Editing 1567: Kitchen Tips

{{comic
| number    = 1567
| date      = August 21, 2015
| title     = Kitchen Tips
| image     = kitchen_tips.png
| titletext = Household tip: Tired of buying so much toilet paper? Try unspooling the paper from the roll before using it. A single roll can last for multiple days that way, and it's much easier on your plumbing.
}}

==Explanation==
This is another one of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:Tips|Tips]], this time with a series of Kitchen tips.

In this comic, [[Cueball]] appears to be hosting a show (or be in an ad) giving out kitchen advice. He starts with a reasonable tip to use a meat thermometer instead of guessing when meat is cooked, as many people would indeed make an perfectly good educated guess, from experience, outward appearances and prodding with a fork. The thermometer takes some guesswork out of this, but only adds another datum point that you still have to understand the significance of. His later tips, though, are little more than telling how to complete normal kitchen activities performed using common sense. Moreover, in most cases he repeats "If you're anything like me," suggesting he's actually ''done'' these things in his kitchen. This is a parody of many commercials and infomercials that {{tvtropes|TooIncompetentToOperateABlanket|imply their consumers have no basic motor skills or common sense}} in order to make their product more appealing.

The first tip he gives is reasonable because, though the use of a meat thermometer is fairly well known, not everybody goes to the trouble of using one. To determine if meat is done cooking, one can either guess or use a meat thermometer to check that the internal temperature has reached the correct level to render meat safe for consumption. Many people don't own a meat thermometer and rely on an alternative solution that doesn't require special equipment (such as testing by feel, cutting the meat open to check its doneness, checking the color of the juices after pricking the meat with skewer, or simply guessing).

The second panel shows that Cueball throws away dishes and buys new ones every time they are used. This is perfectly normal if the plates are disposable plates made of paper or Styrofoam (though not exactly environmentally friendly), but we see his trashcan is filled with chipped glasses and ceramic plates. Naturally, this would be a very expensive practice. The virtually universal chore of "washing the dishes," is one Cueball presumes the audience is heretofore unaware of.

Cooking on a stove is typically done placing the food into a pot or pan which is placed on the burner {{Citation needed}}. Cueball seems to suggest that the use of a pan is a tip most people would be unaware of, suggesting that most people cook eggs directly on the burners themselves, a method that is likely to burn the food and create a great mess.  Cueball's stove has T-shape raised burners (probably gas, but might be electric), making the task very impractical, though owners of glass-top electric stoves could conceivably cook directly on the glass surface.

Ice is usually made by filling an ice cube tray with water and leaving it in a freezer for several hours. Cueball, however, sprays a hose directly into his freezer compartment and quickly slams the door shut to trap some water inside. (This would work somewhat better in a chest freezer, which has a door on the top, as it could be filled with water and the door would not need to be closed to trap the water inside.) While this unorthodox method ''will'' make ice, it will result in a large sheet of ice on the bottom of the freezer. More importantly, it will also make it impossible to actually use the freezer to hold anything else (unless you were to put anything in beforehand and you don't mind breaking through a block of ice to get it out). Also, ice expands as it cools (it is one of the few substances with a negative coefficient of thermal expansion), and its expansion might push the freezer door open.

The title text, a '''household tip''', suggests using toilet paper a few sheets at a time, which is how most people use it. Cueball, however, seems to suggest that most people use the entire roll as a single object without unspooling it and then flushing it whole, using at least one roll each time they use the bathroom. This is economically impractical, and is prone to clogging the toilet and the plumbing if you throw the toilet paper away by putting it into the toilet and flush it.

For more '''household tips''' like the one in the title text, see the sequel to this comic: [[1715: Household Tips]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball at a kitchen counter, with various items, holding a meat thermometer.]
:Cueball: If you're anything like me, you may have trouble telling when meat is fully cooked.
:Cueball: Instead of guessing, try a meat thermometer!

:[Cueball at a sink, holding a dirty dish, with a trashcan next to him full of broken ceramics and glasses.]
:Cueball: If you're anything like me, you probably throw away your plates and glasses when they get dirty. But if you clean them, they can often be used again!

:[Cueball cracking an egg over a pan on a hot stove.]
:Cueball: Making scrambled eggs? Put a pan under them!
:Cueball: It's easier, and it keeps your burners clean.

:[Cueball holding a garden hose, spraying it into the freezer compartment of a freezer.]
:Cueball: If you're anything like me, you make ice by spraying a hose into your freezer and then slamming it shut.
:Cueball: But there's a better way...

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Tips]]
[[Category:Food]]