How to Make a Stove Out of

Smelly foods are what make my culinary world "go 'round," so to speak. I grew up with fish sauce, learned to cook with and love fermented beans and veggies, and am one of the biggest garlic advocates I know... other than my husband, who thankfully shares the same smelly food s ...more

Chances are you've got a bunch of wooden takeout chopsticks doing nothing but cluttering up your utensils drawer. That's a darned shame, considering that chopsticks aren't just for shoveling food into your mouth—they're actually the best cooking tools a cook can have (plus the ...more

Food can smell great before, during, and after cooking. A pot of stew simmering away on the stove will tantalize you all afternoon, and there's nothing better than the smell of fresh-baked cookies lingering in the house for hours. One place you don't want to smell food? On yo ...more

Hopefully you never have to deal with a grease fire, but if it happens, how you handle it is important. A grease fire isn't like a regular fire, and trying to put it out the same way can make it worse. Grease fires are caused by letting oil get too hot, so the best way to prev ...more

Every home cook has their most-hated kitchen task. For me, peeling hard-boiled eggs and garlic are pretty high up there. Actually, peeling just about anything is, but for every annoying job, there's a shortcut to make it easier. From the folks at Household Hacker, here are 10 ...more

The beauty of a grilled cheese sandwich is that even a mediocre one still tastes pretty good (I find the same is true with pizza). However, chefs and cooking pros have come up with some great tricks that will turn a regular grilled cheese sandwich into something sublime. Once ...more

The next time you're out camping, whether it's outdoors in the wilderness or right outside in your own backyard, try this hack out for an effortless campfire all night long. While there is definitely some prep work involved, it's well worth it if you don't need a huge bonfire, ...more

It's that time of year again. The month after we exchange gifts, most of us tend to exchange germs. Cold and flu season always seems to creep up on us, often leaving us ill-prepared to deal with the ailments. For those of you suffering from fits of coughing and a sore throat ...more

As you get barbecuing this summer, you're likely to encounter a few grills that aren't exactly the cleanest. At parks or campgrounds and even on your friends' grills (or, um, your own), no one wants to place food on gunked-up grill grates. The leftover mess from previous barb ...more

Home chemistry is great, but what happens when you forget to label your chemicals? How do you know if you turned a clear glass of ammonia into a clear glass of unobtainium? Chemists have a tool for just that. Litmus paper are small bits of filter paper saturated with a reacti ...more

Mochi seems to be everywhere these days: as a topping at your local frozen yogurt shop, in ice cream balls (the green tea ones are heaven), and as colorful treats all over Instagram. It seems like mocha mania is in full force! Traditionally, it takes quite a bit of effort to ...more

After a stressful day, there's nothing more relaxing than a smooth glass of straight, room temperature whiskey to help unwind. On hot days, popping a few rocks in does the trick. And on cold days, hot toddies are truly amazing. If you've ever had a hot toddy, chances are you ...more

One of my least favorite tasks is crouching in front of the kitchen oven or gas heater, and burning my fingers as I try to restart the pilot light with regular matches. I end up cursing the fact that I don't own extra-long matches or a stove lighter, but then I never go out an ...more

When I first started cooking, there were a few steps I always skipped in recipes. I never added zest to anything because it seemed like too much trouble, I rarely separated wet and dry ingredients in baking recipes because I was lazy, and I never let meat rest after it was don ...more

When there's no more pickles in the pickle jar, most of you probably dump the remaining brine down the drain and recycle the bottle. While recycling is commendable, throwing out good pickle "juice" is not. You can use that leftover liquid in cocktails, bread, and potato salad ...more

Soda bottle jello went viral when the popular YouTube channel AwesomeDisneyToys posted video directions for this revolutionary gelatin confection. I just had to try it out to see what the hype is all about. Video: . My takeaway: Yes, it really is as easy and fun as described i ...more

