Simple Hacks For Clever Cooks
Life in the kitchen is about to get sweeter whether you're a top chef or a novice baker. Some hacks are so simple you'll be wondering how you never thought of it first. From repurposed items to freezer tips, you'll want to try these 20 kitchen hacks right away.
1. Chopstick Cherry Pitter
How do you snack on cherries politely and without the risk of breaking a tooth?–– Remove the pits beforehand and do it the easy way! Simply poke through the cherries with a chopstick or metal straw, and the pits will pop right out. Try the same method with strawberries to quickly remove their leaf hat.
2. Keep Baked Goods Fresh With Bread
Toss a slice of bread in with your cookies or muffin tin to preserve their freshness for longer. The same trick works for brown sugar. The bread slice acts like a preserver, keeping your sugar from hardening and your baked treats from going stale.
3. Cooling Rack Egg Dicer
Whether you’re whipping up an egg salad sandwich or a potato salad for the family picnic, a cooling rack is your new favorite tool. Place a cooling rack over a bowl and push the hard-boiled eggs through it. You’ll have diced eggs in seconds without any mess.
4. Apple Slicer Fries
An apple slicer tool isn’t just for fruit! Use a handy apple slicer to cut your potatoes into perfectly sized steak fries. Not only can you cut a potato with speed but your chunky chips will cook evenly since they’ll all be the same size.
5. Ice Cube Tray Broth
That ice cube tray has more purpose than freezing water. You can save food waste and create a soup starter by freezing broth cubes. Pour homemade or leftover broth into an ice cube tray and you’ll have perfectly portioned broth cubes to whip up quick soups and stews. You can also preserve herbs the same way or create pretty cocktails by freezing edible garnishes.
6. Lazy Susan Baking Helper
There’s nothing wrong with being lazy! A Lazy Susan simplifies your home bakery with its organized convenience, especially when decorating treats. Place all your ingredients or toppings on a revolving tray to clear up counter space and easily reach your items while you bake or ice your cupcakes.
7. Frozen Egg Carton Sauce
Repurpose your egg trays! Whether you made homemade sauce or you have leftovers from a jar, pour it into an egg tray and freeze it. You’ll prolong the life and freshness of your sauce in a conveniently portioned holder.
8. Rubber Band Jar Labels
The rubber band trick is so simple yet you probably never thought of it. Use wide rubber bands as labels by writing on them and stretching them around your jars. No need for extra adhesive or paper waste with stickers.
9. No Mess Lemon Juicing
Juicing just got a whole lot sweeter. First, a lemon will juice more easily after 10 seconds in the microwave. Next, stab a hole in the lemon with a skewer then squeeze the lemon. Voila!–– You just made lemon juice in seconds without a sticky mess.
10. Freeze Your Ginger
Slice up your ginger root and place the pieces in your freezer. Not only will freezing the ginger preserve it for longer but it also makes it easier to grate. Grab a piece of frozen ginger and grate it into all kinds of recipes for an easy way to mince.
11. Pizza Slicer Herb Cutter
Herbs can be finicky to work with. Cutting your fresh herbs is quick and easy if you use a pizza slicer instead of a knife. Try a pair of scissors for a similar hack and you’ll start snipping your chives forevermore.
12. Salt & Acid Reducers
You can rescue an oversalted soup or reduce the acidity in tomato sauce with a fruit or veggie. Tossing a carrot into a simmering sauce will add sweetness and remove some of the acid. Stewing a sliced potato or apple into a salty broth with lessen the saltiness.
13. Two Plate Cherry Tomato Slicer
Slicing multiple cherry tomatoes can get messy and tedious. Have you ever tried sandwiching them between two plates and cutting them sideways with a knife? You’ll save your clothes from tomato bursts while you half them all in a single slice.
Dan Cristian Pădureț on Unsplash
14. Spoon A Kiwi
Don’t peel the fuzzy skin with a knife or peeler, try spooning your kiwi instead! Slice off the end of the kiwi then scoop out the fruit with a metal spoon. This method will make peeling a breeze and leave less fruit behind on the skin.
15. Ice Cream Scoop Portioner
A scoop needs more jobs than ice cream scooping. Use an ice cream scoop to size your cookies and other baked goods. The scoop turns your dough and batter into evenly sized portions for thorough and uniform baking.
16. Paint Brush Bottle Lid Scrubber
It’s hard to reach the nooks and crannies of some water bottle lids when you’re trying to clean them. You don’t have to worry about leaving any guck behind if you use a hard-bristle paintbrush. The thin long bristles can squeeze into the tight space and reach the top so you can scrub your lids squeaky clean.
17. Pasta Spinach Wilter
Save the extra dishes and your time by wilting spinach with your pasta water. Place fresh spinach in a colander in your sink before you strain your boiled pasta. The piping hot water will steam the spinach in an instant to add to your dish.
David Todd McCarty on Unsplash
18. Box Grater Herb Separator
Once you pull herbs through a hole in your box grater you’ll never do it any other way. This simple method shaves the herbs from their stems in one quick motion. Only use the part of the herbs you want to eat without any hard stem pieces.
19. Butter Wrapper Greaser
An easy way to use your butter to the very last blob.–– The leftover butter on its wrapper is useful to grease a baking tray or muffin tin with. Rub the butter directly from the packaging without using any other tool.
20. Bubble Wrap Insulator
The wonders of bubble wrap! It’s fun to pop and saves stuff from breaking, but did you know it also keeps things frozen? If you’re traveling far with a tub of ice cream or you don’t want it to melt fast, wrap the carton with bubble wrap. The plastic wrap acts as an insulator that helps prevent frozen food from melting or thawing too quickly.
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