Why Didn’t We Think Of That? 8 Genius Kitchen Hacks

A staple of TV cooking shows is a chef brainstorming a recipe or meal on the fly, a magic trick that yields a new dish before the audience’s eyes. But for those of us who aren’t at home in the kitchen, cooking can be more like problem-solving than creativity. We know we want to eat, but when faced with what to cook, we often don’t have any fresh ideas. Thankfully there are hacks out there to help you out when you get stuck in this rut and they don’t involve spending hours Googling recipes.

1. Sacrificial protection for your cookies

Keep cookies fresh with a slice of white bread. The bread will keep the cookies from getting stale and brittle and they’ll look prettier too.

2. Cut Fries with an apple slicer

Try slicing your fries with an apple slicer. It will make them into perfect, uniform sizes and they’ll cook faster as well.

3.  Spread butter evenly on bread

Butter can melt and drip and create a mess on your sandwich or toast, but spreading butter with other types of spreads like jam or jelly will even out the surface area and help prevent that from happening. This also works for peanut butter and other kinds of nut butter too!

5. A sheet pan can be a tray

Use large sheet pans as trays. They can be used to cook stir-fries, bake fish fillets, cover your baking sheets for casseroles, and even give you extra storage space for leftovers otherwise covered in foil or plastic wrap.

6. A roll of tin foil is a great alternative to aluminum foil

Tinfoil comes in rolls that are perfect for covering pan-sauce-cooked meats and vegetables, wrapping casseroles and grilled foods, getting the last of the ingredients out of the fridge or freezer, or simply protecting your food from getting dirty!

7. Give your lazy susan a sense of purpose

Use it to store pots and pans in a neat and organized fashion. It will free up storage space and it’s a convenient way to organize all the lids that come with your pots and pans.

8. Soften brown sugar in a microwave

You can save time and soften your brown sugar by nuking it in the microwave instead of waiting for it to become soft at room temperature.