Are you looking for the best cooking hacks to make your time in the kitchen easier?
Even people who love to cook sometimes need some tips and tricks to help them make better, tastier meals.
But if you’re a newbie and don’t know much about food preparation, these hacks will help you look like a pro.
Did you know that the secret to making the crispiest chicken ever is in your kitchen towels? Or that you can use bread to help your cake stay soft and moist for several days?
Keep reading to discover the most genius kitchen hacks and start cooking your favorite meals.
1. Make the Chicken Skin Crispy
Before you put the chicken in the oven, pat it dry using a towel. The surface of the meat is often moist, and this prevents it from becoming crispy on the outside, yet tender on the inside.
If you wash the meat first, make sure to dry it before adding seasoning. The dryness will absorb the heat from the oven better, making the chicken golden and crispy.
2. Learn Quick Meal Prep
If your days are busy and you don’t have time to cook, learn to prepare meals ahead of time. Choose a day in the week when you’re free and make a week’s worth of meals that you can refrigerate or freeze.
This way, you’ll have something new to eat every day, and have control over the ingredients you put in the food. Place the food in plastic bags or containers so you can grab them on your way out.
3. Easily Remove Cake and Brownies from the Pan
One of the best cooking hacks you’ll ever learn is to remove an entire cake from the pan without ruining it. Instead of lining the pan with parchment paper on the bottom only, create a sling.
Basically, you need two separate strips of paper sticking outside the pan. This way, you can grab the two opposite edges and lift the entire cake. You can then easily cut it on a flat surface.
4. Peel Garlic Easily
Garlic cloves are small and hard to peel, but with these two cooking hacks, you’ll peel them before you blink.
Take a wide knife and crush the garlic with the side. The peel will immediately separate from the clove. Cut off the edges off the clove and you’re ready to go.
Another option is to put all the cloves in a small jar and close it with a lid. Shake the jar vigorously until all the peels have separated from the cloves.
5. Need dried herbs? Use Your Microwave!
If you’re cooking a meal that needs a bunch of dried herbs as seasoning, you can dry them quickly in your microwave. Just place all the herbs on a plate and heat them for 20 seconds at a time.
Turn them over and put them back for a couple of more times until they’re dried out completely.
6. Easily Separate the Egg Yolk
When you need to separate the egg yolks from the whites, these cooking hacks will come in handy.
Crack all the eggs in a bowl and grab a plastic bottle. Squeeze the bottle to create suction and remove the yolk from the bowl. Then, simply transfer it to another container.
Another way to separate the yolks is to use one half of the broken eggshell to scoop out the yolk from the bowl.
7. Cut a Cake With Dental Floss
Cut your cake to even pieces without making a mess using dental floss. You can use it to cut through soft cheeses like Mozzarella and other soft foods.
You can even use floss to cut fresh dough into pieces. This is especially useful for cinnamon rolls, Swiss rolls and other similar dishes where you need equal pieces without scattering the filling.
8. Cut Cherry Tomatoes in Half Using a Plate
Cherry tomatoes are much smaller than regular-sized ones, so they don’t need as much chopping. But if you’ve ever tried cutting a whole bunch of them in half, you know it’s very time-consuming.
Next time you want cherry tomato halves in a salad, place them all on a flat plate and put another plate on top of them. Run a sharp knife through them to cut them all at once.
9. Freeze an Herb + Oil Mixture to Add to Meals
You don’t have to go to the store every time you need fresh herbs. Simply chop up your favorite ones and place them in an ice tray. Top them off with some olive oil and freeze.
Next time you need fresh herbs to make a meal more savory, pop a cube in it and let it melt.
10. Reheat Food Without Drying It Out
If you reheat food in the microwave often, you know it can become dry and tasteless. These cooking hacks will help you keep the surface of the food soft and fresh.
Place a cup of water in the microwave together with the food. The heat will release steam that prevents the food from drying.
To prevent baked goods from getting a thick crust after heating, put a wet a paper towel over them. The moisture from the towel will keep them soft.
11. Keep Cake Fresh Using Bread
Keep your favorite cake from drying out by covering the exposed parts with a piece of bread. The bread will prevent the moisture from the cake to evaporate, leaving you with fresh, soft cake for days.
You can use this same hack for muffins, cookies, and brownies. Another way to keep your baked goods moist is to place an apple slice among them. Put them in an airtight container and enjoy the tasty treats longer.
12. Check if the Egg is Fresh Before Using It
Checking the freshness of eggs using water is one of the most useful cooking hacks. Fill up a bowl or glass with water and put the eggs inside. If they sink to the bottom of the container, they’re still fresh and you can use them for cooking. If they float, they’re probably filled with gas, typical of older eggs.
Avoid using old eggs, especially if you’re not sure about the expiration date.
Wrapping Up the Best Cooking Hacks to Help You In the Kitchen
You don’t have to be the world’s greatest chef to make use of these awesome kitchen tips. No matter how much time you spend in the kitchen, learning new cooking hacks is guaranteed to save you time, money, and in some cases, your nerves.
Want more interesting and simple life hacks? Check out our blog for more amazing ideas or contact us today if you have any questions.