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People Are Sharing Their “Weird But Life-Changing” Cooking Hacks (20 Tips)

It doesn’t matter if you’re a trained chef or kitchen newbie, a newly discovered cooking hack is life-changing. That one, simple little thing that changes the game for your dishes or process. 

Well, we’ve rounded up a whole bunch of them, thanks to Reddit user leonardo-di-caprisun. They asked Reddit “What’s your favorite ‘weird but life-changing cooking hack” and the internet came through with thousands of tips. Below are 20 we think are especially useful. 

1.

“For me, I have two.

The first is using a chicken stock cube (Knorr if I’m feeling bougie, but usually those cheap 99p a box ones) in my pasta water whilst the pasta cooks. It has the double use of flavoring the pasta water, so if you’re using a splash for your sauce it’s got a more umami, meaty flavor, and it also doubles the tastiness of your pasta. Trust me.

Secondly, using scissors to cut just about anything I can. It always seems to weird people out when I cut up chicken thighs in particular, but it’s so good for cutting out those fiddly veins. I could honestly never go back to cutting them up using scissors.” – leonardo-di-caprisun

2.

“Cutting hot peppers and don’t want an unfortunate accident in the bathroom (peeing, changing contacts, etc) later? When done, rub a little neutral oil (canola, vegetable) on your hands, then wash with a little dish soap. The capsaicin (spicy chemical in the peppers) essentially binds with the oil, then the dish soap takes care of the oil on your hands.” – CorneliusJenkins

3.

“Adding a splash of orange juice to pumpkin or banana bread. The acidity really adds some brightness against the spices” – JMSidhe

4.

“Lemon zest in garlic butter, specifically for garlic bread. It’s an absolute game-changer, even just a little bit.” – PhatChance52

5.

“Baking powder on your chicken skin for extra crispy” – spire88

6.

“Keep ginger in the freezer. Use a micro plane or grater to grate the frozen ginger into sauces, fried rice, etc.” – 365eats

7.

“I never tried mixing butter and soy sauce in the same dish until I was in my late twenties, but once I tried it, it quickly became one of my favorite flavor combinations. It’s excellent in just about any savory dish. It works especially well with mushrooms.” – PotusChrist

8.

“Stop cutting the ends off of things before cutting them. Use the end as a handle” – MMCookingChannel

9.

“I use olive brine/pickle brine to add flavor to a lot of dishes like casseroles, stews, etc. It adds a nice depth of flavor.” – skakkuru

10.

“I like to use a heavy glass ashtray as a spoon rest. Super easy to clean and multiple resting spots are great for the stirring spoon, tasting spoon, etc.

Got it from my mom who was never a smoker. But keeps things clean next to the stove and they’re widely available in second-hand shops.” – CelebratingPi

11.

“I keep parmesan rinds in my freezer for stock, sauces, and stews. I just throw it in after everything else to simmer. It makes a remarkable difference especially in tomato sauces. Almost every benefits from a little alcohol. Wine, whiskey, bourbon, etc. depending on what makes sense with your flavor profile.” – Jerkrollatex

12.

“I don’t think it’s weird but I save all the scraps of my vegetables — onions, garlic, bell peppers, carrots, celery, herb stems, tomatoes, mushrooms — and collect them in a freezer bag and when it’s full I turn it into stock and then use that stock to replace the water while cooking rice, quinoa, lentils, etc.” – Grendels-mum

13.

“A splash of vinegar in the water to boil potatoes for either potato salad or for roasting after boiling.” –ladyships-a-legend

14.

“When you’re cutting broccoli or cauliflower, turn it upside down. Then rotate it as you cut the stem part. SO MUCH CLEANER than cutting through the flowery part from the top, and you get really nice florets” – January1171

15.

“If you’re working with parchment paper and are sick of it curling up on you, just crumple and uncrumple the shit out of it before you put it on your baking tray or whatever.” – ohanse

16.

“Toss noodles in toasted sesame oil after they’ve drained. Takes them to another level.” – amolke

17.

“When I bake, I grease my pans, but instead of using flour to coat it, I use granulated sugar. It makes the edges sweet and crunchy, and saves me from needing to use icing or frosting.” – topazlacee

18.

“Using a potato masher for browning ground beef. 👍🏻” – MKE1969

19.

“Tip for sauces, batters, soups, etc:

If your recipe requires a tablespoon of something oily (butter, olive oil) and something sticky (honey, agave, maple syrup, molasses), do the oily thing first and don’t wash the spoon. The sticky thing will slide right out.

Likewise, coat a measuring spoon lightly in something oily whenever you have to measure sticky stuff, regardless of if the recipe actually calls for oil.” – 020416

20.

“When making biscuits or pie dough or anything that requires “Cutting in” you can instead just take a frozen stick of butter and grate it on the coarse side of a cheese grater. It makes perfect pea-sized pieces in like 1/10 the amount of time.” – Kristara789

Read the entire post here. 

More cooking hacks:

Lindsay Patton