Cooking is one hell of a job. While cooking, a lot of things can happen that you do not have control over. When it happens, what would be the easiest way out?
Here are some tricks you can tuck up your sleeves and use when any of these happens.
1. Problem: The Previous Night’s Soup Is Gone Stale
Solution: Use Charcoal
If the soup you cooked the previous night goes stale, don’t throw it away. All you need to do is cook it and drop in some charcoal and allow it to keep boiling and your soup will come back fresh. Charcoal is very good at extracting poison from any substance. It is even advised to make a charcoal solution and drink if you suspect you’ve taken in poison.
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2. Problem: You Mistakenly Dropped In Too Much Salt
Solution: Use Potato
This is something that happens in the kitchen. Sometimes, you drop in too much salt, ruining the taste of your soup or making it too sour. Don’t serve it like that and end up explaining your whole life, all you need to do is drop in a whole potato. The potato will soak up the extra salt and afterward, all you need to do is fish out the potato and trash it.
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3. Problem: Your Pots Keep Boiling Over
Solution: Use A Wooden Spoon
When boiling certain foods such as oats, okro soup, palm nut soup, groundnut soup, etc. it usually boils over and sometimes we see our mothers running “helter-skelter” and trying very hard to make it stop by either fetching some and setting it aside. That’s hard work, in actual fact, all you need to do is to place a wooden spoon across the pan you’re cooking in, it will never boil over it.
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4. Problem: Your Loaf Of Bread Has Gone Stale
Solution: Add Water
You wake up in the morning hungry and you remember you have some bread tucked somewhere. You plan using it only to go get it and it has gone stale. No need to stomp your feet and throw it away or try cutting off the moulds. All you need to do is get some water in a pan and drop the bread in, the bread will soak up the water and then you heat it in a microwave, it will come out like a freshly baked bread, thank us later.
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5. Problem: Onions Make You Cry
Solution: Use A Slice Of Bread
Anybody who cuts onions know that cutting onions makes you cry and this is due to the sulfoxides contained in the vegetable. Unfortunately, many people do not know how to combat this problem and so have decided to accept it like that but the easiest way to solve it is by just grabbing a slice of bread and tucking it in your mouth. This will prevent the sulfoxides from getting to your eyes. Another easy way of combating it is by freezing the onions before cutting it.
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6. Problem: Your Hands Stink Of Garlic
Solution: All You Need Is A Stainless Steel
If there is one thing about garlic that most people hate, then it is the smell but it is something everybody needs, due to its health benefits. There is nothing more annoying than the smell that lingers on your hands for days after handling. To solve this problem, all you need is a stainless steel product, be it a pan or spoon, and rub your hands against the metal under cold water and that is it, you’re good to go. This is because, the compounds in garlic bind to the ions on stainless steel surfaces, lifting away the tiny particles of garlic from your hands. The cold water also helps by shrinking your pores to keep the garlic oils out.
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7. Problem: To Determine If Your Eggs Are Still Fresh
Solution: You Need Water
Most times, we only get to know an egg is gone bad after cracking it and this sometimes makes the whole kitchen smell bad. You don’t need to go through the whole hustle of cracking an egg and ruining your nose before realising the egg has gone bad. There is an easy way to know that without cracking the egg open. All you need to do is get yourself some water in a pan and drop in your eggs, those that stay afloat are bad, those that sink to the bottom are good. Simple.
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8. Problem: To Peel A Boiled Egg
Solution: Blow It Out
There is nothing more annoying than trying to peel an egg and you end up messing it up while others get it out smoothly. If you want the easy way out all the time, just crack open the top and blow it out, it will come out smooth and easy. To make it easy, you can use a pin to prick a tiny hole at the bottom before boiling, the water will sip in and help separate the egg from the shell.
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9. Problem: You Spilled Wine On Your White Shirt
Solution: You Need Salt
If you mistakenly spilled wine on your shirt, don’t leave it to dry, quickly grab some salt and pour it on the affected area and watch the salt absorb all the wine. Leave it overnight and wash it the next day, problem solved.
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10. Problem: Your Brown Sugar Is Solid Hard
Solution: Use Bread
Although the best sugar for you is brown sugar, one problem with it is that it keeps sticking together and sometimes it becomes solid hard and you find it difficult scooping it out. One peculiar reason why this happens more often is that most people do not store their brown sugar properly by making sure it’s airtight. To make it easy for you, make sure you put a slice of bread in it and seal it tight. The sugar will draw moisture from the bread and stay soft all the time. If you’re already facing the problem, what you need to do is microwave the sugar with a glass of water beside it.
11. Problem: Your Roasted Chicken Is Too Dry
Solution: Use Water
The reason why most people hate roasting their chicken is that it turns hard the next day making it difficult to chew but honestly, the best way is to roast it because this will extract most of the extra fat in the chicken making it healthy. If the dryness is your only problem, then all you need to do is to put a quart of water into a separate pan and place it in the oven when roasting. Not only will the extra water keep the meat from drying out, it will also prevent chicken fat from splattering.
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12. Problem: Your Kitchen Knife Is Too Blunt
Solution: Get A Ceramic Mug
One annoying thing in the kitchen is picking a knife and realising it’s blunt. Honestly, the problem with the knife is not because it is blunt but rather, they are not straight. Using it over time makes it get out of shape, therefore, making it difficult to cut through stuff easily. This is the reason why you might think it is blunt and you end up rubbing it on all sorts of concrete structures.
The easiest way of solving this problem is by getting a ceramic bowl or cup, turning it over and running the blade of the knife against the rough portion of the bowl to straighten it.
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