Holiday Cooking and Baking? Get a Thermometer!

Clockwise from top right:  Thermapen instant read, Refrigerator thermometer,
oven thermometer, Oven probe, instant read thermometer    

Whether you're storing or cooking food for or from the holidays, a thermometer is an inexpensive way to ensure success and less waste.  It might be a good thing to add to your Christmas gift list too.

Food Thermometers

There a couple of reasons I use food thermometers – but safety and consistent cooking results are the top two.  In a food service environment, the temperature of foods are a top safety concern to prevent food poisoning, and most state food inspectors and food service managers carry a thermometer just like they carry a pen or keys. 

1. I recommend a good refrigerator thermometer for both your freezer and refrigerator – the last time our electricity went out for 5 hours, I simply had to glance at the thermometer after the lights came back on and see that it had remained in a safe zone, which saved me a lot of worry.  Myrna's new fridge actually comes with a nice thermometer - a great feature!
2. I also keep a good oven thermometer in the oven all the time – it’s a good check on your oven’s performance.
3. Instant read thermometers are a real life-saver for checking on doneness – there are a lot of them available at a lot of price points, but I have found all of them work pretty well, and you can get one inexpensively at many stores that carry housewares.  I use mine to check my water for making yeast breads, to see if my breads, meats or custards and the like are done, but not overdone.
4. My favorite is an oven thermometer with a probe for roasting meats – no more overcooked chickens, turkeys, roasts and the like.  The readout rests on the counter, with the probe in the thickest part of the meat – I don’t even have to open the oven door!  You can usually set the finished temperature and it will buzz or beep when it reaches that temp.

How to Use a Food Thermometer

1. Use an instant-read food thermometer to check the internal temperature toward the end of the cooking time, but before the food is expected to be "done."

2. The food thermometer should be placed in the thickest part of the food and should not be touching bone, fat, or gristle.

3. Compare your thermometer reading to the USDA Recommended Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures to determine if your food has reached a safe temperature.

4. Make sure to clean your food thermometer (probe end only) with hot, soapy water before and after each use! 

USDA Recommended Safe Minimum Internal Cooked Temperatures

• Steaks & Roasts - 145 °F
• Fish - 145 °F
• Pork - 145 °F
• Ground Beef - 160 °F
• Egg Dishes - 160 °F
• Chicken Breasts - 165 °F
• Whole Poultry - 165 °F
• Casseroles – 160°  

Some Other Useful Food Temperatures:

Yeast breads and quick breads are done at 190°-200° with the instant read thermometer pushed in about an 1” into the end of the loaf.  For quick breads, check with a toothpick, should come out just clean.

Baked custards and bread puddings are set at about 180° to 185° - do not over bake.  Let cool on rack in the pan of water 10 minutes to finish baking.  Then remove baking dish to rack.

Temperatures for butter are:

•         Chilled – 32°
•    Slightly softned - 58°       
•    Softened – 65-67°
•         Melted and Cooled – 85-90°

My Thermapen instructions recommend a good method for checking cakes and other favorite recipes.  They suggest taking the temperature when your product is done as you like - just when you remove it from the heat.  Jot that temperature on your recipe if you are satisfied with the doneness and use it in the future.

Relish Dishes to the Rescue

 When you need to fill out a meal, go with a relish dish as our grandparents and parents did. Don’t buy one already made up, they are less expensive if you buy the ingredients and make it yourself. I am talking about pickles and olives etc. 
The meat and cheese and veggies and dip are a different thing. They are usually served before a meal, watching the game with the gang, at a office party. Relish dishes are put out with the meal to help fill up the plate. 

 Refrigerator pickles are easy to make, like these beet and carrot type, but I also watch when pickles and olives go on sale and stock up on them. Check the expiration date and you will see that most of them will keep for quite awhile. Another option that works over the Holidays is cranberries. They are so easy to fix, follow the directions on the bag and don’t forget a couple of extra bags for the freezer. The fresh berries are only sold around the Holidays.



Easy Pickled Beets

 Don’t have any relish dishes, not a problem. Be creative and use a pretty dish you already have. A cup will hold pickle spears and many Dollar Stores have nice plastic ones that can be used and washed and used again. These are nice when you have to take something to a dinner elsewhere. 
In the summer go with some of the bright colored plastic ware that can also be bought at a dollar store or Walmart type store.
If you see them, many thrift stores and yard sales have pretty relish dishes very inexpensively, for a few dollars.

