The good thing about the kitchen is that it has its own stories, tricks hacks, and tips. For some, the kitchen is a scary place to be especially if you are not a great cook and some of us are just afraid of kitchen glitches.
Kitchen glitches as I called them are things like burning food, food that take an hour to cook when it should only take 20 minutes.
These are only to name a few. It does not matter if you are a kitchen pro are just trying to do your thing, you will still need to know how to get in and out of some crazy kitchen situations.
AUNT BEV’S GENIUS KITCHEN HACKS
That’s the reason I took the time out to share a few of Aunt Bev’s food hacks with you. In this article, you will find 11 of Aunt Bev’s most common food and kitchen tricks that will make you look like a pro.
1. USE A TOMATO TO REDUCE SALT
Adding too much salt to the pot is a common mishap in the kitchen. This hack I am about to tell you about will work only for meats, sauces, and gravies.
If your dinner is tasting a little too salty, simply cut a large tomato and place it in the pot and replace the lid. Let it simmer on low heat until the tomato is dissolved.
2. MICROWAVE YOUR LEMON
To make a lemon juicier and easier to squeeze, place it in the microwave for 10 seconds. Remove, allow to cool, and proceed to extract the now overly juicy lemon.
3. STOP ONION TEARS WITH BREAD
Slicing onions is not the easiest job in the kitchen. The onion can cause your eyes to be so teary you can hardly see to continue slicing. The secret is not the eyes but the nose.
Inhaling the onion actually causes your eyes to be teary. To prevent this place a click of bread in your mouth while you slice and you will have onion tears anymore.
4. PRESSURE COOKING WITHOUT A PRESSURE COOKER
This may sound a little odd but yes, you can have your hard-to-cook meats done in a few minutes if you do this simple trick before cooking in a normal pot. You will not need a pressure cooker after learning this.
After cutting your meat into your desired pieces. Soak in 2 tbsp white vinegar in your desired water for 10 minutes. Remove and rinse with cold water, season, and get to cooking. BE WARNED! The meat will be extremely soft so keep checking on the texture.
5. WHY YOU SHOULD KEEP A CUT ONION IN THE FRIDGE
As you know there are bacteria floating around in your fridge. This is so because of the various types of foods being stored in it.
Secondly, your fridge is always closed and always moist which can cause bacteria from one contaminated food to pass on to the other. Keeping a cut onion in the fridge will absorb all that bad bacteria. CHANGE TWICE WEEKLY.
6. CORRECT BURNT RICE WITH BREAD
What to do if your rice is badly burnt? The smell of burnt rice is not appetizing at all. That’s something you might not want to put on your and most certainly someone else’s plate, but what if you have to? Here is how to solve that problem.
Remove the pot from the heat. DO NOT STIR !!! place 2 slices of white bread on top of the rice. Cover with aluminum foil for 5-10 minutes. Your rice will be smelling much better than it did before.
7. STOP OVER-FLOWING POTS
Can anyone tell me why pots have to overflow, causing a huge mess on the stove? Well, I guess I have to figure that one out on my own. Here is my solution that works.
Place a wooden spoon on the top of the pot to prevent overflowing. EXTRA TIPS: Tilting the lid will work just fine also pouring a little cooking oil in the pot will prevent the overflows.
8. ANNOYING PLASTIC WRAPS
We all know how ripping off a piece of plastic wrap can be difficult. The technicalities in doing so seem to require a university degree in removing plastic wrap easily and evenly.
However, here is a genius way to do it. Place your plastic wrap in the freezer a few minutes before using it and you are ready to roll.
9. SEASONED YOUR IRON SKILLET
To make your meals taste really delicious, seasoning the meal is not the only thing that can do that. Your pot can add flavor to your meals too.
Keep your skillets seasoned by scrubbing them with salt instead of dish soap and they will add flavor to all your meals, This works well with hamlets eggs, meats, and stews just as well.
10. MILK AS KITCHEN FIRST AID
Cooking means that in some way or the other, there will be accidents and you may get a burn at some point in time. If this should happen, rush to the refrigerator and grab hold of the milk, preferably condensed milk as it is heavier and will make a better mask.
Pour the milk directly onto the burn and gently rub it on the area. The milk will act as a cover and soothing agent. Preventing the burn from doing any further damage.
TEA BAGS FOR FLAVOR YOUR MEAL
Your tea bags are more than making a soothing tea. Teabags are great for flavoring that stew for dinner. Dropping a tea bag into your stew just at the end of cooking will enhance the flavor making the stew one that keeps you wanting more.
