When growing up and in college, I constantly called my mom and dad for help when I started cooking and baking. Things such as, “Mom, I’m making egg salad, how do I boil an egg?” Or, “Dad, I forget, where do I stick the thermometer into the chicken?” For the longest time, I used my parents as my personal Google. Finally, after a while, they told me to stop calling for things I can easily look up on my own. We have all been there, right? So, for this post, I decided to list five kitchen tips and tricks I believe everyone should learn when starting to cook and bake at home.
Some of these tricks are my own, while others are from bloggers I adore. So, let’s get started!!!
Kitchen Tips and Tricks to Help You Cook At Home:
1. How to Peel Garlic Quickly:
Okay, let’s face it, peeling garlic is a PAIN! The layers of garlic peels are somehow equally flaky and resistant. How is that even possible?! When peeling large quantities of garlic, I start with good intentions and end annoyed with how long it takes.
How to Peel Garlic Quickly and Easily
Eventually, I started wondering if I am missing out on some magical method for peeling garlic that everyone in the world knows about except for me.
This led me to delve into the numerous tips, tricks, and hacks on how to peel garlic so you don’t have to. I narrowed down these options and made a list of methods that actually work! For those who don’t believe me, try them out. You won’t be disappointed. Since then, I use different methods depending on my cooking needs.
I wish I knew how to peel garlic quickly and easily from the beginning!
2. How to Keep Food from Sticking to Your Wok or Pan:
Let’s be honest here. How many of us have burnt the bottom of an egg after it stuck to the pan? I know I have!
Frankly, I believed stainless steel pans were just “not for me” before getting married. Literally, the first thing I learned after getting married was how to properly heat up a pan. HJ could not believe I went 26 years of my life, INCLUDING the time we spent dating, avoiding stainless steel because of my burnt egg dilemmas.
How to Keep Food from Sticking to Your Wok or Pan
The Woks of Life is a family-run blog focusing on their Chinese heritage. On their blog, they wrote an amazing post on how to properly heat up a pan or wok. This way, nothing will ever stick again. Trust me, you will WANT to learn this.
THE KITCHEN TIP: HEAT THE PAN FIRST!!!
Learn more about pans and woks via The Woks of Life blog post!
3. How to Care for Your Cast-Iron Skillet
Speaking of pans, as a Southerner, I am a firm believer that everyone should own a cast-iron and know how to care for it.
In the south, the cast-iron is a stable in every family kitchen. We grow up making a full breakfast, roasted chicken, biscuits, cornbread, and more in our cast-iron. It is ingrained in the southern culture.
How to Care for Your Cast-Iron Skillet
But, for many, owning a cast-iron may be a daunting idea as it “is difficult to care for.” I promise that caring for your cast-iron will become second nature the longer you cook with the pan. All you have to do is learn the basics! Check out our post to learn all about cast-iron and how to care for it.
After all, a kitchen can’t be complete without a skillet!
4. How to Boil an Egg:
Okay, you may laugh about this and wonder why boiling an egg is included. Many individuals do not know how to properly boil or peel an egg! How often do you start peeling an egg only to have the whites stick to the shell?
Thankfully Love & Lemons, a blog run by Jeanine and Jack, has a step-by-step guide on how to properly boil an egg. This guide also includes tips on how to get that egg beautifully peeled!
How to Cook and Peel Hard Boiled Eggs
I highly recommend Love & Lemons for those who do not already follow their blog. Many of their recipes are incredibly well-balanced and healthy options for those looking to make a change in their lives. I first started following their blog in college when I was sick of dining hall burgers and french fries. Over the years, I often returned to Jeanine and Jack’s blog as I learned my way around the kitchen.
5. Tips on How to Easily Decorate a Cake:
Learning how to decorate a cake is not for beginners in the kitchen. Frustratingly, icing tends to get everywhere, crumbs somehow end up on the outside of the already iced cake, and the layers never end up even. Though that is the case, almost all beginners in the kitchen try decorating a cake for their family and friends at least once.
I tried more than once, and I am still learning! I even managed to bake a beautiful lemon poppyseed cake for HJ’s birthday once.
Molly Yeh’s Beautiful Cake
Cake decoration is not easy, but Molly Yeh’s kitchen tips and tricks for how to decorate a cake make it so much easier! Food & Wine features Molly’s list of kitchen tips and tricks for baking a cake. I also highly recommend checking out her blog. Molly is truly one of the most fun bloggers out there. She also has a TV show on the Food Network!
If you follow her tips, even your beginner’s cake will look cute!! I promise!
Do You Have Any Kitchen Tips and Tricks You Wish to Share?
Do you have any kitchen tips and tricks for those beginning to cook? If so, let us know in the comments below! We hope you enjoyed our list of things we think every cook should know!
Feel free to email us at [email protected] for any questions, recommendations, or stories. We love hearing from you! You can also follow us at @carvingajourney on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. Finally, you can subscribe to our blog by joining our mailing list.
The Last 5 Emily Recommends Series:
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- 2020 Halloween Dessert Guide
- 5 Best DIY Halloween Porch Decorations
- 7 Quick and Easy Banchan Recipes You Need to Try
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