Homemade Cooking Cheats

[lizzief79]

I always boast that I cook everything from scratch, but I do use dried pasta and sometimes pasta sauces. I also by bread rather than make it. However, when people enter cooking competitions on the TV, I am horrified if they do not make their own pasta or sauces and use ready prepared ingredients instead. What do you consider cheating and what cheats do you use at home?

 

[OhioTom76]

I wouldn't consider using dried pasta a "cheat" to be honest. You are limiting yourself greatly by only using hand made pastas since there are only so many shapes and styles of pasta that you can make at home by hand. In order to get the more complicated pastas you need special machinery that most people don't have. And considering the pasta itself is made with a machine anyhow even if you did have the equipment, what is the difference if you make it or it's made by another company? The end result is still more or less going to be the same by the time you let the pasta air dry so it is strong enough to hold its shape.

I would like to start making breads at home, but I can never seem to get them to rise properly. I think at least part of the issue is how cold I like to keep my place - I will even run the air in the winter some times if I feel too stuffy and warm. Plus I think my tap water is too chlorinated, which is killing the yeast. Also, the bakeries have special ovens that can control the moisture in them and produce different crusts which I don't have, which puts me at a disadvantage.

I guess one of the "cheats" I sometimes use is boxed broths. Although I do make my own stocks, I can never get them entirely clear and clean as a boxed broth, so if I am making a more elegant soup I will use the boxed variety along with the other fresh ingredients I am preparing.

 

[lizzief79]

I wouldn't consider using dried pasta a "cheat" to be honest. You are limiting yourself greatly by only using hand made pastas since there are only so many shapes and styles of pasta that you can make at home by hand. In order to get the more complicated pastas you need special machinery that most people don't have. And considering the pasta itself is made with a machine anyhow even if you did have the equipment, what is the difference if you make it or it's made by another company? The end result is still more or less going to be the same by the time you let the pasta air dry so it is strong enough to hold its shape.

I would like to start making breads at home, but I can never seem to get them to rise properly. I think at least part of the issue is how cold I like to keep my place - I will even run the air in the winter some times if I feel too stuffy and warm. Plus I think my tap water is too chlorinated, which is killing the yeast. Also, the bakeries have special ovens that can control the moisture in them and produce different crusts which I don't have, which puts me at a disadvantage.

I guess one of the "cheats" I sometimes use is boxed broths. Although I do make my own stocks, I can never get them entirely clear and clean as a boxed broth, so if I am making a more elegant soup I will use the boxed variety along with the other fresh ingredients I am preparing.

I never make homemade pasta personally, I use the dried stuff. It is just that I consider it cheating when people in cooking competitions use dried ingredients like this as part of the meal. My issue with bread is time. Strangely, I also used a boxed broth to add a little extra flavour to a homemade broth I was making the other day and this is something that I do not usually do. Like you, I make my own stock.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I DO cook most things from scratch. But I sometimes cheat and use things already made to speed up time in food prep & cooking.

I like to be creative in the kitchen. That is when my culinary skills REALLY kick in, and when my grand nephews were here with me, I always let the younger one (pictured below, who is a very big 10 years old) help, since he likes to cook & bake. He wants to become a professional chef one day and own his own restaurant!

 

[Jade]

I usually microwave some foods before I put them in the oven or throw them into the fryer, just to make sure the center will be hot and steamy. I do this especially for frozen goods, but it takes a while to find out the techniques and timing of using a microwave as a complementary cooking tool.

 

[Sweetkymom]

Here lately, I've cheated all the way by using ready made sauces, pastas, breads and whatever else it is I need. I've just not had the time to really sit back and make everything I need homemade. If only I had more time to make some things homemade, the meals would taste much better.