Category: Kitchen Tips

Posted in Kitchen Tips

An Expert Settles the Debate: This Is the Best Trick to Make Your Beans Less Gassy

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Beans are magical, and not just in fairy tales. Everyone from your favorite social media chef to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is pushing for increased bean consumption, and there’s plenty of good reason—beansare rich in protein and fiber, making them an affordable foundation for a nutritious and filling meal.

Despite their benefits, you could say beans don’t have the best reputation, thanks to their … after-effects. So, when we heard about a simple trick that helps reduce gas in beans, you bet we investigated the method.

Why Do Beans Cause So Much Gas? 

“Beans produce gas mainly due to oligosaccharides, which are complex sugars like raffinose and stachyose,” says recipe developer and food expert Rizwan Asad. “We lack the enzymes to break these down, so they end up fermenting in the gut, creating gas.”

According to our friends at Eating Well, high-protein foods contain compounds that can exacerbate gas or lactose in dairy. In beans’ case, hard-to-digest complex carbohydrates (including oligosaccharides and fiber) cause further fermentation and discomfort.  

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Toss Your Butter Immediately If You Notice These Signs

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Similar to flour and sugar, butter is one of those indispensable ingredients you just can’t do without. Whether to slather on toast, melt over a perfectly seared filet, or fold into a homemade batter, smart cooks keep a few sticks of butter on hand at all times. (The last thing you want to do mid-recipe is drop everything to make a mad dash to the grocery.) But how long does butter last? And how can you tell when and if it’s gone bad?

How Long Does Butter Last? 

Butter keeps longer than other dairy products, thanks to its high concentration of fat (around 80%) and low moisture level (around 16%). Salted butter has an added layer of protection since salt acts as a natural preservative, thus slowing down spoilage. But butter eventually will go bad. How and when that happens depends on where you store it.

How long does butter last at room temperature? While some believe that butter should always be stored in the refrigerator, the truth is that, if stored properly, salted butter can keep at room temperature for a few days and even up to a week. Just be sure to cover it in a butter dish so light and air don’t get in. (Light and air are butter’s enemies because they will oxidize the fat, leading to rancidity.) It’s also best not to store next to a heat source or direct sunlight. Unsalted, whipped, and unpasteurized butter should be kept in the fridge.

How long does butter last in the refrigerator? Butter can be stored in the fridge for about three months (unsalted) to five months (salted). After that you might notice a change in quality and freshness since butter can absorb other flavors and odors in the fridge. To prevent that, store it in an airtight container or well-wrapped away from other foods with strong smells. While some refrigerator models have built-in butter storage in the door, it’s recommended you store butter in a colder part of your fridge for longer shelf life.

How long does butter last in the freezer? Butter can be frozen for five months (unsalted) to nine months (salted). Just like with the fridge, you’ll want to store it in the freezer in an airtight container such as a zip-top bag, and be sure to freeze before the use-by date. To thaw frozen butter, leave it in the fridge overnight to slowly defrost. Once thawed, it should be used within a month. It’s important to remember that even if stored properly, butter that’s been frozen for months won’t taste as fresh as butter you’ve just purchased.

Everyone Should Have a Butter Bell—Here’s Why

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The 3 Most Dangerous Expired Dairy Products in Your Refrigerator

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Whether you’re pouring milk on your favorite cereal, marinating chicken in buttermilk, or crumbling blue cheese onto a wedge salad, dairy products are essential to our diets and cooking routines. But because of their nutrient-dense environments, milk, yogurt, and other items are also stomping grounds for bacteria and other harmful microorganisms to thrive—particularly if they’re stored incorrectly or kept past their prime. 

“When it comes to food safety, it is best to discard expired foods to prevent foodborne illness,” says Connie Elick, a registered dietician and instructor of plant-based culinary arts at the Institute of Culinary Education Los Angeles campus.

These are the three most dangerous dairy products to keep in your refrigerator past their expiration dates, according to Elick. Plus, warning signs of spoilage to look for to keep your meals worry-free and tips for prolonging the shelf life of your dairy.

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How To Make Your Best Ham Ever

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Imagine your perfect Christmas spread. Is it a table full of potatoes (au gratin or scalloped are our preferred), some hearty veggies (our Brussels sprout salad or our winter panzanella are tops over here), dinner rolls, ham… Yep, ours too, with one caveat: While we can all get behind the sides (and the Christmas COOKIES), when it comes to the main event, our team is surprisingly split.

Some Delish editors say a spiral ham is the only one to buy, while others swear by a smoked whole ham and say that scoring it yourself will yield the juiciest meat. And then there’s the question of which glaze is the most classic, with everything from cherry bourbon to brown sugar on the table. Why is it so hard to find a definitive answer to which ham is the BEST ham?

Turns out, the answer lies in your preferences. It’s just as much about what you’re doing with your ham day-of as it is what you’d like to do with your leftover ham. Whether you’re in it for the perfect forkful on Christmas Eve or just the best-ever post-holiday ham sandwich, we’ve got all the info you need here to make an exceptional baked ham—even if you’ve never cooked one before. Let’s get started!

