Nate Armbruster
Learning new cooking hacks is easier than ever thanks to the internet. There’s always something you can find to make working in the kitchen easier.
Then again, sometimes they’re not very helpful at all. Someone asked people on Reddit to share cooking hacks they hate and here are the top responses.
What cooking “hack” do you hate?
#1
“Level-up your instant ramen” by cooking an entire fucking meal from scratch and then incorporating the noodles.
This isn’t a hack. This is just cooking.
#2
Food hacks that show up on 5 Minutes Crafts
#3
Not that I hate them, but I’ve tried loads for hummus that don’t work.
Blend with ice, blend when chickpeas are hot, used dried/ canned chickpeas, cook them more, take all the skins off, blend the tahini and lemon juice on its own first, soak with baking soda, etc.
Just blend everything together, and make sure there’s enough liquid in the blender that it blends properly to get it smooth. Then add salt until it tastes really good
#4
My pet peeve is the ‘one sheet pan dinner’ recipe videos where they spread everything out on the pan, THEN add oil and seasonings AS UNEVENLY AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE and just shuffle around poorly with their hands.
just toss it all in a big bowl beforehand, goddamn
#5
Using a plastic water bottle to separate egg yolks. And by extension, using any tool to separate yolks. Just use your hands.
#6
It’s not really “cooking” but I saw one that made peanut butter sandwiches ‘easier’.
It involved creating frozen slices of peanut butter between two small sheets of cellophane, which could then be taken out of the freezer and put between bread, and would then melt creating a peanut butter sandwich.
I have no idea how that was less time and effort than just making them the normal way, and it doesn’t really extend the shelf life of peanut butter in any meaningful way, and with the added drawback that you can’t eat them right away since the peanut butter needs to melt.
Blew my mind for all the wrong reasons.
#7
Cooking things in the dishwasher. That started in the 70s, now it’s a TikTok thing, but it’s always stupid.
#8
Peeling garlic by shaking it in a container, doesn’t work for me. Slicing cherry tomatoes in half by placing a plate on top.
#9
I hate the word “hack”. It’s not just a different way to say tip or way of cooking. Like is mug cake or pastes real a hack? It’s a recipe and ingredient? A hack is buying dollar coins on a credit card and then selling back the coins to a bank to get airline points.
#10
Basically any garlic peeling hack!
Just smack that bitch with a knife and you can wriggle the skin right off
#11
Peeling ginger with a spoon. I just use a knife and square it off. I’m okay with losing a little bit of it if it means not grabbing a spoon and spending twice as much time prepping it.
Also, a new one I’ve seen is using a cooling rack to dice avocado, mango, egg, etc. whoever came up with that has either never cleaned a cooling rack or doesn’t own a knife.
Agree with the veggie scraps one.
#12
Those TikTok morons who think cutting cake with a wineglass is somehow easier or convenient.
#13
That the hole in the center of the spaghetti spoon is a single serving. If I wanna eat a whole box I will.
#14
Using a straw to de-stem strawberries by poking a hole through the bottom of the berry.
Just rip it off
#15
Putting olive oil in when the pasta is boiling so it doesn’t stick. Give that pasta a stir when you put it in the pot and once every few minutes and save your olive oil for salad dressing. If you don’t stir the pasta when you drop it in, no amount of olive oil will keep it from sticking anyway.
#16
Any microwave plate or tray that is supposed to “cook” an item better. Does anyone remember the “Bacon Wave” that came out in the ’80s?
It was a tray that was supposed to cook bacon crisp in the microwave and drain the fat at the same time. Problem was that it splattered grease all over your microwave and took about the same time as it does to pan-fry it.
I’ve seen these for every type of egg dish, bacon, coffee, ramen noodles, steaks, and just about anything else. A pointless waste of money.
And Foreman Grill types of presses. It’s an over-glorified sandwich press and only good if you have no other cooking options. (I admit I had one when I lived in the barracks and had no access to a kitchen.)
#17
Making milk froth for coffee in an empty foaming hand soap bottle. Just BUY A MILK FROTHER 😭 they are like $10 at target
#18
Defrosting in the microwave. Never does it evenly and the outer edges get “cooked.” no thanks.
