50 Great Baking & Cooking Hacks: Shortcuts, Tips, and Tricks

Great Baking & Cooking Hacks

Welcome to my collection of 50 Great Baking & Cooking Hacks: Shortcuts, Tips, and Tricks, which will revolutionize your time in the kitchen.

1. Room Temperature Ingredients: Bring eggs, butter, and other dairy products to room temperature before baking for better incorporation and texture.
2. Are you ready to bake but forgot to let the eggs come to room temperature? Immerse them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes.
3. Egg Freshness Test: Place eggs in a water bowl; if they sink, they’re fresh; if they float, they’re old.
4. Revive Stale Bread: To freshen stale bread, spritz it with water and bake it at 325°F for 5–10 minutes. Another option is to place your buns or bread on a cookie sheet and drape a dampened, clean kitchen towel over it. Then, place it in a 325°F oven for 5 or 10 minutes. This is a great food hack that saves money and eliminates waste.
5. Buttermilk Substitute: Make a buttermilk substitute by mixing a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice with 1 cup of milk.
6. Make Your Own Cake Flour: Are you baking a cake and the recipe specifies that you use cake flour, and all you have on hand is all-purpose flour? Make your own, then. For every 1 cup of all-purpose flour, remove two tablespoons of flour and add two tablespoons of cornstarch. Make sure you sift and re-sift at least five times. These two ingredients must be mixed extremely well.
7. Cake Leveling Trick: This is a great tip. Use unflavored dental floss to level cakes evenly. If you do not have floss available, you can use a clean white spool of thread.
8. Softened Brown Sugar: To soften hardened brown sugar overnight, place a damp paper towel or a slice of bread in the sealed container of brown sugar.
9. Perfectly Whipped Cream: To ensure faster results when whipping cream, place your beaters and stainless steel/glass mixing bowl in the freezer for at least 15 minutes before making it.
10. Mason Jar Whipping: Add ingredients to a mason jar and vigorously shake to make easy homemade whipped cream.
11. Peel Garlic Easily: Microwave whole garlic cloves for 10 seconds to loosen the skins for easier peeling.
12. Do you hate boil-overs? Place a wooden spoon across the top of a pot to prevent boiling liquids from spilling over. This trick works every time.
13. Store Fresh Herbs: Preserve fresh herbs by chopping them, adding a small amount of olive oil, and freezing them in ice cube trays. When ready to use, simply pop out however many you need and place the remainder back in the freezer.
14. Extend Freshness of Greens: To absorb moisture and extend freshness, wrap leafy greens in a paper towel. Once wrapped, place the greens in a resealable plastic bag in the fridge.
15. Homemade Croutons: Turn stale bread into croutons by cutting it into cubes, tossing it with olive oil and preferred seasonings, and baking them until crispy. This is not only a great cooking tip, but it also reduces waste!
16. Keep Avocado Fresh: Store cut avocados with a slice of onion to prevent browning.
17. Instant Potatoes: Use instant mashed potatoes as a thickener for soups and stews for quick thickening without altering flavor.
18. Revive Crystallized Honey: Place the container of crystallized honey in warm water to soften it back to its original state.
19. Frozen Grapes for Chilling: I love this hack. It’s a brilliant wine flavor saver. Freeze grapes to use as natural ice cubes in drinks without diluting them.
20. Baking a Pound Cake:  Instead of greasing and flouring your pan when baking a Pound Cake, try buttering and sugaring the pan.  This hack guarantees a sugary, crunchy outside.  Try it, you will never grease and flour a pound cake pan again. https://blissfulfoodsplus.com/a-true-southern-gem-the-classic-southern-pound-cake/
21. Perfect Pancakes Every Time:  Use a squeeze bottle for perfect pancake pouring.  An empty, ready-to-discard ketchup bottle is perfect for this.
22. Double Duty Citrus Zest: Zest citrus fruits before juicing them to save time and ingredients.
23. Prevent Over-Browning: When baking a casserole, pie, or cake, if the top looks like it is browning too rapidly, place some aluminum foil over the top of it. This will reflect some of the heat and slow down the browning process
24. Keep Brown Sugar Soft: Store brown sugar with a terra cotta disc or marshmallows to maintain its moisture content.
25. Muffin Liner Hack: Here’s a tip: If you run out of muffin liners, use parchment paper squares instead.
26. Uniform Cookie Size: Use an ice cream scoop to place the cookie dough on the cookie sheet for a more even cookie size. Bonus cookie tip: chill the cookie dough before baking to keep the cookie from spreading out as quickly as it bakes.
27. Infuse Olive Oil: Add herbs, garlic, or chili flakes to olive oil and let it sit for a few days to infuse flavors.
28. Easy Homemade Stock: Save vegetable scraps (onion peels, carrot ends, etc.) in the freezer to make homemade vegetable stock.
29. Prevent Stickiness: Spray your spoons and measuring cups with cooking spray when measuring sticky ingredients like molasses, syrup, or honey. It scoops out easier and the cleanup is quicker. This works great when measuring peanut butter.
30. Test Oil Temperature: Drop a small piece of bread into hot oil to test if it’s ready for frying. It should sizzle and turn golden brown within seconds.
