{"id":22262,"date":"2018-03-01T06:04:24","date_gmt":"2018-03-01T04:04:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.radioislam.org.za\/wordpress\/2018\/03\/01\/kitchen-hacks-every-cook-should-know-01-03-18\/"},"modified":"2018-03-01T06:04:24","modified_gmt":"2018-03-01T04:04:24","slug":"kitchen-hacks-every-cook-should-know-01-03-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/kitchen-hacks-every-cook-should-know-01-03-18\/","title":{"rendered":"Kitchen hacks every cook should know (01.03.18)"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul style=\"list-style-type: circle;\">\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Pop your lemon into the microwave for easier juicing.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">An easy way to get the most out of your citrus. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Pierce the lemon a few times and put it in the microwave for 15 seconds max \u2014 you&#8217;ll get so much more juice out of it this way.\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Use a plastic bag to save your ice cream from getting freezer burn.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">This hack will keep your ice cream creamy.\u00a0Say goodbye to freezer burn by putting your ice cream into a large, sealable bag before placing it in the freezer (it will apparently prevent the ice cream from getting too cold). You could also put parchment paper, wax paper, or plastic wrap over the ice cream before you put the lid on and the results will be the same\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Use vinegar or lemon juice to make buttermilk.<\/strong> Whip up some buttermilk with ingredients you already have.\u00a0 Add a teaspoon of white vinegar to one cup of whole milk for a perfect substitute. Lemon juice works great as well.\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Use salt to clean your cast iron skillet.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Salt scrubs can help remove rust.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">You probably know never to clean your cast iron skillet with soap, but if water and a sponge aren&#8217;t working, try scrubbing the skillet with salt, which should be able to get anything off that&#8217;s stubbornly stuck on.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Use salt and lemon to clean wooden cutting boards.\u00a0\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Lemon saves that day again.<\/strong> <\/span><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Scrubbing your wooden cutting boards with coarse salt and half of a lemon will get rid of any food smells or particles.\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Heat a cup to soften butter quickly.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">This trick makes melting butter less of a waiting game.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">First, heat a glass of water. After a minute or so, pour the water out and place the cup upside down over the butter. The trapped heat will help it soften quicker.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Save your butter stick wrappers to grease pans.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Waste not, want not.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Another butter hack that might change your life is simply saving butter wrappers. The leftover bits on the wax paper and foil are perfect for greasing pans and baking sheets.\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Spray your measuring spoon with oil to measure sticky ingredients.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">A small spray of oil will save you a lot of trouble.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Give measuring cups or spoons a good spray of cooking oil before measuring honey, or anything sticky. This will keep it from sticking as much.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Use a cup of cold water to see whether your eggs are fresh.\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">The egg test is tried and true. <\/span><br \/><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Fill a cup or bowl with cold water and drop your egg into it. If it floats, it&#8217;s bad and you should toss it. If it stands vertically on the bottom, it&#8217;s still good enough to eat. If it sinks to the bottom and lays horizontal and flat, it&#8217;s very fresh.\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Use a plastic bottle to separate your egg yolks and whites.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Practice makes perfect with this trick.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">This trick might take a bit of practice, but once you&#8217;ve gotten the hang of it you&#8217;ll never use an egg separator again. Just place a plastic bottle over the yolk and squeeze it until the bottle has sucked it up.\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Keep your plastic wrap in the fridge to make it more pliable.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Cellophane is a great way to keep food fresh, but it can be a hassle to use.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Cold plastic wrap doesn&#8217;t twist, turn, or tear nearly as much as plastic wrap that&#8217;s kept at room temperature.\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Use a spoon to peel ginger.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Don&#8217;t lose half of your ginger to a peeler.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">With all of their bumps and odd ends, ginger can be difficult to shave. Ditch the normal peeler and use a spoon instead \u2014 it&#8217;s surprisingly easier and you&#8217;ll save more of the actual ginger.<br \/><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Pop fruits into a paper bag to ripen them faster.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">This works better than most ripening methods. <\/span><br \/><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Put a banana, peach, or avocado into a paper bag and close it tight. The gases they emit will help them ripen faster.\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Use an ice cube to get rid of the fat from broths and stocks.\u00a0<\/strong>Bone broth is better without the white bits.\u00a0 Broths are all the rage in health food right now, but the white bits floating at the top are basically all fat. Instead of trying to spoon them out, wrap an ice cube in a paper towel and skim it across the top. The ice will solidify the fat, and the paper towel will soak it up.\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Use lemons to clean your garbage disposal.<\/strong> Lemons will keep your sink smelling fresh. Cut a lemon into small pieces and freeze those pieces. Every few days, or simply after having put something smelly down your disposal, throw a few in and turn it on. Add a splash of vinegar and the garbage disposal&#8217;s blades will be squeaky clean.\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Use a wooden spoon to stop soups from boiling over.<\/strong> Keeping your stove top clean really is this easy.\u00a0 pot of boiling water, soup, or sauce will stop it from boiling over. The wood will soak up water and steam while popping approaching bubbles.\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Use an ice tray to save leftover herbs.<\/strong> Dill is one of the many herbs you can freeze for later use.\u00a0 Before you toss those extra leaves of basil, sprigs of rosemary, or chopped chives, consider putting them into an ice tray along with olive oil or butter. Freeze them, and then pop them into a roast, stew, or sauce for a boost of flavor \u2014 no chopping necessary.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pop your lemon into the microwave for easier juicing.\u00a0An easy way to get the most out of your citrus. Pierce the lemon a few times and put it in the microwave for 15 seconds max \u2014 you&#8217;ll get so much more juice out of it this way. Use a plastic bag to save your ice [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kitchen-tips"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hints-and-tips.png?fit=400%2C200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-5N4","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-21 23:37:32","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22262\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}