People Are Sharing The Cheats That Make Cooking So Much Easier Even Though They're Weird

Uhhh using a blow dryer on raw chicken is a terrible idea. That’s how you get chicken juices and salmonella all over everything. Just pat it with paper towels or leave it uncovered in the fridge for an hour or two.

I learnt that blow drying was the secret to crispy duck skin. One Christmas I was cooking duck and thought I'd try it out. I'd just got a high speed "blaster" for drying the dogs so stood at the kitchen door with the duck, pointed the nozzle to between the skin and flesh and turned it on. I then discovered why it was called a blaster and had a low-flying headless duck fly down the garden with dogs in hot pursuit 🤣.

-Cocoa powder in chili
-peach jam in bbq sauce
-touch of sour cream in scrambled eggs.

I dunno about the blow drying.... Seems unsanitary and also unnecessary. I salt my chicken and leave it in the fridge overnight and the skin completely dehydrates - much more than you could achieve with a blow dryer.

When I make chili I put chocolate and coffee in right before I serve, it adds a another level of flavor that nobody understands but they love it.

I peel Ginger, cut it into cubes, blended into a paste, a thin layer in a ziplock bag , freeze , break off as needed. .

Any soup will be made more flavorful and brighter by adding a bit of apple cider vinegar.

Use potato chips instead of graham crackers for s'mores. Not the kettle-type chips. Use something cheap and salty like Lays. S'mores are super sweet normally, so the saltiness makes it a more balanced treat. It's also easier to eat and gluten free! (Which is how I discovered it. Food allergies lead to some delightful discoveries).

Keep your saran wrap/ plastic wrap in the fridge. It won't stock to itself, ever, while you're cutting it. But it warms up immediately & sticks to your bowl you're covering. Yes, even the cheap kind will work better.

I freeze any veg that is about to go off, I will even cut off anything that looks bad and still throw it in. I like freezing tomatoes the best so I can peel and then throw them in a pot. Having been frozen the skin releases easy with just a quick rinse under hot water. I have even used them for fresh salsa. If I need grated onion I go to the freezer and find one of the many pieces that have been sealed and stored. Easy peasy. (avocados freeze well too)

I always have little pieces of veg or even whole veg that isn't used right away so I do the usual, throw them in a cooked dish if they dont need to be crunchy. All my asparagus ends get frozen and then made into a cream of asparagus soup later which is then used for all sorts of sauces/flavoring and of course soup. I also freeze cheese ends or any that looks funny after cleaning it up for the same reason. Cheese and Grits, to the freezer for the cheese ends. I also freeze leftover rice on a tray and then bag it up for later use - usually breakfast fried rice.

I make yellow rice a lot - turmeric, chicken broth and rice. Turmeric is really nice for adding color to mac n cheese, queso and of course yellow rice and anything in between that needs to have that orange/yellow color.

I make garlic butter ahead of time and sealed in a glass dish. Its always been my hubs fav but he doesn't know whats in it. His is never the same so I get asked to make it. Its a 1/3 butter 1/3 margarine and 1/3 olive oil combined with a hefty amount of grated garlic, a dash of italian seasoning and a pinch of ground red pepper or just plain pepper. The trio of fats keeps it somewhat spreadable but still rich and delicious. Sometimes I get fancy and press the garlic bread on a plate of parm after they have been buttered before baking them slowly.

I buy bolillo bread instead of french/italian for garlic bread, sub sandwiches/phillys/french dips and hot ham and cheese sandwiches (ham/cheese/mayo/mustard rolled tight in parchment and then foil to slowly bake in the toaster oven, ooey gooey and delicious).

I put a teeny tiny bit of mayo between each layer of ingredients in a sandwich to make everything stick together.

Those are probably all obvious - and now for the dastardly dirty little secret:

I put marmite in just about everything that needs to be savory with an extra kick of umami. It makes sauces, gravies, stews and even spag extra special. It doesnt take much so start with a little (like less than a tsp for 2 people) and adjust. It also has the benefit of adding a darker color to sauces/gravies.

Unsweetened baking chocolate. Added to chili that you want to cut heat without changing flavor. Needs to be done very carefully, but it works.

When I make pie crust, I replace half of the water with vodka.

Thanks old school ATK!

I've posted about this before, but blow-drying freshly made rice on low so I can make fried rice with it.

Takes only a few minutes and you can do it in the rice pot as opposed to spreading it out onto a pan and cooling it slowly with a fan. Saves time and avoids needing to wash another dish.

Day-old rice from the fridge is the best, but I don't always have it prepared.

I cook a week worth of rice and freeze it in one serving containers so when I don't have energy to cook I can just microwave one and put some hot sauce on it for a quick fix.

Splash a bit of soy sauce on a hamburger in a skillet just after you flip it--it caramelizes at once and is the best thing about the burger.

Two things about salmon 🐟🍣

1) SKIN ON- make SURE your salmon is actually descaled!!! If the skin feels “smooth” it’s probably not. Salmon scales are thin and smooth, running a knife against the grain will pull them off and it makes a huge difference if you are trying to get crispy skin because the skin can be directly in contact with the pan instead of boiling/steaming under the scales.

2) SKIN OFF- Run a kettle of boiling water, then pour over the skin side until it shrinks slightly. Maybe like 10-20sec. This will release the skin from the salmon and you can literally peel it off

bonus, if you descale then remove the skin you can make a salmon skin crisp :P.

This is completely counter intuitive, but we pour boiling water over our skin-on chicken before baking, and then broil it a bit right at the end. Perfect crispy skin every time.

My wife makes homemade chocolate frosting with cream and chocolate pudding powder. Her secret ingredient? - A dash of freeze-dried coffee.

I use fish sauce in everything savory. Just a dash, splash, or glug depending lol.

To line a pan with foil, wet it first and the foil sticks to it.