31. Crispier Bacon: This is the best way to cook bacon. For easier cleanup and crispier bacon, line a large cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Place each slice flat on the aluminum foil and place in the oven at 375–400 degrees F. Check at 15 minutes and continue to bake until desired crispiness. You can also place a wire rack on a cookie sheet and place bacon on the rack. Save the bacon drippings. Pour the bacon drippings into a glass jar with a lid and save for flavorful seasoning in other dishes.  Store in the refrigerator after the bacon grease has cooled. Leftover bacon should be placed in a Ziplock bag and refrigerated.  Reheat in the oven or microwave just long enough to crisp up.
32. Perfectly Ripe Pineapple Test: Pull out the crown leaves of a pineapple; if they come out effortlessly, it’s ripe.
33. Picking Out a Sweet & Ripe Watermelon: You need to look for four things when picking a sweet, ripe watermelon. #1: Look for the stem where the watermelon was cut from the vine, if it is brown, then this is a good start; it was cut from the vine when it was ripe. If it is green, it was picked before it was allowed to ripen. #2: Look for a yellow or sometimes tan area on the watermelon. This is probably the best indicator of ripeness and sweetness because it tells you I have been sitting on the ground for a long time, getting sweet. #3: Try thumping for a sweet, juicy watermelon. Using your hand or fingers, thump the melon. It should produce a deep, hollow sound. This means it is ripe and full of juice. This may take some practice to discern the difference in sound, but practice makes perfect. #4: A sweet and juicy watermelon will feel heavy for its size. So pick a few up and compare.
34. Homemade Whipped Butter: Whip softened butter with a stand mixer for a few minutes to make it airy and spreadable.
35. Prevent Cheese From Drying Out: Store cheese in a resealable plastic bag and add a sugar cube to absorb excess moisture. This will also help maintain a good humidity level inside. When the sugar cube feels soft, remove it and replace it with another one
36. Quick Tomato Paste: Freeze leftover tomato paste in tablespoon portions for easy use in other recipes. Drop tablespoon-sized blobs onto wax paper the size of the freezer-proof container you will be using, place them in the freezer, and pull them out when needed.
37. Freshen Brown Rice: Add a slice of bread to the top of the brown rice while it’s cooking to prevent it from drying out and to absorb excess moisture.
38. Extend Veggie Life: Line the crisper drawer in the fridge with paper towels to absorb moisture and keep vegetables fresher for longer. This is another money-saving tip.
39. Perfectly Cooked Pasta: Always start by seasoning your water—it’s essential! I always salt and taste the water before adding the pasta. It should taste like well-seasoned chicken broth, something you could easily sip. This makes a huge difference in the flavor of your noodles, even before you add any sauce. Want an extra boost of flavor? Use chicken broth instead of salted water. Remember, it’s crucial to season your water before cooking grits, rice, and pasta, as it’s nearly impossible to season them properly after they’re cooked. My favorite seasoning packs are by GOYA. They come in chicken, beef, and ham flavor packs. I keep these stocked in my kitchen. Grits are a favorite in the South, but it is crucial that they are seasoned from the beginning. Try Goya ham seasoning in your next pot of grits. Taste the difference and elevate your dishes right from the start!
40. Creamy Mashed Potatoes: Warm the milk or cream before adding it to boiled potatoes for creamier mashed potatoes.
41. Easy Tomato Skin Removal: Score the bottom of the tomatoes with a shallow “X,” then place them in boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove them immediately, and place them in an ice bath. The skins will peel off easily.
42. Homemade Breadcrumbs: First, dry the bread out by placing your stale bread in a single layer on a cookie sheet and placing them in a 200-degree F oven for 30 minutes. Cool the dried bread, then pulse the dried bread in a food processor to make homemade bread crumbs. Store in a Ziplock freezer bag. Push the air out and date them before placing them in the freezer. Breadcrumbs should last up to one year in the freezer.
43. Prevent the Browning of Apples: Toss apple slices in a mixture of water and lemon juice to prevent them from browning.
44. Easy Chocolate Shavings: Use a vegetable peeler to create chocolate shavings for garnishing desserts.
45. Onion Tear Prevention: Chilling your onions before chopping will reduce tears.
46. Ice Cream Hacks: Dip an ice cream scoop in hot water for smooth scoops. Did you forget to set the cream out before serving, and it’s hard? Place it in the microwave in 10-second intervals, repeating until soft enough to serve effortlessly.
47. Silky Smooth Gravy: Use a fine-mesh strainer to remove lumps from gravy for a smooth texture.
48. Revive-Wilted Lettuce: Place wilted leaves in a bowl of ice water with a slice of lemon for 15 minutes to revive crispness.
49. Instant Pastry Bag: If you lack pastry bags, use a zip-top bag. Fill it and snip off one corner of the bag.
50. Quick Caramelization:  For quicker browning of onions, sprinkle a pinch of baking soda over them.

May my collection of 50 Great Baking & Cooking Hacks: Shortcuts, Tricks, and Tips, inspire you to try new techniques and make your time in the kitchen more enjoyable and efficient. For more Great Baking & Cooking hacks, check this out: https://greatist.com/eat/easy-kitchen-and-food-hacks-to-change-the-way-you-cook#