Skip to main content

10 Kitchen Hacks That’ll Change The Way You Cook

Whether you’re a culinary whizz or someone that’ll do anything to avoid cooking up some home-made grub – we’re sure you’ll be intrigued to discover some cheeky tips and tricks that’ll sharpen your kitchen skills, whatever your ability!

Sometimes cooking isn’t always about skill, but it’s about know-how, and knowing tricks of the trade that’ll save you time as well as money. That’s why we’ve put together 10 of our favourite kitchen hacks that’ll help you make the most of your food. Enjoy.

1. Make strawberries last longer

Once you’ve thoroughly washed the berries, hull them and make sure they don’t fill with water! Use a rigid freezer-proof container with a lid (an ice cream container is perfect) and place a layer of strawberries in the bottom, sprinkle with a heaped spoon of caster sugar, and top with another layer of strawberries, and sprinkle with sugar again. Repeat this to the top of the container and enjoy fresh strawberries for longer! Yummy!

2. Keep your fresh herbs alive!

In order to ensure pots of fresh herbs last as long as possible, ensure you keep them inside, and ideally on a windowsill that receives a lot of light! Never put fresh herbs in the fridge. For the perfect watering amount – opt for little and often, rather than last thing at night, and when it comes to picking – pick from the top rather than the bottom, and always leave some leaves!

3. How-to check if eggs are still edible

If you’re looking for a way to check how fresh eggs are, just put them in a bowl of cold water. Egg shells are porous and will allow air to penetrate the shell over time. A fresh egg will sink straight to the bottom of the bowl and lie on its side, where as a slightly older egg will sink to the bottom, but sit upright. If an egg floats to the top of the water, there is too much air inside the shell and has therefore gone off.

4. Keep knives sharp

When sharpening your knives, adapt a little and often approach. Run knives quickly through a sharpener once or twice after use, this will help to maintain the shape as well as the sharpness. Consider the material of your chopping board, too – wood is the best material for knife edges.

5. Save that slice of birthday cake for longer

if you don’t manage to finish a homemade cake, keep it moist and fresh overnight by putting a slice of bread on top of it. This’ll keep it tasty and soft so you can enjoy it the next day! Yay.

6. Get more juice from your lemons

If you’re fed up of having to use a number of lemons to get enough juice for your cooking – try zapping it into the microwave for 20 seconds before squeezing. This will soften the skin and allow you to extract more juice from the fruit!

7. Bring melted butter back to solid form

In order to revive over-softened butter, give it an ice bath! Place the butter in a small bowl, and place the small bowl in a larger one filled with a few handfuls of ice and some cold water. Handy, eh?

8. Freeze bananas to make tasty ice-cream

If you freeze a banana until it is solid and blend it in a food processor, it will turn into a natural and creamy ice-cream with artificial ingredients. Bananas have more sugar than water, so when blended, create a thick and ice-cream like consistency. The perfect way to use up any old bananas in the fruit bowl, and the ideal healthy snack for a summers day!

9. Absorb nasty odours in the fridge!

In order to rid your fridge of those stale and lingering smells, place a used tea bag inside. Once the tea leaves have gotten rid of all their flavour and become porous, they absorb other flavours and smells – making it a cheap and hassle-free way to de-odour your fridge.

10. Stop salad leaves going soggy in the fridge

In order to make sure your salad is as fresh and crisp as the day you bought it, keep a paper towel with it. This will soak up any excess moisture and avoid it going soggy!

We hope you found our top kitchen secrets helpful, and we hope we’ve inspired you to get cooking-creative in your beloved kitchen. Here at Range Experts, we’re here to provide you with quality and affordable range repairs in Devon, and offer a unique service throughout the area. So, for more information, or to speak to one of our friendly and helpful team – please do not hesitate to contact us on 01392 427 641 today!