Julie Van Rosendaal: 11 kitchen hacks to streamline mealtime

Everyone loves a good kitchen hackthose little bits of advice that streamlinemeals,make baking easier or keep food fresher longer.

Here are a few tips and tipsIve picked up over the yearsfrom friends and relatives, as well as listenerssharing their best culinary advice through social media.

1) How to stop a pot from boiling over.

Putting a wooden spoon over a pot keeps it from boiling over.Really it works! Justlie the wooden spoon on top of your simmering pot.(As a bonus, youll know exactlywhere you left it.)

2) Keep brown sugar soft.

I've learned there are a couple way to do this, and oneis puttinga marshmallow in the bag. Another,storing itin the freezer.

3) Getting more fruit juice.

Microwave lemons or limes for 20 seconds to make them easier to squeeze and giveup more juice.

4) Making the best broth.

Make chicken stock in the slow cooker.When its a vigorous boil, the fat emulsifiesand you wind up with a cloudy soup. Most slow cookers will accommodate a chickencarcass, socover it with water, add veggie scraps if you like, and cook on low for six to eight hours.Strain and refrigerate or freeze.

5) Getting the most out ofwine.

Aerate your wine in the blender, or by pouring it back and forth between twopitchers. Americas test kitchen shared this trick forwhen you dont have time todecant your wine.Aerate it by blending on high for 30 seconds or pouring the entirebottle into a pitcher, then pouring it back and forth between two pitchers 15times.

6) Stay away from soggy greens.

Tuck a piece of paper towel into a box of greens to absorb excess moisture, whichwill make it go slimy faster. This also works with berries and other fragile produce.

7) Better tomato paste access.

Open both ends of a can of tomato paste, then push it out, rather than trying toscrape it out.

8) Better baking butter.

Grate cold butter rather than cutting it into flour when you make pastry,or if youwant to bake and need it to soften quickly.

9) Get the most out of herbs.

To preserve a surplus of fresh herbs, tear or roughly chop them and put them intoice cube trays, then cover with olive or canola oil and freeze. Pop out of the trays andinto zip-lock bags for longer storage.

10) Faster frying.

Chop a whole bag of onions or peppers at once, freeze in a ziplock bag, and pourdirectly from the freezer into the hot pan. Bonus: once frozen, veggies saut evenquicker.

11) The perfect ice cube.

If you want perfectly clear ice cubes, boil and cool your water first.