If there ever was a day to eat green candy, St. Patrick's Day would be it. But is there something better than the banality of green candy swarming the streets on St. Patty's Day? Yes—glowing green candy, and Instructables user BrittLiv wants us to show you how it's done. She ...more

Caramel is delicious, but it can be a tricky flavor to incorporate into baking. Traditionally, caramel is a liquid, and that doesn't always suit dessert preparation since adding extra liquid to baked goods can ruin them. So how do you get that buttery, toffee-like flavor? Ent ...more

Cleanliness is next to godliness. My interpretation of that age-old adage means that keeping your house clean is just as un-fun and boring as being a goody two shoes. That's why they call things like laundry and doing dishes "chores," I assume. Yuck. Lucky for you, though, we ...more

This sounds a little crazy, and it is—in a good way. Cooking food in the dishwasher while it cleans your dishes multitasks your appliance and saves time and energy. And who doesn't want to spend less time over a hot stove? How Dishwasher Cooking Works Most dishwashers wash on ...more

Butter can be even more delicious than it already is. While that may be a shocking claim, it's most definitely true. Many new cooks and even seasoned chefs don't realize this, but the few minutes it takes to do these things will pay you back exponentially when it comes to that ...more

It's nearly impossible to keep a stovetop clean when cooking, at least, in my experience. No matter what I do, liquid and solid food bits fall to the surface and around the burners every single time, creating a hard-to-clean mess. Scrubbing away the stains and crusty charred ...more

Other than providing a convenient vessel for your carbonated beverages so that they don't go completely flat, aluminum soda cans are also quite useful for a number of other things once they're completely empty. Remove the top and bottom part of the soda can to create a metal ...more

Greek yogurt has always been in my regular snack rotation. Packed with more protein than plain yogurt, it fills me up and stabilizes my energy with its low levels of carbohydrates and sugar. I have always tended to go the sweeter route, adding berries, honey, and coconut flak ...more

For me, the smoky brilliance of a good barbecue can't be beat. The way the smoke flavor seems to permeate every part of the meat is, in my opinion, the closest thing we have to food magic. Throw a piece of meat in a smoker with some select wood choices, wait a few hours, and s ...more

What Is Ferrofluid? Ferrofluid is a black, solvent-based liquid, that, in the presence of a magnetic field, becomes strongly magnetized. The fluid is made up of nanomagnetic particles coated with an "anti-stick" or surfactant compound, suspended in a "carrier", commonly an or ...more

Whether you've had them for years or bought them used off Craigslist, old appliances can always benefit from a facelift. One of the first things to go is usually the lettering on the knobs, buttons, and other surfaces that are frequently touched, leaving them faded and difficu ...more

I fry foods a lot. A LOT. We're talking wings by the dozen here. As a result, I go through a ton of frying oil. Now, frying oil isn't the most expensive ingredient out there, but it adds up when you fry regularly. Of course, I always reuse my oil, but straining it can be a hug ...more

You might think that you have your microwave all figured out, but chances are you don't know all of its secrets. Some microwave tricks are truly hidden; obscure information nowhere to be seen in the user manuals. Other tricks are hiding in plain sight, often overlooked or toss ...more

Ah, butter—the (literally) heart-stopping star of the dairy world. Everything tastes better with it, from pie crusts and cookies to veggies and steaks. Hell, you can even fry things in butter if you want the best-tasting fried foods of your (short) life. Don't Miss: Compound ...more

Don't Miss: How to Make Perfect Poached Eggs, Every Single Time Any Sunday morning is better with a sunny-side up egg. Unfortunately, while I've mastered my favorite breakfast sausage and waffle-making skills, I have yet to conquer the perfect technique for these runny-yolke ...more

Fairs and festivals are awesome, and one of the best parts about them is the food. Sure, it's all deep-fried and terrible for you, but it's so delicious. It's also always on a stick, which makes eating fried food even easier for us fat Americans. The trouble is, frying at hom ...more

