10 Common Household Items That Are Also Super Useful In The Kitchen
By Zoe Bain
ALL ILLUSTRATIONS BY ISABEL CASTILLO.
For some weird reason, the person who designed my kitchen forgot to include drawers. This presents obvious complications, which is compounded by the fact that I have limited funds to deck my space with storage in the form of jars and other alternative storage methods. This has forced me to adapt: A lot of common household items that you probably already have laying around can be surprisingly helpful when you prep your dinner. Everything from a hammer to an iron and rubber bands can do double duty in the kitchen.
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Check out all 10 of my kitchen hacks, ahead.
Rubber Bands
1. Like to pre-chop your apples, but hate when they end up brown by the time you want to eat them? Simply cut the apple and put it back together using a rubber band or two. They will keep the chopped fruit fresh!
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2. You can also use rubber bands to loosen a jar that’s tough to open. Just wrap it around the difficult jar several times, and you’ll have a better grip.
Hair Dryer
Food stylists use fancy tools called heat guns to create that gorgeous melty affect with chocolate, cheese, butter, and more. But here’s the thing: you can do the same with a good old-fashioned blow dryer. Plus, they make for some really good indoor s'mores.
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Tools
Hammer: Don’t have a meat tenderizer? I don’t, either! But you can always use a (clean!) hammer to tenderize a cut of beef or thin out a chicken breast. (If you’re worried about where you’re hammer has been, put a piece of parchment paper over the meat.)
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Screwdriver: Do you have a big bag of ice or frozen fruit that is stuck together? Use a screwdriver instead of an ice pick to break it up.
Loofa
If you’ve got some particularly dirty root vegetables (potatoes, carrots, parsnips, etc.) and are having trouble getting all the grime off — use an extra loofa. If they can clean you, they can clean your veggies, too!
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Pantyhose
I don’t have cheesecloth, but I do always have an extra pair of new pantyhose around (in case of those inevitable tears.) Just cut the pantyhose into the shape you need and use in place of a cheesecloth.
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Floss
Floss helps keep our teeth healthy, but, believe it or not, it’s also extremely helpful when it comes to cutting soft foods. Use floss in place of a knife to cut a log of goat cheese or cookie dough. You can even use it to cut a cake.
String
Don’t have baker’s twine? No problem! Use any cotton string to truss a chicken or tie herbs together so you won’t have to fish them out of a stock or soup later.
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Iron
Ok, so it sounds really weird, but in a pinch you can make a grilled cheese using an iron! If you don’t have access to a full kitchen or a good pan to make the perfect, gooey grilled cheese, just use an iron. But make sure to put a piece of wax paper over your sandwich. You don’t want to end up with burnt cheese and butter caked on your iron the next time you’re trying to get the wrinkles out of a shirt.
Painter’s Tape
Not only is painter’s tape perfect when you want to make sure your paint jobs are clean, you can also use it to label everything in your kitchen. Label containers of leftovers in the fridge and put dates on ziplock bags in the freezer. When it’s time to clean up, the painter’s tape will come right off!
Scissors
Who needs a knife or a fancy pair of kitchen shears when you’ve got a regular pair of scissors? Use them to cut the ends of string beans, cut up bacon to throw in a pan, cut whole canned tomatoes, or cut herbs instead of chopping them.
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