How to revive stale bread and other genius food hacks
Secrets to success
Use clingfilm to make perfect poached eggs
If your attempts at poached eggs always end in a disaster, follow this top tip. Lay a piece of clingfilm (plastic wrap) in a bowl, lightly oil the inside and crack in an egg. Gather up the sides of the clingfilm and tie it tightly on top. Add to boiling water for two to four minutes, depending on the size of the egg and how soft you want it.
Save time with an omelette in a mug
Microwave scrambled eggs for less washing up
Omelettes aren't the only microwave marvel you can make for breakfast. To make scrambled eggs, add a dash of milk and seasoning to beaten eggs before a minute and a half in the microwave on high, stirring midway through. The perfect hack to avoid washing up pots and pans.
Discover more breakfast hacks that will transform your mornings
Make brownies richer with espresso
Adding a cup of coffee to dishes that involve chocolate makes the chocolate flavour even more rich and intense. This works particularly well with chocolate brownies or a dark and squidgy chocolate torte.
Save overripe bananas for banana bread
If you end up with black or brown bananas, fear not. Overripe bananas are best for use in baking as they're sweeter and easier to mash into batter. Banana bread is a favourite for using the fruit.
Swap fat for mashed banana in muffins
To reduce the saturated fat in your favourite muffin recipe, you can use three ripe, very well-mashed bananas, instead of around 8tbsp (half a cup) of butter.
Bake with room temperature ingredients
Coat extra baking ingredients with flour
When making fruit scones or chocolate and nut cookies, coat the fruit, chopped chocolate and nuts in flour before adding to the dough to ensure they distribute evenly. This is a top tip from celebrity chef Ina Garten.
Take a look at more genius cooking tips from our favourite TV chefs
Chill cinnamon roll dough for tighter rolls
Achieve gooey cookies by taking them out early
Cool cheesecake in the oven to prevent cracks
Making the perfect baked cheesecake takes time and patience. To keep the consistency creamy and prevent cracks forming, it must be slow cooked in a bain marie (a water bath) and allowed to cool slowly in the oven, with the heat off and the door ajar.
Buy an oven thermometer for accurate baking
Check for hot spots with toast
Use a skewer to check cakes are ready
To test if your cake is fully cooked through, it should be slightly shrunk away from the sides and springy to the touch. Double check with a thin skewer through the centre which should come out clean. If it's the correct colour on the outside but still a little raw in the centre, use a piece of foil to lightly cover the cake and continue to bake.
Check out our best-ever baking hacks for perfect cakes every time
Line cake tins to prevent sticking
Use cake fails to make new desserts
Don't worry if a cake doesn't match up to your expectations – it happens to the best of us. Instead, turn it into something else. Broken pieces of cake can be used in trifles (pictured) or even crumbled in a food processor to make cake pops.
Make shop-bought cakes look homemade with icing sugar
Sneak veg into smoothies
Add white beans to smoothies for protein
Use mashed avocado instead of mayo
Blanch veg to keep their bright colour
Tenderise kale by massaging it
Squash potatoes to make them extra crisp
The trick to crispy potatoes is to increase spuds’ surface area. When you make the surface area larger, more of it is exposed to the heat. To do this, squash potatoes lightly with a fork. This technique works whether you are frying them or baking them.
Make speedy baked potatoes in the microwave
Add pesto to mash for flavour
Mash doesn't need to be plain. You could stir through pesto for an Italian twist or add cream, spring onions, parsley and thyme to make this recipe for traditional Irish champ.
Add cauliflower to mash for a silky texture
Make gnocchi with leftover mash
Did you know that you can make gnocchi from leftover mashed potato in under an hour? Follow this recipe for simple gnocchi with tomato and basil sauce.
Discover more ways to use ingredients you'd usually throw away here
Chop veg the same size for stir-fries
Sear veg for flavour
When making a stir-fry, it's also helpful to sear veg – a little browning brings out flavour. Once the protein has been set aside, heat a touch more oil and add harder veg like carrots. Next, in goes softer veg like peppers, mushrooms and mangetout. Lastly, the likes of watery beansprouts and fresh herbs.
