15 Cooking Hacks That Can Make You a Kitchen Star

There’s an adage that says the way to a man’s heart (or a woman’s, for that matter) is through his stomach. Culinary skills are essential to everyone—from people living alone, to moms and dads who have a family to feed—yet most of us shy away from cooking, finding it too perturbing.

Fortunately, knowing a few tricks can greatly improve your cooking experience and skills. Bright Side presents to you a collection of 15 cooking tricks that will make you feel like the master of your kitchen.

Peel garlic the easy way!

To peel garlic without creating a mess, microwave the whole bulb on high for about 20 seconds. When you take it out, the skin should slide straight off.

The correct way to peel ginger

Using the smooth edges of a spoon is the best way to remove ginger skin.

Grill your fish atop lemon slices.

Fish tends to stick to the grill and might even break apart when placed on it. To stop this, put the fish on top of lemon slices and grill. The lemon will also add a zesty flavor to the fish.

How to reheat pizza

Reheating pizza never tastes as yummy as the fresh stuff. But if you do have to reheat it, the best way to do so is by placing a glass of water in the microwave while reheating. This prevents the pizza from drying out.

Use 2 plates to slice cherry tomatoes in one smooth motion.

If you’re making a salad and need to cut a whole bunch of cherry tomatoes into halves, just trap them between 2 plates and slice through using a knife.

Freeze the onion before cutting to prevent onion tears.

Freezing the onion retards the release of the tear-causing semi-toxic chemicals.

Different types of tea should be brewed at different temperatures for different lengths of time.

Wrap clingfilm around the stalk of a banana to prevent it from over-ripening.

Use a piece of clingfilm the size of your fist to wrap the stalk of a banana tightly. This trick should give you another 3 to 5 days before the bananas get too ripe to be enjoyed.

Use a cracked eggshell to scoop out small fragments of eggshell.

This is how you grill the juiciest patty.

Patties often dry out when grilled. To keep it moist and juicy put an ice-cube in the center of the patty and grill.

Use kitchen shears to quickly trim and chop.

Use a “sling” to easily remove brownies and bread from the pan.

Before adding the batter, line the pan with 2 wide strips of either parchment paper or aluminum foil, one laid length-wise, the other width-wise. Let a little of each strip hang over the edge. These edges can be used as handles to lift the bread or brownies without crumbling them.

If you accidentally overcook your turkey, pour warm chicken broth over it.

The warm chicken broth will make the dry chicken moist.

To quickly cool drinks, wrap them in wet paper towels and place them in the fridge.

Keep your cookies moist with an apple wedge.

The cookies will absorb the moisture from the apple wedge and remain soft and ready-to-eat for much longer.

Which of these tricks did you find the most interesting? Let us know in the comments below.