The first Special of the Week will probably be one of the most basic, simplest and cheapest that I'll ever do. It's none other than your good ol' kitchen favorite, tin foil. Now, you can use regular tin foil, but I would recommend Heavy Duty Tin Foil. Regular tin foil is like putting down wet paper. It rips every time you try to do anything with it. HD tin foil is like putting down dry paper. It's not going to hold 100lbs, but it'll do a lot better than regular tin foil. Also, when smoking, the heavy duty will give a bit of a thicker barrier from the smoke.
Tin foil has it's place in every cooks (inside or outside) kitchen. If you're in the process of cooking and notice that your food is darkening more than you want, but you still have longer to cook, cover it with tin foil. The tin foil will act like a magical cover for your food and save the outside while continuing to cook from the inside. Yes, this is why everyone cooks their ribs for a period of time and then covers them for a period. It's to keep the outside from burning.
It's a bigger help when I'm cooking a lot of food, because not everything is going to cook at the same pace. I just throw whichever pieces are cooking faster in the foil, and let the rest cook the way they are.
Another big use I've used, and seen others due, is to help clean up. I will lay some out on the counter and then put the pan or cutting board or whatever I'm working on, on top. Then once I'm finished I can just pick up the foil and toss it. (Of course I still wipe down the counter, but you don't have to worry about all the gunk going everywhere). I've even see some people cover their grill/smoker handles, trays, racks, or just about anywhere else that can come in contact with raw food. Then again, once they're finished with their work ... they pull it up and it's clean again.
One of our favorite uses of it is for our grilled corn. We'll cover the corner with butter and seasoning and then wrap them in foil to help keep it all together (and of course protect the corn).
I don't have any pictures of it, but you can also cook with foil to "steam" whatever it is you're cooking. Like you would do with a Turkey on Thanksgiving. You add a liquid to the pan, and then cover it with your foil. That foil will then keep the moisture in right around your food.
There's countless uses for tin foil in the kitchen, so I'm not even going to pretend to try to touch them all. Although regular tin foil will work for you most of the time. If you need something a little stronger and more sturdy Heavy Duty Tin Foil is the route you need to go.
If you have any questions, suggestions, or want me to try something out. Leave me a comment below.
I want to add something about your foil special. Many generic and house brands of products are just fine. That is not the case with foil however. Cheaper versions are much thinner and frequently tear. Spend the few extra pennies and get a name brand heavy duty box like Cack has pictured.
ReplyDelete