Cooking at home can be an enjoyable and rewarding experience, but it can also sometimes be time-consuming and messy. Fortunately, with a few DIY cooking hacks, you can make the process more efficient, fun, and less stressful. Whether you’re trying to save time, reduce waste, or just make your meals easier to prepare, these four simple kitchen tricks will have you cooking like a pro in no time.
1. Use a Slow Cooker for Hands-Off Meals
One of the best ways to save time and effort while cooking is to utilize a slow cooker. This appliance allows you to prepare meals with minimal attention. Simply add your ingredients to the slow cooker in the morning, set it to low or high depending on your recipe, and let it cook throughout the day.
The slow cooker is ideal for making soups, stews, chili, casseroles, and even pulled pork or chicken. Since the cooking time is longer, you can leave it to cook while you work, run errands, or take care of other tasks. The result is a tender, flavorful dish with almost no hands-on effort required.
- Pro Tip: For extra flavor, sauté your vegetables and meat in a pan before adding them to the slow cooker. This step can help bring out deeper flavors in your dish.
2. Peel Garlic Quickly with a Jar
Peeling garlic can sometimes feel like a chore, but there’s a simple hack to make it faster and less frustrating. Instead of trying to peel each individual clove, place a few garlic bulbs in a jar (or between two bowls) and shake them vigorously for 10-15 seconds. The skins will separate from the garlic cloves, and you’ll be left with peeled garlic in a fraction of the time.
This method is great if you need to prepare a lot of garlic quickly, especially when you’re making a large meal or a recipe that calls for several cloves. Plus, it’s a fun and easy way to save time!
- Pro Tip: After peeling, if you need minced garlic, use the flat side of a chef’s knife to crush the clove slightly before chopping. This will release more of its flavor and make chopping easier.
3. Quickly Ripen Avocados with a Paper Bag
If you’ve bought an avocado that’s still rock-hard and you need it ripe quickly, don’t worry! You can ripen your avocado in a matter of hours by placing it in a brown paper bag with an apple or banana. These fruits release ethylene gas, which naturally speeds up the ripening process.
Leave the avocado and fruit in the bag at room temperature for about a day, and check periodically to see if the avocado has softened. This simple trick can save you from waiting days for an avocado to ripen.
- Pro Tip: If you’re in a real rush, placing the avocado in a warm oven (at a very low temperature) for 10–15 minutes can help speed up the process even further.
4. Freeze Herbs in Olive Oil for Later Use
Fresh herbs are wonderful for cooking, but they can go bad quickly if you don’t use them in time. A great way to preserve your herbs for later use is to freeze them in olive oil. This method not only keeps the herbs fresh but also makes them easier to use when cooking.
To do this, chop up your herbs (such as basil, rosemary, thyme, or parsley) and place them into an ice cube tray. Pour olive oil over the herbs until each cube is full, then freeze. When you need fresh herbs for a recipe, simply pop one or two cubes into your dish for instant flavor. The olive oil acts as a base for sautéing or cooking, adding richness to your meals.
- Pro Tip: You can also freeze garlic or ginger with olive oil for a quick, flavorful addition to your cooking.