Like baking, Cooking is considered an exact science. Precision is key to preparing Foods correctly. Things like temperatures, doneness, seasoning and more need to be treated with respect or the whole dish could come undone. However, also like baking, there are hacks out there that take the tedium out of cooking and they are a dime a dozen.
Cooking Hacks are everywhere, meaning a chef is just a fingertip away from turning a complicated dish into an afternoon joke. Here are five cooking hacks to give amateur cooks and chefs a fighting chance in the kitchen.
5. Poaching and egg perfectly
The process of poaching eggs can serve as definitive proof that cooking is an exact science given how difficult it is. Typically, an egg has to maintain a shape while floating on the surface of simmering water at the right temperature and for the right amount of time. Any misstep during this process and the whole thing will end up at the bottom of a waste bin.
Fortunately, there's a simple solution to this conundrum in the form of a single ingredient that can be added to the mix; white distilled vinegar. The trick here is to soak the eggs in a bowl filled with vinegar for five minutes before cracking them open.
This hack will ensure the eggs maintain their shape while simmering and finish with firm whites and soft yolks.
4. Cut soft foods with dental floss
Making clean and beautiful cuts through soft foods seems impossible. Doesn't matter if the blade is sharp enough--its shape and density will always betray the chef. Hence, soft foods always make up the rules--or so many had once thought.
Instead of kitchen knives, a chef's salvation actually lies in the form of the dental tool called "unscented dental floss." This thin wire that is typically used to clean teeth makes for a better tool to cut soft foods like cake, cheese, butter and more.
3. Save fresh herbs by freezing them
Fresh herbs are integral ingredients for many dishes but it can be a challenge to store and preserve them. Now, there are a lot of ways to go about this--some being complicated and intimidating. However, the whole idea of a hack is to dumb the process down and this next one is by far the dumbest.
The trick to this is to freeze the herbs in ice trays filled with olive oil or stock, then thaw them out to be used. This hack is considered the best simply because it solves two problems simultaneously; preservation and preparation.
2. Turn wine into cubes
Similar to the last hack, this one solves two problems at once; preservation and preparation. There comes a time when wine becomes too overwhelming and the chef or consumer can't finish it off before it goes to waste. So what is there left to do? Well, that's what a freezer is for.
The wine can simply be poured into ice trays to freeze until its thawed out for mixing up a cocktail on Christmas or as an ingredient for cooking up a sauce.
1. Speed hack for ripening
Naturally, chefs and cooks were at the mercy of Mother Nature when preparing fruits. Fruits like bananas and peaches were especially annoying. Unless they were ripe, the waiting game was in effect and the period could vary depending on the desired fruit. Fortunately, mankind is an ingenious species and have found hacks around this caveat.
One hack, in particular, is none other than the paper bag. Yes, the very container people take their groceries home in. When fruits are placed in a paper bag, they are exposed to concentrated ethylene gas which ripens them.
However, this trick will only work with fruits that ripen when picked, obviously. These include bananas, peaches, avocados, kiwi, etc.
