How-To Archives - Chattavore

How to Keep Your Kitchen Cool During the Summer

July 26, 2020

It gets hot in the summer here in Tennessee, and electricity can be pricey. Here’s how to keep your kitchen cool during the summer!

Keeping the Kitchen Cool!

Okay, so you can only eat so many salads and sandwiches in the summertime, and (as I mention in #2), I can’t run my ceiling fan while simultaneously cooking on my gas range. Over the years I’ve discovered a lot of tricks to keep the heat factor down, and these are my 9 suggestions for how to keep your kitchen cool during the summer!

By the way, all of these links and photos are Amazon affiliate links. This means that if you click the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission. This does not affect the cost to you. For more information, please see my disclosures. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Keeping the Kitchen Cool!

By the way, most of the links below are Amazon affiliate links. This means that if you click the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission. This does not affect the cost to you. For more information, please see my disclosures. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Air Fryer

This one honestly surprised me! Several people asked me in classes that I have done for The Chattery if I had ever considered doing an air fryer class. Well, honestly – I had never even considered getting an air fryer! After so many people asked, I asked my Facebook followers about it and a ton of people told me that they were completely in love with their air fryer. I decided to take the plunge. Some of the things that I make in mine include: homemade fries, baked potatoes, fried squash, chicken tenders, frozen spring rolls, and reheated pizza. It’s basically a mini convection oven, and it is so convenient to have around! Since I originally wrote this post a few years back, I have switched from a traditional air fryer to a pressure cooker/air fryer combo, but love both kinds. The one pictured is a Cook’s Essentials 5.3 quart air fryer from QVC.

2. Instant Pot

Did anyone question whether I was going to put this on the list? Doubtful. It’s no secret that I’m pretty much obsessed with this appliance. I use it weekly, year-round. If the Smart Oven was the best birthday gift I’ve ever gotten, the Instant Pot was the best Christmas gift (thanks, Mom!). It’s great for roasts, soups, stews, and even one-pot pasta dishes. Really! And yes, I know you can pressure cook on the stovetop, but I use my Instant Pot for a lot of things that I would do on the stovetop because it allows me to keep the ceiling fan in my kitchen running. Ceiling fans are essential in a Tennessee summer, but when you have a gas range, you have to turn them off while you’re cooking on the stovetop. No need with the Instant Pot!

3. Convection Microwave or Toaster Oven

This is probably my number one “keep the kitchen cool” tool. I started with a cheapie toaster oven from Walmart, and it did a pretty good job but my in-laws bought me a Breville Smart Oven (linked above) and it was amazing. When I replaced my microwave a couple of years ago I upgraded to a microwave/convection oven. The Breville Smart Oven and my convection microwave are both large enough to fit my 9×11 USA Pan cake pan, a 12-cup muffin tin, and my 10-inch cast iron skillet. There is virtually no reason for me to turn my oven on from the time the temps outside get into the 80s (which happened in April here) until cooler weather hits in the fall.

4. Grill

Maybe this is the most obvious one on the list? I mean, who doesn’t love grilling in the summer? There is just something about that slightly charred taste of a freshly grilled chicken leg or burger that you can’t get from even the best pan-fried burger (and pan-fried burgers are my favorite, but when you want a grilled burger, you need a grilled burger). Plus, you get to cook outside. All you need is a beer and maybe a picnic table? We use propane, but my dad swears by his Weber charcoal grill (there have been many iterations of this exact grill at my parents’ house since my childhood).

5. Slow Cooker

The next best thing to an Instant Pot! Honestly, I don’t own a slow cooker anymore…I gave mine away when I realized that I had only used it once after a year of having the Instant Pot! But…the Instant Pot has a slow cooker function and I do use that, so it counts. I probably don’t have to try to sell you on the usefulness of an appliance that (a) doesn’t heat up the kitchen; (b) does the work of cooking for you while you’re out for the day; and (c) is super-affordable.

