If you, like me, spend a lot of time in the kitchen, you’ve probably made your own tips and tricks over the years. But there’s always room for learning more tips that can make your life easier. Whether you’re a professional or you just love cooking as a hobby, these kitchen hacks will make cooking, cleaning, and storing much easier for you.
1. Clean A Wooden Cutting Board
Cleaning wooden cutting boards can be a little bit tricky, because they trap a lot of bacteria on them. If you want to make sure that you’re properly cleaning your cutting board, pour some rock salt on the board and scrub it with half a lemon. Then, rinse it with hot water and enjoy your nice and clean cutting board.
2. DIY Stainless Steel Cleaner
Stainless steel sinks can get dull and dirty over time. If you want them clean, spray them with a solution made of distilled vinegar and water, then scrub them. This will disinfect them and make them shinier and cleaner.
3. Conserve Wine
If you have an opened wine bottle that’s about to go bad, make some ice cubes with it. You can use it for many sauce recipes and sangria.
4. Save Your Herbs
Just like the last tip, if you have herbs that are about to go bad, chop them and add them to an ice cube tray with olive oil. They will be ready for cooking future dishes.
5. Squash Tip
Squash can be one of the hardest things to cut. If you want to make your job easier, put it in the microwave for 2 to 5 minutes. The heat will soften the hard skin and it won’t cook it.
6. Light A Candle
If you want to avoid crying while cutting an onion, light a vanilla candle. The vanilla candle will prevent the onion gases from reaching your nose and eyes.
7. Soften Brown Sugar
If you want to prevent brown sugar from hardening, put an apple or orange peel into the bag before sealing it.
8. DIY Powdered Sugar
If you run out of powdered sugar and you need it for a recipe, just use granulated sugar. Transfer it into a spice grinder or a small blender and use the Pulverize or Pulse setting.
9. Keep Your Saran Wrap In The Fridge
Saran wrap can b really annoying when it sticks on itself. To prevent this from happening, keep your saran wrap in the fridge instead of a cupboard.
10. Eliminate Veggie Waste
If you have some vegetables that are about to get old, don’t throw them away, unless they’re rotten. Cut your old veggies, sprinkle them with some olive oil and salt, and roast them in the oven. Blend them with milk or cream and spices to make your vegetable soup cream.
11. Parchment Paper
If you don’t have any muffin tins, use parchment paper to contain your muffin batter. It works just as fine.
12. Open A Jar
If your jar lid doesn’t want to open, put a rubber band around the edge of the lid and try again. The grip and friction created by the rubber band will allow the lid to pop off easily and faster.
13. Save A Crumbling Cake
If your cake turned out in giant crumbly pieces, don’t panic. You can transfer the pieces to a bowl, add some whipped cream and fruits, and you just made yourself a trifle.
14. Safely Clean Your Blender
The next time you want to clean your blender, don’t reach around your blender’s blades with your sponge, you might cut yourself. Instead, pour in some water and add a few drops of dish soap into the blender. Pulse it a few times then rinse. Your blender will be sparkling again.
15. Grate Your Butter
Instead of creaming your butter into flour when baking, grate it! Use a cheese grater to grate the butter into tiny pieces. Stir it, and you’re ready to go. Everything will blend together easily and fast.
16. Store Natural Peanut Butter Upside Down
Natural peanut butter develops a thick oily layer on the top of the jar and you have to keep stirring before eating. If you want to save your time, store your peanut butter upside down. This will not only save the stirring time, but it will also make it taste creamier and better.
17. Slice Soft Foods With Floss
Soft foods like soft cheese and tofu can be hard to cut without creating a squished mess. If you want to avoid that, stop using a knife and use dental floss instead.
18. DIY Dried Herbs
If you want to make your own dried herbs out of fresh ones, put them in the microwave at 15-20 second intervals. Keep flipping them in between until they’re dry on both sides.