I have added Jalapeno pickled peppers to my dish as some of the people coming like them. The Olives do not need to be the fancy expensive ones, open a jar and add garlic or cauliflower right in with the brine a few days before. Go with what your budget allows, the whole purpose is to help fill out a meal. That is how our parents and others got a meal on the table so fast.




Pickled Carrots

Make It Yourself...Cutting a Purchased Pork Loin for $avings

Turkey isn’t the only meat to use for the holidays, especially Christmas.  We often serve pork loin, with stuffing on the side.
One way I save money on meat is buying a whole pork loin. Pork loin is a large cut of meat that will weigh between 5-10 pounds and should not be confused with a pork tenderloin, which will weigh approximately 1 pound.   I usually purchase a boneless loin, when the whole ones are on sale.
Instead of paying a separate, and usually higher, price for different cuts of meat, you can save by purchasing in bulk. Purchasing the whole loin can save you between $.50 and $3 per pound and can be prepared in a variety of ways.  
The day I bought this roast (October 15th of this year) they were also featuring on sale pork slices at $10 for 10 four ounce slices, or $4 a pound, and chops and roasts for around $3.89 - $4.29 a pound!  I paid $1.49 a pound for a whole loin - worth saving up for!
Our local grocery store will generally cut the meat however you like it, for no extra cost.
I purchased this one intending to cut it ourselves for the freezer, and because I had freezer wrap and freezer tape  already on hand.

Here’s what I do with ours:

Cubes and strips
For stew, soups, stir fries and kabobs, cut the pieces you like from your pork loin.  I usually cut cubes and strips from the ends of the loin where I can’t get nice chops. 
Some good recipes for cubes and strips:
Janette’s Pork and Noodles
Sage and Rosemary Pork Stew 
Country style ribs
Country style ribs are meaty and delicious.  These ribs are meaty, tender and are found at the "small" end of the loin.  While they may be a bit harder to eat with your fingers, they are perfect for eating with a fork and knife.  I cut them and package them in meal-size portions.  They can be used instead of spareribs in these favorite recipes.
Oven Barbequed Ribs
Spareribs and Sauerkraut
Loin Chops
Pork chops are the most popular cut from the pork loin. Cut from the center of the loin they are a top loin chop. One of the benefits of purchasing the whole loin is that you can cut the loin chop exactly how you like it. Do you like a thin chop? A thick chop? Or maybe you want to butterfly your own chop? There are a variety of choices that also help you save money!
Here are just a couple of good pork chop recipes.
Mustard Cream Pork Chops
Baked Pork Chops and Rice
Roasts
I often cut my whole loin into a couple of roasts, some chops and some country style ribs.
We serve the roast, and then cut any remaining roast thinly, and freeze the slices, with doubled waxed paper between them, to use instead of expensive lunch meats for sandwiches.

Make It Yourself...Fast Rise Breads with Your Mixer

Fast Rise Breads with Your Mixer

I have been baking our daily bread for 50 years…and in that time I have tried every innovation to make it easier and faster and still get great results.  I think that fast yeasts, Instant or Bread Machine yeasts, have made the most difference, cutting bread making time almost in half with no loss of that yeasty, nutty flavor and texture, and it doesn't need to be "proofed" first, but can be added right to the dry ingredients.

We make a variety of sandwich-style breads for toast and sandwiches.  I can make a simple 24 ounce loaf of white bread for about 50¢; and that’s using expensive, but delicious butter for the fat.  I usually make a whole-grain loaf of some type, as well as hamburger and brat buns, dinner rolls, and the like regularly.  No long list of chemicals in our breads; just wholesome, simple ingredients.

I have gotten my regular bread baking to under 2 hours from start to finish, and that includes mostly waiting for the bread to rise and bake.  Here are some hints to help make bread-making a lot easier than when I started making it years ago.

Instant and Bread Machine yeast are the same, and have really shortened my bread-making time.  I buy 1 pound packages of Fleischmann’s Yeast at Sam’s very reasonably, the little packets cost a fortune for regular bread bakers.  Saf is another good brand of instant yeast.

The advantages of the fast yeasts, is that no proofing is needed, and the first rise is only a rest for 10 minutes, not an hour!  At first, that seemed unbelievable, but the results are excellent.  The short rest means you don’t have near as many big bubbles to get out before you shape your dough into loaves or rolls.

