50 tips that will change your life in the kitchen

If you love cooking, here are 50 known and lesser known, often revolutionary cooking hacks to try today.

1. To whisk egg whites or have an airy whipped cream, start by beating the egg whites or cream at low speed then beating at maximum speed when the preparation begins to foam.

2. Place a wooden spoon over a pot of boiling water to prevent it from boiling over.

3. To prevent eggs from breaking in boiling water, make a hole with a needle in the top of the egg.

4. For fluffy mashed potatoes, add a pinch of baking soda before mixing all the ingredients. This trick allows you to aerate the preparation.

5. To grate your vegetables and raw vegetables more easily, coat your grater with oil so that they slide naturally.

6. If your rice is overcooked, run it under cold water to remove the excess starch. Drain and reheat in a skillet over low heat.

Chemistry to the rescue of mayonnaise

7. The secret of an inescapable mayonnaise? First, you need a well beaten egg yolk and a neutral oil added little by little and whipped with heart. Secondly, it is essential to have a good understanding of the chemical phenomenon, explained here brilliantly.

8. If your custard has overcooked and contains lumps, pour it into a plastic bottle and shake it vigorously to give it a smooth consistency.

9. If your salad is stale, soak it in sugar water for an hour, it will regain all its crunch.

10. Put the whisk and the salad bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes before making whipped cream. In contact with the cold, the fat of the cream absorbs air more easily and gives a more airy consistency.

11. Butter does not tolerate high temperatures well. To prevent it from burning or turning black when frying meat or vegetables, add a drizzle of oil so that your knob of butter rises in temperature without burning.

12. So that the spinach leaves do not lose their beautiful green color, boil them in sparkling water. Chlorophyll, the pigment that gives color, will not leave.

13. To roll out a dough and prevent it from sticking to the rolling pin, place a sheet of baking paper on the table, the ball of dough and cover with another sheet. All you have to do is spread.

14. Tired of shedding a torrent of tears when you peel an onion? Place it in the freezer for 10 minutes before peeling and cutting it. You can also put it in a bowl filled with cold water and keep it cool for 30 minutes. The onion does not like the cold so it will not release its gas.

15. If you don't have a pastry bag, take a freezer bag and cut off one of the corners. Be careful to make a small hole so that the makeshift piping bag is easier to use.

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Beautiful green avocados

16. To preserve half an avocado and prevent the flesh from turning brown, place a few drops of lemon on top: the acidity will prevent the fruit from oxidizing.

17. To stop boiled eggs from cooking and get the perfect consistency, immediately place them in ice water after removing them from boiling water.

18. If your honey is crystallized, melt it in a bain-marie for a few minutes then place it in a jar wrapped in a cloth to avoid thermal shock.

19. Do you have difficulty when trying to rise bread, pizza or brioche dough? Simply cover the bowl containing the dough with a damp cloth and place it near a radiator (or in an oven heated to 30°C), away from drafts.

20. To obtain soft and well puffed madeleines, place the preparation in a suitable mold then put it in the refrigerator. Bake for ten minutes, according to the recipe. The thermal shock will create a nice bump on the top of the dough.

21. Do you want to prevent your pieces of fruit or chocolate from settling at the bottom of your cake? Just take a freezer bag and drop the pieces in it along with a little flour. Shake the bag so that they are all covered, sieve everything to remove the excess and incorporate the fruit into the batter. The flour will lock the pieces in where they placed.

22. Once your red meat is cooked, let it rest for a few minutes in a dish covered with aluminum foil. The juices thus penetrate the tissues better, which makes the meat tender and juicy.

23. Baste the chicken with sparkling water so that it browns properly in the oven. Minerals in water improve cooking and tenderize meat.

24. If you add a few drops of lemon to your caramel, it won't be too liquid at the end of cooking. The citrus fruit avoids the crystallization of sugar, responsible for the hardening of the material.

25. If you don't want your soufflé to droop after baking, add a teaspoon of cornstarch to your egg whites, when they're well beaten and stiff. It will bring lightness to your preparation.

26. To blanch onions without burning them, sauté them in a casserole dish with plenty of water. For 20-30 minutes, cooking should be very gentle and proceed with the lid closed. Salt and stir the mixture from time to time.

