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30 Priceless Cooking Tips That Were Passed Down To People By Their Parents, Grandparents, And Great-Grandparents

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They say if you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room. But the same can be applied to kitchens. Learning your way around the pots and pans takes a great deal of time and effort, and it's much easier when there's an expert to guide you. Like your dad. Or grandma.

Recently, Reddit user u/OoopsieWhoopsie made a post on the platform, asking everyone to reveal their most prized family cooking tips. And some people agreed to do it; sharing really is caring. From getting the most out of your leftovers to adding an extra oomph to your dishes, continue scrolling to check them out!

This post may include affiliate links.

#1

30 Priceless Cooking Tips That Were Passed Down To People By Their Parents, Grandparents, And Great-Grandparents My grandma would save butter wrappers in the fridge and use the leftover butter on them for greasing dishes when she baked. I can’t help but stockpile wrappers, it’s really so handy.

spottedsushi , sea_wave Report

Final score:

105points

Loverboy 1 year ago

This is either a good idea or a bad one, I've never tried it but I'm thinking there wouldn't be enough butter on the wrapper.

36points

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#2

30 Priceless Cooking Tips That Were Passed Down To People By Their Parents, Grandparents, And Great-Grandparents Mustard powder in your Mac and cheese is a game changer.

Roark_Laughed , Hermes Rivera Report

Final score:

103points

Loverboy 1 year ago

Cream cheese for me, game changer.

29points

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#3

30 Priceless Cooking Tips That Were Passed Down To People By Their Parents, Grandparents, And Great-Grandparents A tablespoon of cocoa powder creates boldens the flavor profile of chili (I know it sounds crazy, but our chili recipe is delicious.

https://www.reddit.com/user/OoopsieWhoopsie/ , stephanie monfette Report

Final score:

102points

Fembot 1 year ago

Not crazy. Also not new at all. Ask the indigenous people of the Americas

62points

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#4

Don’t hollow out a bread bowl; shove the inner bread down to create a thicker bottom. This will prevent leaks and sogginess.

jeff_the_nurse Report

Final score:

98points

Christmas love 1 year ago

I use the bread I tear out to dip into the stuff in my bread bowl!

22points

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#5

Use a little more butter and a little more cheese than the recipe says.

batmanandboobs93 Report

Final score:

94points

Partlie Cloudie 1 year ago

And a lot more garlic

115points

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#6

30 Priceless Cooking Tips That Were Passed Down To People By Their Parents, Grandparents, And Great-Grandparents Putting a little fish sauce into a stew or sauce that needs umami. It's basically liquid anchovies.

gwaydms , jules Report

Final score:

92points

Loverboy 1 year ago

Fish sauce is an amazing, overlooked ingredient.

2points

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#7

30 Priceless Cooking Tips That Were Passed Down To People By Their Parents, Grandparents, And Great-Grandparents My Uncle Arthur's tip is "clean while you cook!", and he will not let you forget it, either.
Not really sure if its a tip but my Papa Searcy used to microwave bacon on old newspapers...it was always delicious! In hindsight it's probably bad for you and you should never do it. I have weird memories of the smell of newspaper and bacon.

dickle_berry_pie , cottonbro studio Report

Final score:

82points

Marcos Valencia 1 year ago

Yes. YES! Clean while you cook is the very first law in the kitchen.

55points

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#8

30 Priceless Cooking Tips That Were Passed Down To People By Their Parents, Grandparents, And Great-Grandparents Better Than Bouillon Veggie is a million times better than any other veg stock.

burning_panda_ , Los Muertos Crew Report

Final score:

81points

Helena 1 year ago

Better than bouillon makes all soup better

45points

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#9

30 Priceless Cooking Tips That Were Passed Down To People By Their Parents, Grandparents, And Great-Grandparents Adding sour cream to scrambled eggs instead of milk will make them insanely fluffy.