6. Vitamix or Another High Quality Blender

Another great gift, this time from my husband. The Vitamix is a thing of beauty. Not only can you mix up the obvious cooling summer treats (smoothies, milkshakes, etc.), it’s also powerful enough to whip up creamy hummus, smooth as silk salad dressings, and perfect salsa that just requires dumping in all of your ingredients (I never chop anything beforehand). And – get this – you can even make soup in it. I don’t mean that you can puree soup in it. I mean the motor is so powerful that if you let it run long enough it will heat your soup. That’s for real, people.

7. Food Processor

a photograph of a Cuisinart food processor

Obviously, this is along the same lines as the Vitamix. I usually use my food processor instead of the blender to make hummus, pesto, etc., just because it’s easier to scrape stuff out of the blades (since they’re removable and all). I love cold dips for lunch and snacks, and the food processor is my go-to for making them. This particular model is the one recommended by America’s Test Kitchen.

8. Smoker

a photograph of a Masterbuilt electric smoker

So…this is hotly contested – should smokers be powered by gas or charcoal? How about electricity??? That’s totally my cop-out. We like smoked meat but we do not want to babysit our smoker. I mean, we’re stuck at home (which is great for an introvert like me) but I don’t want to have to watch my smoker to make sure it doesn’t catch anything on fire. With my electric smoker, I load it up with chips and let it go, just watching to see if smoke stops pouring out of it, then I add more chips. Smoked meat = happy Mary. I mean, even just the smell of the smoker makes me happy. And, like the grill, you can totally hang out outside if you’re watching it.

9. Waffle Iron

I recently got a new waffle iron, and I’ve so far only used it for waffles. But if you are a watcher of food videos, you know that you can make cinnamon rolls, grilled cheese sandwiches, paninis, hash browns, and all kinds of other things on a waffle iron. I wouldn’t say it’s essential, but it’s certainly fun and useful!

What are your favorite tools for keeping the kitchen cool?

Instant Pot Duo Crisp – My Review

April 13, 2020

The Instant Pot Duo Crisp is a pressure cooker and an air fryer in one. Is it worthy of the hype? What can it do? Would I buy it again? Here’s my honest review.

Instant Pot + Air Fryer

I haven’t made it much of a secret that I am obsessed with my Instant Pot. Well, Instant Pots – I have three! I have quite a few Instant Pot recipes on here, and I’ve been teaching Instant Pot classes at The Chattery for a few years now. I also have a pretty passionate love for air frying as well.

Not too long before Christmas, I noticed a new Instant Pot product – the Instant Pot Duo Crisp. The Duo Crisp was, for all intents and purposes, Instant Pot’s answer to the Ninja Foodi, a pressure cooker/air fryer combo that I’d looked into but ultimately decided to forego just because I did not need one more gadget in my tiny kitchen.

The Duo Crisp, though, was pretty tempting. I could get rid of an Instant Pot and my air fryer, actually freeing up a little bit of space in my kitchen. It didn’t exactly work out like that (more on that in a minute) but I was still sold. I didn’t talk myself into it before Christmas, but in January I caught a sale on the Duo Crisp on the Kohl’s website so I decided to take the leap.

What are the Parts of the Instant Pot Duo Crisp?

The first thing that you notice about the Duo Crisp (or, at least, the first thing that I noticed) is that the box is freaking huge. It’s twice the size of a regular Instant Pot box, and when you open it up you realize why: the Duo Crisp has more parts than a regular Instant Pot. Here are the parts of the Instant Pot Duo Crisp:

Instant Pot body
Inner pot
Pressure cooker lid (including the sealing ring, float valve, steam release handle, and anti-block shield)
Air fryer lid + base (you set the lid on the base when it is hot)
Air fryer basket
Dehydrating/broiling tray to add a second level to the air fryer basket
Condensation collector

How Big Is It?

