105 culinary life hacks: the secrets of cooking delicious food

2024 Author: Arianna Cook | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-12 17:55

You don't have to take a cooking class to learn how to cook delicious and mouth-watering meals. Take advantage of this list of 105 best life hacks and actively apply them in the kitchen. In the kitchen, no housewife can do without a wide variety of tricks. Each of them has grandmother's secrets in her arsenal, which she uses with success. But nevertheless, there are certainly some useful culinary tips that someone has not heard of. We have collected 105 useful life hacks that will make your culinary life easier and help you bring your dishes to perfection. Perhaps you already know some of them, but the rest will definitely open up with something new. These tips have long been used by thousands of housewives and prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner in just a matter of minutes! Try them, apply them in practice.

Dough and baking: cooking secrets

When baking, the top of the cake will not burn if covered with paper dipped in water.
Sour cream for the cake will be fluffier, lighter and more airy if you beat the sour cream with egg white.
To prevent apple slices from sinking to the bottom of the mold when baking charlotte, roll them in flour first.
Yeast dough will be fluffy and rise quickly if the ingredients used are at the same room temperature.
To make cakes and rolls shine, brush them with milk, beaten egg, sugar water before baking.
Use an empty wine bottle instead of a rolling pin to roll out the dough.
The top of the cake will not burn if you cover it with moistened parchment.
Add a pinch of salt to any sweet dish. A small amount of salt suppresses bitter taste and enhances sweet and sour flavors.
It will be easier to remove the finished cake from the mold if you put it on a towel well soaked in water and not wrung out immediately after baking.
Add diluted potato starch to the dough and it will be fluffy and soft. Even the next day.

Meat, poultry, offal - culinary life hacks

Appetizing meat lies on top of lettuce leaves

To make the minced meat more aromatic and tasty, add finely grated raw potatoes, raw and fried onions to it.
Beer marinade will add an original taste to kebabs, grilled meat and barbecue. Combine light or dark beer, soy sauce, salt and pepper.
The liver will be soft if salted at the end of cooking.
Do you want to grill meat in the oven? Lubricate it with any marinade on top and send it to the oven.
The meat will reveal its exquisite taste if it cools down a little.
Skewer the chicken across the grain. If the chicken kebab is improperly planted, it can easily fall off.
Rub the pork with oil, leave to absorb it and fry it in a pan without fat and oil.
Salt the liver at the end of cooking for extra softness.
Kiwi will help to soften the tough meat. The fruit contains an enzyme that rapidly breaks down animal protein. For 1 kg of meat - 1 kiwi. Soak the meat in this sauce for no more than 1–1, 5 hours, otherwise the meat fibers will creep and turn into a paste.
Tough meat will soften when you boil the broth with the banana peel.
By beating meat on a wooden board, it will absorb a lot of meat juice. Moisten the board with plenty of water before starting work. Sap is not absorbed into a wet tree.
Salted fried meat? Add flour or butter sauce to it, it will take away salt from the meat.
To make the boiled meat juicy, put it in boiling water, you need a rich broth - in cold water.
Defrost frozen meat slowly: first on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, then at room temperature. So it will be juicy, tender and retain all the beneficial substances.
A rabbit dish will taste better if the original product is soaked for 40 minutes in milk, and then marinated.
Do not salt raw meat, otherwise meat juice will be released prematurely from it, from which the dish will not be so juicy and nutritious. Salt it 10 minutes before the end of cooking.

Eggs - cooking secrets

Do you dream that a hard-boiled egg doesn't crumble? First, soak a knife blade in cold water, then cut it in half.
To make the scrambled eggs fluffy, add 1-2 tsp to the eggs. cold water and whisk.
Doubt about the freshness of your eggs? Dip them in a container of water: fresh ones will remain at the bottom, floating on the top - not fresh, if one end of the egg has risen - use it first.
To prevent pieces of shells from getting into the dish, break the eggs on the flat surface of the table, not with the blade of a knife or on the edge of the bowl.
Hard-boiled eggs are easy to peel by hitting the hotter on the table to crack the shell and submerging it in cold water to cool.
How to boil eggs? Soft-boiled - 3-4 minutes, hard-boiled - 8 minutes.
When boiling poached eggs, pour 0.5 tsp into the water where the egg is boiled. vinegar. Then the protein will not break down into "burdocks".
Slow-fried scrambled eggs over low to medium heat will work better with unburned edges.
Egg in the microwave. Break an egg into a bowl, pour in water, cover with a saucer and microwave on maximum power for a minute.
Shake the eggs well before boiling. While still in the shell, the egg white and yolk will mix and you will get a cooked “Golden Egg”.