OrganizedxxChaos , Annushka Ahuja Report

Final score:

80points

Loverboy 1 year ago (edited)

I was always taught that if you have to add cream to your eggs in order to make them fluffy, you're not doing it right. Super low heat, constant stirring, does it for me.

48points

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#10

30 Priceless Cooking Tips That Were Passed Down To People By Their Parents, Grandparents, And Great-Grandparents Save all scraps for stocks. Almost anything can be made into soup.

ShezTheWan , NK Lee Report

Final score:

80points

pink_panda 1 year ago

Save bath water to make a nice bowl of youp!

92points

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#11

30 Priceless Cooking Tips That Were Passed Down To People By Their Parents, Grandparents, And Great-Grandparents Add a pinch of nutmeg to anything with dairy in it, you can't taste the nutmeg but it makes the dairy richer and taste better.

llcucf80 , Brian Snelson Report

Final score:

72points

Marcos Valencia 1 year ago

What does it mean "you can't taste the nutmeg"? Maybe you're using very old nutmegs.

34points

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#12

Cook them onions - cook them onions loooong n slow. Then add tomato, cook that tomato, cook that tomato looooooong and slow.

Final score:

70points

Loverboy 1 year ago

And ffs don't add garlic too early, it burns easily and will make your dish very bitter.

60points

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#13

30 Priceless Cooking Tips That Were Passed Down To People By Their Parents, Grandparents, And Great-Grandparents Sprinkle sea salt on cookies right before or right after baking. The extra salt brings out the flavors more and helps balance out the sweetness.

Darwin343 , Maria Petersson Report

Final score:

66points

Loverboy 1 year ago

I don't see enough people using salt in their sweets. You should always be adding salt, I usually add more than I should just like I do vanilla.

40points

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#14

30 Priceless Cooking Tips That Were Passed Down To People By Their Parents, Grandparents, And Great-Grandparents A dollop of sour cream in mashed potatoes.

OoopsieWhoopsie , Parnis Azimi Report

Final score:

65points

Ranger Kanootsen 1 year ago

Yummm

12points

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#15

30 Priceless Cooking Tips That Were Passed Down To People By Their Parents, Grandparents, And Great-Grandparents Bacon always comes out better if you cook it in an oven, and it’s important to put the bacon in before turning the oven on; preheating the oven will make the bacon stick to the cookie sheet

bento8621 , Polina Tankilevitch Report

Final score:

65points

Aimee P. 1 year ago

Pro-tip: Make sure that your baking sheet is not completely flat (like many contemporary cookie sheets), otherwise the fat will drip off the edge and cause a grease fire in the oven. I won’t go into details, but I can say that the fire department was extensively involved.

67points

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#16

30 Priceless Cooking Tips That Were Passed Down To People By Their Parents, Grandparents, And Great-Grandparents I put homemade stock into ice cube trays to freeze then store in bags. 1 cube = 1.5 Oz liquid or so.

Brianblaz , Marco Verch Professional Photographer Report

Final score:

62points

RagDollLali 1 year ago

This works even better when you let the stock reduce before for super rich and concentrated flavor

27points

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#17

30 Priceless Cooking Tips That Were Passed Down To People By Their Parents, Grandparents, And Great-Grandparents Want to make icing delicious? A pinch of salt. It cuts the pure sugar and makes it dangerously good.

badgreenapplepie , American Heritage Chocolate Report

Final score:

61points

SarDemMin 1 year ago

I want to just lower my face into that cake.

63points

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#18

30 Priceless Cooking Tips That Were Passed Down To People By Their Parents, Grandparents, And Great-Grandparents A TBSP of ground coffee in brownies really kick it up a notch. The more quality the beans the better.

aaronappleseed , Cup of Couple Report

Final score:

58points

Loverboy 1 year ago

Expresso powder intensifies the chocolate flavor in anything, I use it in literally any chocolate dessert.

28points

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#19

You're probably using too much flour in your yeast dough. Many recipes say it should not be sticky. On the contrary, you want it a little yucky and sticky before you let it rest. That's how you get yummy fluffy stuff that doesn't dry out within hours.

