Cooking hacks. We’ve all seen them on various social media sites, and we’ve all been lured to watching a video proclaiming to save time or simplify an overly-complicated technique. In my opinion, some hacks are just trying to sell us gadgets for specific tasks. Whenever I see a hack video or a gadget ad, I think of Rene Russo’s character from “Tin Cup.” When we meet her character, she’s laden with a variety of junk that’s supposed to make her a better golfer, but instead it just confuses and complicates the process. I think time-tested versatile techniques are vastly more useful than so-called hacks (but, if you’ve read anything I’ve written previously, you probably could have guessed that would be my opinion). Though, to be fair, there are some tricks kitchen folk use, but these are usually to avoid moving from our prep station or to avoid clutter, and not to magically complete a task.
This month, I decided to check the titles in our collection for books about kitchen hacks and see if any were worthwhile. I chose four titles to review. “Mad Genius Tips” by Justin Chapple, “Taste of Home Kitchen Hacks and Recipes That Go With Them” by Taste of Home, “Hack Your Cupboard” by Alyssa Wiegand, and “Kitchen Hacks” by Cook’s Illustrated. I thought I would read through each and give my opinions, highlight some of my favorite tips and point out some that did not impress.
“Mad Genius Tips” has dozens of tricks, most of them are quite useful. My favorite part of this book is that the “hacks” are categorized by the tool used. Each entry has a recipe that corresponds with the hack. The pictures are plentiful when necessary and humorous without being ridiculous.
Favorite Hacks: Roasting chicken in a bundt pan (similar to grilling over a can), and peeling cherry tomatoes using the oven. The section that demonstrates how to line a cake pan with parchment paper is very good.
Least Favorite Hacks: Making pancakes using a plastic bag to pipe batter (too wasteful), and cooking eggs in a waffle iron.
“Taste of Home Kitchen Hacks” is probably mistitled, to be honest. Interspersed amongst the 100+ recipes are shaded boxes of text highlighting “hacks”, “pro tips” and “how-tos.” The how-tos are very helpful, the pro-tips are insightful and the hacks are just very good ideas. It’s a really good book, though the layout feels cluttered. There doesn’t seem to be any consistency in where the special sections are located, which causes some recipes to be presented in a disjointed manner.
Favorite How-tos: Prepare and freeze compound butter (I think compound butter is a wildly underused item in home kitchens, you should take every opportunity to layer flavor), and using a dish towel to prevent slipping: using a wet towel to keep mixing bowl or cutting boards secure is something I do often.
Least Favorite Hack: repurposing used lids from powdered Parmesan containers on mason jar to make to-go container (I had to search pretty hard to find one I didn’t like enough to mention).
“Hack Your Cupboard” is aimed at those newly living on their own, i.e. college students and first-time apartment dwellers. As it is really not a gimmick book (despite the title), the “hacks” aren’t anything too interesting, they’re mostly common sense to anyone who has ever used a home kitchen. There are many “how-to” sections, and they’re all really important for the target audience. As a “hack book,” I dislike this one — as a “how-to book,” it is not bad. The tips are simple, the recipes are simple, but the food is mostly healthy, and the information is essential.
Favorite How-tos: There are sections explaining the basics of essential cooking techniques; saute, baking, roasting, etc. The information is clearly presented and the benefits of using that method are explained quickly.
Least Favorite How-to: Food safety is very quickly covered and no mention of protein cooking temperatures or how to properly cool foods to a safe storage temperature. This is a huge omission, in my opinion.
“Kitchen Hacks” is a densely-packed, well-organized, comprehensive tome of kitchen information, as you would expect from Cook’s Illustrated. On the other hand, as you would expect from Cook’s Illustrated, they do get a bit too “cute” or too tedious. Information is well-organized and color-coded. Photos are not regularly used, however there are frequent drawings to show the “hack.” This book is packed with information, and any cook will learn something from the contents, but the page size gives the impression it is a travelers’ book and the small print does not make for easy reading.
Favorite Hacks: It’s a simple one, but leaving a towel over the handle of a pan that has been removed from the oven (I did this in kitchens and at home to signal others the pan could be hot), and using a kitchen towel to help peel blanched tomatoes (this hack also works well with roasted beets).
Least Favorite Hacks: Using scissors to chop in the can of whole tomatoes, and “easy chili mincing” by using a garlic press. Just, no.
Overall, each book did roughly what it set out to do. I really wanted to rip into one of these “hack books,” but I continually found little bits of info that brought me back from annoyance. I still dislike the “hack” trend, but these four are useful, despite the term.
