Meat thermometers come in different styles—some of which are completely safe to leave in meat while it’s cooking. If you want to gauge the internal temperature of your steaks while it’s cooking, look for an oven-safe, grill-safe, or wireless meat thermometer.

A pound of powdered sugar consists of 3.94 cups. However, the actual cup-per-pound ratio will depend on the fineness grade of the powdered sugar.

Potatoes are split into 3 size categories—small, medium, and large. To get a total of 3 pounds, you would need about 10 small potatoes, 7 medium potatoes, and 5 large potatoes.

1 cup of raw potatoes weighs 5.4 ounces, whereas 1 cup of mashed potatoes is 7.4 ounces. So, 4 cups of raw or mashed potatoes will weigh 21.6 ounces (1.35 pounds) and 29.6 ounces (1.85 pounds), respectively.

The answer is yes! Ramekins are completely oven-safe as long as you follow these rules:

Most recipes you find online will have you measure ingredients in volume—e.g., teaspoons, tablespoons, cups, etc. If you have the right measuring spoons and cups, measuring fractions shouldn’t be too difficult. But if you don’t and you have to use, say, 2/3 of a cup of an ingredient, how would you convert that to tablespoons?

For those that lack a cookie sheet at home, there are several alternatives you can use, such as a silicone mat, an aluminum baking sheet, a muffin tin, ramekins, a casserole dish, or even pizza stones. Basically, any flat oven-safe piece of bakeware will be a fine substitute for a cookie sheet.

Store-bought queso fresco typically has a shelf life of 2 weeks. However, homemade queso fresco will remain good for about only 3-7 days due to a lack of preservatives.

The shelf life of cayenne peppers depends on whether it’s ground or fresh. Fresh cayenne pepper has a maximum shelf life of 5 days when left at room temperature, whereas ground cayenne can last for up to 4 years. Freezing fresh cayenne peppers can extend their shelf life by 6 weeks, depending on how airtight their container is.

Before deep-drying your French fries, you should blanch them in a pot of boiling water for 5-10 minutes, depending on the fries’ thickness. After that, let them air-dry at room temperature for 15 minutes before giving them the final dunk in oil.

There are 4 types of oils that can withstand super-hot grills: vegetable oil, avocado oil, grapeseed oil, and peanut oil. Anything else will have too low a smoke point and burn in the grill before properly searing the outside of your steak.

When cooking pork chops in a Dutch oven, it can take anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours for the meat to become fully cooked. You will know it’s cooked when the meat reaches an internal temperature of 145°F.