It is surprising the number of people who dislike cooking. Whether it be too difficult, or they just don’t have enough time. Most people opt to eat out or order take-out instead.
However, cooking your own meals can be very rewarding and is ultimately healthier than ordering food. You also get to pick exactly what goes into your meals so you can customise them to your preferences or dietary needs. So, in an effort to get more people in the kitchen and cooking, we have compiled a list of 5 kitchen hacks that will make cooking quick, easy, and fun. For more information on other kitchen hacks, please visit CooksDream.com.
Freeze Your Onions
The absolute worst part about chopping onions is how they make you cry. In order to combat this, freeze your onions before chopping them. You will want to cook them soon after chopping as they get softer as they defrost.
Of course, you could also use goggles when chopping onions, or hold a slice of bread in your mouth to absorb the irritating gasses from the onions.
Boil Potatoes to Peel
Potatoes are amazing, peeling potatoes is the worst. However, there is a way to easily peel potatoes without using a peeler.
All you need to do is score a line all the way around the potato and boil it for about 15 minutes. You can place a wooden spoon on top of the pan in order to stop it from boiling over.
Once they have finished boiling, immediately stick the potatoes in a bowl of ice water, this method is called blanching. Once they are cool enough to handle you can easily slip the skin right off the potatoes.
For easy potato wedges, you can also use an apple slicer to cut them.
This method can also be used to skin tomatoes. You just need to cut an ‘x’ in the top of them instead of scoring them in half.
Shake Your Garlic Cloves
Peeling garlic cloves is surprisingly messy and not that easy to do, so a way to peel lots of garlic cloves all at once is to shake them. This is easily done in a mason jar, but you can also use two equal-sized bowls held together.
Simply put your garlic cloves in the jar (or bowls), shake them vigorously, and the skins will come right off mess-free. This method is also incredibly fun and a great way to get rid of aggression.
You can also use this method to get the shells off boiled eggs, but you should add a little bit of water first as boiled eggs are more delicate than garlic cloves. You can de-shell multiple eggs are once.
Slice Cherry Tomatoes Between Two Plates
You can slice cherry tomatoes between the bottoms of two plates. Simply put them between the plates and slice through all the tomatoes at once. You can also use Tupperware and yogurt lids, anything flat that has a slight lip so that the food doesn’t slide off.
In fact, you can do this with any small, round foods. This includes grapes, blueberries, and strawberries. For the strawberries, you can poke through them with a straw to easily remove the stem before slicing them.
Cut Greens with a Pizza Cutter
Cutting lots of herbs and small foods can be a hassle, but a pizza cutter can be used to do it much faster and easier. All you have to do is roll the cutter back and forth across the herbs in a variety of directions.
You can freeze the herbs in oil or butter in an ice cube tray for easy frying at a later date.
A pizza cutter can also be used to make a perfect bite size salad. Just put all of your ingredients in a metal bowl and cut them with the pizza cutter. After a couple of swipes with the pizza cutter, rotate your bowl to make it easier. Continue this until everything is cut to your liking.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, after trying out these hacks, you can rekindle or spark a love of cooking. All of these hacks make cooking a whole lot easier and tackle some of the harder or more annoying aspects of home cooking.
Who knows, after making a few home-cooked meals you might even discover other hacks in the kitchen that will help you along your culinary adventure.
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