We love kitchen hacks, but only when they net results as good as the traditional method. Be it a surprising way tocheck steak for donenesswithout a thermometer or quicklyblasting a whole chicken to crispy perfection in the air fryerthere are shortcuts well worth learning, while others simply don’t stack up.
So, when does a potentially clever hack or safe-bet kitchen tool spill over into a crutch?
Suppose you’re automatically reaching for the same tools, equipment or resources whenever you’re in the kitchen or grocery store, without considering whether there’s a better way to accomplish your desired outcome. In that case, you may have a kitchen crutch.
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As a culinary school grad and professional food writer, I’ve identified four of the biggest kitchen shortcuts that aren’t worth their salt.
Using a nonstick pan for everything
Carbon-steel cookware develops a nonstick patina when seasoned properly and, unlike Teflon pans, can actually sear a steak.
Your cast-iron pans and stainless steel skillets are ready and willing to do the heavy lifting for you. And they don’t ask much to perform to the best of their (and your) ability. Just ensure you’re pre-heating them, using sufficient cooking fat, allowing cooking time for items to properly caramelize before flipping or moving and using the appropriate utensils on their surfaces.
When it comes to cleanup, properly seasoned cast iron needs little more than warm water and coarse salt to become ready to go again, and stainless steel can be sparkling clean with a bit ofbaking soda and vinegar.
Cooking and reheating in the microwave
Even a cheap air fryer reheats meat, vegetables and leftover pizza better than any microwave. Period.
You’ll always get a better outcome— and use less energy — with the air fryerstovetop, oven or even toaster oven. And all of those are less likely to create the kind of explosions that eventually turn your microwave into an incubator of bacteria.
Here’s the best way to reheat every type of leftoverswithout a microwave.
Using whatever blog recipe that pops up on Google
Don’t just hand tonight’s dinner over to the first recipe that pops up on Google.
My suggestion to curb your recipe blog habit may not be what you think. It’s not about finding the perfect recipe but trusting your instinctsa commonly overlooked aspect of cooking.
Every recipe I used in cooking school also ended with the following helpful suggestion: “taste, and adjust.” If it’s not a highly technical recipe, your senses and personal taste are better tools than you give them credit for. For example, if you’ve sought a recipe a few times for pesto, you can probably create something you like by just riffing on what you already know. (Herbs, acid, oil, cheese, nuts, salt. Pulse to combine.)
If you need a recipe and don’t have the perfect cookbook to consult, be sure you’re looking across the search results for those with the most positive reviews. A recipe rated 4.5 with 3,000 ratings and many user comments is arguably better and more useful than a recipe with one or two 5-star ratings.
Using precut fruits, veggies and cheese
Basic prep for meat and produce doesn’t take long to master.
This one is easy: Use freshly chopped produce and shredded cheese whenever possible. Sure, it takes a few more minutes, but once you master basic kitchen skills, chopping, dicing and shredding becomes seriously relaxing — for me, at least. Plus, the money you’d save over a year by just chopping yourself would easily buy you a newchef’s knifeorfood processor.