10 Kitchen Hacks Every Adult Needs to Know

By Jessica Chou

PHOTOGRAPHED BY DANNY KIM; PROP STYLING BY ALI NARDI.

Congratulations! You’ve made dinner — only to face a mess of a kitchen, a sink full of dishes, and another hour spent cleaning when you could’ve been watching Netflix. Such is the reason takeout exists, right?

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Of course, you end up paying for that convenience factor. Who can afford a $15-$20 minimum every single night of the week? So, we’ve come up with 30 genius tricks to make cooking insanely easy, vetting tips from the International Culinary Center, pastry chefs, line cooks, and yes, our own parents. Our goal? Saving you time, money, and perhaps a nicked finger or two. 

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ALL ILLUSTRATIONS BY ELLIOTT SALAZAR.

The Problem: You want to heat up leftovers
The Solution: This infographic

The microwave might’ve been your best friend in college, but certain foods take a little more finesse. You wouldn’t want to ruin your perfectly good steak or waste a good amount of fries. So the best way to reheat is to deal with the main issue — either too much moisture, or too little. Save this infographic (see a larger version here) for when you need to reheat muffins, steak, pastas, and even pizza (though with that last one, you can most likely eat it cold and it will be delicious).

Related: Easy Dinner Dishes That Top Chefs Swear By

The Problem: Your cutting board keeps slipping
The Solution: Place a damp paper towel underneath it

This is the oldest trick in the (pro) book — always lay a damp paper towel or a thin cotton towel under your cutting board. The resulting friction will keep that cutting board in place, which is all the better when you’re dicing tomatoes, chopping onions, or otherwise putting your fingers at risk.

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The Problem: Your knives are never sharp
The Solution: A ceramic mug (or bowl)

Typically the problem with knives isn’t that they’re not sharp — it’s that they’re not straight. You can easily straighten your knife with the bottom of a ceramic bowl or cup, running the blade against the rough portion to straighten it. Take care of your knives, too — straighten regularly, bring to a sharpener every six months or so, and don’t store them directly in a drawer (use a knife block or magnetic strip, or buy knife guards).

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PHOTOGRAPHED BY DANNY KIM; PROP STYLING BY ALI NARDI.

The Problem: Your pots keep boiling over
The Solution: A wooden spoon

This old grandma’s trick has saved many a stove from overflowing with starchy water. Anytime you’re boiling pasta or beans, place a wooden spoon over the top of the pot.

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The science behind it? Well, bubbles are unstable forms, so a spoon will destabilize the bubbles because of its hydrophobic surface. Plus, since bubbles are filled with steam, if they touch something that’s below boiling temperature, the steam will condense back to liquid and break the surface tension (which is causing the bubbles to foam up).

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Naturally, once the wooden spoon soaks in more steam and heats up, it won’t be as repellent and effective. Your next step, if you really must boil pasta for that long, would be adding a drop or two of olive oil, which would help break the surface tension as well.

The Problem: Your lovely loaf of bread has gone stale
The Solution: Add water

If you have a partially eaten loaf of bread, turn it cut-side down under water, and let the water run through it, as seen in this Rachael Ray clip. Then, wrap it in tin foil, and warm at 200 degrees to your liking. Voila! As good as fresh bread.

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If you have bread slices, this might be a bit trickier. You can’t revive the bread, per se, but you can incorporate the crustiness into your next meal. Place the slices under chicken while roasting (to soak up all the gorgeous flavors), toss a slice atop French onion soup (before the cheese), or make gourmet croutons by toasting bread pieces mixed with olive oil and spices. If you don’t want to even bother with cooking, make bread crumbs by grating the bread or putting it into a food processor. Freeze and use when ready.

The Problem: Onions make you cry
The Solution: A slice of bread

The ultimate fix to this annoying kitchen problem might be contacts or onion goggles (or having someone else slice them for you), but if those are out of the question, you can try slicing an onion with a slice of bread in your mouth. Onions contain amino acid sulfoxides, which react when cut to produce a sulfur gas — which wafts up, meets the water in your eyes, and forms sulfuric acid. Ouch. Tears and sniffling ensue.

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Having a slice of bread in your mouth helps stop the sulfur gas from reaching your eyes in the first place, as the gas dissipates through the bread and is breathed into your mouth. But if you’re extra worried, try chilling your onions before cutting them, as the enzymes are less reactive when cold. Some folks recommend putting your onions in an ice water bath two hours before slicing, and peeling them under cold water before slicing them with a sharp knife. Clean cuts will cause less of a reaction, meaning less sulfur gas, and less pain.

The Problem: Your hands smell like garlic
The Solution: Stainless steel

Grab a stainless steel pot or spoon (or even this stainless steel bar) and rub your hands against the metal under cold water. The theory behind this trick is that the sulfuric compounds in garlic bind to the ions on stainless steel surfaces, lifting away the tiny particles of garlic from your hands. The cold water helps by shrinking your pores to keep the garlic oils out.

PHOTOGRAPHED BY DANNY KIM; PROP STYLING BY ALI NARDI; HAND MODELING BY JESSICA CHOU.

The Problem: Mincing takes forever
The Solution: Make the microplane your best friend

A handy microplane is the ultimate multitasker in the kitchen. It’s the perfect zester for citrus and the fastest cheese grater, and quickly churns out freshly grated spices and condiments (like nutmeg, cinnamon, or horseradish). You can grate fresh chiles into pasta, ginger into soups and stir-fry, and best of all, garlic. That’s right, no more mincing garlic — with a microplane, you can easily make garlic purée to add into mayonnaise, sauces, and more. Of course, be careful with the stuff. Grated garlic is notoriously more pungent than minced.

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The Problem: You put too much salt in your soup
The Solution: Toss a whole potato in there

If you need a quick fix for too salty soups, peel a whole potato and toss it in. It’ll soak up the extra salt — and if you need it, add starch for a thicker texture. Fish it out once boiled.

PHOTOGRAPHED BY DANNY KIM; PROP STYLING BY ALI NARDI; HAND MODELING BY JESSICA CHOU.

The Problem: Cutting multiple tomatoes at once
The Solution: A serrated knife and two deli container lids

Place your cherry tomatoes between two lids, and carefully hold them in place with your non-dominant hand. Using your dominant hand, guide a serrated knife between the lids, slicing through the tomatoes. You won’t smush all the juice out, and you’ll get nicely halved results.

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