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Guy Who Used To Work In A Restaurant Shares Priceless Cooking Secrets, And Here Are 20 Of The Best Ones
If you want to cook something more complex than instant noodles, you're going to need certain skills. And a TikTok user who goes by the name Stove and Garden is here to help you figure out which ones.
He has worked in the restaurant industry and recently started sharing little hacks that instantly make you a better chef. From handling kitchenware to preparing meats and veggies, Stove and Garden's tips touch upon pretty much any topic you can imagine and they're racking up millions of views. Continue scrolling and check them out!
Here's the last video of the series that has earned this cooking hacker 410,000 followers
@stoveandgarden Highly Requested HACKS #cookinghacks #cookingtips #food
♬ original sound - Stove Garden
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
When you're cooking broccoli, don't throw away the stalk. Trim off the edges, cut them into match sticks, cook them in a pan with a little soy sauce and oil. They are so flavorful and staste just like sauteed onions.
Stove and Garden told Bored Panda that working in the restaurant is hard work. "I started at 15 years old bussing tables," he said. "I moved my way toward the kitchen and became an expo at 16, who helps plate food and get the plates ready for the servers to take to the table. I eventually became a line cook at the age of 18. Along the way, I also became a server and a bar-back."
As with most activities, the more you put yourself out, the better you become. "I didn't only stay at one restaurant, instead I worked at a few different styles. I've worked in a dive bar, an authentic Italian / pizza restaurant, a seafood place, and a pub," Stove and Garden recalled.
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#2
If you have any herbs that are dry and dying, add them to some melted butter with garlic and a couple of spices. Mix it up and add it to a ice cube tray. Now you have some great flavor enhancers for your next dish.
Daniel Gilroy 3 years ago
I hang my leftover fresh herbs from a tiny little laundry line mounted under my kitchen cupboards, then crush them and bottle them when they're dry.
#3
When you're measuring out honey, it sucks when it sticks to the spoon. But if you get a very little bit of cooking oil on your finger and coat the spoon with it, the honey will not stick to the spoon.
Catherine Hankinson 3 years ago
Or if you put the spoon in boiling hot water it'll just slide off. Works with any sticky syrup.
However, at one point the time had come for the man to give up his apron. "The reason why I stopped working in the industry is that I've always been excited to become a father and I wanted to have a job with easier hours."
With that being said, Stove and Garden still values what he head learned in the kitchen. "I loved the social atmosphere it provided me. Most of the time my brothers and I all worked at the same place, so I got to work alongside my brothers as well," he said.
#4
Don't waste food! Take vegetable scraps and put it in a pot with some water - you now have a great start to a vegetable stock.
#5
To get the most out of juicing a lemon without a juicer, my favorite method is putting them in between tongs and squeezing.
It has also ignited a passion within him that the man can't seem to put out. "I came up with the idea to do cooking hacks because I've always enjoyed sharing my knowledge of cooking with my friends and family. My second TikTok video was a cooking hack video and it blew up overnight," Stove and Garden said.
"I knew after that I needed to post more of them. I knew that it helped a lot of people, and I just really enjoy teaching people and helping them in the kitchen."
#6
9 times out of 10 you can leave the skin on your veggies. Put that peeler away and cut it up like normal. Most of the time chefs only do that because it's more aesthetically pleasing. It's just as delicious and nutritious.
#7
Some people like to put the raw chicken directly into the egg wash, but this really isn't the best option. If you put it into flour first, and then egg wash, the egg wash holds way better, and then your bread crumb will hold way better too.
Stove and Garden highlighted that cooks of all skill levels are constantly learning. Not just the beginners. "I have some articles written about me calling me a 'long-time chef' and a few other very nice things. I just don't see it that way," he said. "We all have so much to learn still about cooking."
"I think the best mindset to have when cooking is just to be humble. Learn from others, teach what you’ve learned, don't be afraid to ask for advice, don't act like there is only one way to cook something, and most importantly don't be afraid to fail. You will burn food. You will make mistakes. Embrace them, and try again. That's the beauty of cooking! Just be humble."
#8
This is my favorite way to cut bell peppers: start by cutting off the top and the bottom, then cut a little slit in the pepper. Insert your knife and just roll the pepper as you cut. This cuts out all the seeds that you don't want.
Leo Domitrix 3 years ago
Again, grandma taught me. Starting to think Grandma taught a lot of people !
#9
If you get an egg shell lost in your egg, wet your finger before taking it out - it comes out way easier.
#10
If your plastic cutting board slides too much, take a wet paper towel, put it underneath the board and it won't slide anymore.
#11
If you have pasta that you're trying to strain out you don't have to do it that way - you can put the strainer in the pot and then turn it upside down to strain.
#12
If veggies get stuck to your knife, angle your knife and make shorter cuts with just the tip.
#13
To steam shrimp without a steamer, use a pot of boiling water, poke a bunch of holes into aluminum foil and put it on top of the pot.
#14
To keep an avocado fresh for longer, squeeze fresh lemon juice, brush it onto the front of the avocado, take saran wrap and press it tightly against the avocado. Now it won't brown quite as quickly in the refridgerator.
#15
You can mince garlic in a zester or a kitchen grater. It comes out perfect!
#16
This one is more of a safety tip than anything else - instead of scooping up veggies with your knife, it's a lot safer to invest in a $1 dough knife and use it. It has a much larger surface area so it's faster at scooping it up and you won't cut yourself.
Dwight k schrute. 3 years ago
Or... Now stay with me, you could just scoop it up with your hands.
