Cooking with a convection toaster oven produces faster cooking than in a regular oven by using fans to force heat through the oven and surround the food rather than the heat coming only from the top or bottom. Pork chops, a lean cut of pork loin, are succulent and juicy when broiled in a convection oven.

Organ meats like beef kidneys aren't popular in the United States, though French chef and cookbook author Jacques Pepin says that kidneys can be a tender and flavorful cut if prepared correctly. Unlike lamb or veal kidneys, beef kidneys are large and tough and require long braising over low, moist heat to become soft.

When you work with variety meats such as chicken gizzards, you have a lot of fibrous, tough tissue to contend with. You have to break down that tough tissue before using a dry-heat cooking method like frying to prepare them, and this can take hours if you go the low-temperature, slow-cooking route.

Bacon can be time-consuming -- and messy -- to prepare for a large breakfast or brunch get-together. By precooking the bacon the day before, however, you can serve a large amount, without the hassle of preparing the bacon as your guests arrive.

Baking potato wedges is a healthier alternative than frying them in oil. You have two choices when making the wedges: white or sweet potatoes. Regardless of which potato you select, baking the wedges will keep them crispy on the outside and soft in the middle.

Omelets range from simple to extravagant, depending on the filling, but they don't have to be difficult to prepare. Cooking an omelet in the microwave is a simple and time-saving way to create this popular breakfast dish.

Soaking chicken in buttermilk produces moist, tender meat with a flavorful tang. Buttermilk is traditionally used as a marinade for bone-in fried chicken, but it can also improve your pan-fried chicken breasts.

With a few simple techniques and a few common tools, cooking steak in the oven is not just doable, it's quick and easy and can provide a tasty finished product. And while a broiler pan can be a helpful tool, it's certainly not required.

London broil is a preparation, not a cut of meat. The customary procedure is to marinate, bake or broil to medium-rare and serve in thin slices. Traditional London broil is made with marinated flank steak. Top round is often substituted for the tasty but tough flank.

Steaming corn on the cob in the husk is faster than the traditional boiling method and also helps keeps more of that fresh corn flavor. The husks act as natural insulators as the corn cobs cook, keeping the steam trapped inside and resulting in tender, plump kernels.

Caramelizing takes plain strawberries and intensifies their sweetness, covering them with a buttery sugar glaze ideal for strawberry-topped desserts. Caramelizing involves heating sugar until it it liquefies into a golden brown glaze, but can be done in different ways, depending on what you are preparing.

Drumsticks are another name for the lower portion of chicken or turkey legs. Some people prefer the drumstick to the white meat of poultry because it offers more taste and dries out less quickly. Seasoning and avoiding overcooking are really the keys to perfectly preparing this dark meat.