12 ultimate kitchen hacks
Arguing with the roll of cling film, ending up with more pancake batter on the stove than in the pan, and a broken crown thanks to an unexpected cherry pit: all that suffering is a thing of the past with these super-handy kitchen hacks.
These kitchen hacks are worth knowing
No more wilted basil or wrestling with cling film!
Soggy lettuce
Lettuce usually starts to get a little soggy the day after you buy it, with brown edges. This is caused by condensation on the packaging of the bag of lettuce coming into contact with the leaves. How can you prevent it? Put the lettuce in a bowl or plastic container, place a folded piece of kitchen paper on top and then cover the bowl with a lid or cling film. Pop it in the fridge. The kitchen paper absorbs condensation and moisture, keeping the lettuce fresh for longer.
Wilted basil
Another tricky customer: basil. A little plant will last for a while, but basil leaves wilt quickly. You can prevent this by cutting off a little of the stems and putting them in a glass or vase like a bunch of flowers. To prevent them from drying out, you can pull a small bag over them. That way, the basil will last for a few more days. Don’t put it in the fridge!
Pitted cherries
What a chore: pitting cherries. Not this way, though: place the cherry on the opening of an empty wine bottle. Pierce the cherry with a cocktail stick and push the pit down into the bottle. Voilà.
Rock-hard butter
‘Butter at room temperature’ the recipe says, but it’s nowhere near that yet. Put the butter on a plate, and warm a bowl that fits over the plate by rinsing it under the hot tap. Place the bowl over the butter and wait five minutes. Another option: grate the rock-hard butter with a coarse kitchen grater. This is also handy if you want to make crumbly pastry or cookies, because you no longer need to cut the butter into the flour and sugar with two knives; the butter is already small enough.
Slippery chopping board
Does your smooth chopping board slide off the counter while you’re slicing and chopping? Dampen a piece of kitchen paper, place it on the counter and put the chopping board on top. The damp paper keeps the board firmly in place. If only everything in life were this simple.
Messy pancake batter
It’s a shame that the stove and counter become a huge mess when you make pancakes. But hey, they really don’t have to: put the pancake batter in a piping bag. That way, you can pipe the batter into the pan without any drips or mess. No piping bag? A large ziplock bag works just as well. Fill it, snip off a corner and get going! Put a clip on the bag and place it in a bowl between two pancakes; otherwise it’ll still become a mess.
Clump of brown sugar
Brown sugar turns into a hard clump in no time in a storage jar. The sugar dries out, that’s why. You can prevent this by putting a few marshmallows in the sugar jar. Is the sugar already rock-hard? Put it in a small dish in the oven together with a slice of bread. When the sugar warms up, it softens a little. Apparently, this also works with a slice of apple or a piece of carrot. Do try this at home!
Lopsided cake
Go ahead and try it: cutting a fresh pie or cake into two or three layers with a knife so you can put filling between them. There’s a good chance it will turn out lopsided, leaving the cake in chunks on the plate. Tip: use a piece of dental floss to cut the cake into perfectly straight layers. It may be unnecessary to say, but still: don’t use waxed or mint-flavored dental floss. Is this tip too late and has the cake already turned into a miserable mess? Then don’t make a layer cake; make a trifle in a glass bowl instead.
Yolk in the egg white
For some people, separating an egg is, well, a piece of cake; others just keep making a mess of it. Don’t despair, because this is the trick: carefully crack the egg over a deep plate. Take an empty plastic bottle, squeeze it and place the opening against the yolk. Release your grip and the bottle will suck the yolk right out of the plate.
Dirty blender
A blender works lightning-fast, but cleaning the thing is less fun. How do you clean the bulky jug, especially around the small blade at the bottom? Fill the blender with a cup of warm water, add a drop of dish soap, put the lid on and blend away. Empty it and repeat with hot water without dish soap. Dry it, and you’re done!
Craving ice cream and no patience
Forgot to take the ice cream out of the freezer when the main course was served? Or craving ice cream NOW with no patience? You can’t scoop balls straight from a tub of ice cream fresh from the freezer. Heat a kitchen knife and cut the hard ice cream into cubes. Move the ice cream back and forth a little so grooves form between the cubes. This way, the ice cream thaws faster: a larger surface area has more contact with warm air. Dip the ice cream scoop in boiling-hot water and you’ll probably be able to scoop immediately.
Wrestling with cling film
Want to pull off a piece of cling film, but is the film sticking to the box, itself and your forearm? On the sides of the cling-film box are two almost invisible half-moons. Press them inward and the roll will stay securely in place when you pull off a piece. Boxes of microwave film and other kitchen film also have these little flaps to hold the roll in place.
Also read:
- How to: keep herb plants alive
- Tingling tongue when you eat pineapple? Not with this tip
- Hack: peeling ginger