Add stock instead of extra oil
Use up leftover meat in stir-fries
Cook rice in stock for extra flavour
Even if you're cooking plain rice as an accompaniment to a dish, you can liven it up by cooking it in stock. Throw in a bay leaf, a sprig of rosemary, some grated ginger or garlic. You could also fry the rice in a little oil before adding the water or stock to bring out the flavour.
Find out the secret to perfect fluffy rice and other genius tips here
Dry chicken to help it brown
Don't stuff chicken as it will cook slower
An empty cavity means chicken cooks quicker and more evenly. The late great chef Julia Child once said you should only stuff a chicken if you want to make the meat go further. Alternatively you can cook stuffing in a separate dish.
Use butter to get the crispiest chicken skin
Julia also always rubs her roast chicken in butter. She believes everything tastes better with fat and that butter is the secret to really crispy skin. On television show The French Chef she says, “No matter what way you're going to cook it, chicken should have a butter massage.”
Discover more of Julia Child's best-ever tips for cooking perfect chicken
Deglaze pans to make sauce
Bulk out sauces with lentils
Make cannelloni with lasagne sheets
Use pasta water to emulsify sauce
Wipe the rim of plates for a professional finish
Keep a paper towel to hand when you’re serving up and give each plate a wipe around the rim before taking it to the table. A clean edge helps the food stand out and gives a professional-looking finish. No one needs to know if the food came out of a jar or packet.
Use nutritional yeast instead of cheese
Add anchovies for umami
Refresh nuts and spices by toasting
Season steak to help caramelisation
Sear steak on cast iron to help caramelisation
Add extra juices to steak
Steak needs to rest for the same length of time as it spent in the pan so its juices can redistribute. If you want it extra juicy and tender, give it some help with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil or knob of butter.
Only flip burgers once for perfect char marks
When making burgers, American chef Bobby Flay uses a meat mixture that's 80% beef and 20% fat, and creates a small dent in the middle of patties so they turn out flat. But there's one thing more important than anything else: he flip burgers just once so that they form a perfect char.
Use a burger lid to melt cheese
Wrap bones in foil to prevent burning
Access more flavours with a marinade
Using a marinade instead of a dry rub allows you to bring more flavours to a dish. A really easy marinade is tomato ketchup mixed with soy sauce, perfect for preparing barbecued venison ribs. Leave the marinade to infuse overnight, then slow cook venison in the oven to tenderise before finishing off on the barbecue.
Use pineapple to tenderise meat
Pineapple is a natural tenderiser for meat, plus the sweet flavour pairs especially well with pork. Purée fresh pineapple for the best result. With shop-bought pineapple juice, the enzymes that break down meat are removed in the pasteurisation process. Don’t marinate meat with pineapple for any longer than 12 hours as the acid will begin to cook the meat.
Save time with a multi-purpose marinade
Don't you love a multi-purpose marinade that goes with everything? Punchy jerk marinade and this spicy Indian-inspired marinade work well with pork and beef ribs. Make extra and use it to marinate other barbecue foods like cheese, such as halloumi, or veggies, such as aubergine and bell peppers.
Cut barbecue times with help from the oven
If you don’t have six or more hours to tend to a barbecue, start meats like ribs on the flames and finish in the oven. Using a combination of charcoal and wood chips can give you the smokiness you want in 30 minutes to an hour. Then cover with foil and let the oven do the rest of the work.
Speed up cooking with foil
Create different heat zones for more control
Have better control over the temperature of your grill by creating different heat zones. Do this by varying how many coals you pile in different parts of the grill.
Double check your fridge temperature
It sounds obvious but it's worth checking your fridge's temperature. A fridge should be set to 4°C (40°F) to keep harmful bacteria from growing. Your fridge may have a thermometer or, alternatively, they’re cheap to buy. Any higher than 4°C (40°F) and you might be putting yourself and your household at risk.
Don’t overcrowd your fridge so air can circulate
Store meat and fish on the bottom shelf
The bottom shelf is the coldest part of your fridge and is where food that can spoil quickly if not kept cold, such as meat and fish, should be placed. Another reason to store it here is to prevent juices dripping onto and contaminating other foods.
Store ethylene-producing fruit separately
Some fruits like melons, apples, bananas, pears, avocados and stone fruit (such as peaches and nectarines) produce a chemical called ethylene. It causes some produce, such as greens, unripe bananas and berries, to ripen and spoil faster. Keep sensitive items in one fridge drawer with the vent closed (which also helps with humidity). Store ethylene-producing fruit in the other fridge drawer with the vent open, or outside the fridge.
