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Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 24 Of The Worst Ones
Article created by: Saulė Tolstych
Who doesn't love a good trick? Sometimes life can get a little too hectic, and simplifying everyday things might leave you with some much-needed time on your hands. Nowadays, people come up with some of the most inventive hacks that sincerely work wonders – however, with the number of ideas skyrocketing online, sometimes it's hard to tell whether any are worth trying at all.
Many of us find prepping meals a tad bit too time-consuming, and we're constantly on the lookout to make this whole process more manageable. We're willing to try out those "genius" hacks that promise to make kitchen time much less stressful – yet, let's face it, most of them either overcomplicate things or are downright pointless.
"What cooking 'hack' do you hate?" – this netizen turned to Reddit's r/Cooking community to start an open discussion. They revealed their most dreaded cooking tricks; for instance, store-bought herb pastes, anything that’s supposed to make peeling boiled eggs easier, and any microwaveable recipes, such as mug cakes. The post has managed to garner over 5K upvotes and 3.1K comments discussing so-called life-changing kitchen hacks that, in reality, don’t work.
More info: Reddit
- Read More: Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones
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#1
Any Hack That Appears On Tiktok
Any hack that appears on TikTok gets an instant NO from me. I swear that place makes everything more complicated than it should be, or validates some people's horrific food ideas.
Chopping board, chef's knife, peeler, mixing bowl, frying pan, saucepan/stockpot- 90%+ of kitchen jobs can be solved with these. Good quality ones - you use them every day, so invest in them.
Source: ex-chef from a 2 Michelin star kitchen.
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#2
Cooking Things In The Dishwasher
Cooking things in the dishwasher. That started in the 70s, now it's a tik tok thing, but it's always stupid.
#3
Cutting Cake With Wine Glasses
Those tiktok people who think cutting cake with a wineglass is somehow easier or convenient.
#4
Creating Frozen Slices Of Peanut Butter To Make PB&J Sandwiches easier
It's not really "cooking" but I saw one that made peanut butter sandwiches 'easier'. It involved creating frozen slices of peanut butter between two small sheets of selophane, which could then be taken out of the freezer and put between bread, and would then melt creating a peanut butter sandwich.
I have no idea how that was less time and effort than just making them the normal way, and it doesn't really extend the shelf life of peanut butter in any meaningful way, and with the added drawback that you can't eat them right away since the peanut butter needs to melt.
Blew my mind for all the wrong reasons.
#5
Using A Plastic Water Bottle To Separate Egg Yolks
Using a plastic water bottle to separate egg yolks. And by extension, using any tool to separate yolks. Just use your hands.
#6
Random Hummus Hacks
Not that I hate them, but I've tried loads for hummus that don't work.
Blend with ice, blend when chickpeas are hot, used dried/ canned chickpeas, cook them more, take all the skins off, blend the tahini and lemon juice on its own first, soak with baking soda, etc.
Just blend everything together, and make sure there's enough liquid in the blender that it blends properly to get it smooth. Then add salt until it tastes really good
#8
The Hole In The Center Of The Spaghetti Spoon Is A Single Serving
That the hole in the center of the spaghetti spoon is a single serving. If I wanna eat a whole box I will.
#9
Peeling Ginger With A Spoon
Peeling ginger with a spoon. I just use a knife and square it off. I’m okay with losing a little bit of it if it means not grabbing a spoon and spending twice as much time prepping it.
Also, a new one I’ve seen is using a cooling rack to dice avocado, mango, egg, etc. whoever came up with that has either never cleaned a cooling rack or doesn’t own a knife.
Agree with the veggie scraps one.
#10
Using A Straw To De-Stem Strawberries
Using a straw to de-stem strawberries by poking a hole through the bottom of the berry.
Just rip it off
#11
Putting Olive Oil In Pasta While It's Boiling
Putting olive oil in when the pasta is boiling so it doesn't stick. Give that pasta a stir when you put it in the pot and once every few minutes and save your olive oil for salad dressing. If you don't stir the pasta when you drop it in, no amount of olive oil will keep it from sticking anyway.
#12
Useless Kitchen Gadgets
I hate any gadget that a decent knife and a modicum of coordination can replace. I cook multiple times most days but my wife couldn’t make a wish sandwich if you stacked to pieces of bread on a plate for her. So she always shows me videos of kitchen gadgets she thinks I need. 99 times out of a hundred you can do the same thing with a knife in less time and don’t have an extra hard to clean gadget.
#13
Peeling Garlic By Shaking It In A Container
Peeling garlic by shaking it in a container, doesn't work for me. Slicing cherry tomatoes in half by placing a plate on top.
#14
Making Milk Froth For Coffee In An Empty Foaming Hand Soap Bottle
Making milk froth for coffee in an empty foaming hand soap bottle. Just BUY A MILK FROTHER they are like $10 at target
#15
Pulling Stems Of Cilantro Through A Hole To Get The Leaves Off
Pulling stems of cilantro through a hole (in a microplane, grater, colander, etc) to get the leaves off. Has never worked for me. It's much faster for me to just pull the leaves off by hand.
#16
Microwave Plate Or Tray That's Supposed To Cook An Item Better
Any microwave plate or tray that is supposed to "cook" an item better. Anyone remember the "Bacon Wave" that came out in the 80's? It was a tray that was supposed to cook bacon crisp in the microwave and drain the fat at the same time. Problem was that it splattered grease all over your microwave and took about the same time as it does to pan fry it.
I've seen these for every type of egg dish, bacon, coffee, ramen noodles, steaks, and just about anything else. A pointless waste of money.
And Foreman Grill types of presses. It's an over glorified sandwich press and only good if you have no other cooking options. (I admit I had one when I lived in the barracks and had no access to a kitchen.)
#17
Dumping Dry Pasta, Slices Of Cheese And Milk In A Casserole Dish
Those dumb videos where people dumb dry pasta and slices of cheese and milk in a casserole dish and cook it all at once.
#18
Using A Garlic Press For Ginger
"Use your garlic press to quickly press ginger as well"
Would not recommend.
#19
Saving Veggie Scraps For Broth
I'll go first. I hate saving veggie scraps for broth. I don't like the room it takes up in my freezer, and I don't think the broth tastes as good as it does when you use whole, fresh vegetables.
Honorable mentions:
Store-bought herb pastes. They just don't have the same oomph.
Anything that's supposed to make peeling boiled eggs easier. Everybody has a different one--baking soda, ice bath, there are a hundred different tricks. They don't work.
Microwave anything (mug cakes, etc). The texture is always way off.
#21
Slicing Mushrooms With An Egg Slicer
Somebody once told me to try using one of those wire egg-slicers to slice mushrooms. I gave it a shot and ruined my parents' egg slicer. Would not recommend.
#22
Cooking In The Microwave
Cooking in the microwave. I just don't do it. The microwave for me is for reheating or defrosting only.
#24
Using Cooked Chicken Bones In Broth
In the same vein as your example of using veggie scraps for broth/stock, I also think that using cooked chicken carcasses (looking at you, rotisserie chicken) always makes an inferior broth/stock when compared to that made with raw chicken carcasses.
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