21 Very Underutilized Cooking Hacks That Forever Transformed The Way People Cook

You've probably heard tons and tons of cooking tricks, but every once in a while, you come across one that makes you stop and think, wow, that's actually pretty genius. Well, Redditor u/erin_with_an_i asked, "What is your cooking hack that is second nature to you but actually pretty unknown?" Here's what people said.

1. "Dissolve your cinnamon in vanilla before adding eggs and milk to your batter for French toast. The cinnamon will be much better incorporated than it would just sitting on the mixture."

2. "I always cook more rice than I need, then portion the leftovers into Ziploc bags (1 cup of rice per bag) and put them in the freezer. When you're ready to eat it, put it on a plate or bowl, sprinkle about a teaspoon of water over the frozen rice, and use a damp paper towel to cover and microwave for two minutes for perfectly fluffy rice again."

— u/jahzey

3. "I dust flour on bacon first to prevent curling, also making it extra crispy when fried."

4. "I use powdered buttermilk diluted in water. I only recently found out that this exists. I have wasted so much liquid buttermilk when all I needed was a bit."

— u/pirfle

5. "I scrunch up a piece of parchment paper under the tap water and squeeze the water out before using it to line cake and brownie tins so that it'll stick to the sides better. The water evaporates during baking and doesn't affect the batter."

6. "Using steak seasoning for oven-baked vegetables. It's way more flavorful than your typical salt and pepper."

— u/jahzey

7. "When I'm almost out of a condiment, I make a salad dressing in the jar and shake vigorously to incorporate the remaining condiment into salad dressing."

8. "Whenever I need to caramelize onions, I always add water to the pan and cover with a lid to steam the onions first. Eventually, the water cooks off, and you're left with very soft onions, which saves you about 20 minutes for a big batch."

— u/DrDoozie

9. "When making a French omelet, I first whisk the eggs in a metal sieve. It removes all the little white stringy bits, and the finished product is perfectly uniform and pale yellow."

10. "I put thick slices of day-old bread under my chicken before roasting; they absorb the chicken juice so that the underside is not soggy and the bread edges become so crispy that I just nibble on them like roasted chicken-flavored soaked croutons."

— u/Senior-Ad-9700

11. "Preheat your sheet pan to 425ºF before adding your vegetables when roasting. This will give them a nicer sear and allow them to cook slightly faster."

12. "I keep a shot glass in my microwave. If I'm cooking anything that requires moisture (reheating rice, for example), I add water to the glass and turn the microwave on for 30 seconds to warm the water. Then I put in whatever I'm making. The microwave gets steamy and warms things like rice and pasta beautifully."

— u/CompassionateMath

13. "To make any instant ramen soup broth taste close to restaurant quality, I mix the seasoning packet with a raw egg, a tablespoon of kewpie mayo, and a teaspoon of minced garlic. Once you pour in the soup and noodles, the hot water cooks the eggs and thickens the broth so that it tastes like a creamy tonkotsu base."

14. "I add seasoning to my flour when I make a roux most of the time. I started with garlic powder and smoked paprika when I made my roux for white cheddar mac 'n' cheese. It really enhances it."

— u/kgee1206

15. "I use my fingers to center the yolk in a fried egg."

16. "I use flavored coffee creamer (usually hazelnut, but sometimes French vanilla) in the egg batter when making French toast. Also, I use a mixture of cinnamon, sugar, and nutmeg over butter instead of maple syrup on the French toast. The last part is how my family has been making it for years since they immigrated from Belgium in the 1800s. The flavored creamer is my recent tweak on it."

— u/_Bon_Vivant_

17. "Instant mashed potato flakes are my go-to for thickening any kind of stew or chili. You don't have to whisk like you do cornstarch or flour."

18. "I replace a small amount of the milk in the pancake batter with heavy whipping cream to help make the batter way more manageable when cooking and flipping. It also creates smoother pancakes."

— u/erin_with_an_i

19. "A friend of mine taught me to put herb and garlic cream cheese in my mashed potatoes. I tried adding dill pickle on my own, and if you’ve never had dill pickle mashed potatoes, you are in for a treat. The leftovers make fantastic croquettes."

20. "When your box of brown sugar is rock hard, instead of chipping it away with a knife, put it in the microwave for 30 seconds. It gets nice and soft and shakeable again."

— u/loandigger

21. "I like to roast a whole chicken in a Dutch oven with potatoes, carrots, celery, and onion. Once cooked, I remove the chicken, add some broth to the veggies and chicken fat, and blend that as the base for a soup."

Do you have one to add? What's a cooking hack or recipe tip you swear by that people might not know about? Tell us in the comments or drop your response into this anonymous form .