16 Time-Saving Cooking Hacks That Actually Work
From separating egg yolks to quickly roasting garlic.
Sometimes cooking hacks can be the difference between spending an hour in the kitchen, and spending just a few minutes.
Because a good cooking hack can make a boring kitchen task 100 times faster.
So here are 16 clever cooking hacks that'll save you some serious time:
1. Quickly roast garlic in the microwave instead of the oven.
Just combine garlic, olive oil, and water in a bowl and microwave for seven minutes. All the deliciousness of roasted garlic without the 45 minute cooking time.
More: How To Microwave Garlic
2. Soften butter in a matter of minutes by placing it under a warm glass.
Warm up a glass by filling it with hot water, dump the water out, then place it over a chunk of cold butter (a full stick might be too big). After a minute or two, the butter will be soft enough to spread.
3. Place your sheet pan in the oven as it preheats to make your roasted veggies cook in less time.
This also makes your roasted veggies crispy on the bottom without having to flip them over.
4. Microwave mushrooms before sautéing them to cut the cooking time in half.
This causes the mushrooms to purge all of their excess water so they cook in a fraction of the time.
5. Microplane ginger and garlic instead of mincing it.
So much easier (and quicker) than messing with a knife.
6. Quickly and easily separate eggs using a water bottle.
Just use an empty water bottle to literally suck up the yolks without breaking them.
7. Use a drinking straw to quickly hull strawberries.
The perfect tool to gently remove the hulls without wasting too much berry.
8. Microwave potatoes before frying or roasting them to cut down the cooking time and make sure they're completely cooked throughout.
Microwave them for four minutes before frying to get a head start and make sure they come out nice and tender.
9. Quickly shred chicken using an electric hand mixer.
Just make sure your chicken is still warm.
10. Blend smoothies directly in a mason jar by screwing the blade onto the lid.
Turns out most blender bases are the perfect size for screwing mason jars into. Who knew?
More: How To Hack Your Blender
11. Make perfect potato wedges using an apple slicer.
It'll make it look like you have crazy impressive knife skills without having to put in a ton of effort.
12. And kiwis using a spoon.
Slice off the ends and run a spoon around the outside — quick and waste-free.
13. Bake hard bananas in the oven to instantly ripen them.
Bake them for 25 minutes in a 350°F oven until soft and dark on the outside.
14. Cut corn over a bundt pan to prevent the kernels from flying everywhere.
The hole keeps the corn in place while the pan catches all of the kernels.
More: How To Cut Corn
15. Quickly peel hard-boiled eggs by placing them in a glass with water and shaking them.
The shell magically slips off while the egg remains undamaged.
More: How To Quickly Peel Eggs
16. Avoid batter splatter by attaching a paper plate to your hand mixer.
Just pop two holes in and slide the plate onto the mixer.
More: Five Genius Baking Hacks
Let's get cooking!
Looking for even more clever cooking tips? Check out these helpful posts:
• 17 Clever Cooking Tips I Learned While Working In Restaurants