Home Cooking Mysteries, Solved

Even as an experienced home cook, following a recipe can be a mystifying experience. Why do I need to skim that pot of stock while it's simmering? And do I really need to rinse that raw chicken before roasting it? It's a constant gamble just trying to figure out which shortcuts are okay to take and which ones will completely sabotage the end result.

Picking the ingredients out before starting a recipe can be even more confusing. There are those grocery store decisions, like which butter (salted or unsalted, cultured or uncultured, American or European) will work best for your next batch of croissants. And then there's the constant debate about whether those older ingredients sitting in your crisper drawer are still okay to use. Thankfully, the editors of Epicurious have your back with the answers to some of these biggest everyday cooking mysteries.

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