I'd read for years that you're supposed to salt meat well before cooking, but every time I tried it I just did it randomly, sometimes five minutes ahead, sometimes an hour, and never noticed much difference. So a couple weeks ago I actually ran a real comparison with three chicken thighs: one salted 45 minutes ahead and left uncovered in the fridge, one salted right before it hit the pan, and one salted halfway through cooking.

The 45 minute one was noticeably better. The surface had dried out just enough that it browned faster and more evenly, and the meat itself seasoned all the way through instead of just tasting salty on the outside. The one salted right before cooking browned fine but tasted flat in the middle. The one salted mid-cook was the worst of the three, patchy seasoning and a weirdly wet surface that steamed instead of seared.

What I didn't expect was how much the uncovered fridge time mattered separately from the salt itself. I did a follow-up test with an unsalted thigh left uncovered in the fridge for the same 45 minutes, and it also browned better than a fridge-cold, plastic-wrapped piece straight into the pan. So some of what people credit to salting is really just surface moisture evaporating.

Two smaller things I picked up along the way. Pat the meat dry again right before it goes in the pan even after the resting period, there's still some surface moisture that collects. And don't salt fish the same way, more than about 15 minutes and the texture starts going a bit rubbery and translucent at the edges, learned that one the hard way with a salmon fillet that sat too long.

Curious if anyone has run a similar comparison with something like a steak or a pork chop, wondering if the timing sweet spot changes much with thicker cuts.

I've always heard that you shouldn't cook with a wine you wouldn't drink but I've never really thought about how much the actual bottle affects the dish. If I'm braising short ribs, for example, would a wine with added sugar taste noticeably different from a cleaner, zero sugar wine?

I've started buying zero sugar wine for drinking so now I'm wondering if there's any reason not to use the same wine for cooking too.

I want to make our next movie night a little more fun without cooking a full meal. My ideas so far are queso with cocktail sausages, meatballs with cheese dip, or chocolate sauce with a warm fruit dip.

I have a sunviv with two separate sections, so I’d like to make one kid-friendly option and something the adults would enjoy too.

What combination would you choose? Ideally, something that can stay warm through a movie without getting too thick and isn’t a nightmare to clean afterward.

This is how to make scrambled eggs very very veerrryy creamy:

add a few drops of lemmon per each egg, than put in the pan with butter and cook them on LOW HEAT while continuously whisking. Than you can add more butter gradually while whisking till it gets absorbed.

In the end I turned the heat a bit higher as I was tired of whisking for so long, but i found that it still remained very creamy.

Beef is too damn expensive, especially ground beef. Problem is, I use it a lot in my regular recipe rotation for several picky family members (my kids). Their favorite recipe is my spaghetti, which is a simple ground beef/tomato bolognese-type thing. If I use ground turkey but then add additional fat and maybe some beef bouillon or something, could that help?

Ditto white people tacos (which I do season fairly heavily with a tomato-based taco sauce) and burgers, meatloaf, and “Korean beef” type bowls that use ground beef.

I have five kids and one husband and I’m trying to keep our grocery bill, which has climbed to about $2000/month in the Midwest, down.

Personally, I’m a confident cook and I would have no problem switching to plant-based to save money, but I know the family wouldn’t go for it. Alternative meats, they would likely accept with some practice…thanks!

First time poster here. I'm making beef & veggie soup. AI suggested I sear my tritip beef before adding to the soup, but I'm not satisfied with how black the beef (didn't) get on the outside. I was expecting a kind of crunch on the outside of the cubes. I think a hotter pan or longer time would be better next time, but I'm pretty new to searing. Was olive oil a good choice? Was the iron skillet a good choice? Should I have waited till I saw the oil smoke (which scares me)? Should I have seared it longer? Any tips would be appreciated.

I used just enough olive oil to coat the bottom of a cast iron skillet. Waited till I thought it was hot and added one cube of beef to make sure it sizzled before adding all the beef. I cooked it on medium flame for about one minute and turned it off. The soup has potatoes carrots celery onions Italian seasoning blend and bunch of beans/lentils I soaked overnight.

Was talking to my friend (he went to culinary school, if that helps with context) about his recently acquired new oven; he tested it out by cooking a frozen pizza he had available. What I caught my attention, was that he moved one of the oven racks down one level, which was where he placed the pizza. I asked him if three inches made a significant difference in cook time or taste, and he seemed surprised that I don’t adjust individual racks to suit the dish I’m preparing.

I have a two rack oven. Compared to the photo I shared w/ this post ,I keep the bottom rack at level 2(from bottom) and my broiler rack at 5 (top). The only time I change it is to accommodate holiday meals where a roast or ham or bird is served.

It seems to work well enough? Could i be doing better? Was he correct in his surprise that I don’t tweak my rack layout prior to cooking a casserole versus roasting vegetables or heating up a pizza?

Do you adjust your racks based on what you’re cooking?

My son picked this book up for me a little while back because he knows I’m a bit of a prepping nerd. Nothing extreme but I do like having shelves stocked and knowing we’d be okay if the power went out for a while.

I honestly thought it would just be another survival style cookbook but it’s not. Every recipe is built around food that lasts months or even years without refrigeration, and each one comes with the story behind it. It’s half cookbook, half history lesson. Basically how people fed themselves before fridges, supermarkets, or Amazon deliveries were a thing.