Another reason that the box is so big is that, well, the Instant Pot is big. The Duo Crisp is an 8-quart Instant Pot, presumably to make it large enough to hold a decent-sized air fryer basket. My air fryer was a 5 1/2 quart air fryer, so I was okay with the size of the 8-quart Instant Pot.

I was concerned, however, that the large size of the 8-quart Instant Pot might be a little much for me. I typically recommend that attendees in my classes get a 6-quart Instant Pot, as, unless you have a very large family, the 6-quart should be plenty big enough to accommodate your needs.

There are only two of us in my house, so I definitely don’t need a gigantic Instant Pot. I worried that the 8-quart pot would be too large for my recipes, which were tested in a 6-quart pot. I needn’t have worried. I have not had any problems with recipes burning or not cooking correctly using the amounts or times that I tested in my original (6-quart) recipes.

What are the Settings on the Instant Pot Duo Crisp?

The Instant Pot Duo Crisp does not have as many settings as my Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 or my Instant Pot Ultra, but that’s fine with me. Honestly, the only settings I use are: Pressure Cook, Sautè, Steam, and, on rare occasions, Slow Cook or Yogurt. The settings that are available are:

Setting	Default Temperature	Suggested Use	Which Lid?
Air Fry	400 degrees	Smaller foods: fresh or frozen fries, shrimp, frozen snacks, chicken tenders and smaller cuts of chicken.	Air Fryer
Roast	380 degrees	Larger cuts of meat: pork or beef roasts, lamb, whole chicken, potatoes	Air Fryer
Bake	365 degrees	Cakes, breads, pastries	Air Fryer
Broil	400 degrees	Melting cheese, browning tops of foods	Air Fryer + broil/ dehydrate tray
Dehydrate	125 degrees	Dehydrating fruits and vegetables, making jerky	Air Fryer + broil/ dehydrate tray
Pressure Cook and Steam	Lo Pressure	Fish and seafood, rice, soft vegetables	Pressure cook lid
Pressure Cook and Steam	Hi Pressure	Hard vegetables, chicken, meat, soups and stews	Pressure cook lid
Sautè	Lo	Simmer, reduce, thicken, caramelize	No lid
Sautè	Hi	Pan sear, stir-fry, sautè, brown	No lid
Slow Cook	Lo (comparable to low on a regular slow cooker, suitable for all-day cooking)	Soups, stews, roasts	Pressure cooker lid
Slow Cook	Hi (comparable to high on a regular slow cooker, suitable for quicker slow cooker – usually about 3-4 hours)	Appetizers, chicken, sauces	Pressure cooker lid
Sous Vide	133 degrees	Various dishes	Pressure cooker lid

What are the Pros and Cons of the Duo Crisp?

Pros

Cons

Eliminates need for separate Instant Pot and air fryer
Can use air fryer to brown/crisp foods pressure cooked in the Instant Pot
If you are familiar with using an Instant Pot and an air fryer, easy to use; easy to learn to use if you are not familiar
Several functions that allow multiple types of cooking (pressure cooking, steaming, slow cooking, sous vide, sauté, air fry, baking, roasting, dehydrating, broiling)
Much quicker to heat up than conventional oven
Air fry functions reduce time required for baked/roasted foods
Easy clean-up

Very large
Air fryer lid must be stored separately and therefore takes up additional space
When trying untested recipes using air fryer settings, must check the food frequently to avoid overcooking
Size/shape of air fryer basket may limit the size/shape of food that can be cooked in the air fryer
Doesn’t have the yogurt setting, which is the only setting from the popular Instant Pot Duo that cannot easily be replicated using the pressure cook setting

Would I Buy It Again?

