People Are Sharing The Simple Food Hacks That Changed The Way They Cook, And As A Not-So-Great Chef, I'm Taking Notes
If you're anything like me (aka not the best chef around), you probably love a good cooking hack. Whether it's a way to make a task waaaay simpler, a step to keep food fresh for longer, or just a simple tip to make things taste 10 times more delicious, I'm all ears. So while I was scrolling through r/foodhacks, I took note of some of the best and most popular hacks people shared. Here are 22 of them:
1."Crinkle your foil before making chicken nuggets, frozen potatoes, etc. It makes for easy flipping and helps the food to not get stuck. I discovered this by accident/being cheap. Hope it helps somebody out there!"
2."Storing an avocado with onion in the refrigerator keeps the avocado fresh for days. I learned this by accident and found out it's actually a thing*."
*The onion releases sulfur, which causes a chemical reaction that prevents oxygen from interacting with the enzymes in the avocado and, thus, keeps it from browning.
3."Canned tomato paste hack. Open both ends of the can, then push the contents out. Voilà."
4.For a nearly endless green onion hack, save the white ends (with the roots attached) of your green onions and place them in a jar of water somewhere that gets sunlight. "Spring onions in water work almost too well. Infinite greens!"
5.If you've got instant coffee on hand, "Silicone coffee lids are a perfect fit for many tinned products!"
6."Wrap a piece of lettuce around one side of your sandwich or burger to keep the goods from falling out the other side when you take a bite."
7."A loose leaf tea steeper is the best way to evenly sprinkle flour on a surface, cornstarch on proteins, and icing sugar on desserts."
8.To extend the shelf life of herbs like cilantro, "We put a paper towel on the bottom of a container, rinsed and untied our cilantro, put another paper towel on top, then sealed it in the container. Wow! This cilantro is 2 weeks old. We went on vacation and came back to it looking as if it was picked today. An absolute revolution for herbs."
9."I think I discovered the best way to mince garlic — with a meat tenderizer! I put a ziplock bag on top of the garlic and hit it four to five times, and presto!"
10."If you want to keep a salad fresh days after making it, put a paper towel on top of it, right under the lid. It'll absorb moisture. The picture on the right is on day four."
11."Cook grilled cheese in a waffle iron. It gets crispy, and the holes hold extra soup."
12."Use a cheese grater when you need to spread cold butter on cold things or in pie dough."
13."Cut celery and place it in water for storage. Lasts longer and stays crispier."
14.To keep your sandwich from getting soggy and the toppings from sliding over the place, put the slippery ones (like pickles, tomatoes, onions, etc.) inside the deli meat like a little envelope:
15."Don’t have a cake dome? Use a plastic container upside down to store it."
16."Use Mason jar lids to get the perfect patty shape when making black bean burgers, eggs, or anything similar."
17.When making stocks, stews, or sauces, use a tea infuser for your herbs. "It's super useful for getting the most out of the broken bits of bay leaf at the bottom of the bag."
18.For more control when using oil in recipes or to grease a pan, "Reuse empty sriracha containers as twist-top cooking-oil dispensers."
19."Use a lemon juicer to make the perfect smashed potatoes that get extra crispy."
20."Hear me out: A ramen packet makes awesome popcorn seasoning! Mix the powder with some melted butter or margarine and then toss with the popcorn. Add chili powder for an extra kick."
21."You can use the bottom of some wine bottles as a homemade ravioli press. The bottom of this J. Lohr wine bottle (as well as any similar-shaped bottle) makes a great press."
22.And finally, when trying to get sauce out of a pouch (such as with this mac 'n' cheese), use the lid of your pot to easily squeeze out every last bit of it.
Do you have an easy food or cooking hack like these that has been game changing for you? If so, tell us about it in the comments below (feel free to include images!) or via this anonymous form.
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
