We all know how important it is to cook a perfectly succulent, delicious turkey as the centrepiece for a family Christmas dinner, making the unassuming turkey baster that’s been long forgotten at the back of your utensils drawer, suddenly the star of the show!
However, did you know that this simple little tool comes in handy, not just once a year, but in fact can lend a helping hand in many a culinary creation, whatever the season?
For a start, it’s not like Christmas is the only time you’ll want your roast meat to be melt-in-your-mouth now is it? A turkey baster, believe it or not, can be used to keep many a roasting joint moist throughout the cooking process and ensure that you can enjoy flawlessly prepared, tender meat, and nail those Sunday roasts each and every time.
So how does a turkey baster work?
To make the most of your turkey baster, you want to make sure you are using it correctly. Luckily, unlike other kitchen gadgets, getting to grips with a turkey baster is relatively simple. However, it can take a bit of practice to get right so, to make sure you don’t end up making a mess of your kitchen, here are our top tips:
- Rinse the baster before use – you can practice sucking up and releasing water a couple of times to get the hang of it.
- Squeeze the bulb first, before you insert it into the liquid.
- Always enter the baster into the liquid at an angle to allow air to escape as the fluid draws in.
- Wait until the bulb is fully rounded again before withdrawing from the liquid.
- When removing, tilt the baster, so the bulb is lower than the tip – be wary that it could get hot so using rubber gloves or a tea-towel is advisable.
- Hover the tip of the baster over the area of meat you want to baste (or bowl or pan if you are merely removing liquid).
- Tilt the baster vertically and gently squeeze the bulb which will allow the juices to release slowly.
- When all the liquid has been released tip the baster back, so the bulb is lower than the tip to prevent drips, and repeat!
Caring for your turkey baster
Making sure you thoroughly clean your turkey baster after each use is essential. You can pop off the bulb end to make sure you get into all the nooks and crannies – washing with hot soapy water is best. If the bulb of the baster becomes cracked or hard, it’s time to replace it!
Other ways to use a turkey baster
We did mention that a turkey baster is not just a one trick pony and in fact as many ingenious uses both inside and outside the kitchen. Here are just some of the ways you can make sure you are making the most of your turkey baster!
Degreasing Meat
Sometimes in cooking, you have excess liquid or grease that you need to get rid of, for example, when cooking ground mince. A turkey baster is an ideal tool to suck up and remove that liquid. It’s faster and easier than using a ladle, it decreases the likelihood of drips and spills, and it makes meals leaner and healthier too!
Separating eggs
We’ve all seen chefs on the telly separate eggs with a single, one-handed crack over a bowl. However, for us mere mortals, attempting to replicate such a feat often ends in disaster. To prevent egg-on-your-face both literally and metaphorically, a turkey baster can come to the rescue – use it to slurp up the egg whites leaving you with perfectly round in-tact yolks to do with what you will!
Filling cupcake or muffin tins
If you are a bit of a baking perfectionist, you’ll love how easy it is to make sure you divide up the cake batter into muffin tins or cases when using a turkey baster. The bulb ensures that the same amount of mixture is drawn up every time so you can have beautifully even cakes each time you bake.
Creative pancakes
A turkey baster is also a handy tool to create shapes and pictures with the pancake batter to make for a more exciting treat. The same applies if you want to drizzle sauces in pretty or fun patterns on either sweet or savoury dishes.
Of course, there are even uses outside of the kitchen for the unpresuming turkey baster and touching up a paint job, feeding fish and even changing brake fluid have all been better-performed thanks to this useful tool!
So there you have it, now we can give the humble turkey baster the recognition it deserves, it’s not just for Christmas after all!
If you are looking for a high quality, non-drip turkey baster take a look at ours which comes with a complimentary cleaning brush too.