The mixer does the kneading.  After blending in all the flour, I change to a dough hook to knead my dough.  For most bread, 6 minutes with the dough hook gives good results.  For sweet dough, I usually use 4 minutes.  Yes, I can and have kneaded my bread by hand, but after 50 years, I’m happy to let the mixer do the work.

I let my dough rise right in the mixer bowl.  If you cover it tightly with a silicone cover or plastic wrap, you don’t even need grease the bowl or pan, it will scrape right out.  I then use a little soapy water in the mixer bowl to wash up my beaters, scrapers, etc.

The second rise, after shaping your loaves or buns or rolls, is also usually shorter than with active dry yeast, just until it is doubled.  Remember that they will also rise in the oven, called “oven-spring”.

Here are the steps to convert your older recipes to this method.

Set aside 1 cup of regular flour from the total amount.  Mix the remaining flours and other dry ingredients, including the instant yeast, in your mixer bowl.

Heat the fat and other liquids (except eggs) until hot to the touch (120-125°) with an instant read thermometer.  (Some yeast directions call for up to 130°, I don’t like to get that hot…I don’t want to kill my yeast.)  I usually use my microwave and a glass measuring cup for this.  A minute to a minute and a half frequently is sufficient, and a good starting point.  If the recipe calls for "proofing" the yeast in water, add that water to the other liquids.

Stir the liquids into the dry mixture.

Add the eggs if called for in the recipe.

Mix in only enough reserved flour for the desired batter or dough.

Change to a dough hook and knead or knead by hand.

Cover the dough tightly and let rest 10 minutes.  This is the “first rise”.

Shape dough or stir down the batter.

Cover; let rise until doubled in size.  Most dough will require less than the normal rising time.

Bake as the recipe calls for.

Here are some bread recipes to get you excited about making bread with fast instant yeasts.

Remember, all of these recipes can be made by hand if desired.  I certainly made them that way for years.

Make It Yourself...Fast Homemade Breads

My husband calculated that I have been making bread for over 50 years…starting as a preteen helping my mother, grandmother, older sisters, and then making bread on my own.  My mom made 5 loaves at a time in a large “bread-rising pan with a lid”, later I switched to making bread with the inexpensive, light-weight mixers available in the 60’s and 70’s, where you started out in the mixer and added the remaining flour and kneaded loaves by hand. 

Nowadays, I usually make 2 or more loaves of bread at a time, and my 5 quart bowl-lift style KitchenAid is the way I usually make it.  I like my food processor for single loaves and small recipes, but my mixer will make up to 3 loaves at a time, with a lot less work than I used to do.

We like artisan-type breads, but they don’t keep well, and, let’s face it, most home kitchens don’t have the kind of oven that bakeries have, where steam is injected or there is a trough for boiling, steaming water in the oven.  Instead, we make our own sandwich breads, rolls, buns and sweet breads.

Try fast yeasts:  Instant, RapidRise or Bread Machine yeast.  The first rise is actually a 10 minute rest, you don’t have to proof the yeast, and the second rise after shaping is often only half as long.  Check Here to read about fast yeasts and converting your recipes.

The ratio of flour and liquid is critical in any bread recipe.  Flour absorbs different amounts of liquids depending on its protein and / or moisture content, as well at the temperature and humidity of the air. If your recipe has a range of flour to use, start with the lower amount and add only enough to form a dough that starts to pull away from the sides of your bowl. You will be adding more during the kneading stage, so don't add it all during the mixing stage.  Dry, stiff doughs and wet, sticky doughs do not rise well.

Never let salt or sugar be in direct contact with the yeast. To avoid this, add these ingredients after 1 to 2 cups of flour have been mixed in.  To be honest, I’m not that careful about this, and usually have good results.  I do place my ingredients around the bowl over the flour to keep track of what I have added.

Shaping your dough:

To divide dough: weigh the dough on a kitchen scale to obtain loaves and rolls which are of uniform size, they’ll bake evenly with better results.

Rolling out dough using a rolling pin will help eliminate air bubbles in the dough and prevent "holes" in the bread.

I own a variety of bread pans, but you really don’t need any, next week we’ll make simple bread and bake it right on a cookie sheet or pizza pan. 

Baking

Yeast dough should always be baked so the center of the loaf or pan is in the center of a preheated oven for the length of time specified in the recipe. The final expansion of the dough, called "oven spring", takes place in the first few minutes of baking in a hot oven. If the oven has been used for the rising of the dough, remove dough before preheating the oven. 