First courses and broths - secrets

Remove the bay leaf from the finished soup, as it will only taste bitter further.
If the broth is cooked from frozen meat, it will turn out cloudy. To obtain transparency, put washed eggshells into the broth during cooking. Remove them with a slotted spoon.
Not enough thick soup? Soak the bread in the broth and rub it through a grater.
In the cabbage soup, put sauerkraut in cold water, stewed in boiling water.
Salted soup, potatoes dipped in it or cheesecloth with cereals will save you. The dish is boiled with these products, then taken out. Porridge and potatoes eliminate the salty taste by taking in its excess.
To make the broth more transparent and lighter, add a piece of ice to it and boil.
At the final stages of making the soup, pour in freshly squeezed vegetable juice (cabbage, carrot, tomato). This will enhance the taste and enrich the dish with vitamins, minerals and nutrients. Juice is perfect for this purpose.

A couple of secrets with fish

To prevent the fish from disintegrating during cooking, add a little lemon juice.
Salted the fish? Simmer it with unsalted potatoes or sour cream.
Do you still have a fishy smell on your hands? Wipe them with lemon juice or baking soda and rinse with warm water.

Cereals, legumes - life hacks in the kitchen

Barley, rice, millet swell more slowly and are boiled in milk for a long time. Therefore, first they are boiled until half cooked in water, and then milk is poured in.
Boil cereals in green tea. So the porridge will be more vitamin and nutritious.
To keep the rice crumbly, rinse it well before cooking. Preferably in 7 waters to get rid of excess starch.
Snow-white and crumbly rice will turn out if you add a little vinegar during cooking.
Cook the beans without covering the pot or they will darken.
Rice and pasta will not stick together during cooking if you pour a little vegetable oil into the water.
Want to keep your rice white? Put it in boiling salted water with a drop of lemon juice. Do not cover the pot with a lid.
Want to remove excess fat from your soup? Chill it in the refrigerator: the fat will cool down and turn into a film that can be easily removed with a spoon.

Vegetables: cooking secrets

A small pinch of vanilla will add a spicy touch to the vegetable salad.
It will remove the bitterness from the eggplant - salt. Cut the fruit into slices, salt and leave for 30 minutes to let the juice out. Then wash the vegetable with cold water and start cooking.
The boiling time of beets will be reduced by one hour if the root vegetable is immersed in already boiling water.
When slicing, onions will taste less bitter if the knife is moistened with cold water.
After cutting, the onion will cease to taste bitter if you pour boiling water over it.
Boiling water will help to preserve the color of the chopped cabbage for the filling, which needs to be poured over the head of cabbage, and then pour cold water for a minute. Then squeeze it out and fry in a pan.
So as not to waste every day slicing salads, cut each vegetable and store them separately in the refrigerator in special plastic bags.
To peel the garlic easily, crush the hard shells with the back of your knife.
Beets can not only be boiled, but also baked in the oven whole, sprinkled with salt, poured with honey and balsamic sauce and wrapped each separately in foil.
Potato pancakes in a matter of seconds, and even crispy ones, will turn out in a waffle iron.
Want to quickly peel baked peppers? Place the hot vegetable in a plastic bag, tie and let sit for 15 minutes. The skin comes off easily.
To preserve the freshness and nutritional value of half an onion, grease the cut area. The onions will retain their freshness and all the nutrients.
Simply and quickly remove the peel from the tomatoes if they are poured over with boiling water.
Does the peel burst when cooking potatoes in their uniforms? A couple of drops of vinegar added during cooking will help keep it intact.
Will return the former freshness of withered greens, boiling water. Dip it in a bowl of hot water, then cold water.
For salad, you can use not only canned corn, but also boiled fresh cob. It is enough to cut off the grains with a sharp knife.
Add warm or hot milk to the mashed potatoes. Cold will give the dish an unappetizing grayish color.
To prevent the sliced apples from darkening in the salad, place them in salted water.
Puree made from old potatoes will be softer, fluffier and tastier if you add beaten egg white to it.
To keep fresh greens longer and not dry out, wash them and wrap them in foil. Store in the refrigerator for 1–2 months.
Diversify the vinaigrette by adding 1 tbsp. l. milk, 1 tsp. sugar and stir.