Also, to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands, you don't use flour. You use vegetable oil

Theawkwardmochi Report

Final score:

58points

Sandy D 1 year ago

That's how I do it and it's easy to roll and always yummy and perfect. Never over flour the dough

16points

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#20

30 Priceless Cooking Tips That Were Passed Down To People By Their Parents, Grandparents, And Great-Grandparents Keep in mind I’m from a very Midwestern Scandinavian family. Cream of mushroom soup is kind of a universal solution for improving any dish.

batmanandboobs93 , Mike Mozart Report

Final score:

56points

RagDollLali 1 year ago

The reasoning that this should be specifically a can of condensed soup is because a. the flavor is super concentrated in this form and b. It is very thick so it will not water down your dish's texture and will add an overall richness

20points

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#21

30 Priceless Cooking Tips That Were Passed Down To People By Their Parents, Grandparents, And Great-Grandparents Nutritional yeast in mashed potatoes.

BurntToastBreakfast , Tony Webster Report

Final score:

52points

Ample Aardvark 1 year ago

Nooch in everything is my rule!

14points

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#22

30 Priceless Cooking Tips That Were Passed Down To People By Their Parents, Grandparents, And Great-Grandparents If a dish feels flat it's often the acidity that's missing. Dash of White Modena vinegar is the secret to my red sauce for example, even though it's inherently acidic.

highpsitsi , Ksenia Chernaya Report

Final score:

46points

Lady Miss Pie Premium 1 year ago

I see this one EVERY TIME. And it’s such a “new culinary school student” thing. As a professional chef, I can say “the thing that’s missing” is *not* always acidity and is often NOT acidity to be honest. It’s often sweetness, or umami, or even just more herbs. Adding more acidity to your tomato sauce? Even the best chefs in the world will tell you: No, a pinch of sugar.

42points

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#23

My oma would add plain seltzer to her matzah balls… she said it made them fluffier.

jennenen0410 Report

Final score:

42points

talliloo 1 year ago

i will definitely try this for my matzah balls. i love them but they do tend to be a little dense. don't think my nana knew about this.

8points

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#24

30 Priceless Cooking Tips That Were Passed Down To People By Their Parents, Grandparents, And Great-Grandparents Add citrus zest to enhance flavor and acidity, especially in sauces/salsas…desserts too!

Salt your water liberally when boiling pasta/potatoes, and blanching vegetables

Nattydr3 , Nathan Lemon Report

Final score:

42points

Marcos Valencia 1 year ago

Actually, 7-10 g/l is a very good salt-water proportion for cooking pasta.

5points

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#25

Rub a lemon wedge on the inside of your mixing bowl when you're making meringue. It works better than cream of tartar and you'll get a more stable meringue.

TheLadyEve Report

Final score:

41points

Andi 1 year ago

UK all eggs are room temperature as they are not bleached as US eggs are so do not need to be refrigerated - and it does make a difference to egg proteins

4points

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#26

I thought adding cocoa powder to chili was pretty common.

I like to add some apple cider to baked beans and a bit of cinnamon to chocolate cake.

Bluemonogi Report

Final score:

41points

Ace 1 year ago

Proper dark chocolate is a key ingredient in some, but not all, Mexican stews and Casserole recipes which form the basis for what has become known generically as 'chilli'.

13points

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#27

30 Priceless Cooking Tips That Were Passed Down To People By Their Parents, Grandparents, And Great-Grandparents MSG makes just about everything better. I add it to the salt mixture when I'm seasoning meats. It also helps make ripe tomatoes pop by accentuating the naturally occurring MSG, keep that in mind when you're making tomato salads and tomato sandwiches.

wreckyourpod , Douglas Muth Report

Final score:

39points

Loverboy 1 year ago

Uncle Roger taught me that MSG is very good. But seriously, there's little reason to be afraid.