Body hacks. So simple, so ingenious. They're the shortcuts in life. We love them, the internet loves them. Back in 2008, somebody named Alicia Goh wrote a friendster blog post that has been passed along far and wide. Her tricks of the body include quick solutions for an itchy ...more

The other day I was perusing my Instagram when I came upon a curious hashtag... #OnePotPasta. Intrigued, I investigated further and discovered a whole world that was previously unbeknownst to me. How was it possible, I asked myself, to cook pasta with all of the ingredients i ...more

Spills happen in the kitchen, and while every good cook knows to clean as you go, not every cook has an endless supply of cleaning materials. Besides, one spill can exhaust your entire stockpile of sponges, paper towels, and rags in a matter of minutes. Particularly egregious ...more

If you want to cut down on your sodium intake but don't want to get rid of all the salt in the kitchen, you're in luck. Salt has many unexpected uses, ranging from killing weeds to removing perspiration stains from garments to extending the shelf life of your new natural brist ...more

Ironing is a serious chore: hot, unpleasant, and frustrating all in one, but necessary if you don't want to look like you crawled out of bed just before work. While you might only turn to your flatiron when faced with wrinkled clothing, this little appliance packs the power to ...more

Everyone and his mother (and grandmother) has a chocolate chip cookie recipe that he swears is the absolute best recipe, guaranteed to produce a chocolate chip cookie so good it will make you weep with joy. The problem with that is that everyone—relatives included—has a differ ...more

Delicious hash browns are ridiculously easy to make at home. So skip the diner and save your money—use this salad spinner trick instead to make crispy and seasoned hash browns quickly and with ease. Don't Miss: The Potato Cheat Sheet: When to Use What Kind & Why Remove Excess ...more

We here at Food Hacks are all about saving you, our wonderful readers, time and trouble in the kitchen. So when I saw that Barilla had come out with their Pronto line of "One Pan, No Boil, No Drain" pasta, I had to give it a try. While no-boil lasagna noodles have been around ...more

Cookies 'n' Creme is one of Hershey's most popular candy bars, right behind their classic milk chocolate bar, Kit Kat, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. We've got a whole lotta love for this creamy, crunchy creation. So much love, in fact, that we decided to replicate this supe ...more

Preparing and serving seafood can be a daunting task. Fish is so delicate that one extra minute of heat can turn a juicy, flaky filet into a dried-out disaster. But that same fragility also allows us to use unconventional methods to chemically transform the fish into its cooke ...more

The big fireworks day is almost here, but most of you are limited in what you can do when it comes to celebrating the Fourth of July with a bang. Unless you live in a dry area prone to wildfires, one type of fireworks you can probably still legally buy are sparklers. But why ...more

I recently wrote about fast food fakeouts you can make at home, but people cannot live off fast food alone. Sometimes you need to step up your game a little and enjoy the fare at a popular chain restaurant with a bit more variety to its menu. Don't Miss: Check Out These 5-St ...more

Barbecue season: it's the perfect time to play with fire, produce your best burger ever (until next year, that is), and find even more ways to make beer a part of your daily life. However, even a grilling badass occasionally gets stumped by minor BBQ problems. No worries: We'v ...more

Do you ever walk into a nice boutique, a friend's house, or a fancy restaurant, and think, “I wish my house smelled like this”? Because I sure do. The problem is that most people rely on candles to scent their homes and rooms. Don't get me wrong, I love candles, but they have ...more

You can make homemade pizza with a minimum of tools, or you can buy the entire yuppie menagerie (and let's face it—if you're a foodie, you probably want the toys). Below is a brief rundown of the different options available. Since I'm a relative beginner to the process, I've a ...more

A ziplock freezer bag full of raw egg yolk and chopped up vegetables in a pot of boiling water may not sound like the most appetizing way to make an omelet, but this technique definitely works when you're camping and don't have a stove. There are tons of things you can do wit ...more