While there are many tried-and-true cooking techniques that are as old as time, it's always possible to reinvent the wheel. Canny chefs are constantly coming up with cooking hacks, which ensure that working in the kitchen remains fun, by solving nagging little problems you never even realized you had! Learn how to save time in the kitchen with these easy cooking tips and tricks. These quick and clever kitchen hacks will change how you cook and store food for the better.
1. Slice Steak Fries
Craving those scratch-made potato wedges from your favorite restaurant? The answer is waiting in your kitchen drawer. Cut one end of the potato for stability, then push an apple slicer through. Add your favorite seasonings, or follow our recipe for Parmesan Potato Wedges. Bonus: You can try it with sweet potatoes, too.
2. Chill Wine Super Fast
Fact: No one likes lukewarm bubbly. Find a tall pitcher about the height of your wine bottle and get cooling. Immerse the bottle in ice water with a small handful of salt and turn every few minutes or so. Your booze will chill in 20 minutes (or less!).
3. Keep Ice Cream Cool
Bubble wrap is a powerful insulator. While on the road, keep your Chunky Monkey from melting by wrapping the pint in plastic bubble wrap. It’ll stay firm for hours. Speaking of ice cream, here are 10 little-known ice cream brands you need to try.
4. Make Frozen Rolls Seem Homemade
Elevate your bread basket by adding a little extra sumthin’ to frozen rolls. Thaw, then brush tops with egg wash and dip into your choice of seasoning blends, seeds or cheeses, Be as gentle or generous as you’d like! Bake according to recipe or package directions.
5. Covering up leeks
Long vegetables such as leeks and celery often don’t fit in produce bags. To remedy this, save empty sandwich bread bags that are long enough to completely contain the stalks.
6. Armor for delicate produce
Fragile produce such as lettuce can easily get damaged and crushed when kept in flimsy supermarket produce bags. Save plastic “clamshell” containers, the kind that tender greens are sold in, and use them as a sturdy alternative for storing your washed lettuce and other delicate produce.
1. Poke holes in the container for airflow.
2. Gently layer washed greens with paper towels.
3. Snap the lid shut and store in the fridge.
7. Carbonating your salad greens
Blowing into a bag of salad greens (thereby increasing the carbon dioxide level) keeps the contents fresh longer, but it’s not very sanitary. For a cleaner carbon dioxide source, try a few puffs from a countertop seltzer maker before sealing the bag.