Testing for Doneness - Two Methods

The time tested method of determining if the bread has baked sufficiently is to tap the crust lightly and listen for a hollow sound.

A more accurate method is to insert an instant-read thermometer (available in most housewares departments) into the center of the bread. Robin Hood flour says when the thermometer registers 190°F -200° for regular breads, remove the bread from the oven.  For whole grain loaves, it should be 210°.

If the crust is browning too quickly, cover the top with a tented sheet of foil or parchment paper.

To avoid soggy bread, remove your bread from the pan immediately after baking and place on a wire rack to cool.

 Follow your Recipe for the Appropriate Oven Temperature

Some guidelines:

400°F to 425°F for bread with very little or no sugar, such as French bread.

375°F for most breads with an average amount of sugar (less than 1/2 cup sugar per 4 cups of flour)

350°F for sweet breads high in sugar (more than 1/2 cup sugar per 4 cups of flour)

Some other tools in addition to my mixer that help me get good, consistent baking results are a digital scale, an instant read thermometer, a flour shaker, a rolling pin, a bench knife or scraper, and a bread board or cutting mat.  You can shape your loaves right on the counter-top, but I doubt that you want to use a knife to cut dough on your counter. 

The scale helps you get your loaves the same size, as well as measuring your ingredients right into the bowl without bothering with measuring cups.  Fast, fast, fast.

Double-check your recipe for amounts of each ingredient needed.

The thermometer helps you determine the temperature of your liquids so you don’t kill your yeast or slow it down.  You can also determine if your bread is done, eliminating a lot of guess-work.


A rising box or cover...I finally found an inexpensive plastic box that has a flat top edge, so it will fit flat on a counter, or on my glass range top (of course, it doesn't have any burners turned on).  I bought it at that most popular of chain discount stores.  Two of my 12" long bread pans will fit under it; the bread rises without having to be greased or covered with plastic wrap, waxed paper or a towel, and it doesn't form a skin.  
I also use plastic covers sold for my sheet pans for raising buns or rolls.  Quick, cheap, no waste and little cleanup!

Make It Yourself...Quick Bread Baking Tips

Myrna and I both bake quick breads often – they’re quick, of course, no rising times like yeast breads, but also flavorful and easy to store.  I serve them for coffee time, and I especially like them on buffet tables, or in the summer with cold main-dish salads and in the winter with main-dish soups.  We like ‘em all – loaves with lots of nuts and fruits or vegetables.

Here are some quick bread helps that I’ve found useful:

- If you find that your bread is beginning to brown too fast in the oven, cover it with a tent of aluminum foil.

- For loaves with a gently rounded top and no "hard shoulders" at the edges, grease only the bottoms of the loaf pans and up the sides 1" or so – or use parchment paper with handles, greasing the same way as the pan.

- Cool quick bread loaves completely before slicing; cutting while warm is one of the chief reasons for crumbling. Even better, store them tightly covered at room temperature for 24 hours for easier cutting.  After cooling, wrap loaves tightly and store them in the fridge for up to a week or freeze up to 3 months.                                                                  
 - Cut with a sharp, thin-bladed knife, using a light sawing motion. I like my electric knife for cutting quick breads, or any breads, for that matter 
- Quick breads usually call for a 9-inch by 5-inch loaf pan. I usually use a 4 1/2-inch by 8 1/2-inch baking loaf pan -  I think the slices are a better size and bake through better, without sticky interior and an over baked outside crust. 

- I have a 6 cup half-size Bundt pan that I like for quick breads for a fancier look.  Mini loaves or muffins are good for gift-giving.  You need to check your pan size with a measuring cup and some water.  When you determine how many small loaves you will get from a recipe, jot it down so you remember. 

- When making mini-loaves, it usually takes a quarter less time than for a large loaf.    Stagger the pans, with at least  1” between the pans so air circulates evenly.  You may need a sheet pan under pans that are too tiny to sit on the shelves alone.

For Quick Breads:

Fill your pans only 2/3 full.  If you have batter left over, make some muffins.  Try these times; but check your loaves at least 10 minutes before the time is up.  Use the toothpick test, but also press on the top of the loaf and check the cracks, if any, for moisture.  Don’t overbake.

