25 Useful Kitchen Tips Every One Should Know

1.  If you happen to lose part of an egg shell in the bowl you are using, use part of the recently cracked egg to retrieve it.

2.  When cracking an egg, do it on a flat surface.  This will reduce the chance of getting runaway shells.

 

3.  If for any reason, you are behind on making dinner, set the table as you work.  This would let your family or guests know that dinner is to be served soon, and they will usually not ask just how soon.

4.  Clean as you cook.  Even if you are cooking something that needs a lot of attention, you can do some simple things that will make cleanup later easier.  For instance, when you put your pots and pans in the sink, fill them with water so that things would not cake up in and around them making cleanup easier.

5.  If you're doing a slow cooker recipe, sear or brown your meat first. The Maillard reaction adds flavor to whatever it is you are cooking, plus it looks great!

6.  If you do not have enough money for plenty of meat for your pasta sauce, you can use beans along with little meat instead.

7.  Always chop or dice or mince stuff before you start cooking.  Put the prepared ingredients in a bowl or bowls.  This way, you just need to dump the ingredients when needed and you do not have to run around the kitchen while cooking.

8.  If you are preparing a multi-course meal, plan it so that everything comes out at around the same time.  Understand though that it might not come out as planned.

9.  When cleaning oily pans or plates, first use a paper towel to soak up the oil.  After this, pour the liquid soap into the container before adding water to rinse off.  The paper towel would remove most of the oil.  Then, adding the liquid soap before the water means there is no layer of water separating the soap molecules from the oil.

10.  When cooking rice, don't touch it.  It'll cook on its own.

11.  Cook bacon in the oven.  Just cover a pan with foil for easy cleanup, arrange your bacon strips, pop it into a cold oven, set to 350 and come back in 10-15 minutes.

12.  You can crack a garlic clove open easily by pressing down on it with the side of your knife.

13.  Measure when baking, wing it when cooking. 

14.  Keep your knives sharp.

15.  Check if an egg is good or bad with a glass of water. If the egg sinks, it's good; if it floats, it's bad.

16.  When picking citrus fruit, keep in mind that the best, juiciest citrus fruit has smooth skin, small pores and feels heavy for its size.

17.  A small amount of apple cider vinegar like 1/8 tsp for 2 eggs will make really fluffy scrambled eggs.

18.  A dash of vanilla in pancakes is divine.

19.  Do not store onions and potatoes near each other.  Onions release a gas which encourages potatoes to sprout early.

 

20.  You can tell pancakes are ready to be flipped if the bubbles forming the dough are popping around the edges of the pancake.

21.  Throw used coffee grounds on your lawn. Earthworms love it, and they are great for aerating your soil.

22.  When grilling steak, make sure you let it rise to room temperature first.  Then, make sure you let it rest after grilling too.  Do not salt the steak while allowing it to heat up to room temperature.  The salt would draw away moisture from the meat which is not what you want when grilling something.

23.  If you want fried eggs sunny side up without the runny yolk, put a little water in the pan while cooking and then the top on.  The steam produced would cook the top of the eggs so you do not have to flip the egg.

24.  After cutting garlic or onions and the odor would not go away after washing with soap, just rub your fingertips and nails on the side of your stainless steel sink or anything that's made of stainless steel.  This would take away the onion and garlic odor.

25.  If you are going to use several spoons and forks for cooking, set up a pint of warm water in a glass nearby.  Just put the spoon and fork after using on the warm water so you can easily re-use them later without having to wash them with soap.