Food spills, flaming kitchen towels, gunk on the walls, burnt food, leaking sink - our kitchen is a landmine of disasters waiting to explode. Whether you are a novice or have ample experience in the kitchen, there is always a risk of mishaps and cooking fails. Round-the-clock work, additions of new kitchen tools, also displacements, and a lot of hemming and hawing while cooking - our kitchen is always in a state of constant flux.
Here are 13 clever tips and tricks to make your kitchen blunder-free:
1. Overcooking Food
Most of the time your food overcooks because you are busy rifling through your cabinets looking for ingredients to be added immediately. You lose track of time or forget to stir the food cooking on the stove. To avoid this kind of panic situation, always prep ahead your ingredients, and do all the chopping and cutting in advance.
(Also Read: 11 Tips And Tricks To Make Everyday Cooking Easy And Hassle-Free)
Prepare all the ingredients ahead for smooth cooking.
Photo Credit: iStock
2. Blenders Crash
Can't find your blender top cover? Don't blend. Spices or other foods still hot? Don't blend. There are certain things to keep in mind before throwing your food in a blender/grinder/food processor. Putting in foods with steam emitting can blow up the cover and working the blender without the cover is bound to lead to spills - a lot of them.
3. Going Up In Flames - Literally
Holding pans on the stove for stirring or removing can be quite tricky. This is when our kitchen cloth burns the most. Use specially designed tongs instead of cloth to avoid this. Also, don't keep anything inflammable near the stove.
4. Oven Malfunction
If you have a microwave and an oven at home, you need to be clear about which vessels can go into which appliance. While foil can be kept in an oven, it doesn't go well if kept in a microwave. Plastics in the microwave will survive, but not in an oven. Do your research well before using these appliances.
5. Wilted Herbs
Herbs like coriander, mint and basil add that extra zing to our meals. Almost every kitchen has it for the final dressing of our food. But more often than we'd like, these greens wilt and turn bad before we get a chance to use them. Click here to see some easy ways you should store your herbs to keep them fresh for longer.
(Also Read: Indian Cooking Hacks: How To Get Perfectly Crispy, Fluffy Pooris Every Single Time)
Herbs are often stored for future use.
6. Flavour Gone Wrong
The best way to ensure your dish has the right amount of salt and spices is to keep tasting while it's cooking. But if you discover it too late that your food has extra salt or spice, here are some tips to fix it.
7. Burnt Food
Burnt toast, rice or curry makes all our efforts go to waste (at least that's what we assume). But, worry not; here are some ways you can fix your burnt dish and present it with its taste on-point.
8. Hard Butter
Forgot to take out butter from the refrigerator in time? What to do with stone-cold butter, especially when you need to smear it on your toast quickly or add it to your cake batter? Here are some tips to soften your butter quickly.
9. Stale Food
Some seasons of the year, like the monsoon, are bad news for fresh food. The weather fosters the growth of bacteria on food and we get stale food sooner than expected. Follow these rules for saving your food and keeping it fresh for longer.
10. Food Wastage
Wasting food is wrong at so many levels. Leftover food is a common occurrence in our households but where we go wrong is when we just throw it out. Stop! Use your leftover food to create other delicious meals. Here's how.
11. Clogged Sink
Our kitchen sink is most susceptible to blocked water pipes due to all the food scraps from our dishes. One way to avoid it is by pouring boiling water down the drain at least once a week. Hot water will help unclog the drain and let the water pass easily.
12. Thawing Frozen Food
Freezing raw and cooked food is a great way to save our favourite meals for later and to use raw ingredients whenever required. Thawing it when it's time to use it can be tricky. We often do it the wrong way and the preserved food goes to waste. But not anymore. Click here to see how to correctly thaw frozen foods.
Frozen foods have to be thawed for cooking and consumption.
Photo Credit: iStock
13. Messy Kitchen
Your life in the kitchen would be much easier if you plan and organise your kitchen well. Have separate cabinets for different kinds of foods, have everything labelled and avoid clutter everywhere. This will help you find your ingredients easily and save a lot of time!
A kitchen is the cornerstone of a house. Keep it mess-free, accident-free and stress-free.