8 Kitchen Tips and Tricks That Will Change Your Life
Whether you love every minute of your time in the kitchen or you loathe each second you spend there with a fiery passion, you’ll be delighted to know that there are a number of kitchen tips and tricks that you can use to save time and effort, and completely change your life…
Freeze meat before cooking
If your skills with a carving knife aren’t exactly the best, but you really love thinly sliced meat, you’ll be delighted to know that if you place your prime piece of beef, or even halal meat, in the freezer for a few moments, it’ll be much easier to achieve those wafer-thin slices you desire. Why? Because the freezer firms the meat up a little, which means you can cut it with more precision. Just another one of those kitchen tips you’ll be happy you tried!
Peel ginger with a spoon
Spoons peel ginger much more easily than any knife. Enough said.
Leave the oven knobs alone
When you’re cleaning your oven or range, you can clean the surface of the knobs, but you should never clean underneath them. If you want to keep your range working, squirting cleaner into what is basically an electrical component is a really bad idea. Yes, you can get spare parts or call out an engineer to fix the problem, but really it’s better to avoid the issue altogether, so be very careful where you do and do not clean.
Clean the oven with baking soda and vinegar
While we’re on the subject of cleaning the oven, forget about those harsh chemical-laden products and switch to baking soda and vinegar instead. Simply mix half a cup of baking soda with enough water to form a thick paste and spread it on the oven’s surface. Leave for at least a couple of hours (a whole day is better) and then spray with a 50-50 mix of white vinegar and water. Leave for an hour, then scrape off with a spatula and clean with a cloth or sponge for an oven that’s more sparkling than ever before. This is one of our favorite kitchen tips!
Garlic doesn’t need to be peeled
No, I’m not talking about serving your garlic with the skin still on — I’m talking about saving yourself some time by simply removing the root of the clove and using the blade of your knife to smash the garlic out of its peel. It’s faster and less likely to cause injury than peeling your garlic in the usual way. Check out Martha Stewart’s kitchen tips for how to crush garlic.
Freeze butter before baking
Freezing and then grating butter before baking will enable you to mix it with your flour more easily. It also tends to melt much faster than warmer butter, for a cleaner, better bake.
Wash hands with salt
Another one of our favorite kitchen tips is the magic of salt! If you’ve been cooking with onions, garlic, or other smelly ingredients, instead of using soap, wash your hands with salt to get rid of unpleasant odors fast.
Add bicarb to eggs
Boiling eggs? Add a little bicarbonate soda to the water and when the time comes to peel them, you’ll find that the shells come away far more easily, saving you a lot of time and mess in the process. This is one of those kitchen tips you’ll be glad you tried.
Now, you can be queen of the kitchen!