Smoked barbecue meat tastes heavenly — especially as the chill of winter begins to set in. There are several types of smoker on the market and they all have their pros and cons. This infographic from Tasty Meat lays out all the mouth-watering essentials.

Honey, syrups, and bottles of oil tend to get drippy and sticky over time and, if you store them upside down (as I do my honey), they can spill all over your pantry, turning your shelves into a tacky mess. Luckily, The Kitchn has a very elegant solution to this: Just store the bottles and jars in a ramekin.

Making chicken stock at home is great — you end up with a house that smells like soup and a pot full of savoury broth. Whether you make your stock from fresh ingredients or saved-up scraps, one secret ingredient will help make your chicken stock extra rich and delicious.

Whether it's Leslie Knope, the non-Lisa Simpsons, Vernon Dursley, or your racist uncle who draws scientifically bunk parallels between salad consumption and gender identity, I can't think of a food that's cooler to hate than salad. That's really too bad, because a well-constructed salad is one of life's great pleasures.

In the great game of lunchbox snack trading, few items hold as much clout as a a violently pink or — if you're very lucky — tie-dye fruit roll-up. Though I still have a soft spot for the confection, I would hesitate to include it in my five-a-day count. Luckily, you can get more fruit in your fruit snack by making your own.

I love baking, but I really hate all the dishes it seems to dirty. There are mixing bowls, spoons, spatulas and measuring cups, and sometimes I just don't want to deal with all of that. Luckily, Food52 has a recipe that lets you leave the measuring cups in the cabinet, and I'm pretty obsessed.

It's asparagus season, people. While you can find asparagus outside these few months, it won't be nearly as tasty — after it's picked, the sugars start to turn to starch, which makes the stalks woody and bland.

The world can be a bleak and unforgiving place, but there are bright spots. Such a spot exists in the form of this kitchen tool that nobody really needs — but everyone deserves — known as Tricerataco.

I don't know if it's a Southern thing, or a specific-to-my-grandmother thing, but I grew up eating a lot of melon for dessert, and it always, always, always was served with a sprinkling of salt.

Sometimes nothing hits the spot like a nice warm meal. While some meals are perfect to make in a slow cooker, you should stick to making certain meals in an oven or stove top.

Here are 11 things you should never make in a slow cooker.

Last week, when all of the writers came together for a glorious meeting in New York, I found myself in a bodega with Beth and Patrick, looking for bottles of water and nourishing snacks. I grabbed a Lunchable and later, while shoving stacks of too-round turkey slices and processed cheese in my mouth, I thought "why don't I eat these more often?"

Unless you are some sort of hyper-organised Kondo type, it is likely your kitchen has a "junk drawer" and, among the tomato sauce packets, that there are a few pairs of chopsticks in there. It's time to fish them out, friends, for chopsticks are an infinitely useful kitchen tool that can be used in almost every stage of making a meal.

It's very rare that my hot mess status ends up being a positive thing. However, it turns out my slovenly eating habits can help me put more tacos in my mouth which is, frankly, my entire goal.

For everyday lunching, whatever amount of protein you're getting is probably fine. But if you're trying to build muscle, or if you want to keep your protein intake high while losing weight, it can be hard to work enough of the stuff into your diet without chugging down gross smoothies. Don't worry, I'm here to help.

Hello friends, and welcome back to Will It Sous Vide?, the column where I make things with my immersion circulator. This week we're once again attempting sous vide baking which, with the exception of custard-based desserts, has not exactly worked out well in the past.

Whenever I have the chance to buy prawns shell-on — or, better yet, head-on — I take it. Deveining and then cooking prawns in their shells is the tastiest way to go, and there's something very satisfactory about peeling them just before popping them into your mouth. But their journey shouldn't end there; the shells still have more to give.

Though I would like to stock my kitchen utensil crock with every Star Wars-themed spatula in existence, I just don't have the room — or the need — for that many turners. Really, the average home cook only needs three spatulas.

I've recently started making bread for myself, and it is one of the most nerve-wracking-yet-liberating experiences I've ever had in the kitchen. There are so many terrifying points of failure, all of which are immediately forgotten when you smell the deliciousness coming from your oven. Or, in some cases, from the grill.

Do you ever have those moments when you just need a warm chocolate chip cookie, but don't feel like making several dozen? I know I do, which is why I am happy to have found this 2-minute cookie recipe from Epicurious.