Kitchen Hacks That Make Cooking A Breeze

Most men I know don't know how to cook. The few that know how to cook don't like to cook. Whenever they do cook, they make it seem like it's rocket science. It takes unnecessarily long time and they make a fuss about the whole thing and then overhype their efforts at the end. Then there is that small group of men that know how to cook and also actually love to cook. I will do everything possible to make sure my sons belong to that final category (the daughter in-laws will thank me someday. lol). Pardon me, this is not attack on the male folk, I was just saying. But the point is this, no matter what gender you are, cooking is actually easy and you can come to really love to cook. These hacks are not exhaustive but they will really help. You might want to print out this list and keep it handy somewhere in the kitchen for reference till you get used to all the stuff.

1. If you happen to over-salt a pot of soup, just drop in a peeled potato. The potato will absorb the excess salt.

2. When boiling eggs, add a pinch of salt to keep the shells from cracking.

3. Never put citrus fruits(Oranges,Lemons, limes, etc) or tomatoes in the fridge. The low temperatures degrade the aroma and flavor of these fruits. They fare better in airy bowls or baskets on the kitchen counter.

4. To clean iron cook-ware, don’t use detergents. Just scrub them with salt and a clean, dry paper towel.

5. When storing empty airtight containers, throw in a pinch of salt to keep them from getting stinky.

6. If you are making gravy (stew) and accidentally burn it, just pour it into a clean pan and continue cooking it. Add sugar a little at a time, tasting as you go to avoid 'over-sweetening it. The sugar will cancel out the burned taste.

7. Burned a pot of rice? Just place a piece of white bread on top of the rice for 5-10 minutes to draw out the burned flavour. Be careful not to scrape the burned pieces off of the bottom of the pan when serving the rice.

8. Before you chop fresh red peppers, rub a little vegetable oil into your hands and your skin won’t absorb the spiciness.

9. If you aren’t sure how fresh your eggs are, place them in about four inches of water. Eggs that stay on the bottom are fresh. If only one end tips up, the egg is less fresh and should be used soon. If it floats, it’s past the fresh stage.

10. To banish ants from the kitchen, find out where they are coming in from and cover the hole with petroleum jelly(Vaseline). Ants won’t trek through the jelly. If they are coming under a door, draw a line on the floor with chalk. The little bugs also won’t cross a line of chalk.

11. Don’t store your bananas in a bunch or in a fruit bowl with other fruits. Separate your bananas and place each in a different location. Bananas release gases which cause fruits (including other bananas) to ripen quickly. Separating them will keep them fresh longer.

12. To keep potatoes from budding in the bag, put an apple in with them.

13. If you manage to have some leftover wine, cocktail drinks at the end of the evening, freeze it in ice cube trays for easy addition to sauces or other drinks in the future.

14. After boiling pasta or potatoes, cool the water and use it to water your house plants. The water contains nutrients that your plants will love.

15. When defrosting meat from the freezer, pour some vinegar over it. Not only does it tenderize the meat; it will also bring down the freezing temperature of the meat and cause it to thaw quicker. # Note: every woman should have vinegar in her kitchen.

16. Do you cry while peeling off onions, then try this. After peeling off your onions, refrigerate thenonions for atleast 5 minutes, then dice it. You will be glad you did.

17. For aluminium pans that are looking dull, just boil some apple peels in them. This will brighten up the aluminum and make your house smell yummy.

18. If your salt is becoming lumpy, put a few grains of rice in with it to absorb excess moisture.

19. Always keep an aloe vera plant in your kitchen. It’s invaluable when you scrape your arm or burn your finger. Just break off a leaf and rub the gel from the inside on the injury.

20. When making a soup, sauce, that ends up too fatty or greasy, drop in an ice cube. The ice will attract the fat, which you can then scoop out. This works wonders.

21. To reuse cooking oil without tasting whatever was cooked in the oil previously, cook a 1/4″ piece of ginger in the oil. It will remove any remaining flavors and odors.

22. If your milk always goes bad before you can finish it, try adding a pinch of salt to the carton when you first open it. It will stay fresh days longer.

23. If two drinking glasses become stuck together after stacking, it’s not impossible to unstick them. Just put ice in the inner glass and dunk the outernglass in warm water. The warm glass will expand and the cold glass will contract, making the glasses separate easily.

24. For splinters under the fingernail, soaking the affected finger in a bowl of milk with a piece of bread in it, it will help to draw out the splinter.


Cover image via Corepilatesync com