Kitchen Hacks The Experts Swear By
15 cooking enthusiasts (and talented food Substack authors) share their top culinary tricks—and you'll want to know them all!
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What are kitchen hacks, and why are they so great?
Kitchen hacks are clever, often unconventional, tips, shortcuts, or techniques that make cooking, food prep, or other kitchen tasks quicker, easier, or more efficient. They can involve using everyday tools or ingredients in unexpected ways—to save time, reduce effort, or solve common kitchen problems.
Essentially, they’re small, helpful tricks that makes life in the kitchen run a little smarter and smoother. They might save you time, effort, or money. And sometimes they’re just very cool!
One of my personal favorite baking hacks is using a glass or round cookie or biscuit cutter to shape just-baked cookies into perfect circles as soon as they come out of the oven. With a quick, gentle swirl inside the glass or cutter, the cookies reshape themselves into a more uniform, polished look. Here’s a video that illustrates how it’s done.
Another hack I love: when I'm adding honey to a dish, I spray my measuring spoon or cup with a little cooking spray first. It helps the honey slide right off and prevents a sticky mess.
Thinking about the clever kitchen tricks and techniques I rely on most made me curious: what do other seasoned cooks count on? To get some real insight, I turned to the experts. I reached out to fifteen accomplished food writers on Substack with this question:
What’s the one trick, tip, or technique that you swear by in the kitchen—something that makes your cooking or baking easier, faster, or just plain better?
Below are their thoughtful responses. Some are clever hacks, others indispensable techniques—but all are invaluable pieces of advice for success in the kitchen. I hope you learn something interesting and new from reading them. I certainly did!
Kitchen Hacks & Tips Worth Remembering
Ginger on Demand
“I LOVE the frozen ginger cubes from Trader Joe's! Perfect for when you need some minced ginger to throw in a recipe and don't feel like chopping up the fresh stuff.”
—, author of The Kitchen Library Substack
Sauce Thickening 101
“I come from the Western part of India, where we eat spiced vegetables called sabjis or beany stews with every meal, many of which tend to be saucy. Getting the water right can be tricky—it should be just enough to allow the vegetable chunks to cook and develop a thick, satiny sauce that clings to them.
To avoid the guesswork, I use thickeners and add water without worrying too much. Half a hand-crushed boiled potato works beautifully. Or make a chickpea flour paste (1-2 teaspoons is enough, similar to a ketchup consistency) and pour in the boiling water. Both give a luscious sauce without changing the flavor of the final dish.”
—, author of ChutneyLovers Substack
Salad Dressing Oil Flavor Enhancer
“Instead of using standard olive oil for a salad dressing, spice it up to build a layer of flavor even before you start preparing the dressing. Heat up the olive oil with spices and seasonings individually or in combo of your choice like peeled garlic cloves, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, cinnamon, star anise, fennel seeds, nigella seeds. I have tried all of them and I am biased towards black mustard seeds. Let the oil cool, drain out the spices (or not, depending on your preference), and you have a beautiful aromatic oil as a base to dress any salad.”
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Sourdough’s Secret Weapon
“In order to enhance the flavor profile for sourdough, I always use a preferment (levain) when baking. A mixture of water, flour, and sourdough starter the night before always does the trick. It reduces the fermentation time but also allows the bread to develop a crispier crust and makes the bread more digestible!”
—, author of Flour & Coffee Substack
Thinly Sliced Beef Technique
“To cut beef into super-thin slices for dishes like Korean bulgogi or stir-fries, wrap the beef in plastic wrap and place it in the freezer for 20 to 25-ish minutes. Partially freezing the beef makes it so much easier to slice thinly!”
—, author of Betty Eatz Substack and podcast
Ultimate Kitchen Power Tool
“My silicone pastry brush is the most indispensable tool in my healthier leaning kitchen. It gets a workout adding a little luxury to savory dishes—just a kiss of nutty browned butter over scallops or sesame oil to finish steamed red snapper. It adds a nice, even coat of olive oil to turn out roasted red peppers and crispy Brussels. I keep it handy to baste a good roast chicken and glaze salmon, spread ricotta on toast, and, yes, on occasion, it gets some baking action.”
—, retired Harvard cancer doc & author of Eating and Feeding Substack
Balance Flavor Like a Pro
“One simple trick I keep up my sleeve is using water as a tool to balance out acidic ingredients. For example, adding a splash of lukewarm water to salad dressings tempers vinegars and citrus juice. Rinsing minced onion or shallot under running cold tap water calms them down somewhat for the palate. If you’re cooking with herbs such as marjoram, mint, or basil, shocking them in a bath of ice water will invigorate their flavor.”
—, ex-fine dining line cook, author of The Secret Ingredient
Pre-form Your Pie Crusts
“Rather than resting a ball of pie crust dough, and then having to warm it a bit in order to rework it, I precut my tarts, hand-pies, etc. BEFORE resting/chilling. I separate the crusts with parchment squares, and wrap the whole stack in plastic before chilling/resting. Then when I pull it out, it's ready to use without having to rework and tough the gluten strands too much. See the technique in action my first ever YouTube video.”
