Chowhound

Cleaning the oven can be a total nightmare, especially if you can't recall the last time you did it. And apart from beginning with the exterior and using dishwashing soap, not cleaning often enough is one of the most common mistakes you're probably making when cleaning your oven. Neglecting it comes at a massive cost. Grease and food buildup affect an oven's performance. They can accumulate on its walls and heating elements and prevent even heat circulation.

You may think you know all about In-N-Out, from the many ways to order onion to the secret menu mess that is the Flying Dutchman. But do you remember the vintage drinking glasses from the '70s and '80s? We're not talking about the plastic souvenir cups you see now. These were real glass pint glasses with painted graphics of cartoon characters, movies, holiday themes, and more. Today, these In-N-Out drinking glasses can only be found in secondhand stores.

Do you wish there were an easy, foolproof way to make fried pickles at home that didn't involve a tedious, multi-step recipe? Truth be told, most fried pickle recipes require you to not only dredge individual pickle slices in flour, raw egg, and seasoned panko breadcrumbs, but also to fry them in oil on your stove. However, you can simplify this popular appetizer by using a mess-free, shake-and-bake dredging method as well as baking your pickles in an oven instead of a frying pan.

Lasagna is one of those dishes that inspires varied and fierce opinions, from how to season it to how many layers it should have, but mine is quite straightforward: Ricotta has no place in it. If you live in the United States, you'll be all too familiar with seeing ricotta in lasagna, but having grown up in Italy, lasagna for me is synonymous with béchamel. Any time I've tried a ricotta-based lasagna, I have actually found it works against what makes the dish so good in the first place.

French toast is amazing; it's eggy, sugary, and loaded with cinnamon. Whether you choose white bread straight from the supermarket aisle or you go the fancy-pants route and make French toast like a pro with fluffy bakery bread, it's always fantastic. If you're ready to take it to the next level, however, we implore you to try using cinnamon rolls — yep, the ones in a can — for your next French toast adventure. The concept is super simple.

Baby back ribs deserve mouthwatering flavor, and skipping the seasoning step can be the difference between a meh and eye-roll worthy first bite. There are ways to avoid bland baby back ribs using pantry staples, but nothing quite beats a rich seasoning blend to bring the flavors together perfectly. For baby back ribs that stand out, add a touch of Italian dressing seasoning.

Even the most popular restaurants aren't without weaknesses. Five Guys is known for it burgers, for example, while also criticized for its brown bag full of greasy, soggy french fries. The same can be said about In-N-Out's fries. Though some customers are perfectly fine with the french fries, many believe they're bland and soggy. "Too small, undercooked, and under-seasoned. Even if you eat them immediately, they lack crunch and flavor," one Redditor says.

Making homemade quick pickles isn't just a practical method to preserve surplus from your garden or use up the veggies chilling in your crisper drawer. It's also a fabulous way to fill your larder with flavor. Pickling foods yourself means you can go classic with white vinegar and dill, or turn homemade pickles tangy with a drizzle of honey.

Few sandwiches have the same level of street cred as the Italian. And we're not talking melty, marinara sauce-adorned Italian sandwiches stuffed with veal or chicken Parmesan or meatballs; we're talking about the cold, deli meat- and veggie-stuffed sandwiches that have graced beach totes, Subway franchises, and top-notch Italian delis since what seems like the dawn of time.

Ever wonder why pirates are sometimes referred to as "buccaneers"? The reason is more rooted in food history than you might think, and it has to do with a cooking method they used known as boucan. Pirates, generally speaking, ate pretty feeble rations of hard bread ,dry biscuits, and salted meat (as well as, of course, a lot of alcohol, including ones with origins in the Caribbean circa the 17th century, like rum).