A few simple hacks can make short work of any task, and the kitchen is no exception. It doesn’t matter if it’s a technique for keeping leafy greens fresh for a longer period of time, a method for cooking eggs that assures they won’t crack, or a strategy to protect your spices from going to waste in the rain.
There are countless easy tips and tricks that will make your life simpler and leave you wondering why you didn’t know about them earlier.
So, kitchen hacks to save time is a compulsory demand. If you want to save time in the kitchen, bestmamakitchen has 20 top kitchen hacks for you. These are the finest time-saving techniques from professional chefs and home cooks alike. Keep an eye out!
Table of contents
- Time-Saving Cooking Hacks That Actually Work
- 1. Poach eggs in a muffin tin:
- 2. Bake cake in a mug:
- 3. Half tomatoes between lids:
- 4. Brown sugar hack:
- 5. Freeze the meat before slicing:
- 6. Reconsider Your Rice Cooker:
- 7. Bundt is the new beer can:
- 8. Maintain the potato’s white color:
- 9. Slow down rotting:
- 10. Speed up ripening:
- 11. Prevent the browning of freshly cut fruit:
- 12. Don’t make these plastic wrap mistakes:
- 13. Find novel ways to cover food:
- 14. Verify the freshness of the eggs:
- 15. Put an end to your constant struggle with pieces of eggshell:
- 16. Squash seeds may be extracted with little effort using a scoop:
- 17. Skim the fat:
- 18. Cherry-picking made simple:
- 19. Flip the banana and see what happens:
- 20. Without a peeler, peel potatoes:
- 21. Pit stone fruits with a twist:
- 22. Large-scale egg peeling:
- 23. Prevent onions from making you weep:
- 24. Handle jars that are difficult to open:
- 25. Keep pots from boiling over:
- 26. Evenly cook an entire bird:
- 27. Flatten out dough without the hassle:
- 28. Getting rid of unpleasant odors on your hands after cooking:
- Bottom Line
Estimated reading time: 10 minutes
Time-Saving Cooking Hacks That Actually Work
If you know a few tricks of the trade, you might be able to cut your time spent in the kitchen in half, from an hour to just a few minutes. With the right hack, a tedious culinary activity may be completed in a fraction of the normal time. So, without further ado, here are 20+ kitchen hacks that work to save your time at kitchen:
1. Poach eggs in a muffin tin:
Poached eggs are a sophisticated breakfast choice because the soft whites envelop and almost completely hide the runny yolks inside. However, preparing them on demand is only practical if you have a large culinary staff. Muffin tins are perfect for this purpose.
Put a teaspoon of water into each muffin tray hole, and then slide an egg inside. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 to 13 minutes. And what is the end result? Excellently poached eggs.
2. Bake cake in a mug:
Cakes made in mugs in the microwave are enjoyable to eat and a great method to limit your portion size. It’s easy to see why this trick is one of the most often used in the kitchen. Get yourself a microwave-safe mug and a spoon, and watch how simple it is to make a Red Velvet Mug Cake.
3. Half tomatoes between lids:
It may be an absolute agony to slice pints of cherry tomatoes or grapes because of their rolling and wriggling shapes. You are in luck because an otherwise laborious operation may be completed in one falling swoop if you corral the tiny buggers between two plastic lids or plates of identical size and use your knife to make a single, parallel cut between the two. This will allow you to complete the task in one fell swoop.
4. Brown sugar hack:
Do you find that your brown sugar, which is rich in molasses, has turned into a solid block? In order to prevent the sugar from drying out in the bag, a little marshmallow can be stored inside instead of a chisel or hammer.
5. Freeze the meat before slicing:
One common trick in the kitchen is to freeze the meat for at least 15 minutes before slicing it very thinly, whether it be beef for cheese steaks or chicken for stir-fry. Instead of turning the meat into a mushy mess, your knife will slide straight through for professional-quality slices.
6. Reconsider Your Rice Cooker:
You can make a lot more than rice using a rice cooker, so don’t limit yourself! It’s perfect for making creamy Mac and cheese, thick soups, hearty chilies, hearty stews, and a wide variety of grains and beans. A big, fluffy pancake is within your reach. Try making pancakes using this method in your rice cooker.
7. Bundt is the new beer can:
The concept is the same. If you’re going to roast a chicken, don’t do it over a can of beer like everyone else. The fluids will run over the potatoes and vegetables you have strewn in the pan’s bowl, making for delightfully crispy skin on the exterior.
8. Maintain the potato’s white color:
If you cover your shredded or diced potatoes with cold water before cooking, you may stop them from oxidizing and becoming that unpleasant shade of gray/brown.
9. Slow down rotting:
Tomatoes will last longer if you store them stem end down. This seals the wound where the tomato was attached to the vine, preventing air and moisture from getting in.
You know that rule about never putting tomatoes in the fridge, right? Proven false! According to recent studies, tomatoes kept in the refrigerator or on the counter didn’t lose any flavor or moisture.
Bananas may be kept fresh for much longer if their stem ends are wrapped in plastic. Even better, peel each banana individually. Both methods prevent the stem’s ethylene gases from escaping, which would otherwise hasten the ripening of the fruit.
10. Speed up ripening:
Transform a green banana into a yellow one (or a hard peach into a juicy one) by placing it in a paper bag and rubbing it. Fruit ripens more rapidly when tossed into the bag because of the increased concentration of ethylene gas.
11. Prevent the browning of freshly cut fruit:
You may already know that if you add a bit of lemon juice to apple slices, they won’t turn brown as quickly. An equal combination of honey and water can also prevent fruit from browning.
