Unorthodox uses

[Jeekinz]

I use plastic shopping bags to pound out chicken breasts instead of wasting my plastic wrap.

 

[ella/TO]

stop me if you've heard this. Use a small jar/glass....put in about 1/2" cider vinegar, plus a couple of drops of dish detergent, mix well, and watch the fruit flies get caught!

 

[Constance]

Here's a whole slew of them! For instance, did you know that Listerine will clear up toenail fungus?

Helpful Hints ~ Natural Remedies

 

[B'sgirl]

I use a toothbrush to clean out hard-to-reach places like the groove where my bosch bowl attaches to the base. I use a Pampered Chef orange peeler to scrape the seeds out of serrano peppers.

 

[BreezyCooking]

I use a Ziploc bag when I have to pound a large number of chicken or turkey cutlets, leaving a small part of the top open to allow air to escape. The plastic is thicker than regular plastic wrap, so if I have to do cutlets in batches it lasts, & any expelled juices remain in the bag.

 

[LibraryLady]

... Use unflavored dental floss to cut soft cheese, like chevre, buffalo mozz, etc. I really like the bit about wrapping the floss around pencils, since I've been known to try to use floss to cut some harder cheeses, like guoda, etc., and end up just cutting my fingers...

I never thought to use the pencil method for the harder stuff, it was just a good way to accurately cut the cakes. That sound like a great idea!

Another use for unwaxed, unflavored dental floss: use it to tie up your bird before roasting. (You can floss its teeth, too.)...

It's soooo important to make sure your roasted bird has clean teeth before roasting - makes the bird taste so much better!

LL

 

[BreezyCooking]

Oh, & another unorthodox use, although it isn't cooking related, is during the winter I use an extra-large mesh kitchen strainer to remove the ice chunks from my horses' water troughs after I've sledgehammered them - lol!!!

 

[expatgirl]

A large water-filled bottle makes a great rolling pin in a pinch

 

[Barbara L]

To make graham cracker crumbs, put the graham crackers into a ziplock bag and seal. Use your rolling pin to break them up into crumbs.

I use an infant spoon to fill deviled eggs.

Barbara

 

[lindatooo]

After I open a container of ice cream I cover the top with plastic wrap before replacing the lid. Keeps the Ice Cream fresher.

If you need to soak a pan, place a fabric softener sheet into the hot water in the pan and it will help lift the residue.

I keep sliced green peppers for Philly Steak sandwiches in a baggie in the freezer. After they've been frozen they don't "haunt" you after the meal like they do when they are fresh

 

[lezah]

thanks guys there are great hassle, time and money savers in there!

next time my dentist asks if I've been using floss, I can say yes. Though it probably wont be what he had in mind, lol.

 

[jabbur]

Take one of the round containers you buy potato salad in at the grocery store. Line it with Saran Wrap/plastic cling wrap and use it to form your hamburgers or chicken burgers. Makes a perfect, round burger and they are individually wrapped so they can store if you don't want to cook a full pound at one time. (Learned from Guy Fieri and used many times. I love that man!!)

My MIL uses old plastic tub lids to make patties and leaves them in the lid to freeze.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Well, my step-mom had an interesting use for her salad spinner .... when she washed out panties, pantyhose, ace bandages or her TED stockings by hand she would use the salad spinner to give them a "spin dry" cycle.

I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't walked in on her doing it one day!

 

[GhettoRacingKid]

After I open a container of ice cream I cover the top with plastic wrap before replacing the lid. Keeps the Ice Cream fresher.

wait why would you put plastic wrap over and empty container?

what ice cream is there to keep fresh? I usually odnt see it for 24 hours after i eat it. if you know what I mean

 

[jabbur]

Well, my step-mom had an interesting use for her salad spinner .... when she washed out panties, pantyhose, ace bandages or her TED stockings by hand she would use the salad spinner to give them a "spin dry" cycle.

I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't walked in on her doing it one day!

I certainly hope she has one for laundry and one for food. I'd be hesitant to eat a salad at her place if she doesn't!

 

[Michael in FtW]

I certainly hope she has one for laundry and one for food. I'd be hesitant to eat a salad at her place if she doesn't!

Don't worry ... by the time I witnessed this exhabition of a senile parent's creative utalization of a kitchen tool I had been doing all of her cooking and salad prep for about 5 years (and I had my own salad spinner).

 

[AllenOK]

I mentioned this last year in my Beef Stock 101 thread.

In restaurant kitchens, we have what we call "Ice Wands". They are large, heavy-duty plastic bottles with an X-shaped cross-section to increase surface area. We fill these with water, freeze them (be sure to leave a little head space at the top so the bottle doesn't break), and use them to cool large batches of hot liquid by placing the bottles directly in the pot.

What I've done is to take a 2-liter pop bottle, remove the label, scrub it clean, and do the fill/freeze procedure. When I make stock, I'll plug the sink, place a cake rack in the bottom, the pan of hot stock, pour ice around the pan, put the frozen 2-liter in, then fill the sink with just enough cold water so that the fluid level in the pan is a little above the fluid level of the sink, so the pan doesn't float. I can chill 2 gallons of boiling-hot stock down to 40 degrees F in 30 minutes this way. The faster it goes through the Danger Zone, the less chance bacteria have to grow, and the stock will have a longer shelf life, although I'm going to freeze the stuff within a few days anyway.

 

[Leolady]

I use a sewing seam ripper in the kitchen to open pesky plastic wrapped packaged foods easily.

I use a Mrs. Butterworth plastic bottle for my liquid dish soap. It look cute sitting on the cabinet.

I use vintage aqua glass canning jars and other matching bottles and jars for canisters and other kitchen storage.

The old Gardenway kitchen carousels hold my utensils and spin to make access easy. They were originally for garden hand tool storage and are sturdier and more spacious than those storage carousels designed for kitchen use.

I use an old Brita filter water dispenser to hold lemonade and tea in the refrigerator. You can have one for tea and one for lemonade and stack them.

A white wicker bath wall caddy sits beside the range to hold larger jars of spices and seasonings.

A white wicker mirror frame with the mirror removed now has cork board covered in my kitchen fabric and is attached to the refrigerator with magnet strips to hold notes and shopping lists.