20 Surprising Tips that Will Help You Out in the Kitchen

The kitchen is often considered the heart of the home. If you enjoy spending a lot of time in your kitchen, the following time-tested tips may enhance your experience and improve your kitchen habits.

1. If your water kettle has developed a buildup of calcium on the bottom, boil a mixture of half water and half white vinegar in the pot for a few minutes before emptying.

2. Before you chop hot peppers, rub a small amount of vegetable on your hands. This will prevent the oils from the hot peppers from absorbing into your skin.

3. If you are unable to use a bag of potatoes before they begin to bud, put an apple in the bag to prevent them from budding.

4. Activated charcoal will keep your fridge smelling fresh more effectively than baking soda.

5. Can’t get the smell of garlic or onions from your hands? Use fresh coffee beans to absorb the odor.

6. Refrigerating tomatoes and citrus fruit reduces their flavor and aroma.

7. A pinch of salt will keep boiling eggs from cracking.

8. Not sure if your eggs are past their expiration date? Place them in about 5 inches of water. If they float, don’t eat them. If they stay on the bottom of the pan, they are still fresh.

9. Separate bananas after bringing them home from the store. Bananas that are left in a bunch will ripen quickly.

10. If you’d like to speed up the ripening process of bananas, leave them in a bunch and place them in a closed paper bag.

11. Cut out the root and top layer off of an onion to reduce the sulphuric compounds that cause your eyes to water.

12. Soaking onions in salt water or chilling them before cutting will also reduce the substances that cause teary eyes.

13. If you have leftover wine that you won’t be able to finish before it turns sour, pour the remaining wine into ice cube trays. You can then use a cube whenever you’d like to add flavor to sauces or soups.

14. When cooking bean dishes, add acidic substances such as tomatoes or lemon juice at the end of the cooking process since these substances will otherwise keep the beans firm.

15. Simplify the process of removing garlic skin by drying the garlic cloves in the sun. Then, rub a few drops of vegetable oil onto the garlic cloves. This will make it much easier to de-skin garlic.

16. If the salt in your salt container hardens into chunks, toss a few grains of rice into the bottom of the shaker. The rice will draw moisture away.

17. Never use detergent to clean cast iron cookware. Instead, scrub the cookware with salt and a dry paper towel.

18. If you’ve over-salted a pot of soup, place a peeled potato into the pot. This will absorb a significant amount of the excess salt.

19. To remove coffee or tea stains from cups, rub a mixture of baking soda, cream of tartar, and lemon juice over the stains.

20. If you find that your wooden drawers are difficult to open and close after a time, rub a candle on the drawer tracks.