ADVERTISEMENT

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

#1

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones "Level-up your instant ramen" by cooking an entire f*****g meal from scratch and then incorporating the noodles.

This isn't a hack. This is just cooking.

HeyItsMau , Thirteen Of Clubs Report

Add photo comments
POST
torreywalters avatar
Torrey Walters
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I mean it still tastes good, but it not a "hack" it's literally a recipe lol

View more commentsArrow down menu
#2

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones My pet peeve is the 'one sheet pan dinner' recipe videos where they spread everything out on the pan, THEN add oil and seasonings AS UNEVENLY AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE and just shuffle around poorly with their hands.

just toss it all in a big bowl beforehand, goddamn

mah_ree , Isha Zubeidi Report

Add photo comments
POST
striepy avatar
Bubbles and sparks
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh yes, and then seeing done by a socalled influencer with nails so long it's actually gross ;P

View more commentsArrow down menu
#3

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones 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.

Lt_Forks , nordskovmedia.dk Report

#4

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones Cooking things in the dishwasher. That started in the 70s, now it's a tik tok thing, but it's always stupid.

TheLadyEve , Joanna Bourne author Report

Add photo comments
POST
ola_n avatar
Headless Roach
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Cooking in what? Like in "I like to have pieces of yesterday's pasta in my today's steak"?

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#5

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones Those tiktok people who think cutting cake with a wineglass is somehow easier or convenient.

BridgetteBane , theroseperiod Report

#6

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones 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.

gazhole , Craig Murphy Report

#7

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones Using a plastic water bottle to separate egg yolks. And by extension, using any tool to separate yolks. Just use your hands.

Ok_Chapter8131 , ebrunar Report

#8

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones For me it's people saying to use mayo instead of butter on their grilled cheese. Mayo just doesn't provide the flavor or crunch I want. Butter is the way

waitthissucks , Joel Kramer Report

Add photo comments
POST
aislingraye avatar
Aisling Raye
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I try my best not to judge others BUT I judge the ever living he!! out of the mayo is better than butter people. Honestly mayo people, who hurt you?

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
#9

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones 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

Rabaga5t , Whitney Report

Add photo comments
POST
monscul avatar
Green Tree
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Simple hummus that always gets compliments: 1-1-1-1. One each lemon (juiced), garlic clove, can of chickpeas and spoonful of tahini. Blend with olive oil till smooth and season.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#10

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones Food hacks that show up on 5 Minutes Crafts

Educational-Fan-8475 , Stephanie Report

#11

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones That the hole in the center of the spaghetti spoon is a single serving. If I wanna eat a whole box I will.

Ass2DRegMan , A Yee Report

Add photo comments
POST
aislingraye avatar
Aisling Raye
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Pasta is measured with your heart. Also, don't buy extra dumb kitchen stuff you don't need - why does anyone need a dedicated spoon for spaghetti?

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#12

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones 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.

gustriandos , Kjokkenutstyr Net Report

Add photo comments
POST
rzsanyerges avatar
EvilNob
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I used teaspoons for peeling ginger even before it was "cool". Spoiler alert: I also get rid of fishscales with a tablespoon. There is nothing wrong with it.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#13

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones Using a straw to de-stem strawberries by poking a hole through the bottom of the berry.


Just rip it off

QQcumber , Fried Dough Report

Add photo comments
POST
eileenkeller94 avatar
Metalhead Turtle 🇺🇦
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And if you can't rip it off, use a paring knife. If you don't feel comfortable doing that, there's a little device called a strawberry huller (or corer, I think it's called) and it works. I've tried that straw "hack" and I can confirm that it doesn't work.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#14

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones 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.

the_nomads , Prem Sichanugrist Report

Add photo comments
POST
striepy avatar
Bubbles and sparks
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Pasta needs to be a bit sticky, its made that way so the sauce will stick to the pasta ;) It's all about timing, so you have your pasta sauce ready when your pasta is done and then serve it.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#15

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones Breaking eggs with one hand. Get out of here with that black magic b******t

Snorlax_Sprinkles , Chris Chen 陳依勤 Report

#16

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones 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.

