30 “Cheats” That Took These People’s Cooking Game To A Whole New Level

Also onions. And mushrooms. And pepper. Vinegar. Cooking wine/ sherry. Sesame oil. Sesame seeds. Most herbs (love it? Lay it on. Hate it? Sub it or skip it, the dish won't die unless it's something specific like 'Specifically made dish with a specific amount of specifically parsely - fresh, not dried!').

same with pretty much all seasonings.

The picture is interesting. What is being made exactly?

Everything in cooking is measured with your heart. Baking is another story though.

I would still measure vanilla with a spoon as to much of it makes me sick.

Amen to this. I was told years ago to stop using salt and to use herbs and spices instead. I have gone back to using salt - my life is too short to put up with unseasoned, unsalted food. I want to enjoy what I eat!

I'll have to try this.

My parents did the whole "no salt" thing and vitamins. Even now, I find it incredibly hard to use salt in cooking. I feel guilty.

As an asian, screw salt. MSG is the way (yes there are seasoned MSG that replaces salt).

Never use water in a crock pot either. Water leeches away flavor leaving blandness behind. Always use stock instead.

if in doubt I use chicken stock in everything... for example in beef stew.

i like to boil potatoes in stock for mashed potatoes...

I am 56 and just learned this hack for my crock pot dinners. What a difference this makes.

And if you don't have stock put in a can of low-sodium V8, or some of the cooking water from any veggies you have cooking separately. Stock is mostly veggie water anyway, not much meat juices in it really. Use a little of the pasta water for thickening the meat sauce too.

I love mine! I use it all of the time. It's one of my best investments!

And when you use one put the food needed to be blended in a small and high container. That's the way a blender works at it's best. If you have a lot to blend, do it in 3 or 4 times and than 1 time at the end in a bigger container. You'll get the best results this way.

And unlike most gimmick tools, a stick blender us arguably easier to clean than the alternative. A lot of gimmick tools are maybe easy to use, but then you spend 4 times the time cleaning the tool afterwards

I totally dig my stick blender! I have one here at my house, one at my mom's house, and one at her residence in another state where I spend my vacations. I use it almost every day, sometimes more than once! I could live without my regular blender but not my stick blender!

oh man, brrr mixers are the BEST

I think it was Julia Child who said that when a French chef says 1 tbsp of butter in a recipe, they really mean 2 or 3. (Unless you're baking.)

Butter is the secret joy of life. I will die on this hill.

Butter, my favourite ingredient in anything

I watch a TV chef called James Martin and he trained in France and he loooooooooooves the butter, it's a running joke of his, but he is right most of the time.

Any time butter is on sale, I will buy a few bricks and put it to the back of where I keep it, and use the older stuff first. I am an olive oil or butter or both woman.

Or freeze them, as noted above.

I have MS, so by dinner time I am wiped out. I need to try this. Thank you for this hack.

I call it easy prep. Portions of cooked ground beef (easy tacos, easy spaghetti, etc).

It's not said here, but you should let pretty much any meat rest for 5 minutes (longer for very dense cuts of meat like roasts) after cooking is 'complete'. Chicken too. Not only will it 'coast' to the temp it should be at, but if you've got a perfect sear on the outside, cutting into it too soon will ruin the care you put into it, the juices will all leak out instead of osmosing into the meat, it will be dry, people will mock you on social media, and you will be a pariah.

Buying "sharp knives" is so difficult that it may as well be a mythical quest. I'd say just buy quality knives and learn how to sharpen them yourself. You'll need to touch them up periodically anyway.

First: THIS. Second, the one in the picture is way too small. Whatever size you do wind up with, as a PSA: If your cutting board is any kind of wood, take the time (could take weeks, I could tell you a long boring story about restoring a cutting board) to season the board with mineral oil. DO NOT EVER PUT IT THROUGH THE DISHWASER (I will again reference my cutting board restoration ordeal). Hand wash it, put it wherever it will dry fastest, and in fact, try not to overdo it on the soap when you wash it. Also never let any part of it just be sitting in water for more than, like, 10 minutes.

Several big wooden cutting boards. Having several lets each of them rest and dry between uses. Wooden, because you will always get a bit of the cutting board in your meal, and it's better to eat wood than plastic. (I'm not going into glass cutting boards here at all, since they are an abomination).

In plastic. Wood is not very hygienic.

I use coconut oil, bc I don't want to be eating mineral oil. also, bacteria do not survive on a wood surface the way they do on plastic boards (not to mention the pieces of plastic u eat), so there's no need to sanitize them in the washer or risk contamination. i have a large one for veg and a smaller one for fruit. and for GODS SAKE do not use a GLASS board!! for all of the obvious reasons lol

Medium size! So it still fits the sink!

Depends on the cuisine.