Kill bacteria on berries with vinegar solution
Berries are delicious fresh but they don't last for long. To help preserve them, wash them in a mixture of one part vinegar and three parts water, then drain, rinse thoroughly and pop them in the fridge. Don’t worry, it won't make the fruit taste vinegary, it will just kill any germs and keep mould away longer.
Take a look at more genius hacks to make food and drink last longer
Prevent soggy salad with paper towels
Use silicone fruit and veg covers to keep produce fresh
Save washing up with ovenproof storage
Keep beer fizzy by storing it upright
Optimise your freezer to save fridge space
Not everything needs to go in the fridge. In fact, using your freezer is key to fresh-tasting food. If you’re not eating raw chicken or beef mince in the two days after purchasing, it should be kept below -18°C (0°F). You have three to four days to eat leftovers, otherwise they should go in the freezer. Berries, bananas, avocados slices and green veg also fare well in the freezer.
Store bread in the freezer to keep it fresh
If you're going to eat all your bread within a few days, don't put it in the fridge. Cold temperatures change its texture and make it taste stale. If you plan to use a loaf over a couple of weeks, store it in the freezer. You can defrost whole loaves in the oven or pop slices of frozen bread straight in the toaster.
Freeze milk you don't need
Keep pesto at its best by freezing it
Pesto is a great partner for pasta but can start to spoil incredibly quickly. To keep it fresh, spoon the remaining pesto into an ice cube tray and freeze it, so you’ve always got some on hand when you need it.
Freeze leftover wine to make fancy sauces
Freeze fruit in a single layer to stop it sticking
Have frozen fish on standby for speedy meals
Frozen fish is great to have on standby in the freezer for midweek meals. You can cook it straight from frozen or thaw it in the fridge and marinate it. The best part? It always tastes fresh and you don't need to worry about use by dates. However, note that cooking from frozen works best with lean fish like cod or tilapia. It's generally best to thaw fatty, rich fish like salmon.
Buy frozen veg to prevent food waste
Most of us know this, but it’s worth a reminder – frozen veg has as many or even more nutrients than fresh produce. Be sure to always have some in the freezer so you can add veg to every meal without having to worry about produce going off before you have a chance to use it.
Freeze food in usable portions
Wrap food tight to avoid freezer burn
Stack food in freezer bags to save space
Vacuum seal food if you want it to last a long time
Throw away chunky boxes to save space
Pack your freezer full to save energy
Cover your ice cube tray for fresh-tasting ice
If you make your own ice cubes in a tray, cover it to prevent ice taking on any smells circulating in your freezer. Once ready you can store them in an air-tight freezer bag.
Store ice cream at the back of the freezer to stop it melting
A tub of ice cream frozen solid is one of the most annoying things, however it can be easily avoided. Store high fat content foods that melt easily at the back, far away from the door where they run the risk of melting a little and freezing again every time you open the freezer.
Double check your freezer temperature
Start a freezer inventory
Check if your kitchen is cool enough to leave food out
Store garlic for months in a dark and dry place
Don’t keep onions and potatoes together
Store herbs like flowers
Stop bananas browning with a banana hanger
Transfer sugar into airtight containers to prevent clumps
Clean food storage containers with baking soda
Remove fridge odours with baking soda
There’s a simple trick to keeping your fridge smelling fresh: an open box of baking soda. It attracts and neutralises smells, meaning they don’t ruin other food. Every few months, throw away and replace the box.
Froth milk in a jar
Let boiling water cool to prevent coffee burning
Freshen a chopping board with lemon
Clean with lemon before making meringue
Stop egg whites falling flat when making meringue by first cleaning your glass bowl with a wedge of lemon. This will help get rid of any last traces of fat that could undermine the whole recipe.
Now take a look at these surprising food facts that are actually true
Microwave lemons to get more juice
If you're cooking with lemon, you can get more juice by microwaving the fruit on high for around 20 seconds. It'll be warmer and softer than straight from the fridge, making it easier to squeeze.
Save vegetable water for gravy
Check eggs are fresh with the float test
Set aside vegetable scraps for stock
Revive old bread with water
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