We asked the Buzzfeed Community to share some of the best cooking tips and tricks they learned from cooking in restaurants. Here are some of the life-saving hacks they swear by.
1. Core iceberg lettuce by smashing it onto a cutting board.
"You can core a head of iceberg lettuce by slamming it, core down, on the countertop. The core will pop out all in one piece!"
Check out this video to see how it's done.
2. Never struggle with peeling hard-boiled eggs again with the help of baking soda.
"Add baking soda (about 1/4 teaspoon) to your water when boiling eggs. It will help the eggshells peel off easier."
3. Achieve perfectly juicy chicken every time by brining.
4. Quickly clean up after peeling vegetables with plastic wrap.
"When peeling vegetables, lay a piece of plastic wrap over your cutting board and peel above it. When you're done, pick up the plastic for an instantly clean cutting board."
5. Secure your cutting board with a damp kitchen towel.
6. Remove the skin of toasted nuts with a tea towel.
"Roll toasted nuts in a tea towel to easily remove skins."
Check out this video to see how it's done.
7. Dredge bacon in flour before cooking for optimum crispness.
"Lightly flour bacon before cooking it on the stove top. It comes out nice and crispy and there is no splatter."
—Jean Presiler Melek, Facebook
Check out a step-by-step guide to dredging bacon here.
8. Steam-baste your eggs for a new take on sunny-side up.
9. Use a touch test to cook steak perfectly.
10. And use the surprisingly accurate finger test to perfectly cook rice every time.
"When cooking rice, add your liquid until it comes up to the first knuckle on your index finger (placed so the tip is touching the very top of the rice). Cover with foil and place in an oven for 45 minutes at 350°, or 30 minutes in a convection oven. Perfect rice every time. No measuring required."
11. Three Words: Mise. En. Place.
"This may not be an actual cooking hack, but it makes cooking so much easier. Have all your ingredients prepped, measured and ready to go. When you actually start the cooking process, it's as easy as can be and you're not scrambling for things at the last second."
12. Soak peeled onions in ice water before cutting to prevent tears.
"Soak onions in ice water right before chopping them to help with the crying."
13. Season every step of the cooking process to prevent over-salting at the end.
"Season your food liberally, but taste as you go along. You can always add salt, but you can't take it away!"
14. Prevent cut vegetables from browning by storing them in water.
15. No peeler handy? Use the back of your knife.
16. Deep-fry expensive cuts of meat for even cooking throughout.
17. Dry off any meat or tofu with a paper towel to achieve a perfect sear.
Note: Submissions have been lightly edited for length and/or clarity.