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9 of the best cooking shortcuts, according to chefs
- Chefs have quite a few useful cooking hacks that people can use in their kitchens at home.
- When cooking in bulk, you can save time by separating eggs by hand. Plus, this can prevent yolk breakage.
- If you pat your fish dry before cooking it, it will likely brown faster.
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Cooking at home has its perks — you can save money, customize your dishes as much as you want, build your skill sets, and more. But pulling up a recipe and discovering that it'll take a lot of time and effort to complete can sometimes feel a bit discouraging.
That's why cooking shortcuts can be super useful. Of course, there's no one better equipped to provide some tried-and-true shortcuts than chefs.
INSIDER spoke to culinary experts about their best time-saving cooking tips — here's what they said.
Freeze fresh herbs and homemade stocks in ice-cube trays for quick, pre-measured convenience.
To avoid wasting the herbs you've paid good money for (and to effectively season your food in the process), try preserving your fresh greens in a way that's useful and practical.
"Whenever I have a surplus of fresh herbs (or homemade stock), I freeze them in ice-cube trays for future use. [For herb preserving,] measure out 1 or 2 tablespoons of minced herbs and either pour boiling water over them or fill the [trays] with olive oil," Cathy Roma, chef and flood blogger of What Should I Make For…, told INSIDER.
"The boiling water will blanch and preserve the herbs and they can be added to sauces, soups, or braises. The herbs in olive oil are perfect for sautéing potatoes or tossing with pasta for a quick and easy side," she added.
Wrap greens in paper towels before storing them in the fridge.
Fortunately for those who spend a lot of time heading to the store to pick up fresh ingredients, there's a way to delay the frustrating rotting and wilting of your leafy greens and herbs.
"Wrap [green herbs like] cilantro and parsley in a paper towel and put in a [plastic] bag to store," Jeremy "Boomer" Acuna, chef at Krause's Biergarten and Cafe in New Braunfels, Texas, said. "This also works with most lettuce greens."
Read More: 16 chefs reveal the one spice everyone should have in their kitchen
Pat your fish dry before cooking it so it can brown a bit faster.
It can be tricky to cook fish correctly but to improve your odds of getting it right, start by patting your fish dry before putting it on the stove.
A big believer in this technique, Brian Hinshaw, executive corporate chef of Ocean Prime, explained that "moisture on seafood will prevent it from browning." So if you get rid of the wetness of the fish it will likely brown a bit quicker.
If you don’t have time to caramelize onions but still want that tasty flavor, add honey and balsamic vinegar to them instead.
Sweet, savory, and complex all at the same time, caramelized onions are an unquestionably reliable source of vibrant flavor. But, on the downside, they can take quite a long time to cook.
"The process [of caramelizing onions] is often 40 minutes or [longer] if you want the nice, 'low and slow' richness and sweetness that gets coaxed out of the onions," said Julia Kelahan, personal chef behind Julia Cooks.
To keep things moving while achieving a similar flavor profile, Kelahan said she uses the following shortcut: "Cook the onions over medium [heat] for about 15 minutes, then over medium-high [heat] for a few more [minutes] in order to get some browned bits." Then, add a bit of balsamic vinegar and some honey to the pan, she said.
Need to quickly peel a bunch of garlic cloves? Give ‘em a good shake.
Restaurant chefs oftentimes use a lot of peeled garlic on a daily basis and individually peeling each clove can be incredibly time-consuming.
Luckily, pro cooks like Daniel England, corporate chef of the OMG Hospitality Group in San Diego, California, know how to get the job done in a speedy fashion.
"The secret is to break the bulb of garlic into individual cloves, place them into a metal bowl, cover with another metal bowl (like a dome) and vigorously shake the garlic," he told INSIDER. "It's loud and obnoxious but completely worth it when you lift the top bowl to reveal garlic completely peeled with the skin sticking to the sides of the bowl."
If you need to crack a lot of eggs for a recipe, try separating them by hand to save time and prevent yolk breakage.
Using the broken shell of an egg to separate the yolk from the whites sounds like a great, waste-reducing hack ... but Tara Rylie, professional gluten-free baker of RYLIECAKES and pastry chef, told us that even this minimalistic strategy overcomplicates the process.
Rylie told INSIDER that the best way to separate eggs is by using your hands.
"[At my bakery,] we'd crack all of our eggs into a large bowl and then scoop the yolks out [with our] hands. This saved enormous amounts of time when making buttercreams, meringues, and French macarons," she explained. "Plus, it eliminates the entire possibility of accidentally cracking the yolk with the shell."
If you’re an avid baker, consider pre-measuring, pre-mixing, and storing your dry ingredients to easily prepare future treats.
Since successful baking typically relies on precise measurements, the time required to parcel out your ingredients whenever you make a batter or dough can really add up.
But if you bake on a regular basis, it may be worth your while to pre-measure and pre-mix the dry ingredients used in your favorite recipes.
"The mass majority of baking recipes require combining dry ingredients with wet ingredients. [For instance,] if you make pancakes on a somewhat regular basis, you can prep the dry ingredients and store in [plastic storage bags] with the exact amounts you need," said Jumoke Jackson, a chef, blogger, and public speaker
Read More: The best boxed cake mix you can buy, according to chefs
Setting up mise en place is handy for home cooks and restaurant chefs alike.
Chefs utilize mise en place all of the time during meal service at restaurants but home cooks can benefit from this setup, too.
Preparing a mise en place usually includes setting up the things you'll need to make your dish — namely, pre-chopped, pre-measured ingredients.
"The biggest thing [that slows down the] home cooks [I teach] when I do culinary instruction is not fully prepping ahead of time. Mise en place is everything. Cut up everything that needs cutting before any heat is involved," Ariane Resnick, a California-based private chef.
Keeping a proper grip on your knife can streamline the chopping process.
A knife is an incredibly useful cooking tool and learning how to hold it correctly is crucial. To help get you started, chef Craig Barbour of Roots Catering & Cafe in Charlotte, North Carolina, offered these instructions:
"Choke up on your knife [by placing] your thumb on the base of the blade above the start of the handle and pinch the other side with your index finger. Wrap your bottom three fingers around the handle. This will help you control the knife better and work faster and safer."
He said this will also help your wrist control the blade's action so you won't have to solely rely on the strength of your grip to slice and dice food.
Read More:
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- 9 foods that chefs never put in the microwave
- 15 things chefs said they never use in their kitchens
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