10 Kitchen hacks to make your life easier
You are probably familiar with the feeling of being overwhelmed by daily tasks. Whether you work or stay at home, or work from home, there is always going to be a list of daily duties. Preparing meals is often at the top of the list. This is why kitchen hacks are super popular. Just as our mothers, aunts, or grandmothers taught us some tricks to prepare food better and more quickly, today we can find reels and tutorials to teach us all kinds of kitchen hacks to make our lives easier.
A couple of simple kitchen hacks for meal prep
Use frozen base ingredients
If you can’t afford to spend too much time cooking, there is a simple and very useful hack that really cuts down prep time.
Depending on the type of cuisine, there are base ingredients that are used for several dishes. A great cooking tip is to prepare such ingredients in bulk and then freeze them in suitable portions for future use.
For example, sofrito in Italian dishes is made with celery, onions, and carrots sauteed together. In South East Asia, the ginger and garlic paste is a very frequently used base. Often onions are also included. Basically, combinations can be created depending on preference.
Keep bread crumbs handy
Who doesn’t like a batter-fried food…chicken or eggplant, everything is more delicious when batter-fried. If you want to make batter-fried food and don’t have bread crumbs, you can take leftover bread and grind it in a food processor. Toast them lightly to make them crunchier if necessary. These breadcrumbs can be used immediately and also frozen for future use.
Kitchen organization hacks
Put everything in its place
We all know that putting everything in its place is a good idea, so that it is easy to find. It is similar in the kitchen. Celebrated French chef Georges Auguste Escoffier devised the concept of mise en place. Literally, the term means putting things in their place, but in the professional kitchen, it refers to a method of work organization that is optimally efficient. Each workstation is ready to use with all necessary cooking tools and ingredients.
Home cooking is different, and we don’t need to be super meticulous. But we also know that when we can’t organize our work surface in the kitchen while preparing a dish, it takes longer to cook.
Sometimes, if we haven’t prepped our ingredients ready to be used at the right time, we might end up burning or overcooking something! Each dish has its own order of adding ingredients and the time these ingredients take to get cooked before others are added.
Pay attention to your spice rack
Some people don’t use spices much. But if you are one of those people who like to have a taste of different cuisines or want to be creative in the kitchen, you’re likely to have basil, oregano, thyme, pepper flakes, ground cumin, powdered coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cloves, star anise, turmeric, cardamon, curry powders, etc. The list could be very long. Even if you use a moderate range of spices, you probably have a space for them where they are accessible when you cook.
If you originally buy spices in jars, the jars are already labelled, and it is easy to restock by buying the same spice packed in a bag next time. If spices are bought in bags and you want to store them in jars, it is useful to put labels on the jars.
There is nothing worse than adding the wrong spice by mistake to your food!
Kitchen cleaning hacks
Treat your chopping board right—it will serve you well
It’s not unusual to see kitchens with only one chopping board that is usually just washed with dish soap after use. If you are a vegetarian, this would be okay, but it is essential to have at least two different chopping boards: one for raw meat, poultry, and seafood, and the other for vegetables. Ideally, there should be a separate one for poultry. Chopping boards usually pose a particular issue when it comes to kitchen cleaning.
A wooden chopping board is a good choice since it is better than plastic because of the natural antibacterial properties of wood. A wooden chopping board is also gentle with knives. Wooden boards do need maintenance, but if you treat them with mineral oil regularly, you can keep your chopping boards clean and free of odor.
It is not hard to apply oil to the board with a clean cloth and let it soak for a few hours before removing any excess oil. Instead of washing the board with a lot of water, it is better to clean it down with a damp cloth and mild dish detergent. The board can then be given a quick rinse and dried with a clean towel.
Clean a burnt pan easily
Perhaps there is nothing more annoying than a burnt pan. It is bad enough to have your food burnt, but it’s worse that you end up with a dish that is difficult to clean.
If you cover the burnt surface with 2-3 tablespoons of baking soda and add some water to make a paste, you can scrub with an aluminum foil. This is a quick method to clean a burnt pan. It doesn’t require too much effort to scrub.
Don’t forget your microwave
If you are afraid of cleaning your microwave, you don’t have to be anymore. Cleaning any oven is necessary to avoid the buildup of bacteria. The flavor of food prepared in a dirty oven is also affected because of odors. Cleaning your microwave is easier than you thought.
According to experts, mixing vinegar and water and warming it up in the microwave to create steam for just 2 minutes is enough to clean it. Around two tablespoons of white or distilled vinegar mixed in one cup of water is all that is required to boil and create steam. After this, just take a damp cloth and wipe the interior of the microwave.
Kitchen hacks for utensils
A versatile pan can be your best friend
Isn’t it wonderful when you have one kitchen utensil that you can use for many different purposes!
One of the best things is to have a pan that can be used for a variety of cooking methods. The wok is perhaps the most versatile of pans. It’s ideal for stir-frying, shallow and deep frying. You can use it to sear, sauté, braise, and stew as well.
A cast-iron wok retains heat very well, and it will last you pretty much your entire life! When seasoned properly, a cast-iron wok becomes increasingly non-stick.
Clean your new cast-iron wok with a mild dish soap and hot water, and rinse it. Remove remaining moisture by drying it on low heat. Then turn the heat to the highest level, and after about 30 seconds, add water. If a bead of water disappears in a couple of seconds, you are ready to go. Add two tablespoons of oil and move the wok to coat it evenly. Add green onions and chopped ginger. Stir fry for 15-20 minutes, constantly swirling the pan to make sure the entire surface is being used to cook. Remove the wok from the heat. Allow it to cool down completely. Wash it only with hot water without soap. Dry the wok on low heat again.
To season a cast-iron wok, you might need to repeat this process a few times.
Scrape and mix with a silicone spatula
The silicone spatula is one of the most useful kitchen tools ever.
Isn’t it awfully frustrating when you can’t scrape out all the cream or sauce you made from a bowl or a pan?
A silicone spatula will save your food from being wasted and also make it easier for you to wash the pot by scraping it perfectly clean. Not only this, but the spatula helps you mix and fold batter properly, keeping all the air inside so that your cake always comes out just the way you love it!
The never-forget food safety kitchen tip
Store your food in airtight food storage containers
Don’t risk your health. Make sure the food you need to put away for later is stored properly.
Sometimes food can spoil without really showing any signs, such as a foul smell or changed appearance. For example, rice can go bad very easily if it sits at room temperature after cooking for even an hour or two because of the Bacillus cereus spores. This bacterium can cause food poisoning with symptoms such as vomiting or diarrhea. Leftover rice should be quickly stored away in an airtight container and put in the fridge. Reheated rice should not go back in the fridge and be heated again.
Fruit and other foods, too, are better stored in airtight containers. This keeps food fresh, prevents bad odors, and reduces food waste.
Concluding words…
Remember that it is important for our health and safety to keep our kitchens clean and in good condition, and good for our nerves to keep things organized. Your kitchen can be a stress-free place, where you can enjoy cooking your favorite food without worrying too much about time, energy, and cleaning up afterwards.
While you can always browse for a kitchen hack that you need in particular, some are evergreen, and it’s useful to practice them so often that they become a habit. Bookmark this page on your favorite device if you’re a newbie in the kitchen or have not thought of trying out a different way of doing things to make life easier—these kitchen hacks can take you a long way.
One last secret hack is that if you have had a long, busy day, you can just order a Kaiser frozen meal of your choice and instantly enjoy anything from butter chicken to spinach and cheese puff pastry!
