I’ve got a fresh new bunch of kitchen hacks for you of things you’ve “been doing wrong”. Okay, admittedly I don’t like when they say that because I don’t think there are right and wrong ways to do things, just different ways. And sometimes these new, different ways just happen to be a lot easier and you can’t believe you didn’t think of it yourself! Your mind is about to be blown with these six new ways of doing some pretty basic stuff you’ve been doing forever. I hope you find a new trick or two you can add to your repertoire. 

1. Peeling Garlic

The coolest and easiest way you can “peel” a bunch of individual garlic cloves is to put them in a jar with the lid on and shake vigorously for about 30 seconds. Open the jar and voila! All the cloves will be peeled just like that.

  2. Slicing Cinnamon Rolls Perfectly

This might be one from the list you’ve already heard about, but if it’s not, it is super helpful and is something you need to know :) The best way to slice the dough when making cinnamon rolls is by grabbing a string of unflavored dental floss from the bathroom about 18 inches long. Shimmy the floss under the bottom of the roll where you’d like it cut and pull up on the dental floss, criss-crossing your hands over each other to completely slice through the cinnamon roll dough, doing this every inch or so until the roll is completely sliced.

3. Slicing a Large Rectangular Cake Quickly and Perfectly

Unflavored dental floss comes in handy again here and you can do pretty much the same thing here to create perfect cake slices quickly and with very little mess. Simply use dental floss or even fishing line the length of the cake plus 6-8” and slice down with the floss, then pull it completely through one side of the cake. Remove any large crumbs from the floss, if necessary, and keep slicing the cake until completed. This works beautifully for cutting cheesecake as well.

4. Peeling Potatoes

If you are planning to make something like mashed potatoes and need to peel a whole bunch of potatoes, I’ve got a great tip for you today. The great news is, you don’t actually have to peel any potatoes at all. Simply score the potato with a knife around the center, or equator, if you will, of the potato and boil until all the way cooked. Then simply pull the skins down and they will slide off quite easily, without hardly any of the potato coming off with the skin.

5. Proofing Bread

This one might be my favorite hack of all. Did you know that you can actually cover your bowl of rising bread dough with a shower cap and it will proof even better than with the standard towel? If you are like me and have accumulated an unused shower cap or two from a hotel room, this is the perfect use for one of those. Simply spray the inside of the plastic shower cap with a little cooking spray and you are good to go. It is a bonus if the shower cap is clear and you can see exactly how much it has risen. 

6. Separating the Yolk from the White of an Egg

Bayashi, a cooking TikTok content creator with 25 million followers, has a hack for easily separating the yolk from the egg white, without any mess. He cracks the egg onto a plate, and then rubs a peeled clove of garlic between his thumb and first two fingers. Because garlic releases mercaptans, it causes a chemical reaction that causes you to have really sticky fingers, which in turn makes the yolk cling to your fingers and you can literally lift the egg yolk perfectly out without it breaking at all. It is quite a sight to see! The only downside to this is you wouldn’t want to use those yolks for something sweet like a custard because it would certainly have a hint of garlic :)

Do you have any other tips or ways to do these tasks that are different from this list? Do you disagree with any of the things on this list? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.