Save time prepping food and make cooking easier with these cooking hacks that are pure genius.
Use an empty water bottle to separate egg whites and yolks
Crack an egg into a shallow bowl, then hold the mouth of the bottle near the yolk and gently squeeze. When you release the squeeze, the yolk will be sucked out, and you can deposit it into another bowl.
Cut corn with a Bundt pan
To remove corn from the cob quickly, stand the cob upright in the center of a Bundt pan. Holding the top of the cob steady, stroke a chef’s knife downward along the sides to remove kernels. Scrape the cob with the back of the knife to release juices. Kernels and juice collect in the Bundt pan – meaning one less mess for you to clean up.
Don’t cry over a broken cake…
Instead, make a trifle by layering salvaged cake pieces with fresh whipped cream and fruit in a pretty glass bowl, advises Tamar Adler, chef and author of An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace. Plus, don’t miss this genius frosting hack that will change the way you bake.
Clean a blender sans sponge
Fill it one-third full with warm water and a few drops of dishwashing liquid, recommends Woman’s Day. Run it for ten seconds. Rinse and dry.
Skip the pasta rinse
Rinsing noodles washes away and natural starch, which helps the yummy sauce stick. It’s why some recipes suggest saving pasta water to use in the sauce. Instead, skip the wash and spread drained pasta on a pan to cool. Better yet, try this cooking hack that makes draining pasta even easier.
Pizza wheels chop herbs
Turn in the chopping knife: Instead, roll over herbs like parsley and cilantro with a pizza wheel for quick and safe slicing. A pizza wheel also effortlessly chops foods like pancakes and pasta for small children.
Use a countertop bowl for easy garbage
As you cook, toss scraps, eggshells, and other garbage into a large bowl. This will contain messes and save time if a garbage bin isn’t readily accessible.
Way to Slice a Bunch of Cherry Tomatoes
Slicing a lot of cherry tomatoes individually can be kinda tedious. Here is how to do it with minimal time or effort and with things you probably already have in your kitchen. This trick has been floating around the internet for a while – and it really is a game-changer.
All you need for this hack is a bunch of cherry tomatoes, two plastic tops from storage containers, and a very sharp knife.
- Place the tomatoes on the lid of one of the containers.
- Place the other lid on top of the tomatoes and hold down the lid with one hand to keep everything in place.
- Slice through the tomatoes.
For easier hard-boiled eggs, salt is your BFF
Want the shells of hard-boiled eggs to come off in big chunks instead of a million tiny pieces? Add a teaspoon of salt to the cooking water before putting in the eggs.
Peel a Head of Garlic…With Your Microwave
You’ve probably already seen the video demonstrating how easy it is to peel a head of garlic using two bowls, but here’s another method to try. All it takes about 20 seconds and a microwave.
Heat a head of garlic in a microwave for about 20 seconds and the cloves will slide right out of their skins with no mess and no sticky garlic juices. This tip reminds me of a similar trick that uses the microwave to shuck corn — so now I’m looking around the kitchen wondering what else I can peel with the help of my microwave.
Quickest Way to Warm Up Pita Bread
I always keep a bag of whole wheat pita rounds in the freezer for last-minute lunches; they can be stuffed with salad, eaten with hummus and vegetables, or even topped with avocado and egg. But how to transform a rock-hard piece of frozen pita into a soft, warm pocket? Here’s a method that is fast and foolproof.
On a gas stove, turn the flame on medium-low and place the frozen pita directly on the burner. Flip it and move it around every 5-10 seconds to ensure it heats evenly and doesn’t burn. (I just use my hands, but you could certainly use tongs.) It usually takes less than a minute to take the bread from totally frozen to warm, pliable and a little crusty.
I learned this technique from my childhood best friend’s mother, who was a stellar cook originally from Lebanon. Years before I cooked or cared about the best way to heat flatbread, I knew there was no better after school snack than a freshly-warmed piece of pita and a bowl of her inimitable hummus.
Keep counters clean with a baking sheet
Place all ingredients on an empty baking sheet prior to prepping them. (This will help you catch spills and avoid wasting time hunting for an item as you cook.)
Whip up gourmet bread crumbs in a pinch
Got an extra burger or hot dog buns? Tear into pieces and freeze in a zipper-top bag. Ten to 20 pulses in a food processor will transform them into ready-to-use bread crumbs—no thawing necessary.
Juice a lemon with a microwave
Zap a lemon for 10 seconds to break down cells and make the juice flow faster, suggests Laurent Tourondel, chef and partner at Arlington Club in New York City. This is good to remember when trying to squeeze out as much juice as possible for a vinaigrette.
Flavour sauces and stews with leftover wine
Freeze leftover wine in ice cube trays to add flavor to sauces and stews. White and sparkling work best in creamy or clear and brothy soups (think chowder and simple vegetable), while red wine goes well with tomato or beef-based varieties (think chili). Add a few generous splashes per portion.
Soften ice cream hard as a brick
Heat a sharp knife under warm water, then use it to make one-inch-deep cuts in a grid formation, spacing the lines about an inch apart. This increases your ice cream’s exposed surface area, speeding up the thawing process (similar to the beef trick). Run a scooper under warm water, and easily serve up each section.
Cut away the mould
Before you toss suspect-looking leftovers, know this: firm foods are more likely to be salvageable than soft foods. Mould generally can’t penetrate deep into hard cheeses like Asiago and cheddar, so it’s OK to cut off about an inch. The same goes for firm produce like bell peppers and carrots. However, chuck mouldy-looking foods with high moisture content—yogurt, soft cheeses, cooked leftovers, and bread. Porous foods are likely to be contaminated beneath the surface.