38points

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#28

30 Priceless Cooking Tips That Were Passed Down To People By Their Parents, Grandparents, And Great-Grandparents My family owns a catering business, starting from my grandparents who came to the states from Portugal. One thing I've learned that greatly improve my meals is to add butter to your noodles (for saucy pasta like Spaghetti)

OoopsieWhoopsie , Lisa Fotios Report

Final score:

33points

Ace 1 year ago

Nope. Like oil which I've seen suggested loads of time this will simply stop the sauce from sticking to your pasta, so you end up eating buttery noodles with the sauce on the side. Better to cook the pasta just slightly al dente so that some of the sauce is absorbed into it between cooking and serving.

19points

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#29

Adding Worcestershire sauce, a bit of soy sauce, and Dijon mustard to your pan-fried chicken livers would ascend them into deityhood (not to forget the caramelized onions, chicken stock stock, garlic, and mushrooms).

Final score:

30points

Fembot 1 year ago

Very niche and if there was something to persuade me to eat chicken livers, this would be it (but there isn’t and I don’t).

33points

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#30

30 Priceless Cooking Tips That Were Passed Down To People By Their Parents, Grandparents, And Great-Grandparents A really good sharp knife and running the onion over water can help prevent the teary eyes. (Also holding a piece of bread in your mouth).

OoopsieWhoopsie , Ron Lach Report

Final score:

26points

Marcos Valencia 1 year ago

Every knife should be kept perfectly sharp. This is not a tip, it's a basic.

30points

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Note: this post originally had 58 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.

Rokas Laurinavičius

Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

Kotryna Br

Kotryna is a Photo Editor at Bored Panda with a BA in Graphic Design. Before Bored Panda, she worked as a freelance graphic designer and illiustrator. When not editing, she enjoys working with clay, drawing, playing board games and drinking good tea.

Kotryna is a Photo Editor at Bored Panda with a BA in Graphic Design. Before Bored Panda, she worked as a freelance graphic designer and illiustrator. When not editing, she enjoys working with clay, drawing, playing board games and drinking good tea.

What do you think ?

Beck 1 year ago

There is nothing wrong using box stuff. I hate it when people act like the cake doesn't count because it came from a box.

10points

Kristina Leon 1 year ago

Those weird elitist types would lose their s**t if they found out most professional bakeries start with boxed cakes and focus on enhancing that, decorations, and properly shaping for the occasion/aesthetic My stepdad was super into making so many things purely home made. And he wasn't bad at making cakes or anything. But one time i showed up and he was super impressed by this cake i made and wanted to steal tricks from me. Only to become some offended because i used a box as the base and then built up from there and that was some kind of an insult towards him and how he taught me

1point

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somed ay 1 year ago

I've rarely seen so many negative comments on a really innocuous subject.

4points

Brobro McDuderson 1 year ago

Of course there’s negative comments, it’s BP. We’re judgemental here, it’s what we do. 😉

5points

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Nykky 1 year ago

Use paprika in everything that's savory.

2points

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Beck 1 year ago

There is nothing wrong using box stuff. I hate it when people act like the cake doesn't count because it came from a box.

10points

Kristina Leon 1 year ago

Those weird elitist types would lose their s**t if they found out most professional bakeries start with boxed cakes and focus on enhancing that, decorations, and properly shaping for the occasion/aesthetic My stepdad was super into making so many things purely home made. And he wasn't bad at making cakes or anything. But one time i showed up and he was super impressed by this cake i made and wanted to steal tricks from me. Only to become some offended because i used a box as the base and then built up from there and that was some kind of an insult towards him and how he taught me

1point

Load More Replies...

somed ay 1 year ago

I've rarely seen so many negative comments on a really innocuous subject.

4points

Brobro McDuderson 1 year ago

Of course there’s negative comments, it’s BP. We’re judgemental here, it’s what we do. 😉

5points

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Nykky 1 year ago

Use paprika in everything that's savory.

2points

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