Love Your Produce with These Chef Hacks
In honor of Valentine’s Day, we bring you chef hacks for our most beloved ingredients–produce. Treat them right with these storage and cooking tips.
Slow Tomato Rot
Store tomatoes upside down with the stem end facing downward. This prevents air from entering through the thin stem layer and keeps the moisture inside the tomato.
Carving Pumpkins?
Remove the seeds using an ice cream scoop instead of your hands or a spoon. The edges of the scoop are sharp and can cut through the inside flesh easier.
Smelly Hands
Neutralize the garlic or onion smell from your hands by rubbing them with lemon juice, baking soda, or stainless steel.
Produce Wash
Clean fruits and veggies without the harsh chemicals using home-made fruit wash. Mix baking soda and water together and spray on the fruit to remove grime, dirt, and pesticides.
Don’t Cry
Chopping onions? Reduce the tears by freezing the onion before chopping it. For added protection, put a piece of bread in your mouth (partially sticking out) to absorb the irritant gases before they hit your eyes.
Extend Your Banana’s life
Wrap plastic wrap around the stem of the fruit, blocking the ethylene gas from releasing and ripening the banana too fast.
OR – Speed Up Your Banana’s Demise
Speed up the ripening process by storing the fruit in a paper bag. The ethylene gas that gets trapped inside will speed up the ripening process.
Having Trouble Peeling a Banana?
Flip it over, press the bottom together until the skin breaks and peel the fruit upside down.
Pit Fruits
Cut stone fruits (fruits with a large, tough seed in the middle) into two equal halves, then twist the halves in opposite directions. Then, use your thumb to pop out the pit (if you’re having trouble, use a butter knife).
Juicy Fruit
Want to make citrus juicier? Refrigerate then microwave the fruit for 15-20 seconds and roll the fruit before you squeeze it.
Juice That Fruit!
Prevent seeds from falling into your dish by wrapping your citrus in a cheesecloth before squeezing it.
If you like these chef hacks, then hold on tight. We got more!
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