Tips and tricks that fail to impress

May 1, 2015 by
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Cooks are always on the lookout for tips and tricks that make working in the kitchen easier. We’ve reported on tricks that have impressed us, like spanking pomegranates to release the arils and helpful tips on working with bacon. But sometimes “mind-blowing” kitchen hacks don’t live up to their hype. Indexed blog The Kitchn reports on 12 tips that didn’t live up to their expectations.

One trick that failed to impress was making hardboiled eggs in the oven. The Kitchn reported off tastes and marginal results at best. They advise sticking with the tried-and-true stovetop method instead. Another dud was using lemon juice to revive wilted lettuce. The juice worked no better than soaking the leaves in cold water. Lemons factored into another failed tip about juicing. It turns out that slicing the fruit lengthwise doesn’t result in significantly more juice when the lemons are squeezed.

The novel idea of opening a bottle of wine using a shoe was also put to the test. The Kitchn was never able to successfully accomplish this task, although some of their readers did. Another tip you can forget about trying is separating all of your bananas so they ripen more slowly. Separate or together, bananas ripen at the same rate.

What “mind-blowing” kitchen tips have bombed for you?

Here’s a tip that works: How to boil eggs perfectly every time from The Kitchn

hardboiled eggs

Category: Antipasto

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5 Comments

  • wodtke  on  May 2, 2015

    I totally agree about the tip for making hardboiled eggs in the oven. My (adult) daughter made them that way this Easter, and they were a failure — not a disaster, but the whites were rubbery, some of them had brown spots (after peeling), and one exploded in the oven. Has anyone had any luck with the method?

  • Krisage  on  May 2, 2015

    My new stove top pressure cooker is my favorite device for producing perfectly "boiled" eggs that peel easily regardless of age. I've had a couple "pop" but the vast majority have turned out well. For 6 eggs, add minimal water to your PC, bring up to high pressure, reduce heat as low as possible–but still maintain high pressure– for 6 minutes. Remove from heat and depressurize. Run under water to cool. Peel and eat!

  • Foodycat  on  May 3, 2015

    That Martha Stewart thing of peeling garlic by shaking it in two metal bowls? Very noisy and completely ineffective. I think maybe if your garlic is quite old and the skins are really papery, but when I tried it, it just bruised the garlic.

  • enassar  on  May 4, 2015

    Yeap, I agree with Krisage. The PC is the most efficient almost-failproof method for perfect hard cooked eggs. I first learned about it from Ruhlman's book Egg.

  • Bethcote  on  May 28, 2015

    For people who want to cook more than 6 eggs or do not have a pressure cooker, Nom, Nom Paleo blog has the best hard boiled egg recipe that works every time~ my husband eats two every day at work. Just be sure to use older eggs. We get our eggs from a organic farm down the street from us and I let them sit for a week.

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