Article: Use a sharp paring knife to carefully trim any of the white fat or tendons from the red steak. Fat will make your jerky overly chewy and will cause the jerky to spoil faster. Remove as much of the fat as you can before moving onto the next step. Wrap the meat in plastic wrap first, then place it in your freezer. A partially frozen steak will be easier to cut than a non-frozen steak. Lay the meat out on a cutting board and start to cut thin strips of meat from the steak with a chef's knife. Each slice of meat should be anywhere from 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15cm) long. Continue cutting the strips until you've cut the entire steak into pieces. Cut against the grain for a more traditional chewy texture or with the grain for a more sinewy texture. Try to slice the meat so each piece is a uniform size.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Trim the fat off the meat. Place the meat in a freezer for two hours. Cut the meat into 18 to 14 inch-thick (0.32 to 0.64 cm) strips.
Article: While most recipes can be halved, recipes that use yeast should often be left. If you can't easily halve a recipe, consider baking a full portion and freezing half or giving some away. Keep in mind that it's easy to halve most cooking recipes. For example, a delicate souffle might not rise properly if you halve the ingredients, but it's easy to halve the ingredients for a batch of cookies. To halve a recipe, it's important to reduce each ingredient by half. This ensures that the ratios of the recipe are the same as for the original recipe. For example, if a recipe calls for 4 cups (950ml) of stock, 2 cups (250 g) of chicken, 1 carrot, and 1/2 cup (15 g) of fresh parsley, you'd use 2 cups (470ml) of stock, 1 cup (125 g) of chicken, 1/2 of a carrot, and 1/4 cup (7.5 g) of fresh parsley. If you're making adjustments to a recipe that only has 2 or 3 ingredients, you might not need to do this. However, if you're halving a recipe with a long list of ingredients, take the time to write out the recipe with the reduced amounts. This will prevent you from forgetting and accidentally adding too much of an ingredient. Once you've scaled down all of the ingredients by half, you're ready to follow the recipe. You don't need to make any adjustments to the method of assembling the ingredients, although you may need to change pan sizes for baking. For example, if you're marinating beef for a stew and you've already marinated half of the beef in the reduced marinade, follow the recipe's instructions to sear the meat. Then add the rest of the ingredients and simmer the stew. Even though you're cutting the ingredients in half, you don't need to change the cooking temperature. Reducing the oven temperature could mean that the food wouldn't cook fast enough and could cause foodborne illness. Raising the oven temperature could cause the food to brown quickly or even burn. For example, if you're supposed to saute chopped onions over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, you'll still need to keep the heat at medium. The only time you might need to adjust the temperature is if you're using a glass baking dish instead of a metal one. In this case, reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees. If you are baking half a recipe in a dish that is of half its original size, you might need to reduce the cooking time, as well. Begin checking the food halfway through the cooking time. It probably won't be done just yet, but check it every few minutes after this point. Keep in mind that if you're cutting the number of something, such as cookies or cupcakes, they'll still need to bake for the recommended time. For example, if you're baking brownies, begin checking them at 20 minutes instead of 40 minutes, especially if you don't adjust the pan size.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Decide which recipes should be halved. Cut all of the ingredients in half. Rewrite the reduced recipe so it's easier to follow. Follow the recipe's directions. Cook the recipe at the directed temperature. Check the food halfway through the cooking time.
Article: You want to make sure you harvest sugar cane during the right times of year. During certain periods, sugar cane is more likely to be strong and ready to harvest. For best results, you should hold off on harvesting your sugar cane until late fall. At this point, the shoots should be tall and strong enough to cut down. Some shoots may take longer to grow than others. Starting in early fall, observe the shoots. Hold off on harvesting until they all display signs they're healthy and ready to trim. Check the leaves. Leaves that appear yellowish and slightly dry are ready to harvest. Tap the cane with your hand. It should make a metallic sound if it's ready to harvest. If you're still unsure, make a small sideways cut in the cane. Turn the cut towards the sun. The inside of the plant should glisten slightly if it's ready to harvest. Do not wait too late in fall to harvest sugar cane. If you harvest the plant after frost has set in, a lot of the plant will have spoiled. Make sure you watch the weather forecast and get to harvesting the crop before the first snow or below freezing temperature of the year. If you plan on burning sugar cane leaves after harvest, check regulations in your area. Not all states will allow you to burn plants on your property. You can check with your local Department of Natural Resources to see if it's legal to burn excess leaves in your area. If there are regulations forbidding this, you should find another way to dispose of excess leaves.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Harvest sugar cane at the right time. Observe the shoots to make sure they're ready to harvest. Make sure you harvest sugar cane before frost sets in. Check regulations if you plan to burn excess leaves.