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This Mind-Blowing Potato-Peeling Hack Doesn’t Even Use a Vegetable Peeler

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

I’m always looking for ways to do things better, faster, and easier in the kitchen—as long as the end result is quality. Peeling different foods is at the top of the list. Who hasn’t tried various methods for easily peeling a hard-boiled egg, removing the skin from a tomato, or peeling the thick skin from a butternut squash? And the various different ways I’ve tried to keep myself from crying while cutting an onion until I discovered onion goggles? I’ve lost count.

Recently, a viral video got the social media world buzzing about the easiest way to peel potatoes, and it’s intriguing. Particularly with the holidays coming up and the mountains of mashed potatoes many of us will make, the trick is definitely worth investigating.

How to Peel Potatoes Without a Vegetable Peeler 

TikTok’s kalejunkie shares various tricks, tips, and recipes with her followers. Her method for making potatoes easy to peel seems genius if you intend for the potatoes to be boiled for dishes like mashed potatoes or potato salad.

Here are the steps to her method:

  1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. 
  2. Score potatoes around the middle with a sharp knife.
  3. Carefully drop potatoes in the boiling water and cook them until you can easily pierce them with a knife.
  4. Remove and let cool a little so you can handle them. 
  5. Peel the skins right off by hand.

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Toss Your Salad Dressing Immediately If Notice These Signs

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

We all have condiments and dressings sitting in the back of our refrigerators (and would rather not admit how long they’ve been there). Due to the fact that mayonnaise or balsamic vinaigrette usually don’t get used everyday, it’s easy to forget when you bought them at the store—and how long they’ve been inhabiting the top shelf. 

That’s why it’s important to brush up on the signs of expiration, especially when it comes to salad dressing, which tends to get overlooked in the kitchen. We turned to an expert to learn exactly when your salad dressing needs to be tossed—either in a bowl or in the garbage. 

It Fails the Sniff Test 

Like most foods, salad dressing tends to take on an off-putting odor when expired. “This is because there are yeasts that produce gas when salad dressing has spoiled, and create off-flavors or odors in the process,” says food scientist Dr. Bryan Quoc Le. Trust your gut—any forms of rancid, unpleasant, or just plain weird scents warrant throwing it away. 

You’ll especially notice a sour odor with dairy-based dressings like ranch, Caesar, or Italian. Some have even likened a funky salad dressing smell to wet cardboard.

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FDA Announces Recall on Crackers Sold at Walmart, Target, and More for Metal Contamination

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

More than 15,000 cases of oyster crackers have been recalled from Walmart, Target, and Giant Eagle after stainless steel wire was found in the product. The recall was initiated on Feb. 21, 2025, and was classified as “Class II,” meaning the product may cause “temporary” or “reversible” health consequences, by the FDA on March 11. 

Shearer’s Foods, LLC recalled its oyster crackers, which are packaged and labeled under multiple brand names, after the food was found to be contaminated with foreign material. The oyster crackers were distributed to Target, Walmart, and Giant Eagle stores in Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. The recalled products were also distributed in 20-pound bulk packages that were not meant for retail sale. 

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What is Kimchi?

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

A pretty sizable portion of my favorite things are fermented. Sauerkraut on a Hebrew National hot dog, soul-warming miso soup, and that ice cold beer at the end of a long day are all things made possible by that holiest of metabolic processes. And in my mind, there’s no other food that deserves the fermented crown more than kimchi.

In the states, people tend to think of kimchi solely as the Korean pickled cabbage that has grown exponentially in popularity over the past couple of decades. However, kimchi is much much more than that. To get a full rundown of all things kimchi I spoke to Hyunjoo Albrecht, the founder and head chef behind Sinto Gourmet, the makers of one of our favorite brands of store-bought kimchi.

So what is kimchi?

Kimchi should be thought of more as a method than a singular dish. Hyunjoo describes it succinctly as “a very traditional, fermented vegetable originating in Korea that is fermented with salt as well as other seasonings.” She also told me that it’s the way Korean people have been preserving vegetables for centuries. Traditionally, the salted veg would be placed in earthenware pots and buried to keep cool during summer months and to keep from freezing in the winter. Today kimchi is kept in the fridge. (When kept at room temperature, the fermentation can occur too quickly and it will spoil.)

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The Most Dangerous Leftovers Lurking In Your Refrigerator

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Leftovers are the glue that holds together a weekly meal plan. Having food that can quickly be eaten from one meal to the next is what keeps schedules less stressful and the grocery bill balanced. It’s just an added bonus that the bowl of last night’s spaghetti and meat sauce hits the spot any night of the week. But what if that pasta is harboring some pretty nasty bacteria that can make you really sick?  

After a 2008 news story about a 20-year-old college student dying from eating leftover pasta resurfaced on TikTok, social media users are worried that their days-old food might not be safe to eat. The illness that’s caused by eating leftovers, known as “fried rice syndrome,” has garnered plenty of attention on TikTok, with creators raking in millions of views for explaining its dangers. 

Which begs the question: Which leftovers can be dangerous? Why? And are there any ways to avoid or minimize the risk of foodborne illness?

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How to Clean Dirty Baking Sheets So They Look Brand New

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

If you’re like me, sheet pans are probably some of your most well-loved and perpetually dirty kitchen items. No amount of scrubbing and soaking seems to get any of that burnt residue off. Sometimes it’s time to set soap and water aside and look for new methods of cleaning stubborn stains and residue. So before you toss those dirty pans, give these methods of cleaning sheet pans a try.

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