—, author of Roux & Choux Entertaining Substack
Build Flavor Like a Pro
“At TASTE | Pacific Northwest I write about flavor development. My favorite hack is always consulting “The Flavor Bible” by Karen Page to increase my understanding of flavor affinities. Great reference.”
—, culinary school graduate, encore career chef, author of Taste | Pacific Northwest Substack
Flavor Bomb for High-Heat Cooking
“Always to have a jar of clarified butter available. When clarified, the fat solids settle to the bottom and are strained out. Fantastic for high-temperature cooking and flavor; if cooked to a dark golden brown, it tastes nutty!”
—
Reviving Stale Bread
“The first time I saw someone stick a baguette under their faucet to wet it before reviving in a toaster oven, I was gobsmacked. Wetting stale bread just seems like it's asking for sog. But the steam created by that water when you reheat the bread somehow truly brings a baguette back to life. And while we're talking bread, I highly recommend Casey Elsass's move of seasoning every nook and cranny of some cubes of bread with Better Than Bouillon for the most flavorful croutons ever.”
—, author of the The Dinner Plan Substack and podcast
The Key To Perfect Bakes Every Time
“Did you know ovens can lie? I found that the number on the dial of my oven never matched the real temperature inside. So, what helped me massively was investing in an oven thermometer *and* a temperature probe. Different bakes require specific heat and these tools are far more reliable than the old toothpick test. I haven’t had a dodgy bake since! (fingers crossed)”
—, author of Taisty Bites Substack
Whipped Cream Baking Magic
“Folding some whipped cream into cake and muffin batter right before baking adds additional fat and air which creates a super soft, silky texture. Simply whip 1/4 - 1/2 cup of cream (57-113 grams) until it's thick enough to hold its shape. Gently fold the whipped cream into the batter and then bake as directed!”
—, recipe developer, food photographer, author of the Let's Get Lost Newsletter
Dairy MVP
“I generally only keep one cultured dairy product on hand—homemade yogurt. I thin it or thicken it for a recipe as necessary to replace buttermilk, Greek Yogurt, or sour cream. I also use it to culture cream for crème fraîche, or I strain it to mimic labneh. It’s cheaper, reduces waste, and gives me access to some of the products I can’t get locally!”
—, author of Historian in the Kitchen Substack
Oven Steam = Better Cake
“My hack is to pop a little pot of water in the bottom of the oven when you are baking sponges or cupcakes. The extra steam from the water helps keep your sponge so moist. I have tested so many ways to ensure a sponge doesn't dry out, and this is my favourite. It doesn't require any fancy equipment, it's so simple, and makes a big difference.”
—, author of Bake Experiments Substack
Food Preservation Hack
“One tip I learned a few years back was preserving an opened jar/tin of say tomato paste, sauce, any jar where you won’t use the full amount at the time of opening. It is often much more economical to purchase a larger size in many cases. Once the jar is opened, mold will soon grow forcing you to discard the rest of the contents. What I do now is just pour olive oil in the jar, just enough to cover and fully submerge the surface area. Then close the jar and swirl the olive oil around, this covers the sides. Pop it into the fridge, contents preserved.”
—, author of Just Really Good Recipes Substack
Exposing Impurities in Saffron
“Saffron is the world’s most expensive spice, and it is sold by weight. When purchasing saffron, empty the container of spice into a plate. Then, use a very strong magnet and run it through it. Sometimes unscrupulous dealers add metals such as iron dust to bulk up the weight.”
—
Sieve Your Eggs for the Perfect Scramble
“In a time when eggs are $10 a dozen, it’s important to treat them as a precious resource. My favorite way to maximize my eggs is a long, slow, scramble with sieved eggs. Putting the eggs through a sieve (or strainer) with a pinch of salt helps create a more uniform texture and strains out the chalazae (a fancy word for the gross white strands that hold the yolk).”
—, author of Sophia Is Voracious Substack
What is one kitchen hack or tip that you swear by? Share it with me by leaving a comment below!
And Lastly, A Few Great Things…
Buy this: On the topic of culinary hacks, this new jar from One Trick Pony peanut butter (one of my favorite PB brands) is pretty genius. After discovering that many people store natural peanut butter upside down to avoid dreaded oil separation, they designed their packaging already “flipped over,” so you don’t have to. The jars are currently available in select Whole Foods locations in the Mid-Atlantic states, with broader availability expected by mid-July. Use code KERRY10 for 10% off your first online order.
Make these: The Korean Bulgogi Street Tacos from
were the hit of my recent taco party (a fun, new family tradition I highly recommend).Try this: For my Bergen County, NJ friends, this Peanut Butter Oreo Pie—from the owner of the recently-closed Caffe Anello restaurant—is insanely delicious and a must-try for any PB lover. Perfect for a party (or, in our case, a high school graduation celebration!).
Watch this: Shrinking on AppleTV+. I'm currently working my way through season 2 of this sweet, smart comedy starring Jason Segel as a recently widowed therapist and father. As he tries to rebuild his relationship with his teenage daughter, he also often struggles (and hilariously fails) to maintain professional boundaries with his patients. Harrison Ford is perfect as his curmudgeonly boss, and a strong supporting cast that brings it all together.
Have a delicious week!
What a great round up of happy little trick to make cooking (and eating ) a little more magical
Betty's thinly sliced meat trick will be a game changer!