12 Kitchen Hacks Everyone Should Know (Kitchen Hacks 101)

Before we talk about kitchen hacks…

Hello everyone and Happy Resumption from this space! I’m sure you learned a lot of awesome recipes last year and this year we’re going to be making cooking even more fun. Last time we talked about some grocery-shopping hacks that would help you purchase the best quality foodstuffs whenever you go to our local open markets. In case you missed that, you can refer back to that here. We will continue today with some kitchen hacks to help you have a better cooking experience.

”Kitchen struggles’‘ are a thing and I’m sure everyone has experienced them one way or the other. For instance, the water boils over and runs down the sides of the pot into the fire or your over-salted Egusi soup that is as unpleasant as it is revolting. Or that burning sensation on your hand after rinsing and blending pepper. I could go on and on.

You may have been frustrated by such occurrences while cooking and you may have even wished there was a way around it. The good news is that there is a way out using the kitchen hacks we’ll be looking at today.

Kitchen Hacks also help you stay organized while cooking and save you time, energy, and in some cases money. These tips would come in handy for anyone, amateur, intermediate or professional cook.

Kitchen Hacks

1. Overflowing Boiling Water

This is very common. For instance, when you’re boiling rice and the water spills over the sides of the pot in rivulets straight to your gas burner. The end result is no doubt the extra efforts that would be spent in cleaning the pot as well as a gas burner with a reduced lifespan.

How do you avoid this? Place a wooden spoon/ spatula or a turning stick for eba across the pot. The colder temperature of this spoon would make the bubbles burst before they can run over the sides of the pot.

2. Re-using Cooking Oil

To reuse cooking oil, fry some ginger in it first and the taste of whatever was cooked disappears leaving you with a better tasting oil.

3. Peppery Sensations

Before you chop fresh red peppers, rub a little bit of vegetable oil or Olive oil on your palms and the back of it so you won’t feel that burning sensation on your hand.

4. Fresh Eggs

Your nose alone won’t always tell you if eggs have gone bad. A simple way to find out is to gently place uncooked eggs in a bowl of cold water. If the egg sinks to the bottom, it’s ok. If it floats midway it’s semi ok. But if it floats all the way to the top: it’s a no-no. Summarily, the higher your egg floats, the older it is.

5. Oversalted Soups

Drop some peeled Irish potatoes in your pot of salty soup or stew and re-heat it to remove the salty taste.

6. Onion Tears

There are 4 easy ways to avoid these. You could try rinsing the onion before you slice it or you could even freeze them 30 minutes before you start slicing. Another proven method is to bite into a piece of bread making sure a part of it sticks out of your mouth as you chop the onions. The bread will absorb the sulphur gas emitted by the onion and prevents it from traveling to your eyes. Lastly for the gum lovers, chew some gum just before you start and while slicing the onions.

7. Watery Soups

Sprinkle some raw garri or flour into your watery soup to thicken it rather than boiling it to vaporize the water

8. Quick Poundo

Craving pounded yam in the absence of a mortar? Boil the yam normally, blend it in a blender or a food processor, and turn it as you would turn Eba or Amala and your pounded yam is ready! (However, you should blend the yam in small portions if your blender isn’t very strong)

9. Watery Custard or Pap

They say it takes just 2 Ingredients to make pap, Hot water, and the grace of God😂. But with a little borrowed sense you can thicken that watery mess to get it to the right consistency. Simply add some flour and keep stirring it over the fire. It should thicken in time.

10. Easy way to peel beans for moin-moin

After soaking your beans, rub them against a grater. The skin would come off easily compared to rubbing it vigorously with your palms.

11. Dealing with weevils.

To preserve your beans from weevils, put them in a plastic container with a lid and scatter some dry whole cayenne peppers inside. Weevils wouldn’t be able to withstand these peppery conditions.

12. Sticky Serving Spoons

To prevent your serving spoons from becoming sticky when dishing ‘swallow’ (eba, amala, semo, etc), rub some vegetable oil on the spoon before dishing. Not only would the morsels slide right out of the spoon, but it would also be easier to wash the spoon later on.

That’s all on kitchen hacks that everyone should know, especially YOU!

Do you know more hacks aside from those shared here? Head over to the comment section and share this knowledge with us! See you next time!