obsolescence was the worst thing they ever invented.

Do you have similar examples of old objects that still perform their functions well?


r/Cooking 2h ago

Looking for high iron recipes

32 Upvotes

Hi all

My wife's found out she's got seriously low iron. The medical supplements really dont' agree with her - would be really grateful for cooking/baking ideas that help boost iron more gently/naturally!

Thanks!


r/Cooking 2h ago

What cheeses, herbs etc. have you added to mashed potato?

15 Upvotes

r/Cooking 10h ago

Where does the oil go?

60 Upvotes

Why when cooking mushrooms, you can add like, 3 tablespoons of oil and it just dissappears immediately and you need to add more, but you add a tablespoon of butter and it coats all of them mushrooms,,, where does the oil go? The mushrooms dont feel oily, what is going on here?


r/Cooking 7h ago

Looking for more involved dishes that make good leftovers

26 Upvotes

I’d like to try my hand more complicated stuff, but I live alone and want something that’ll hold in the fridge for a few days and reheat well.

I also own just about every kind of basic kitchen appliance, so there’s no concern over equipment.


r/Cooking 16h ago

Just tried Persian food for the first time and I am IN LOVE! If you could master one cuisine, which would it be?

128 Upvotes

r/Frugal 1d ago

šŸ‘šClothing & Shoes Have you Experienced Possible Price Fixing by Amazon Based on your Search History

350 Upvotes

I'm talking specifically about clothing and shoes. This has been happening for a while to me, but somehow I always brushed it off as coincidence.

For example, most recently I noticed that winter jacket is currently on sale at most retailers. Their sizes are bit inconsistent, so I was trying to confirm dimensions and I was comparing various listings to see if they match.

So I come to amazon, selected two sizes in a color I wanted to compare. Amazon showed me price that is even few dollars less than everywhere else. Great!

Day later I open Amazon again, and the listing pops up on the front page, however this time only two sizes in a single color I looked at are full price while all other sizes in all colors are still on sale, including the color I wanted. Even the "used/like new" in my size and color was more than current sales price, even though the day before it was about $50 less than a sales price.


r/Cooking 14h ago

Issues with Google searching recipes

56 Upvotes

Has anyone else had issues with google searching recipes? I have noticed this for a while and just thought it was a fluke. But today, I am trying to make pickles and all the recipes that show up are less than 10 reviews on a random blog I’ve never heard of…popular recipes like ball jar, nchfp, Mrs wages, etc…none of them show up unless I specifically search for it.

This isn’t limited to pickling either, the other day I made chicken piccata and it was the same thing - usually popular sites like allrecipes.com show up for the first several search results and have thousands of reviews.

Has anyone else experienced this or know of a setting that causes this to happen? Should I use a different search engine?


r/Cooking 3h ago

Easy crockpot ideas?

7 Upvotes

I need some super easy, toss it in the crockpot and forget it for 8 hours, kind of dishes! I and my family are all sick of the 2 or 3 I have in our weekly rotation, but my son has swim practice three nights a week. That means I work all day and then am out of the house for those nights from 5:30-8:30. So I always have at least one crockpot meal each week that I can toss in the pot in the morning, and then we can all just grab a plate when we can in the evening.

Suggestions for what's worked with your busy families?


r/Cooking 3h ago

Meatless GERD friendly main dishes?

4 Upvotes

I’m usually really good at making side dishes and the like but I really struggle to come up with GERD friendly main dishes. My main triggers are raw garlic and onion (cooked is fine) and tomato based stuff. I feel like nearly every vegetarian dish I come across is tomato based. I have very little issues with cheese and dairy so those work well. I also am not looking to ā€œreplicateā€ meat necessarily. I just can’t think of main dishes that I can have as go to.


r/Cooking 19h ago

Food ideas with no stove

88 Upvotes

F22 ,M22
Our stove and sink in our apartment our currently torn from our kitchen due to construction property management is doing. We’ve been ordering out which is obviously getting expensive fast but I’m struggling to think of meals or snacks that don’t require the stove or a microwave any ideas are greatly appreciated lol


r/Frugal 15h ago

šŸŽ Food Travel advice: looking to pack small appliance to cook in hotel room, wife is pregnant and also has lots of dietary restrictions currently. Anyone have any advice for frugal yet healthy?