I’m not going to lie, I haven’t tested the full capability of the Duo Crisp. I have used it for sautéing, pressure cooking, slow cooking, air frying, broiling, and baking. I have not yet used it for steaming, roasting, or dehydrating. It has worked perfectly in all of the applications for which I have used it, including baking banana bread in 3/4 of the time of the regular recipe. It doesn’t take up less space per se than my Instant Pot Duo and air fryer did, because of the separate air fryer lid, but I am okay with that. It has worked just as well as my traditional air fryer did for all air frying functions, including cooking bacon, making fries, and heating frozen snacks. Of course, the pressure cook settings are super-handy and I have not found any difference between how this 8-quart model cooks and how my 6-quart Instant Pot cooks. So, yes – I would definitely purchase the Instant Pot Duo Crisp again.

I could go on for days talking about how to use the Duo Crisp, but I won’t do that here. Instead, keep an eye out for recipes that include tutorials of how to use the different settings.

Note: Instant Pot also sells a stand-alone air fryer lid that converts 6-quart models to an air fryer. For more information, check out the listing on the Instant Pot website.

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means that if you click the link and make a purchase, I will make a small commission. This does not affect the cost to you.

Classic Deviled Eggs (Quick and Easy!)

July 1, 2019

These classic deviled eggs only have six ingredients that you probably have in your house right now. They are a perfect easy appetizer or side dish! All you need for this easy recipe is boiled eggs, mayonnaise, mustard, relish, salt, and pepper. You can use sour cream if you don’t like mayo! So easy and so good!

Deviled eggs are a classic side dish and appetizer, and they are so easy to make. Believe it or not, though, it’s only been in the last few years that I started eating them at all.I liked eggs, I liked boiled eggs, I just didn’t like deviled eggs. I don’t even know what my aversion to them in the past was.

To be honest, though, I don’t think I ever even tried them. I just decided one day, as a kid, that I didn’t like deviled eggs. And then one day, I decided that I was going to eat one and guess what? I decided that I liked them.

Classic Vs. Fancy

I like deviled eggs when they are fancied up, but truth be told, a classic deviled egg is all I need. And really, all you need for an easy deviled egg recipe is boiled eggs, mayonnaise, and salt and pepper. I add just a little mustard and some dill relish to mine. Super simple.

I make these classic deviled eggs most often to pack in lunches, but they are perfect for holiday potlucks or an easy snack or appetizer. There really couldn’t be an easier recipe to make, and I almost feel like I am cheating a little bit by calling this a “recipe”.

Five Tips for the Best Easy Deviled Eggs

For perfectly centered yolks, place a rubber band around the center of the egg carton and turn the carton on its side on the refrigerator for 24 hours. This will help the yolks to migrate to the center of the eggs. Thanks to Alton Brown for this tip!
When slicing the eggs in half, wipe your knife off with a paper towel after each egg. This will help the eggs to be less messy.
Mash the yolks thoroughly to avoid lumpy filling.
Use enough mayonnaise. Don’t think that you can reduce the amount of mayo to cut the fat and get the same results. For the filling to be creamy enough, you have to have enough mayo! If you don’t like mayonnaise, you can use sour cream instead.
Use a plastic storage bag or a piping bag (like you would use for piping cake icing) for piping the filling.

Mary

Yield: 12

Classic Deviled Eggs

15 minPrep Time:

15 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients

6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and halved
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (or sour cream, if you don't like mayo)
1 teaspoon mustard (I used Creole mustard, but you can use whatever variety you prefer)
1 teaspoon dill pickle relish (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste
Paprika, optional

Instructions

Remove the yolks from the halved eggs. Use a fork to mash the yolks until no lumps remain.
Add the mayonnaise, mustard, relish, salt, and pepper to the mashed yolks and stir until well-combined. Check seasonings and adjust to taste.
Use a spoon to scoop the filling into a quart-sized storage bag. Cut a corner off of the bag and carefully pipe the filling into the eggs. You may have just a tiny bit of filling left.
Sprinkle the eggs with paprika if desired. Serve immediately or cover and chill for up to three days.

Notes

This recipe can be easily scaled up or down. You can leave out the relish or the mustard if you wish. If you do so, you may need to add a touch more mayonnaise to adjust the moisture levels.

https://chattavore.com/classic-deviled-eggs/