12 Timeless Grandma Tips

Does your grandma know best? When it comes to cooking, I bet grandmas everywhere could give the experts a bit of advice!

Grandmas have picked up many tips and tricks from their years of kitchen experience that are still very relevant today.

Here are the most popular:

1. Follow directions – then experiment next time

When you cook a recipe for the first time, it pays to follow the directions and measurements exactly. This means you’ll get to know how to tweak it to your tastes in the future.

2. Don’t Rush

Trying to cook in a mad rush means you’ll likely end up with a big mess through missed ingredients or steps. You could even cut yourself on a knife through carelessness, so slow down and take your time.

3. Patience Makes the Perfect Gravy

Good gravies have a cornstarch slurry added to a sauce or stock, but you need to add it only a little at a time. You don’t know how thick the gravy is going to be until it comes to a full boil, so if you add it all at once, you may end up with gravy so thick you could cut it with a knife!

4. Always Brown Meat First

If you are making a dish with meat or poultry, always take the time to brown it first before putting it in the oven or slow cooker. It not only tastes better; it looks more appetizing too.

5. Avoid Onion Tears

After you cut an onion, rub your hands on a metal kitchen faucet to remove the smell and stop tears. This one might actually be a myth, but it sounds good.

6. Add Chips as a Topping

Towards the end of baking time for a savory dish, crumble potato chips on the top and cook for a few more minutes. The chips give your dish a browned top with a great texture and crunch.

7. Smash Those Cucumbers

If you smash cucumbers up before cooking, it removes the seeds, tenderizes the flesh, and helps them to absorb flavor.

Cut the cucumbers into 2 in. lengths, and lay skin side up on a chopping board. Place the side of a rolling pin, or flat of a chef’s knife over the cucumbers, and whack down firmly but gently with the heel of your hand – just like when you crush a garlic clove.

8. Use Acidity to brighten flavors

Add ½ teaspoon vinegar or squeeze of lemon at the very end of cooking lentil, bean, or broth-based soups. The acidity brings the flavors to life and brightens the taste of the dish.

9. Spam and Eggs

If you want your scrambled eggs to have a rich, salty pork flavor, add some minced Spam!

10. Always Have Something to Serve Unexpected Guests

Grandmas always seem to have something nice for visitors to eat, however unexpected they may be. It pays to have some store cupboard staples around to help you whip up a quick meal.

11. Do Dishes the Smart Way

Clean your countertops before you wash up, so if you need to use them to store an overflow of clean dishes or a pot that won’t fit on the rack, you’ll have a nice clean space to put them.

12. Clean Your Fridge

If you wipe off the tops, bottoms and lids of condiment jars, food containers and milk jugs before putting them back in the fridge, you’ll help keep the surfaces cleaner for longer.