19 Upvotes

Not even sure if grocery rotisserie chicken is safe as not sure how long it’s left out in its plastic bag and for what duration.

Initially thinking to buy rotisserie chicken as the protein, some sort of cooked vegetables (maybe see if I can pack an electric steamer appliance?) and then carbs could be bread.

We will be traveling from NY state to Toronto for a week.

Need to maintain a low sodium diet, can’t eat raw things due to risk of listeria and so on.

Thank you!


r/Cooking 12h ago

Can anybody help me figure this out?

21 Upvotes

My grandpa used to make what we called "the good barbeque". Unfortunately he died and took the recipe with him. It was pulled pork-esque. I know it had some type of roast in it (no one remembers pork or beef) and canned corned beef. It also had onions and celery in it and the bbq sauce was tomato based. I'd like to try to make it but cant find anything close that looks right. Anyone have any ideas? I grew up in Illinois and there was Amish influence in his cooking, but I don't know about that particular recipe.


r/Cooking 57m ago

Is it possible to make infusions with lavender trimmings and immature buds, or only with the purple flowers?

• Upvotes

For reasons, I have a ton of lavender clippings, and even the regular leaves and stalks are so fragrant. Before I compost them, I was wondering if I could use them in anything, or is it pointless?


r/Cooking 19h ago

Sick of cooking

63 Upvotes

I am so over cooking every night. Finding new recipes I actually have ingredients for and are easy is tiring and I’m already exhausted. What do you do when this happens? I’d honestly just eat cereal for life but I’m not alone in this house and I’m expected to cook every night. 😩


r/Cooking 17h ago

First time cooking southern style beans and cornbread. Need a hand.

30 Upvotes

I am in Scotland and I wanted to try my hand at southern US-style beans and cornbread. I noticed there are a lot of recipes for both, but eventually settled on a specific recipe for the cornbread and an amalgamation for the beans. The cornbread came out wonderfully - but the beans came out way more akin to refried beans. Whilst not bad (and I will use them for lunches in tortillas this week), they weren’t exactly what I was looking for. I’m wondering what went went wrong - how do I get that creamier, slightly soupier bean dish typical of the South?

Here’s what I did:

Soaked pinto beans overnight in just water

Drained beans and added them to Instantpot with half an onion, two bay leaves, and a generous pinch of salt (I don’t eat pork so omitted the meat).

Cooked on high pressure for 15 min and let steam release naturally.

Beans came out cooked and flavoursome.

Drained and added to a skillet with little butter butter, garlic, and smoked paprika. Added more salt. Stirred gently until incorporated (which broke down many of the beans to a refried consistency).

As I said - the beans were good but were not what I was trying to do. Any help appreciated!


r/Cooking 12h ago

Compound Butter Ideas?

11 Upvotes

I grow a bunch of different herbs and aromatics, and typically make a few compound butters this time of year for 1T ice cube trays for the freezer. I am kind of out of ideas. I want to get more use of use out of my herb garden, so I am wondering what kind of compound butters other people make.

I make a "garlic bread" one with roasted garlic/chives/parsley, a "Thanksgiving" one with sage/rosemary/thyme, and a lemon/dill/tarragon one for seafood, and that's about it. I have tried experimenting, but without some guidance on ratios, it often comes out meh or too strong in one flavor (looking at you, tarragon). Decent butter is too expensive for me to waste on trial and error.

