How to Solve Your Problems with Cornstarch

The only thing I knew about corn starch was that some baby powder brands had corn starch in them, and that is a good thing! Until I began to learn to cook some Chinese foods we loved, I had no idea how to use corn starch. Corn starch is wonderful to have in the kitchen, and you will wonder how you ever cooked without it. Also, there are countless household uses for corn starch which you might never have known. Maybe, you can solve your problems with corn starch!

1. First of all, you can use corn starch to thicken liquids when cooking, instead of flour. You use half as much corn starch as flour. There is a little difference in the way corn starch works, and you don't want to overheat it. However, I have found it to be a perfect solution when a dish is not as thick as it should be. You can throw corn starch in without having a floury, lumpy effect. Often, I will mix my corn starch in a little milk or water before adding. My Thanksgiving gravy was a big success this year, and it didn't have a drop of flour in it! I just used the turkey broth, corn starch and milk. Not a lump was found. I can't give you a recipe, because I just "eyed" it, as they say here in the South.

2. Fried foods are so good when coated with corn starch. General Tsao Chicken is coated in corn starch and fried twice. Herein lies the secret to many of your favorite Chinese take-out dishes.

3. Are you on a gluten-free diet? I have a friend who was recently placed on this restriction temporarily. I was pleased to find a selection of gluten-free recipes on the Argo Cornstarch website. This link will also be in the resources.

4. The main household use for cornstarch you will find is as a stain remover. You probably have a lot of issues where you can solve your problems with cornstarch, and you just need to make a paste with water. Apply, and allow to dry. Then vacuum or brush off. You can use this method on mattesses, carpet, clothing, and more. You can even use cornstarch dry on carpet or stuffed animals, getting a deodorizing clean without water.

5. You can use corn starch to solve your problems related to skin issues: sunburn, rashes, hives, and athlete's foot. You can make a paste or add it to your bathwater. If you have itchy feet, you can sprinkle in your feet and in your shoes.

6. If you need to solve your problems concerning squeeky floors, you may be able to use cornstarch for that, too! Just sprinkle some between the wood in the floor. It could help!

The next two ideas are the most novel that I found. They are from a site called "Blessings for Life." They had a lot more interesting ideas to solve your problems with cornstarch.

7. You can kill roaches by sprinkling a powdered mix of corn starch and plaster of paris in the crevices. You should mix an equal part of both. I would be careful with this if you have small children around who might ingest the plaster of paris. This actually petrifies the roaches!

8. This same site gave a recipe for clown make-up that I found so interesting. If you need to white your face, you can mix corn starch with solid shortening. You use a 2-1 mixture of 2 parts of corn starch to 1 part solid shortening. This would probably be like Crisco, not margarine!

I hope these ideas have helped you solve your problems with cornstarch!

Resources:

Easy Does It. Peachtree, GA: FC&A, 2004. Print.

Household Tips for Cornstarch, Blessing for Life.

Argo & Kingsford's Cornstarch, Argo& Kingsford's Cornstarch.