Those who love cooking and everything that follows it know the smallest details of ingredients, dishes, utensils, and preparation techniques. In this sense, there are some circumstances in which it is possible to apply very simple tricks or some grandmother’s remedies, making the culinary experience much simpler and more effective.
Here are 20 tricks to apply in the kitchen to cope with any problems or prevent inconveniences.
The Ice Molds
The ice mold is a useful container for making frozen water cubes to put in our drinks during the summer. However, it often turns out to be a versatile container for storing much other stuff.
For example, we can use it to freeze sauces, milk, eggs, broth, and risotto stock. You can even prepare alternative and colorful cubes in summer, flavored with blueberry and raspberry juice. Or you can freeze the coffee to prepare a cold latte or shaken coffee.
The Sewing Thread
Sewing thread is another very versatile utensil in the kitchen. It can be used to divide the sponge cake disc well before decorating it or cut cake slices without letting the cream come out.
A nylon line, such as a fishing line, can also be used. It is wrapped with precision on the cake, the two ends are crossed, and it is pulled with extreme determination to divide the part properly.
The Blotting Paper
Even blotting paper such as aluminum paper should never be missing at home. It is perfect for quick drying and cleaning surfaces without using a damp cloth.
Furthermore, by wetting a sheet of absorbent paper and squeezing it, we can wrap it around a bottle that we intend to put in the freezer to speed up the refrigeration process. Placing it instead in the fruit drawer in the refrigerator slows down the aging process of food.
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Freshest Garlic And Onion
To keep the garlic and onion fresher for a long time, putting them inside the paper bags with small holes is important.
This technique can also be used with other products to preserve the freshness and flavor of the foods we will protect.
The Wooden Spoon
The wooden spoon, placed between the lid and a pot full of boiling water, prevents the water from escaping (which could turn off the stove). This happens because the wood is an excellent water repellent, the bubbles created with the high temperature withdraw in contact with certain types of material.
Therefore, in addition to being a convenient tool for turning sauces, broths, and risottos, it will also be a valid tool to avoid combining slaughterhouses on the hob.
The Bags Save The Freshness
If we take a bag for food use, the classic freshness saver, we can use it for two easy actions typical of the kitchen. In other words, a fish can be scaled, and pepper can be peeled. For the fish, slip it into the bag keeping it by the tail, then scale it with the knife: the various scales will concentrate in the bag and not disperse in the sink. For peppers, on the other hand, after having cooked them, they must be closed well in the bag, waiting for the humidity to act. The skin will come off by itself after a few minutes.
Store The Celery
How can we keep celery stalks so as not to waste them? To be clear, we have to take some silver paper (aluminum foil) and wrap it around the celery stalks. The paper must be abundant to preserve the roots and not make all the celery yellow. In this way, we can keep it in the fridge for several weeks.
The Microwave
The microwave is a godsend for those who cook and love to always improvise with new recipes. And you can use it for several reasons. For example, if the honey crystallizes, just put it in a suitable container and heat it for a few moments in the microwave, and it will become creamy again.
The microwave oven can be used to melt too thick cream or to melt chocolate flakes.
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The Plastic Bottles
We have thousands of them, and we always tend to squash and throw them. Instead, plastic bottles are useful, for example, when we have to divide an egg yolk from an egg white or when we have to cook octopus. Open an egg near an empty bottle for the yolk and press on it; we will suck the yolk, thus separating it from the white. For the octopus, after cooking, it can be pressed into an empty bottle and cut in half. Thanks to the collagen contained in the octopus, the latter, when it gets cold, tends to take the shape of the container that hosts it. In this way, we will be able to obtain a cylindrical shape and accept it to prepare a kind of carpaccio.
The Parchment Paper
Another valid trick in the kitchen concerns the use of parchment paper. For example, when we want to fill a cake or decorate it but do not have a pastry bag, we can use a sheet of parchment paper. Cut one into a square shape and fold it in half. Join the two vertices to create a cone and fix the joint well.
We can also use parchment paper to help us roll out the shortcrust pastry with a rolling pin to prevent it from sticking to the work surface: just put the dough between two sheets. The same technique can then be used to beat the meat: by doing so, its nutrients are not lost.
Trick To Apply For A Too Salty Soup
When we prepare something to eat, we should always pay attention to the salt used. But what to do if the dish is too tasty?
Grandma’s remedy is ready; take a potato, peel it, and put it in the pot. Leaving it on for about twenty minutes will absorb all the excess salt.
Don’t Waste The Mayonnaise In The Jar
When we have an almost empty jar of mayonnaise, we throw it away and fail to clean it properly. Instead, we are wrong.
If we put a couple of tablespoons of vinegar or lemon in the jar and shake, the mayonnaise comes off, so we will have prepared a perfect dressing to put on our salads.
Protect The Berries From Oxidation
Berries, blueberries, and berries are the fruits that rot first, as they are delicate. To prevent them from being moldy, you can keep them in a container with water and apple cider vinegar.
Furthermore, those who do not intend to eat them soon should be placed in an airtight kitchen container and stored in the freezer.
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The Aluminum Sheets
Aluminum foil should never be missing in the kitchen. It is valuable in not letting go of moisture; in this way, the food remains juicy and soft. For this reason, it is recommended to place it on city meat such as roasts, ribs, and steaks.
It is also good for desserts when, for example, the surface becomes too brown during cooking, but there is still no time to turn it off in the center. By covering it with aluminum, burns are avoided.
The Ice Cream Spoon
Do you know that a concave spoon, often spring-loaded, is used to make portions of ice cream? The time has come to take it out of the drawer and use it to make portions of everything we prepare. For example, we can even serve the potato puree or watermelon with a spoon. Or you can prepare perfect cookies, homogeneous meatballs, and much more.
How to get the remains of Nutella out of the jars for the mayonnaise jar and the Nutella jar? When it is half-empty, we throw it away rather than clean it thoroughly. And instead, we are wrong.
We can extract the remains of the chocolate from the jar by pouring a little hot milk inside. After mixing with a spoon, we will obtain an exquisite and “chocolaty” drink to be consumed for breakfast.
Store Bananas
Bananas are another delicate fruit that tends to rot and blacken too quickly as a very delicate fruit.
However, if we put a small piece of film on the end of the bananas, we will have a way of extending the life of the fruit by three or four days.
Reuse Of Milk
Milk that has gone bad is often thrown away. Instead, it can always be reused to prepare foods such as ricotta, cheeses, kumis, and many other derived kinds of cheese at home.
You can find many recipes and tutorials on the internet that teach how to prepare these dairy products to avoid wasting milk.
Store The Herbs
A trick in the kitchen for storing herbs is to keep them in the freezer. The more delicate ones tend to spoil quickly. However, with these conservation methods, we can keep them even for six months.
Take the herbs and chop them when they are fresh. Then, pour them into the ice mold, add a drizzle of oil, and put everything in the freezer. We will thus have cubes that, if necessary, can be used in the preparation of exquisite recipes.
Intelligent Reuse Of Coffee Grounds
Few people know that coffee grounds contain essential nutrients that can be used for many purposes.
So we could learn how to use them as fertilizers for plants that require acidic soil. Alternatively, we can use them to prepare an exfoliating cream, which can be good for the skin.
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