Tips, Tricks, and Cooking Hacks...
 

Ok Brethren,

I have been thinking about starting this for a while. How about a thread to share those little things you do that makes your life easier? Those tips, tricks, shortcuts, and general hacks that make other folks say, "Damn, I should have thought of that!" :doh:

All tips welcome... :thumb:

I'll start. I like to foil my sheet pans for easy clean-up.

Start with a clean pan

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/pi...ictureid=13217

Lay a sheet of foil over the top

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/pi...ictureid=13218

Take a second pan and press down as a mold. Roll the sides tight.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/pi...ictureid=13219

Remove the pan

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/pi...ictureid=13220

When I fill Zip-Lock bags, I roll the top over twice to keep the 'zipper' clean.

After running brisket juice through the fat separator I pour the juice in ice cube trays and freeze them. Add a cube to chopped brisket before vac packing, use a cube in chili or anywhere you would use beef broth, lots of uses.

What's a fat separater?

Like the idea of using the second pan to form the airfoil,easy .
Why didn't I think of that

Double up:blah:

One type is a pitcher that has the inlet for the spout at the bottom, so all the grease that floats to the top just stays there. Very handy.


https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/p...ictureid=13221

When buying onions and green and red peppers, we always buy an extra. Then chop up and put in a ziplock bag and freeze. We then use when making hash browns. We call it our hash brown mix.

- I sometimes save bacon grease coated paper towels to light my charcoal chimney.

- When cooking seafood dishes, I substitute anchovies for salt.

- I add bay leaves to the pot when I make rice.

- I learned how to bake rice in foil pans when I need large batches. (A 2 1/2" deep half pan holds 5 cups of rice. Pour 10 cups of boiling water over stir gently. Cover with foil and bake for 20 min at 350°.)

I'm probably about to blow your mind... even Cowgirl and the other Louisiana Brethren.

Are you ready????


When making Roux - make extra and save it in a palette. I start with 9 cups flour and 9 cups fat. A cupcake pan is about 6 oz, which fills a 12 cupcake pan just right:

Make a blonde roux for your seafood dishes:
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/pi...ictureid=13227

Then a medium roux for your chicken and sausage:
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/pi...ictureid=13228

Now get dark for chicken and andouille & extra dark for duck and game:
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/pi...ictureid=13229

Now freeze the pan and remove the "cupcakes" and save them in ziplocks for later.

That looks like it's got a fat... Well we are in Woodpile right?:nod:

So, never seen pics of this much on the Brethren, but when I'm adding some smoke to a lump charcoal grill (Weber Performer), I just put pruned fruit tree sticks directly on the grill over the lump and close the lid. You get nice smoke before you run a reverse sear... indeed the sticks just turn to charcoal and then you burn them up later for the sear.

No need for a separate smoke box etc. Just bung it on.

I use a whisk to mash avocados into guacamole. A little and it's chunky, a little more and it's smooth. Quick and easy.

Garlic in the microwave for a few seconds makes it easy to peel.

When you're taking off a brisket and closing down the smoker, put as many bulbs of Garlic as you can manage into the smoker till the next day. Then you basically have cold smoked garlic without any effort at all.