#17
If you put your chicken into a freezer bag, and then use the pounder, you won't have to clean the pounder!
Hilary James 3 years ago
I’ve never pounded chicken !! And they call me the poultry queen! Actually nobody calls me that but I do cook a lot of chicken
#18
I love pickles but I hate running out of them. So grab a mason jar - this is how you can make them under 1 hour. Add the liquids to the mason jar and then put the liquids into a pot. Add the rest of the ingredients listed above and bring it to a boil. Cut your cucumber to slices, fill that mason jar all the way to the top, add the boiling water directly to the mason jar and scoop in all that nice dill. Cap it after 1 hour.
Leo Domitrix 3 years ago
ARGH NO! My grandma atught me how to make amazing pickles, and no. He's doing it fast, but not *best*. You put the spices and herbs in WITH the cucumbers, not last, make sure your lid is boiled to be sterile, make sure you have a good seal, use mitts to handle hot stuff, but pickles taste much better if you let them age a bit, not just boil the cucumbers, IMHO.
#19
In order for lemon zest to not get bitter, use shorter strokes and turn the fruit while zesting.
#20
If you don't have a thermometer and you're cooking steak, you can check how well it's done by using your palm.
Aria Whitaker 3 years ago
He is illustrating the "doneness" of steak by comparing how the steak feels when "poked" in comparison to your hand. The longer it cooks, the tougher it is.
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Boudica 3 years ago
Well he has already stuck his wet finger into your egg and pounded your chicken with a dirty pounder! 😉
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Alexis Draskinis 3 years ago
Ok, so it goes like this. Touch your thumb to your pointer & then poke the soft fleshy part under your thumb. A rare steak should feel like that with a quick poke. With the middle finger, the flesh gets a bit tougher, thats med rare. 4th finger is med. Pinky is well done. It works. The chef at my old job taught me this when my thermometer broke
Danny Ruiz 3 years ago
That one method is not reliable. Not everyone's hands are the same. A meat thermometer is still the best.
Thay 3 years ago
Honestly this needs a freaking explanation. How does this exactly work? Is your hand cooking too? What the french is happening here???
Grady'sRaider 3 years ago
BBQing, you can guage doneness by droop. Pick up the steak with tongs two inches from the end. Rare hangs down. Well done barely bends.
What do you think ?
tiari 3 years ago
Should be renamed into “Regular cooking tips for people who don't cook, plus one or two stupid ideas“
fuggnuggins 3 years ago
Exactly. Might presumably have been previously titled "Tips from a guy who worked in a restaurant for a week."
Load More Replies... Bobert Robertson 3 years ago
Sounds like this guy just started working in a kitchen after years of using a fork to cut things instead of a knife and realized he was doing it wrong all along.
Cold Contagious 3 years ago
Is that a Dane Cook reference I'm hearing from you 🤔or have you coined the phrase "Cheesus Crust" from somewhere else lol?
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Leo Domitrix 3 years ago
These made me laugh, but not the "Oh wow great idea!" laugh. More the "Oh for crying out loud, you didn't know this?" laugh... Yeah... Comments good. Advice, silly.
BastWren 3 years ago
Yes, Zedrapazia. I think the people making derogatory comments seem to be forgetting that there are people who might not know these things or who find them helpful. Like, for instance, someone just beginning to learn how to cook. Nice that so many already know these things, but some do not. Those are the people for whom this post was intended.
Load More Replies... Emma Byrne 3 years ago
Yet another tictoker showing simple things. Are we really this stupid now?
Eslamala 3 years ago
People who viralize random videos of people doing basic crap are this stupid.
Load More Replies... Brian Bennett 3 years ago
Where did you get this guy, I'm 76 years old and learned nearly all of these tricks in home economics in public and high school. I could be titled use your head!
Lillukka79 3 years ago
Why I we getting cooking tips from some random restaurant worker? If he had worked in a kitchen, it would say so...
tiari 3 years ago
Should be renamed into “Regular cooking tips for people who don't cook, plus one or two stupid ideas“
fuggnuggins 3 years ago
Exactly. Might presumably have been previously titled "Tips from a guy who worked in a restaurant for a week."
Load More Replies... Bobert Robertson 3 years ago
Sounds like this guy just started working in a kitchen after years of using a fork to cut things instead of a knife and realized he was doing it wrong all along.
Cold Contagious 3 years ago
Is that a Dane Cook reference I'm hearing from you 🤔or have you coined the phrase "Cheesus Crust" from somewhere else lol?
Load More Replies... Leo Domitrix 3 years ago
These made me laugh, but not the "Oh wow great idea!" laugh. More the "Oh for crying out loud, you didn't know this?" laugh... Yeah... Comments good. Advice, silly.
BastWren 3 years ago
Yes, Zedrapazia. I think the people making derogatory comments seem to be forgetting that there are people who might not know these things or who find them helpful. Like, for instance, someone just beginning to learn how to cook. Nice that so many already know these things, but some do not. Those are the people for whom this post was intended.
Load More Replies... Emma Byrne 3 years ago
Yet another tictoker showing simple things. Are we really this stupid now?
Eslamala 3 years ago
People who viralize random videos of people doing basic crap are this stupid.
Load More Replies... Brian Bennett 3 years ago
Where did you get this guy, I'm 76 years old and learned nearly all of these tricks in home economics in public and high school. I could be titled use your head!
Lillukka79 3 years ago
Why I we getting cooking tips from some random restaurant worker? If he had worked in a kitchen, it would say so...
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