For some, cooking tends to be a life’s love and hobby, which they thrive on and constantly work on to improve their skills, whereas, for others, it’s more of a hassle and a chore. Whatever your inclination towards cooking and kitchen, there is always scope for improvement, to make your life more natural and ensure the cooking becomes itself a top-notch.
Not only do you require a good taste pallet when cooking, but it is also useful to know some tips and tricks so that the whole experience is less hassle, thus giving you more time to focus on what you are cooking, and enjoy entertaining your guests.
To help you out, we have put together some great cooking hacks you will wish you had known earlier:
Invest in Appropriate Knives:
Knives are items in the kitchen that are well worth investing in. Even if you spend minimal amounts on the plates and crockery, don’t compromise on the knives, because they have a substantial impact on the presentation of all your food.
When you buy them initially, they will be sharp, however good quality knives will last longer in terms of sharpness, and they are an investment. Instead of having to buy new knives regularly, a quality knife will stand the test of time.
When slicing vegetables and cutting meat, a blunt knife will make your food look messy, whereas a good quality knife which has stayed sharp will make the presentation of your food look neat and precise.
If you do a lot of cooking or cook for many people, it is also important to choose knives which are very comfortable on the hand, even after using them for a long period. This will make your cooking experience more comfortable.
Evenly Roasted Vegetables
Many people find that their vegetables and other foods tend to cook unevenly, and cannot get away with serving food which is overcooked on one side and undercooked on the other. Many people resort to flipping the food over halfway through the cooking time. However, if you are planning on a lavish spread and each item has a separate cooking time and temperature, it can be difficult to keep up with when they should be flipped too.
To combat this issue, you can simply pre-heat your saucepan or grill before you start the cooking process. This may sound obvious, but many people underestimate the importance of pre-heating to obtain a good quality result. You can also prepare the dish easily using an Air Fryer.
Chill a Glass of Wine the Classy Way:
When it comes to serving at a dinner party, a glass of wine is the go-to serving suggestion to complete the evening. However, with so much to think about regarding the menu you’re cooking combined with the pressure of hosting the dinner, you might forget to chill the bottle before you serve it; what’s more, you might not have room in the fridge, or an appropriate cooling container.
The obvious thing to do in this situation is to put a few ice cubes in each drink. However, this can dull the taste of the wine. Instead, why not utilize a much more appealing method of cooling?
A great way to chill wine is to add frozen berries or grapes into your wine. Firstly, you obtain an instant chill in the wine, and secondly, you acquire an additional taste of the chilled grapes and berries with your wine. Not to mention, it adds an extra presentation element to the serving.
Bring Your Champagne Back to Life:
We’ve all been there; you think you’ve got everything set for your evening ahead, and you’re ready to serve the champagne, but you realize it has gone flat.
Well, now there’s no need to worry in this scenario at all. You can bring your champagne back to life with this incredibly simple and effective cooking hack! All you need to do is put two raisins in the bottle before pouring it, and wait to see the fizz revive. Once the champagne has come into contact with the raisin, carbon dioxide will be released, and the champagne is back to normal.
Sound too good to be true? Try it for yourself!
This trick works for sparkling wine as well!
Cleaning the Grill:
Washing plates might be an easy task, but cleaning the grill is a time-consuming hassle. It can take a lot of effort and strength to get all the grime off and ready for use again. To make this daunting task a whole lot easier, you can follow these three simple steps:
- Heat up the Grill
- Cut an onion in half
- Rub the half onion on the grates
This will minimize your cleaning efforts and gives you a delicious aroma when you begin cooking.
Cutting Soft Food:
It can be a difficult task to cut soft foods such as cottage cheese, or a slice of cake so that it is presentable to dish up to guests. Even with your best efforts to cut them into clean slices, it is easy to end up with a mashed-up pile of food in a bowl.
However, there is a solution to this small dilemma to make your cooking that bit easier. You can make use of dental floss to cut soft foods instead of using a knife. Pull the ends of it taut and use it to cut into the food to create neat slices.
The Ultimate Combination:
After cooking fish, it can be difficult to get the lingering smell of fish out of your kitchen. The easiest and simplest way to avoid this is to add slices of lemons to the grill when you are cooking the fish. This has two other major benefits; the first is that the fish stays static in its place, and second is that the lemon taste adds a delicious flavor to the fish.
Create a Comfortable Kitchen Atmosphere
While you are busy getting hot over the food in the kitchen, it can be easy to forget about your guests’ comfort. Create a great atmosphere in the kitchen by setting up a place for your guests to sit and talk out of the way of your cooking. Open the window at your end of the kitchen, and put a designer radiator at the end of your guests are to make sure that they are warm and comfortable while they are being entertained.
Offer plenty of drinks and have a bottle of wine on the table for your guests to help themselves while they wait for food to be served.