Condensation On Pot Lids Can Be Messy. Fix It With An Easy Towel Trick
Moisture control is key to a number of recipes. When you are making skillet chicken and dumplings, beans and rice, or even a stove-top apple crisp, having to worry about a little condensation forming on a lid is the last thing you want on your mind. After all, too much liquid can destroy all the TLC you put into a recipe. That little bit of water on a pot lid can turn cooked dough into a soggy mess or a crunchy dessert into mush. Furthermore, the condensation that gathers around the edges of your pot lids can drip all over your stove, creating a splattered mess that you have to clean up later. Luckily, there is an easy kitchen towel trick you can use to prevent condensation from forming in the lid of your pot or even your slow cooker.
Before you place the lid on your pot, skillet, or pan, cover the lid with a towel and tie it up around the handle, securing it with a rubber band, so it doesn't fall and hit your burner. No one needs their fire alarm going off or wants to have to call the local fire department. Instead of having the evaporating water hit the top of the lid of your skillet, it will be soaked up by the towel. Translation: You have control of that excess moisture.
Better flavor and texture
While covering food when cooking it helps to create an even heating environment, which prevents dry, tough end results, the other extreme isn't good either. This simple condensation prevention hack will ultimately reduce dripping which in turn helps eliminate dilution of your soups and sauces to ensure there is the right concentration of flavor with each bite.
This makeshift technique will also help with the overcooking of delicate fish, as well as the formation of the delicious crust that forms on a slow-cooked roast. Remember, when you place a lid on a skillet or a slow cooker, you are trapping both steam and heat in that crock or pan so whatever dish you are cooking can do so, slowly. The towel is going to catch that steam proactively preventing it from forming water droplets on the lid to trickle back on your food. Just remember not to walk away and leave your towel-covered pot lid unattended.