Tepid water

Tepid water is a mixture of two parts cold water to one part boiling water and is frequently used in breadmaking.

Steam release

Before tilting the lid of a covered pot to strain the liquid from the now-boiled contents, first remove the lid entirely to dissipate the excess steam; otherwise, that steam will escape from the other end of the tilted-lid and likely scald any unfortunate body part above it.

Salt water, pasta

Salt prevents pasta from sticking while cooking. Salt water has a lower boiling point and will reach a boil faster. Therefore, add the salt to the water in order to expediate the cooking process.

Hand mixing

Before mixing ingredients with your hands, be sure to remove your jewelry and/or watch(es).

Pan greasing

When a recipe calls to grease a pan and there is no cooking spray available, take a chunk of butter and use a paper towel to smear it by hand. Your hand will stay relatively clean and the towel will absorb the butter, aiding the greasing process.

Eliminating onions' smell

If you don't like the watery-eye-inducing odor when cutting onions, refrigerate the vegetable beforehand.

PB&J "Bag"

A good way to prevent a messy PB&J is to cover both in-sides of the bread with peanut butter, spread to edge. Be sure to place the jelly in the middle of one side of bread without letting it reach the edge. This way, when the two slices are pressed together the peanut butter will seal the jelly inside.

Lettuce Shelf-Life

A head of lettuce lasts longer than a bag of chopped lettuce.

Pepper residue

When handling spicy peppers when cooking be sure to wash your hands when you're done, especially before you use the restroom.

Adding shortening

When adding cornstarch/flour to thicken a liquid, mix the shortening powder in a small amount of water and whisk it to break up the clumps that form. Afterwards, pour the homogenous mixture into the liquid.

Breaded chicken

Breaded chicken involves dipping the chicken in a beaten egg and breadcrumbs and then baking it. However, you must keep the beaten egg and breadcrumbs in separate bowls- consolidating them to one creates an unusuable breadcrumb/egg paste.

Burger patties

If you're molding burger patties by hand, make sure the patties are shaped are flat and wide, with a larger diameter than the burger you intend to eat after the cooking process; the heat from the stove will cause the burger to shrink inwards, altering the raw patty to become smaller and fatter.

Hamburgers on a pan

If you're cooking hamburgers in a pan (as opposed to on a grill) you do not need to apply a non-stick coating to the pan; ground beef has fat content which is released during the cooking process, which prevents the meat from sticking to the pan.

Boiling Eggs

If you place an uncooked egg into a pot of boiling water, the egg will crack due to its fluid interior going from hot to cold quickly, thus expanding just as quickly, in the process. If you're going to boil eggs, have the eggs in the water as you're boiling the water.

Spaghetti cooking duration

For optimal spaghetti cooking, boil a pot of water. Once the water's boiling, place spaghetti into the pot. Then, once the pot is boiling again, time the spaghetti for 15 minutes.