Good Advice Not Asked For - Now With 100% more Asked For!

[Aarah]

Anyone know how to get baked beans out of a can without beans and juice flying all over the place? I shake it before I open it but to get the beans into the pan -you gotta shake and the juice goes everywhere.

[The SheoDovah]

Use a fork, Aarah. When Mushy Peas refused to come out, i rammed a fork into them and dug out those green [&@%!]! Then I cooked them and ate them for their defiance! NO-ONE DEFIES THE DOVAH AND SURVIVES! if you are a food that is.

[Aarah]

A fork. Hmm, so simple. I think I used to use a fork and then forgot. Now I feel stupid. Unless I tried the fork and it was a flawed method...I shall try it for future bean consumptions!
Thank you, wise one.

[leroybrown]

This is seriously not a problem in Americaland.

[Aarah]

This is seriously not a problem in Americaland.

How so? You got some kind of fancy lubricated tin cans over there? Tell me more...

[leroybrown]

I dunno. I didn't know our cans were so highly advanced? Well now I know where the tax paying dollars are going.

Emptying the can consists of opening said can and then inverting it.

[The SheoDovah]

We often have to use broadswords to open our cans.

I am of course, kidding. No self respecting englishmen/woman uses a broadsword in public due to it being so 17th century.

I do find that using the end of a spoon as a small lever is useful for those pesky cans where you can't get the damn ring due to the lack of space between the ring and the can. That said, i usually use a tin opener to bypass it if i am feeling a bit lazy.

[Aarah]

Emptying the can consists of opening said can and then inverting it.

What witchcraft is this? No, here in the UK, we have beans, and other foodstuffs in juice of a similar viscosity, that defy gravity. It's not dinner time unless a quarter of the can is strewn across your kitchen worktop.

I do find that using the end of a spoon as a small lever is useful for those pesky cans where you can't get the damn ring due to the lack of space.

Yeah, that works well.
I hate it when the lid curls over too much and stops coming off when it's two thirds open.

[The SheoDovah]

That is the work of the devil! I had that happen to a Fentos... wait, is Bentos? ah, never mind. Pie the other week. Had to manually bend it out of shape whilst avoiding cutting myself. It is rather annoying when the rings breaks off a can of fizzy. Out in public. I mean, how is one meant to rink it if the ring snaps off!?

A fork, knife, anything that is thin enough will do really.

And as for some advice, reuse any plastic containers. That is why i'm trying to do atm! Makes it easier to prep stuff in the long run and avoids certain things from drying out. I have a big plastic tin that i can use for biscuits, a small jar(once i've devoured the pink sweets inside) for teabags etc.. Also, my cheese has avoided drying out and still retains the texture. Would advise caution with canned fish and personally, i would recommend just using the canned fish when you need to.

[leroybrown]

What witchcraft is this?

I don't know for sure but if I was a betting man I'd say it has to do with how our respective gov's legislate food companies. Long story short: If Acme Baked Beans has to increase sales by WD-40'ing their cans then they get the green light until someone has enough money to sue.

We often have to use broadswords to open our cans.

That's pretty [&@%!] rad I'm not gonna lie.

[Aarah]

If Acme Baked Beans has to increase sales by WD-40'ing their cans then they get the green light until someone has enough money to sue.

It's what gives the beans their tang.

It is rather annoying when the rings breaks off a can of fizzy. Out in public. I mean, how is one meant to rink it if the ring snaps off!?

Stab it with a knife and hold it above your face.

I have a load of plastic tubs, that pretty much anything that is leftover or been opened goes in, then in the fridge.
I put tinned fish in a bowl with a saucer on top, and it keeps for a few days.

[The SheoDovah]

Did so with salmon once. Just perfer to use canned fish when i need it. However, by storing my grated cheese, i literally cut my pastabake prep time by 90%. Literally grating bread after pasta, scoop out the tuna from the tin, bung it in and shove into oven.

[Aarah]

You must spend a long time grating cheese.
I'd rethink your recipe instructions before writing a cookbook. Unless you call it 'Bish, Bash, Bosh, Done.'

For potatoes, if you take them out of the plastic bag they come in, and store them in some tissue (or sand or sawdust, if you've got any), they will keep much longer. Also don't let the light get em' or they'll go green.

[The SheoDovah]

Nah, only takes 5 minutes in total. Cuts it down to 60 seconds by doing it in advance.

[MARS]

If you're like me and you fry everything in oil instead of butter; keep a designated pan for frying and just leave the oil in there. It can be reused a lot of times, since oil doesn't really get stale or bad. This means you can use olive oil for cooking without murdering your foid budget! Just remember to cover the pan when it's not in use.

[VirtualWeasel]

This means you can use olive oil for cooking without murdering your foid budget!

Good advice, now I can eat all my foids without any fuss from the Neptons on Herculanium.

[MARS]

Foid is way better than food anyway. ...Alright back on topic.Get a dishwasher. Your life will be easier.

[The SheoDovah]

But if one washes everything as they go along, it makes for a cheaper use of washing up via hand.

[MARS]

Actually dishwashers are more economical and eco-friendly with watee and chemicals. Little known fact.

[The SheoDovah]

But washing things as you go along eliminates the need for a dish washer and some may not have room for one.

[MARS]

Obviously my advice was aimed at people who have the capability of getti g one.

[Dark Spark]

Soap does only one thing in the world: To make oil and water mix. Anti-bacterial additives, lemon-fresh bursts or sentient scrubbing bubbles are all a gimmick. Water is a notoriously effective solvent: Entire mountains will dissolve once you get enough water running through it. When you get oil and water mixing together, any oily junk is going down the drain. Remember that when looking for fancy additives in your soaps.

[leroybrown]

Soap does only one thing in the world: To make oil and water mix. Anti-bacterial additives, lemon-fresh bursts or sentient scrubbing bubbles are all a gimmick. Water is a notoriously effective solvent: Entire mountains will dissolve once you get enough water running through it. When you get oil and water mixing together, any oily junk is going down the drain. Remember that when looking for fancy additives in your soaps.

Why is it that dish soap is more effective at cutting grease/grime than hand soap? When I first started working on cars I would use Gojo (basically the liquid version of Lava soap) to clean my hands but then realized that dish soap works just as well unless it's like a full front end repair. Basic hand soap does nothing.

[VirtualWeasel]

IIRC, it's because dish soap contains EDTA, and regular hand soap doesn't. EDTA is rougher on biological materials, and tends to burst cell walls it comes into contact with, making it much easier for it to wash off biological materials like food oils or food in general.

It may also just be a minor corrosive acid, I don't really remember all that well.

[Wolfborn]

EDTA is typically used in soaps as a chelating agent. What's a chelating agent, you ask?

In very simple terms, soap works by surrounding oil and grease molecules so they can be carried away in water. As Dark Spark said, it makes oil and water mix--it's basically an emulsifier.

Often, water (especially hard water) has metal ions in it, such as calcium and magnesium ions. Unfortunately, soap loves these ions more than it loves water, and soap molecules which bind to these ions get left behind to form the dirty soap scum which forms in your sink and bathtub.

Enter the chelating agent. A chelating agent such as EDTA loves the metal ions even more than soap does, so by adding it to soap, it binds the ions and leaves them in solution so the soap can do it's thing with the oil and grease. I've seen EDTA used in hand soaps as well as dish soaps.

EDTA can also be found in food and supplements as it aids in the body's absorption of certain essential minerals.