From the weird to the "why didn't we think of that?"...
If you've got a kitchen problem, chances are someone out there has solved it. The internet is awash with amazing and little-known tips and tricks to help you overcome all sorts of cooking and food preparation issues. Read on to discover our favourite 20. We guarantee you'll find at least one that changes the way you do things...
How to make fridge-cold butter spreadable
You know how it is. You're in a rush, you're trying to make a sandwich or a packed lunch and the butter's straight out of the fridge. There's a simple solution: reach for the cheese grater. If you grate your fridge-cold butter, it will be spreadable within a minute
How to make perfect bacon
Prepping a lot of bacon? There's a very easy way to make sure it's cooked consistently and have it all ready at the same time. Forget the pan, forget the grill: line a baking tray with foil and bake it at 190C for about 20 minutes for perfectly crispy bacon in large volumes.
How to save money on fresh herbs
Limited for space? Don't have a garden? Or just bored with paying lots of money for bunches of fresh herbs when you just need a couple of sprigs? Plant a herb window box - or a hanging basket. They smell delicious, give you a handy source of herbs and save money
How to core and chop a pepper quickly
There's a very easy way get all the flesh off a pepper and remove the core whole. Slice off the top and the stalk. Slice off the bottom. Then spiral cut the rest of the pepper around the core. It's also a great way to remove the seeds from chillies - which, of course, is where the heat is.
How to chop onions easily
Onions are great at this time of year but it's amazing how few of us know how to slice them easily. Cut your onion in half through the root. Place the flat side down, root-end away from you and slice vertically from tip to almost the root. Then hold the root and chop across. Result: Diced onion, no slippage and, because the root bulb is the bit that makes you cry, fewer tears.
How to remove garlic or onion smells from your hands
After chopping onions or garlic, your hands will smell of, well, onions or garlic. One of the most efficient ways to remove the smell is stainless steel. Be it kitchen sink or a handy spoon, 'wash' your hands with it for 30 seconds. No, we don't know why it works but it does.
How to peel ginger
You can, of course, slice away at your ginger with a sharp knife but that wastes a lot of the good stuff. That's where a teaspoon comes in. The skin of the ginger might look gnarled but it's actually surprisingly soft and very thin and the edge of a spoon takes it off cleanly with no waste.
How to remove broken egg shell from a bowl of eggs
When breaking eggs into a bowl, little bits of shell often fall in. If you've ever tried removing them with a finger, you'll know how you end up chasing them around the bowl. Next time, use another piece of broken shell and they'll stick right on and lift out easily - according to @1accidnetalchef, you can use the same trick to remove specks of yolk from egg whites. Alternatively, to reduce the problem do what @lauraroweeats suggests and break eggs on a flat surface rather than an edge.
How to toast a sandwich without a sandwich toaster
Fancy a toasted sandwich but don't have a sandwich toaster or a grill? Simply turn your toaster on its side. We wouldn't advise it for cheese or runny fillings, however - if you want to do that, spread the outside of your sandwich with butter and toast both sides in a dry frying pan.
How to make your own sundried tomatoes
It's the end of tomato season. If you've got a glut and fancy a change from frozen portions of tomato sauce, why not make your own sundried tomatoes? 'Sun', however, is something of a misnomer: it's actually done in the oven. Set the oven to the lowest possible temperature, halve your tomatoes, lay them on a cake rack and leave them in there for 10-20 hours.
How to squeeze more juice from a lemon
Or a lime, or an orange. Any citrus fruit as it happens. Simply apply a reasonable amount of pressure and roll it on the counter before you juice it. Result, an increase in the amount of juice it produces.
How to salvage old fruit
We all do it. Buy fruit and then just leave it turning wizened and overripe in the bowl. But you can salvage most of it. Peel overripe bananas and freeze the flesh to add to smoothies and milkshakes. If you've got shrivelled looking lemons or limes, a five- to-10 second blast in the microwave makes it easy to juice them still.
How to save money on onions
We've all thrown out half onions that we've found at the back of the fridge, after only needing a small amount for a recipe or dish. There is a painfully obvious solution, that'll save you money, mean you're always using fresh vegetables and not wasting anything. Buy shallots and onions of different size rather than those strings of uniform size. Told you it was obvious
How to fry things properly
When using a frying pan, don't overcrowd the pan. Doing so makes the temperature fall rapidly and the contents will steam rather than fry. That means less caramelisation, less flavour and a longer cooking time. And if you need to add more oil, add it steadily at the side of the pan - by the time it reaches what you're cooking, it'll be hot.
How to store fruit for longer
A wet summer with a little sunshine at the end has meant two things: lots of slugs but also lots of glorious blackberries. If you've ever picked such fruit, you'll know how quickly it can go off so wash it straight away, dry it and store it on kitchen roll in the fridge for an extra three or four days of edible life.
How to use tea towels for things other than drying
As they almost said in The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, tea towels are your friend. As well as drying up, they provide great insulation in cool boxes and a damp towel can even make your chopping board more secure. Fold it over, place it between the work surface and the board and the board won't slip.
How to stop a pot from boiling over
It sounds like an old wives' tale and thinking about it, it probably is. But, somehow, it works. Put a wooden spoon or a spatula across a saucepan and, should the phone ring and you have to wander away, you don't have to worry about what's happening in the kitchen.
How to season a dish while cooking
When cooking, add salt and freshly milled pepper by hand from a bowl. Using grinders or mills over steaming saucepans will clog up the mechanism. You''ll probably also add more seasoning this way too - and that's one of the reasons restaurant food generally tastes better than your cooking.
How to make perfect pasta
Coming into the autumn - and after THAT summer - minds are on comfort eating. That often means pasta and there are many simple ways to make that better. Boil it for one minute less than the packet dictates and cook it for one minute in the sauce. And before you add sauce, sprinkle the pasta with parmesan - that gives the sauce something to stick to.
How to cut a cheese or a big cake evenly
Need to cut a big cake evenly? Need to cut cheese - particularly soft cheeses and stilton? Or stuck in a hotel room with lovely local cheese and nothing to cut them with? Go to the toiletry bag and reach for the unscented dental floss...
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