Drinks - a couple of tricks

The salt added to the coffee will give the drink an amazing taste.
Smoothie in a couple of seconds! Combine all smoothie ingredients, pour into silicone molds and freeze. Just place these molds in a blender before breakfast and your drink will be ready in seconds!

Pancakes - note to the hostess

To keep the pancakes warm while you bake the rest, keep a plate of them in a saucepan of boiling water.
Pancakes will be crispy and golden if sugar is added to the dough: 1 tbsp. l. refined sugar per 1 liter of dough.
To make the pancakes successful, add vegetable or butter to the dough. 2-3 tbsp will be enough. l. This will prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Sauces - what can be replaced with what

Replace mayonnaise with sour cream sauce with mashed hard-boiled egg yolk and 1 tsp. mustard.
Two pieces of refined sugar, dissolved in vinegar, will be a substitute for white wine for a sauce that is suitable for meat and fish dishes.

Mushrooms - few people know about it

If the mushrooms are not washed before cooking, but peeled from the skin, they will be more crispy.
Dried mushrooms will become fresher if they are not soaked in water, but in milk.

Different cooking secrets

Rub a clove of garlic over the plate in which you are placing the salad or side dish. The dish will sparkle in a new way, it will become appetizing and with a more interesting taste.
An alternative to breadcrumbs is healthy and tasty ground nuts.
Don't neglect lemon juice. It sounds especially good with vegetables and fish. The fruit is able to replace salt and charge food with aroma and juicy taste.
Press down on the lemon with your palms and roll it vigorously on the table for a while. After that, he will give more juice.
To prevent the cut edge of the cheese from drying out, brush it with butter.
The peel from the almonds will quickly come off if it is boiled for 5 minutes and cooled in cold water.
Three dishes - one baking sheet. Line a baking sheet with foil, make partitions out of foil, between which place 3 different dishes.
No time to cook breakfast? Make it in the evening! Oatmeal in a jar is a complete healthy morning dish. Combine flakes with additives (raspberries, banana, chocolate, raisins, candied fruits) in a glass jar, fill with water / milk and keep the jar in the refrigerator. In the morning, just eat the prepared porridge. If desired, it can be heated in the microwave.
You can cut a cake or soft cheese evenly with a thin fishing line or regular dental floss without flavoring.
To quickly and easily wash the blender, pour some water into the bowl and turn on the blender for a few seconds. The blade will clean well. Then rinse it with tap water.
If the food has not yet been cooked in the oven, it starts to burn: cover it with food foil.
The salt will always be dry and crumbly if you put a few grains of rice in the salt shaker.
Using dandelion leaves for salad, but the bitterness is getting in the way? Soak them for half an hour in salt water and the bitterness will go away.
How to make sugar flavored? Place the spices and herbs in a jar of sugar and keep the refined sugar under a tight lid for a week. Interesting combinations are dried lemon and lime, cinnamon and cloves, vanilla, dry mint or lavender.
Enhance the taste of dry spices and herbs by pre-frying them in a dry pan. The aroma will become brighter and richer.
Heat plates before serving hot food and refrigerate before serving cold snacks. The taste of the treat will become richer.
Salt with soy sauce. He will emphasize the taste of vegetables, meat, fish.
If the mustard is dry, add milk to it.
With prolonged food processing at high temperatures, many useful substances in products are lost. To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to cook dishes over very high heat or over low, and over medium heat with a moderate boil - no longer than 15 minutes.
Oil will not splatter during frying if you sprinkle a little salt on the bottom of the pan.
Honey should not be heated too much. If you need to do this, then dip the jar with it in a bowl of hot water.