To peel hard-boiled eggs that stick, chill them in ice water for 15 minutes, crack the wide end, roll to shatter the shell, and peel under cool running water with your thumb under the inner membrane. For future batches, steam eggs 12 to 13 minutes instead of starting in cold water.
To store cooked blue crabs overnight, cool them within 2 hours of cooking, place them in a shallow airtight container or sealed zip-top bags, and refrigerate at 40°F or below. Picking the meat first saves space. Eat within 3 to 4 days, and never leave cooked crabs in melting ice water.
Boil frozen precooked blue crabs for about 5 to 8 minutes, just until heated through, and boil frozen raw blue crabs for about 12 to 18 minutes until the shells are bright orange-red and the meat is opaque and reaches 145°F.
To cook steak in the oven without searing, pat a 1 to 1-1/2 inch steak dry, season it, set it on a wire rack over a preheated sheet pan, and bake at 425°F for about 12 to 20 minutes, flipping halfway, until a thermometer reads 5°F below your target. Rest it 5 to 10 minutes.
To reheat brisket without drying it out, wrap it tightly in foil with 2 to 4 tablespoons of beef broth or saved juices and warm it in a 300°F oven until it reaches 165°F, usually 30 to 60 minutes for a 1 to 2 lb piece. Reheat brisket whole, not sliced.
To cook quinoa in an Aroma rice cooker, rinse 1 Aroma cup of quinoa at least three times, add 1-1/2 Aroma cups of water or broth, and run the White Rice setting. Let it rest 5 to 10 minutes on Keep Warm before fluffing. Skipping the rinse leaves quinoa bitter.
On digital Aroma cookers with a Brown Rice button, fill water to the line matching your rice cups, the same line as white rice. On switch-style Aroma cookers, fill to the line and add 3/4 cup extra water. Rinse first and expect 50 to 66 minutes.
To reset an Aroma rice cooker, turn it off, unplug it, and let it cool for 5 to 10 minutes, then check that the inner pot and heating plate are clean and dry before plugging it back in. If an E1 or E2 error returns, stop using the cooker and contact Aroma.
To remove a stripped Phillips screw from metal, first try a wide rubber band or screw-grab compound under a correctly sized #2 bit with heavy downward pressure. If that fails, use a manual impact driver, then a reverse-thread screw extractor. Apply penetrating oil first and wear safety glasses.
To fix a peeling faux leather couch, scrape off all loose flakes, sand the edges smooth with 600-grit sandpaper, then fill the bare fabric with a flexible leather or vinyl filler and recolor it with matching color compound. Large peeling areas are better covered with patches, a slipcover, or reupholstery.