27. If you don't have an oven but you want to reheat a pie without the dough being too soft, place it in a pan and reheat it with a lid and over low heat: it will remain crispy. This method is also suitable for pizzas and pastries.

28. To cut out small pieces of chocolate, place a tablet in a cloth, take a wooden spoon and tap it briskly. You will then have many pieces without having damaged your hands!

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Lasagna that holds together

29. If your lasagna is usually too watery, add a beaten egg to your sauce. In this way, they always maintain a perfect outfit.

30. To sweeten a sauce (tomato, for example), nothing like a spoonful of honey or a sugar cube. Their sweetening power will counterbalance a strong aroma or a pronounced acidity.

31. To lessen the bitterness of endives, simply cook them twice. Cooking in water reduces their bitter taste.

32. In order to obtain stuffed tomatoes that do not contain too much water, just salt the inside of them and let them drain for an hour, upside down, before cooking them. The salt will effectively absorb the excess water.

33. Season your red meat after and not before cooking, otherwise the pepper will burn in the pan. Only salt can be added before and during cooking, since it brings out the juices.

34. Want to know if your oil bath is at the right temperature? Dip a corn seed in it; when it bursts, the temperature is right.

35. Sprinkle your pie crust with tapioca, that cassava starch, so it stays crispy when you bake it with juicy fruit.

36. If you've overdone the vinegar in your salad, place a ball of breadcrumbs in the bowl and stir to absorb the excess.

37. If you want to collect the juice from a lemon that is too hard, place it in the microwave for 1 minute, it will soften and be easier to squeeze. You can also soften it by rolling it on a work surface with the palm of your hand.

38. How to fix a béarnaise sauce that has soured when the egg has overcooked? Easy. Put a spoonful of cold water in another saucepan and gently drop the mixture. Stir gently. The water will rehydrate the preparation.

39. For a soft gingerbread, bake it in the oven next to a bowl of water. Once the bread is out of the oven, wear gloves and wrap it in plastic film so that the water does not evaporate. This process makes it possible to rehydrate a biscuit that is too dry.

How to make custard

40. Have your radishes become too soft? Do not throw them away, rather soak them for a few hours in a large volume of cold water with vinegar. This mixture has the ability to restore a crunchy appearance to vegetables and raw vegetables.

41. To prevent the sausages from shrinking and bursting in the pan, cook them over low heat, covered, in a bath of boiling water for 15 minutes. They will already be slightly cooked, all you have to do is brown them in the pan.

42. Are your lentils always floury and too hard? Add baking soda to the cooking water, it will reduce the cooking time and make them more digestible.

43. Say no to soft meringue on lemon pies. Use 50 g of icing sugar per beaten egg (we will use 150 g of icing sugar for 3 eggs). Before serving, cook your meringue pie for 30 minutes over low heat in the oven.

44. To keep cauliflower or salsify white, add a tablespoon of flour to the cooking water, it will prevent these vegetables from turning yellow.

Hot and fluffy pancakes

45. If you want to keep pancakes warm and fluffy for dinner or a snack, boil water in a saucepan. Cover it with a plate where you will place the pancakes one by one. Cover them with a bell jar; the water vapor will warm them while moisturizing them.

46. ​​Do you always cook too much rice? Just count 60 grams of raw rice per person, no more.

47. Out of baking powder? No need to run to the grocer, just use sodium bicarbonate which acts as a natural leaven.

48. If you want to savor an avocado and it's not ripe enough yet, put it in a bag with a banana. Leave them at room temperature overnight. The next day it will be ready for tasting. If you want to eat it right away, put it in the microwave for 30 seconds.

49. To melt chocolate in a bain-marie, the bowl should not be in direct contact with water; we choose a large container, placed on a small saucepan. Indeed, it is the steam that cooks and not boiling water.

50. In a frying pan, oil splashes when it comes into contact with water (this is the case with vegetables that have just been washed). To avoid these splatters, add a pinch of salt to the pan before pouring in the oil.

And you, what are your best tips?

*This article, originally published on January 12, 2017, has been updated.