When it comes to cooking in the kitchen, you don’t have to be a Gordon Ramsay or Matty Matheson in order to make something that’s both memorable and tasty for your dinner guests.
All it takes for anyone to look like a professional chef is mastering a few simple hacks that are guaranteed to make your life easier. Have a look below and check out these 15 random but helpful kitchen hacks that are here to help save you.
Have you ever wondered if you could speed up the ripening process?
Well, now you can! If you’re wondering how you can turn your bananas from green to yellow overnight, just place them in a sealed paper bag. The concentration of ethylene gas will speed up the process.
No more hulls in your strawberries.
Picking the hulls from your strawberries can be a ripe pain in the butt. Next time, try using a plastic straw and spear the strawberry at the opposite end of the hull . As you push, the hull will come away on its own.
Now you can prolong the life of your bananas.
The first thing you’re going to want to do is to separate them from the bushel. Once this is done, simply wrap the ends with a small amount of plastic wrap .
Who cut the cheese?
Cutting soft cheeses such as goat or brie can often leave you with a soggy mushy mess. Instead of using a cheese knife, reach for an unscented piece of dental floss . It works like a charm.
Keep your potatoes looking their whitest.
There’s nothing worse than when a cut potatoes starts to turn brown . You can prevent this from happening simply by covering your diced or cut potatoes with a bit of cold water before cooking begins.
Prevent leftovers from drying out in the microwave.
If you’re looking to have some of last night’s pizza or pasta, before you put it in the microwave, be sure to put a cup of water in there along with it. The excess moisture will prevent the food from drying.
Stop your pots from boiling over.
Believe it or not, there is a tried and true method to prevent your pots from spilling over. So long as you place a wooden spoon lengthwise across the pot, you’ll never need to worry about damaging your stovetop ever again.
There’s a right and a wrong way to store your tomatoes.
I know what you’re thinking — I couldn’t believe it either. But if you store your tomatoes with the stem side facing down , you will drastically increase the shelflife
A quick way to check if your eggs have spoiled.
Sometimes it can be difficult to tell if an egg is rotten, as they don’t always give off a noticeable smell. However, if you submerge an egg in cold water and it floats to the top — that right there is a bad egg.
Learn to pit your cherries like a pro.
For this trick, you’re going to want to grab an empty beer bottle. Place the cherry on the mouth of the bottle, and then use a chopstick to simply push the pit down inside the bottle.
Say goodbye to stuck jars.
There’s nothing more infuriating than not being able to open a stuck jar. You can make things a whole lot easier on yourself by placing a rubber band around the lid for more traction. Rubber kitchen gloves also work very well.
No more brown fruit.
If you’re someone who likes to keep cut-up fruit on hand but hates the fact that it browns so quickly, try to apply a mixture of one part honey and two parts water. It will keep your fruit slices looking like new.
Don’t bother flipping fries.
Whether you like to cook frozen or fresh french fries, having to flip them halfway through is a chore. To avoid this unnecessary step, make sure to leave the pan in the oven as it preheats .
There’s a secret to ensuring that brown sugar stays soft.
Despite your best intentions, more often than not that 2kg bag of brown sugar will likely be hard as a rock in less than a week. Help prevent this by putt a piece of orange peel or a slice of apple inside the bag.
Chill the wine instantly without diluting it.
On a hot summer’s day, sometimes there just isn’t enough time to get your wine to the proper drinking temperature. Instead of diluting it with ice cubes, try throwing gin a couple of frozen grapes instead.