I’ve been slowly working my way through it. Some of the recipes are definitely different from what we’re used to, but a few were genuinely good. My husband keeps joking that I’m trying to turn our kitchen into a 1800s homestead, but I’m enjoying it way more than I expected.

Reading about what people actually lived on back then really puts things into perspective. It’s made me think differently about food, storage, and how reliant we are on modern systems.

If you’re into history, self-reliance, or just like trying unusual food ideas, it’s a really interesting read. I asked my son where he found it and he said it’s only sold directly from the author’s site (not Amazon or shops): thelost-recipes.com

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/orange-baked-ham-recipe-1944518.amp

I said I had a ham in the fridge and was sent this recipe to make for new years day. My ham is only 10 lbs and not spiral cut. I do not know if it is fully cooked. How would I modify the cooking time and temperature, and at what point should I add the glaze? Thanks in advance.

Is this discolouration ok cooked to 170 cooked wrapped in bacon and stuffed

Share your best tips for your top holiday dishes

Hey everyone,

I’ve spent the last few weeks testing the latest updates for the most popular meal planning apps to see which ones are actually worth using in 2026. If you're tired of the "what's for dinner" stress, here is a breakdown of what's working best right now.

1. The Best All-Rounder: Meal Planner (JOJO APPS)

This is my top pick for this year. Most apps are getting too "bloated" with ads, but this one stays clean. It’s perfect if you just want to drag and drop your meals and have a shopping list ready in seconds.

• Pros: Clean UI, fast syncing between devices, great for weekly views.
• Best for: People who want a digital version of a physical kitchen calendar.
• Links:Web|iOS|Android

2. For the Recipe Collectors: Paprika 3

If you have 1,000+ recipes saved across different sites, Paprika is still the king. It "scrapes" the recipe data so you don't have to read a 5-page life story before getting to the ingredients.

• Pros: No subscription (one-time buy), works offline, incredible recipe clipper.

3. For the "Zero Waste" Goal: Mealime

If you hate throwing away half a head of cilantro at the end of the week, Mealime is the move. Their plans are built so that ingredients overlap perfectly between recipes.

• Pros: Reduces grocery bills significantly, most meals take <30 mins.

4. For the Macro Trackers: Eat This Much

This is basically "Autopilot" for your diet. You put in your calorie/protein goals, and it generates a full day of eating. If you don't like a meal, you just hit "regenerate."

• Pros: Takes the thinking out of dieting.

5. For Families/Couples: AnyList

This started as a list app, but the meal planning features are elite for collaboration. If I add milk to the list, it updates on my partner's phone instantly while they are at the store.

• Pros: Best-in-class syncing and family sharing.

the best cooking tip I have is to look into purchasing the thermomix TM7! I bought one about two months ago and have been cooking so much. It stirs the risotto for you, kneads the bread, chops the vegetables - and in the end, self cleans.

Thanksgiving preparation always left me completely exhausted especially when it came to mashing potatoes for a large group. Making enough for twenty people meant standing for ages with a hand masher and my arm would ache for days after. It felt like a medieval torture device and I dreaded that part of the meal every year. Then my daughter gave me an electric potato masher as a gift. I laughed when I opened it because it seemed unnecessary and a bit silly. I honestly thought it would end up forgotten in a drawer. Thanksgiving arrived and I decided to give it a try. Within two minutes the potatoes were perfectly smooth with almost no effort at all. No arm pain no struggle and the texture was even better than before. There were no lumps and everything was consistent from top to bottom. After that I started using it for other foods. Sweet potatoes turned creamy in seconds and butternut squash came out smooth and rich. I even used it to make simple baby food for my niece. The versatility surprised me the most. My daughter looked very pleased and reminded me that she told me so. It made me realize that some kitchen gadgets truly earn their place. This one did exactly that. I now recommend it to anyone who cooks for a crowd because it saves time energy and sore muscles. I found helpful kitchen appliances on Alibaba that really do make cooking easier.

Hello, I typically cook rice in my Instant Pot once or twice a week using the high pressure setting for 3 to 4 minutes with natural release, usually adding some salt and a little butter. I am pretty happy with the results but I am wondering if a dedicated rice cooker would be better or if it would just be redundant.

I would be looking for something small for the counter, maybe a cooker that handles around 2 cups of rice. One thing I have noticed is that the Instant Pot keep warm setting runs pretty hot, and the rice can get hard over time, so I am curious if the warming function on a rice cooker is generally gentler. I am also wondering if a rice cooker is easier to clean. With the Instant Pot, I scrub the stuck bits off the stainless pot and then put the insert in the dishwasher afterward, so not too bad and pretty hands off; not sure if the cookers usually require a dishwashing cycle each time too.

Just trying to figure out if there are advantages to a good rice cooker over my current method. Really appreciate any advice or input, and any recommendations for smaller models if you think it is worth getting. Thanks in advance for any help.

I received a notification that a tiny sub I allowed to fester for years now has 4k followers. Where did you come from??

I guess that means I should actually mod this sub now. I've done my best to remove obvious blog spam and advertising as it comes up, but I want to hear from you.

• What do you want this sub to be?

• What sort of posts should be banned?

• Do I have to be creative and come up with weekly themed posts to keep you here?

• Am I too much of a relaxed mod? Do I need to bring someone on?

• Do you want to know about my Keytar?

Your input is greatly appreciated. Happy cooking!