Home cooks may find countless hacks everywhere, from food blogs to social media, but many of them turn out to be less than helpful. A recent Reddit thread showed the other side of it: tricks that sound a little odd, even embarrassing to admit, but actually improve food in ways that make you keep going back to them.
The story
On Reddit, one home cook shared a few kitchen tricks that sound unusual but proved to be useful. They keep ginger in the freezer so it can be grated without peeling, stir a little soy sauce into chocolate desserts to make the flavor taste richer, and even use a hair dryer on chicken skin before roasting so it comes out crisp.
Then they asked the community, “What weird cooking tricks have you stumbled upon that actually work?” People shared their best-kept secrets, which may seem strange at first, but they actually never fail them in the kitchen.
The reactions
One of the users shared their own hack of making crispy chicken instead of using a blow dryer, “I pour a boiled kettle over the whole chicken and pat dry before roasting. It pulls the skin tight and is better than blow-drying. I do the same for pork crackling.” Another user agreed, saying, “Came here to comment this. This is a Chinese method I learned from my dad. I stuff a compound butter underneath the skin, then it goes under the boiled water bath. Helps lock in the butter, and it keeps the chicken juicy.”
The boiled water tightens the skin instantly, and the butter adds a richer taste and aroma to the chicken. As the chicken roasts in the oven, the butter slowly melts and soaks into the meat and herbs. It keeps the chicken juicy while it roasts. Any butter left on the outside helps the skin turn golden and crisp, giving you that tender meat and crackly skin everyone wants in a roast chicken.
Someone shared their hack of mixing sweet and savory to enhance the flavors of dishes: “Cocoa powder in chili, peach jam in BBQ sauce, a touch of sour cream in scrambled eggs.” A reply on the same said, “I use a touch of a delicious sheep's milk cheese from my local farmers market in my scrambled eggs. Just the tiniest bit makes such a difference!” Cocoa enhances the overall flavor profile of chili by mellowing the peppers and adding a deeper, richer taste.
On the other hand, a spoonful of sour cream makes eggs soft and rich. Cheese, whether it’s sheep’s milk or just a sharp cheddar, does the same thing. Even Martha Stewart swears by cooking eggs in butter until they’re soft and fluffy, so there’s plenty of room to experiment here.
If you have ever cooked mashed potatoes, and they don’t turn out as creamy as they should, the secret lies in evaporating the moisture, as one user shared, “After boiling is finished and chunks are soft, drain the water, and return the potatoes to the burner... evap ALL the moisture, THEN add butter salt cream and milk while stirring.” Another Redditor shared, “This is actually an important step in Michelin chef Joël Robuchon’s famous purée recipe! Boil the potatoes, then dry them in a pan, as you explained.”
Letting the potatoes steam dry before adding butter and cream allows them to absorb the fat, rather than becoming watery. Robuchon’s version is known for its smooth and creamy texture, which is why many have recreated his recipe.
The thread was filled with many ginger hacks, which isn’t surprising since most people find it tricky to use it all up before it goes bad. One person shared a hack: “I peel ginger, cut it into cubes, blend into a paste, a thin layer in a ziplock bag, freeze, break off as needed.”
My go-to hack for storing ginger is not freezing it, but keeping its blend in the fridge. You can blend it with a bit of oil and salt, and keep it in your refrigerator for up to a month or more. Alternatively, you can store it in the freezer using an ice cube mold.
Another Redditor mentioned adding vinegar to soup: “Any soup will be made more flavorful and brighter by adding a bit of apple cider vinegar.”
Acid is one of the most overlooked tools in cooking. It doesn’t make the soup taste sour, but only enhances it in a good way. A splash of vinegar at the end of lentil soup, for example, keeps it from tasting flat. Professional kitchens often finish dishes with a bit of acid, whether it’s vinegar, citrus juice, or even wine. Once you start doing it, you notice when it’s missing.
And then someone mentioned one of the more unusual methods for meat prep, “I dry steaks with a heat gun since moisture ruins a pan sear. Works great and takes seconds.”
Steaks sear best when the surface is bone dry; otherwise, they steam instead of browning. Most people pat with paper towels, but a heat gun does the job instantly. You can also use an air fryer for steaks, which gives them a crispy exterior and keeps them juicy and tender on the inside.
Other cooking hacks that actually work
Some tricks have also been tested outside of Reddit. A few worth mentioning include:
- Wrapping fresh herbs in a damp paper towel and green salads in a dry paper towel keeps them fresh in the fridge for days longer.
- Toasting the tomato paste in the pan for a minute before adding liquid removes its metallic flavor.
- Keeping butter cold when making biscuits or pie crust leads to those flaky layers that everyone wants.
- A spoonful of cream or yogurt stirred into the soup at the end smooths out flavors and makes it taste incredibly good.
- Adding coffee to the chocolate cake intensified the cocoa flavor.
The takeaway
A blow dryer in the kitchen might look odd, and so does pouring boiling water over a chicken, but the purpose is the same: the methods that may surprise you at first often end up being the ones worth saving.
Sometimes the best kitchen advice isn’t written in cookbooks. It comes from people online confessing the strange little things they’ve tried when no one was watching, and realizing they worked.
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