Try these times for smaller pans.  If your recipe calls for baking a 9 x 5” pan for 1 to 1 ¼ hours:

8 x 4 x 2” loaf pan	50 to 60 minutes
7 ½ x 3 ½ x 2” loaf pans	40 to 45 minutes
4 ½ x 2 ½ x 1 ½ inch loaf pans	30 to 35 minutes
Regular size 2 ½” muffin cups	15 to 20 minutes

Try some of our recipes for quick bread loaves HERE.

Baking Pan Substitutions

When you want to substitute one baking pan for another or reduce a recipe and bake it in a smaller pan, you can measure the volume in cups, but the best pan to substitute is one that keeps the mixture at the same depth as the original, or a pan that is the same size on the bottom, or half that size if you are halving the recipe.  
You can substitute a pan of approximately the same square inches and bake the mixture in about the same time.  For instance, a 9” round pan and an 8” square pan have about the same square inches of surface , see the pans in the bottom right corner. 

Here’s the chart I use.  I have found it to be more dependable than the amount of cups of water that will fill a pan.  For example, if I want half of an 11 x 7” pan, a 7 x 5” inch casserole is about right.  If I want to substitute another pan for half a 15 ½ x 10” half sheet, I could choose an 11 x 7” or a 10” round pan.  Notice I am looking for something about the same depth when possible.

Pan Size	Square Inches	Half
7 3/4" x 3 4/8" x 2 1/4"	28	14
9 x 5 x 3"`	45	22.5
7 x 5" casserole	35	17.5
Brownie pan 6 3/4 x 10 3/4"	73	36.3
Toaster oven roaster pan 7 x 9"	63	31.5
8 X 1 1/2" round	50	25
11 x 4 1/2 x 2 3/4"	50	25
9 x 1 1/2" round	64	32
8" square	64	32
11 x 7 x 1 1/2"	77	38.5
10 x 1 1/2" round	79	39.5
16 x 5 x 4"	80	40
13 x 9 x 2"	117	58.5
15 X 10 X 2	150	75
15 1/2 X 10 1/2 X 1"	160	80

Some rules of thumb: 

• A baking dish, if called for in a recipe in most cookbooks, means a glass baking dish or casserole.  If the recipe calls for a baking pan, they usually mean a metal pan.
• A 7” pie pan holds half as much as a 9” pan.  An 8” skillet will hold half as many chops as a 10” pan.  
• If a recipe calls for 45 minutes cooking time, half the recipe will be done in about 30-35 minutes, and a double recipe will cook in about an hour.
• Remember that food baked in a round dish browns more evenly – no burned corners.  
• The sides of a pan should be just high enough to hold the contents after rising.  Sides that are too high prevent browning of the top crust of cakes, bars, pies and cookies.  That’s why cookie sheets are low-sided or flat.   
• Meats and poultry in a pan with too-high sides will steam instead of roast.  I usually use the broiler pan with insert that comes with most ovens for roasting for that reason.

Coffee and Tea

September weather and upcoming holiday entertaining got me thinking about making such basic beverages as coffee and tea.  Many folks patronize coffee shops for their caffeine, or use expensive “pod” type coffee makers, but for entertaining, I find I need a larger coffee pot, and a I have a tea pot too.  I also found this summer that I really prefer tea I make by steeping hot tea for iced tea instead of sun tea, which I made for many years.  The problem with sun tea is that the variation in sunlight and heat made it hard to get the strength I wanted, and I would forget to bring it in on time.

Here are some useful coffee and tea making tips.

• For maximum flavor, store fresh ground or whole bean coffee in the refrigerator for up to two weeks in an airtight container.
• Long term storage is best done in the freezer – I keep coffee beans up to a year this way with no loss of flavor.
• Unopened vacuum packed cans or packages of beans or ground coffee can be store in the pantry for up to one year. 
• For the best tasting coffee, always start with a clean coffee maker that has been washed with hot soapy water and well-rinsed.  Brew coffee with fresh cold water.
• You can store tea bags or loose tea at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 years.  Do keep different flavors of tea in separate storage containers.
• To make perfect tea, pour boiling water over one tea bag or a tea infuser containing 1 teaspoon of loose tea.  Allow to steep for 3-5 minutes until the strength suits you.   Remove the bag or infuser.
• My favorite way to make “quick” iced tea is to pour 4 cups of boiling water over 8 tea bags in a heat resistant container.  Cover and steep 3-5 minutes.  Remove bags and sweeten if desired.  Add 4 cups cold water or ice.  Chill until ready to serve.