Top time-saving kitchen hacks

15th December 2021 | Eativity editors
Time-saving kitchen hacks

With lockdowns over, and many of us back working in the office and spending more time out with friends, we have less time to spend around the house, chipping away at daily chores. So, to help you get the boring stuff out of the way more quickly so you have more time to spend on the fun stuff, we’ve asked the top Aussie organising influencers for their favourite kitchen hacks that get the chores done fast. These helpful tips and tricks ensure maximum cleaning and cooking efficiency so you can still enjoy a clean house and tasty meals while you embrace your newfound freedoms after another tedious COVID year.

Top time-saving kitchen hacks: strip herbs using a cheese grater
Don’t toss the stems. Use them to infuse oils, to add to stock or in a stuffing.

Kitchen hack #1: stripping herbs

If you’re having people over for a meal, it’s likely you’ll be using herbs in the recipe or as a garnish. Either way, stripping herbs from their stalky stem takes time that could be better spent on more important things. Like pouring everyone another glass of champas. To speed up the process, try Iryna Federico of From Great Beginnings’ herb-stripping trick that uses a cheese grater. It’s one of the best kitchen hacks to add to your arsenal. Take a few pieces of your chosen herb and put the stems directly into the hole of the grater. Next, forcefully pull the stems through from the inside. The leaves are quickly separated from the stems, remaining on the outside of the grater. Genius.

Garlic
Fresh garlic has the best flavour. Now peeling those cloves will be a cinch.

Kitchen hack #2: peeling garlic

Quality garlic is the key to flavour in pretty much any savoury recipe. But it can be a nightmare to peel. Especially when it gets under your fingernails and leaves you smelling like garlic for days. This cooking hack by Federico is genius for speed and cleanliness. Grab your cloves, squash them a bit with the bottom of a small Tupperware container, then pop the cloves inside the container and give it a good shake. The garlic skins come off straight away. A perfect no-mess cooking hack that will help you get through your meal prep faster.

Top time-saving kitchen hacks: use baking soda for crispy potatoes
Crispy roast potatoes: the ultimate comfort food.

Kitchen hack #3: guaranteed crunchy potatoes

There are a variety of ways to make delicious crunchy and fluffy roasted potatoes, but this method by Chantel Mila of Mama Mila is by far the fastest and easiest. Chop and parboil your potatoes as normal, but add a teaspoon of baking soda while they’re boiling. When you chuck them into the oven to roast up, this small but important extra step will ensure they will turn out toasty, crispy and fluffy every single time.

Gorgeous blooms deserve a sparkling vase.

Kitchen hack #4: cleaning dirty vases  

Everyone’s vases get grubby, no matter how much you try to hand wash them. But if you’re having people over, it’s nice to have a sparkling-clean vase to best showcase that stunning floral arrangement you whipped up. Jarrad Duggan-Tierney of Real Dads of Melbourne has a genius time-saver for cleaning all vases at once. Just chuck them into the dishwasher and they’ll come out crystal clear and clean. Too easy.

Top time-saving kitchen hacks: put small items in a laundry bag in the dishwasher

Kitchen hack #5: cleaning small items

Ever wasted time cleaning small fiddly items that are too small to put in the dishwasher? Another crazy clever dishwasher hack from Duggan-Tierney is to place all these items into a laundry bag and pop them in all at once. This will wash everything (jar lids and all) without having things sliding around, getting lost or falling to the bottom of the dishwasher.

Freshly cooked lasagne
Freshly cooked lasagne is awesome. Scrubbing the dish afterwards isn’t.

Kitchen hack #6: saving time on dishes

The thought of washing up after cooking a huge meal in the kitchen can be a real buzzkill at the end of an enjoyable dinner party. MasterChef cooking whiz Connor Curran uses a new product from Fairy which takes the sting out of cleaning up. Curran says his number one time-saving hack when it comes to the washing up is Fairy Platinum Plus Expert All In One Dishwashing Capsules. With these powerful capsules, there’s no need to pre-rinse before popping things in the dishwasher. Not even for the messiest of caked-on cheese and red sauce-coated lasagne dishes. And no one likes cleaning those.

Top time-saving kitchen hacks: put used coffee grounds in the fridge to repel odours
For more sustainable uses for coffee grounds, check out this advice from Seven Miles Coffee Roasters.

Kitchen hack #7: repelling fridge odours

Mama Mila has a top trick for keeping your fridge smelling fresh. Simply pop some leftover coffee grounds into a small bowl and place it in the back of your fridge. The coffee will repel any unwanted odours in between cleans to ensure everything stays smelling sweet.

Want more kitchen hacks? Try these easy at-home eco hacks to up your green game and this advice on how to minimise waste this Christmas season.