Isn’t it interesting that you can’t explain why something works? Lemon juice’s citric acid and vitamin C, together with the peptide in honey, inhibit the oxidation process responsible for discoloration.
12. Don’t make these plastic wrap mistakes:
Have you had enough of trying to manage plastic wrap? Keep the roll in the refrigerator so that you can quickly cover any leftovers with it without any effort. You may temporarily lessen the wrap’s stickiness by chilling it in the fridge.
13. Find novel ways to cover food:
Although shower caps are most recognized for their hair-saving abilities, they have much other practical use as well. Leftovers can be kept fresh for longer if they are covered with a clean lid (right in their plates).
Shower caps are reusable and far more convenient than having to remove and reapply plastic wrap or tin foil. And you could get a chuckle out of seeing them in your fridge.
14. Verify the freshness of the eggs:
The smell of spoiled eggs is not always a reliable indicator. Put some raw eggs in a dish of cold water and see what happens. It’s OK if an egg settles to the bottom. Something that can be floated away is probably beyond its prime.
A gas bubble forms within an egg as the liquid inside evaporates over time. The more it floats, the longer it has been around.
15. Put an end to your constant struggle with pieces of eggshell:
Crunchy bits in baked goods are universally disliked. However, if an eggshell crumbles into the batter, retrieving it might seem like chasing a tadpole as it wiggles away from your grasp.
Here are the two options we’ve come up with. The first step is to moisten your fingers and dive straight in. (Easy, but effective!)
You may use the other half of the egg that you shattered to clean up the shards of eggshell more efficiently. The shell’s magnetic properties allow you to easily collect broken bits of shell without wasting too much of the egg.
16. Squash seeds may be extracted with little effort using a scoop:
A little ice cream scoop is just the right size for removing seeds from pumpkins and other winter squash. The fibrous, sticky substance inside the squash can be difficult to eat with a fork or a standard spoon, but the scoop’s sharp edge makes short work of it.
17. Skim the fat:
Skim a few ice cubes (wrapped in a paper towel or cheese cloth) along the surface of stocks, stews, and sauces to remove the extra fat. The fat solidifies from the ice, making it simple to scoop out (or even a piece of toast).
18. Cherry-picking made simple:
One by one, place cherries on an empty beer bottle, and then use a chopstick to insert the cherry pit into the bottle.
19. Flip the banana and see what happens:
Do you recall ever having trouble prying open a banana? Believe it or not, you have company. Instead of wasting the banana’s valuable stem end by slicing into it, you should squeeze the two halves of the fruit together and peel it from the bottom up.
20. Without a peeler, peel potatoes:
It’s time to put down the peeler once more. You may quickly peel a potato by blanching it in boiling water for a few minutes and then cooling it in an ice bath. You can easily peel the skin away from the potatoes inside.
21. Pit stone fruits with a twist:
Cut stone fruits in half lengthwise, such as plums or nectarines, and oppositely twist each half. Thumb it to remove the center.
If you’re having trouble getting it out with your thumb, try prying it with a butter knife or cutting the fruit into quarters.
22. Large-scale egg peeling:
This is the time to commit all your resources to a single cooking vessel.
Shake several hard-boiled eggs in a covered container to peel them all at once. It all went kablooie! There are holes in the shells so that you can shake them off.
The eggs will look better, but they’ll be ready for egg salad far sooner than using the old ways.
23. Prevent onions from making you weep:
Freezing this fragrant vegetable before slicing might prevent tears from being triggered. (Note: This approach only works if you plan to sauté the onions later; otherwise, the raw bits will be a bit mushy once the onion thaws out.)
What about another possibility? Wear swimming goggles to keep your eyes safe when chopping.
Or, if you’re not afraid of your roommate thinking you’re crazy, you may place a slice of bread in your mouth (with part of it hanging out) to trap the irritating gas before it hits your eyes.
24. Handle jars that are difficult to open:
Wrap the lid with a rubber band and try to open the jar again. The band’s added friction should help. If you’re still having trouble (or your hands are hurting), try covering the rubber-banded top with a dish towel.
However, lid grips, which come in convenient three-packs and can be obtained in any supermarket, can be helpful.
25. Keep pots from boiling over:
Place a wooden spoon over the top of the pot as it begins to overflow to keep it from boiling over. Wood is poor at transmitting heat. Thus the hot water doesn’t stay put on the handle.
26. Evenly cook an entire bird:
It is recommended to freeze the breast of the bird before cooking a whole turkey or chicken. Chilling the breasts will help ensure even cooking, as dark thigh meat takes longer than white breast meat.
27. Flatten out dough without the hassle:
So the batter for your sugar cookies was a bit sticky. How do you prevent it from adhering to the surface and clinging to your rolling pin if you roll it out on the counter? Help is on the way in the form of wax paper.
To prevent the flour from sticking to your rolling pin, place a wax paper below the dough before rolling.
28. Getting rid of unpleasant odors on your hands after cooking:
If you’ve been handling garlic or onions, you may get rid of the odor on your hands by wiping them with lemon juice, baking soda, or stainless steel.
How come we’re using stainless steel? Molecular bonds are formed between the steel and the chemicals responsible for the odor upon contact (such as sulfur from garlic).
Bottom Line
Do you feel up to the challenge of preparing a meal? And what about baking? Not to mention stowing! Follow the above kitchen hacks to save time.
However, we can’t promise that these 20+ kitchen hacks will make you a culinary genius; they just could give you the confidence you need to tackle any kitchen obstacle.
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