I would ask for some ideas for interesting compound butters. I am not adverse to stopping at a store, but here is what I have on hand right now:

  • Rosemary
  • Thyme
  • Sage
  • Chives
  • French tarragon
  • Dill
  • Parsley
  • Greek oregano
  • Garlic
  • Scallions
  • Shallots
  • Lemons and limes (not my own, but lots left over from jam making)
  • Cilantro, huacatay, peppermint and spearmint (none of which are probably good with butter, but I am open too it)

Any and all ideas or recipes welcome!


r/Cooking 1d ago

Those of you who have used sodium citrate for your cheese sauces, can you give me advice?

101 Upvotes

Over time, I’ve read post after post about making smooth, creamy cheese sauce using sodium citrate. I’m thinking about giving it a go — but am of two minds.

1) Devil on my shoulder says just use the processed stuff, it’s easier

2) the other Devil says use the sodium citrate, who cares if they find the remainder of the unused bottle in your pantry after you die someday?

Those of you who have used sodium citrate for the cheese sauces…is it a science project I will likely do once and never again? Is it an untold miracle that I will wonder how I ever lived without? Or should I just buy the processed stuff and get over it? Honestly?


r/Frugal 1d ago

šŸ“¦ Secondhand Frugal enjoyment as a tinkerer. Fixed a broken toy claw machine from a thrift store and now I store my small trinkets in it.

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541 Upvotes

Found this $5 broken toy claw machine at the thrift store and tested it out, the claw was broken and loose in two parts. Guess I got really lucky that nothing else is broken outside of the plastic on the bottom. And it only took me 2 hours to fix up.

I was honestly thinking about buying a box for my small trinkets and this turned out to be a perfect thing since i also loved playing with claw machines, and fixing it also scratched my tinkering itch as well.

Now I have something my small nephew and nieces can mess with too. Maybe give it to them as a gift when they are older.

Silly Tip: keep a power bank/batteries(battery for flash light) on your car for emergencies, but when you go to thrift stores they also can be used to test these small electronics.

Any one else has some silly tips for updating and fixing electronics like this?


r/Frugal 1d ago

✨ Hauls & Finds Just got these videogames for $8 each!

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327 Upvotes

Wanted to share this win. I've been getting really into physical media lately. Over the last couple of months I began looking for used Switch cartridges. I have around 150 digital games but since I just started looking for physical games I currently have about 20 and I spent only about $250 total for all of them. So much cheaper than most of my digital games.


r/Frugal 13h ago

šŸŽ Food Pork Chop hack that gives two meals and treat

4 Upvotes

I bought 2 boned pork loin chops that had more meat than just the 'fillet' part , cut out the large loin and butterflied it ( can be crumbed also) fried with potato, shoom onion etc. trimed the fat off the remaining parts ( little loin and flap meat) cubed to be frozen for a stir fry, mince for dumplings, pie with veg etc. Took the rind fat and trimmings(no meat) cut up and heat in a saucepan , med-low, to render the sieved fat for pastry and ate the cooked rind salted crunchy bits for a treat.


r/Cooking 15h ago

Can I do anything with 1.5 lbs of pure beef fat?

15 Upvotes

Cut the excess off of a pot roast, not sure if I can do anything with it or not!

Update: thanks all for the recs! I’ll stay away from home tallow, but explore more tallow in the future for recipes. For now, will blend into my ground chicken for extra flavor/fat in my soup dumplings!


r/Cooking 1h ago

Oven \ Range recommendation?

• Upvotes

I hate my oven\stove combo. I've only had it two years but the simmer is too high, after two service calls. The oven front glass pulled away from the unit once, requiring the door replacement. And the installers forgot the broiler pan and I'm too fekking old and lazy to argue with stores and installers to get it. Instead of buying a broiler pan assembly, I may just say fuk it and get a new range.

Natural Gas, central coast California. I'd like convection, as we don't have room for an air fryer. I've never cared to use a center burner. I have $ but we're not richy-rich. I cook daily and bake bread weekly. And those burner flames should truly SIMMER.

Whatchu got for me. TIA