Match_Specialist , Chris Hoare Report

Add photo comments
POST
ngregory avatar
N Gregory
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Gee. Good for you for having "a modicum of coordination" and not rheumatoid arthritis. I would like to get rid of about five gadgets in my kitchen but then I wouldn't be able to cook half the meals I enjoy. Maybe, just maybe not *all* gadgets are useless. (Also - what's a wish sandwich?)

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#17

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones Peeling garlic by shaking it in a container, doesn't work for me. Slicing cherry tomatoes in half by placing a plate on top.

Competitive_Dress671 , Rebecca Siegel Report

Add photo comments
POST
benitavaldez avatar
Benita Valdez
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Garlic hates me and does whatever it can to make sure I have a hard time peeling and cutting it; always have a green center that I have to cut out

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#18

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones Making milk froth for coffee in an empty foaming hand soap bottle. Just BUY A MILK FROTHER they are like $10 at target

PM_ME_SERATONIN , Marco Verch Professional Photographer Report

#19

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones 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.

okokimup , Jason Bachman Report

Add photo comments
POST
rzsanyerges avatar
EvilNob
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Or do not have clintaro at all, because it tastes horrible (like dirty dishwater). And no, I'm not picky. I just have an extra gene and better smelling sense that lets me smell and taste the real clintaro. (Google it.)

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#20

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones 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.)

atombomb1945 , wEnDy Report

Add photo comments
POST
jhenrymiller avatar
JMil
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The one microwave device I like is the "potato pocket". Makes a pretty decent "baked" potato in a small fraction of the time it takes in the oven.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#21

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones Those dumb videos where people dumb dry pasta and slices of cheese and milk in a casserole dish and cook it all at once.

FearlessFreak69 , U.S. Department of Agriculture Report

#22

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones "Use your garlic press to quickly press ginger as well"

Would not recommend.

MrReynevan2 , Joe Hall Report

#23

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones 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.

secret-snakes , citymama Report

Add photo comments
POST
rzsanyerges avatar
EvilNob
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Saving veggie scraps for broth helps you to save money and being more eco friendly at the same time. It doesn't take up too much place in your freezer (except if you have a tiny one) and you can make it as soon as you peel the vegetables. I usually make the veggie meal, then the broth, put it for one night in the refrigerator and the next day I make a yummy soup or other meal out of it.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#24

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones Putting cream in risotto

NorthernAphid , Herry Lawford Report

Add photo comments
POST
nikkisevven avatar
Nikki Sevven
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why would you? The whole point of risotto is the process, which creates the creaminess from the rice's starches. If you need cream, you've done it wrong. Or you've used the wrong type of rice.

View more commentsArrow down menu
#25

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones premade marinades almost always suck. My only exception to date is Soy Vay veri teriyaki.

SueBeee , Eric Sonstroem Report

#26

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones 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.

Haephestus , Cheryl Report

Add photo comments
POST
beth_landers avatar
Beth L
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

1) that is not a mushroom, and 2) that is not an egg slicer

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#27

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones Cooking in the microwave. I just don't do it. The microwave for me is for reheating or defrosting only.

Ineffable7980x , CJ Sorg Report

#28

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones Ok Kenji, I’ll concede brining shrimp in baking soda makes a difference, but this m**********r be putting baking soda in *everything*

Citoyen_Riqueti , David Leo Veksler Report

#29

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones Making pesto with a hydraulic press

nattiecakes , Rebecca Siegel Report

#30

Members Of This Online Community Are Debunking Cooking “Hacks”, Here Are 30 Of The Worst Ones 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.

96dpi , espring4224 Follow Report

Add photo comments
POST
jihana avatar
Jihana
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have the feeling this one is more for poorer folks. Rotisserie chicken is very inexpensive. And an inferior broth is better than no broth at all. It's an additional meal that costs next to nothing.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
See Also on Bored Panda