In the middle of cooking videos and obsessive air fryer worship, we seem to have lost an entire generation of real cooking wisdom. Your grandma didn't have sous vide machines, or a TikTok algorithm with the perfect recipes to follow — she had a cast iron skillet and some tricks to get dinner on the table every night. It turns out that many of those cooking tricks are still the most reliable ideas to use in a kitchen.
I’ve been gathering these over the years — some from my own mom, some from the Internet at 11 PM, and a few I found when I was trying to save a dinner disaster. My teenagers think half these are silly. My husband thinks salt belongs in a shaker, not a pot, and we disagree. Here are the 24 that I use, or wish I used more.
1. Salt Your Pasta Water Until It Tastes Like the Sea
There is no exaggeration that water for pasta should be saltier than the ocean before the noodles are added. The salt does not only season the pasta from the outside, it also works into the pasta's texture as it cooks. Most people have dinner bland because of under-salted pasta.
For 15 years, my husband has seen me do this and still seems worried every time I add the salt. “Is that too much?” Sir, we’ve been married 17 years. Trust the pasta water.
2. Save a Cup of Pasta Water Before You Drain
That cloudy, starchy liquid is liquid gold. Adding a splash to your sauce at the end will make it silky and help it stick to the noodles instead of pooling at the bottom of the bowl. It's an emulsifier, and Italian grandmothers have always known this.
I put a coffee mug next to the stove to help me remember. I forgot to get one for a decade. Every pasta dish I made for a decade was a little worse than it had to be. Don't be like me.
3. Rest Your Meat Before You Cut It
When the meat is taken off the heat, the juices are still moving around inside. If you cut it right away, the juices will run out and go straight onto the cutting board. If you rest it for five to ten minutes, the moving juices will go back inside the meat. The result will always be juicer, and you don’t have to do anything extra.
My teenagers keep complaining and will hover over a resting chicken like very hungry golden retrievers and wait for the "kill". Gigi the actual golden retriever is usually there too. We wait. It's worth it.
4. Put a Wooden Spoon Across the Boiling Pot
Be sure to place a wooden spoon across the top of a pot that is boiling over and collapse the bubbles on contact with the spoon handle. It's folklore; dry wood disrupts the surface tension of the bubbles, allowing you enough time to turn down the heat.
I learned this from my mom and it always seems to amaze everyone. My children seemed really impressed. And these are the same kids who are not impressed by anything, so that speaks to the quality of this trick.
5. Use Cold Butter for Flaky Pie Crust
When blended with warm butter, the dough becomes too smooth, and results in a mealy crust. Instead, use butter that is fridge-cold and cubed. This will create tiny gaps within the dough, which will later create layers when the pockets steam during baking. Some bakers will even freeze the butter and use a grater. That said, it's not a new technique as just pulling the butter from the fridge would do the same thing.
To be honest, I'm not a big pie crust fan. I've only made them about four times. But tip about the cold butter is what made the difference between a crust that I was proud of and one that I was embarrassed about.
6. Add a Pinch of Baking Soda to Tomato Sauce
A small amount of baking soda, about 1/8 of a teaspoon, can reduce acidity in tomato sauce and make it taste smoother and more rounded without adding sweetness. This is particularly helpful for cans of tomatoes that are sharper.
This completely changed my Sunday sauce routine. You add it in after the sauce has been simmering, and it bubbles up for a split second which looks a little scary but then it settles down and the whole pot smells incredible. My husband had two helpings and said nothing, which is high praise!
7. Toast Your Spices in a Dry Pan First
When you heat your dry skillet over medium heat, and then place some Cumin, Coriander, or Chili Powder in there for thirty seconds, you wake up these spices. While they may seem dormant and lose their ‘spice’ touch over time, they really have volatile oils that have been waiting to be released and have likely been waiting since at least 2022. Enjoy your renewed spices and just think, with the same spices as before, your dish will taste even more seasoned!
You can also use this as an opportunity to determine what spices in your cabinet have gone completely dead and need to be replaced. Anything that has no smell when it hits the pan is done for. There’s no coming back from that. Throw it out and head to Aldi.
8. Crack Eggs on a Flat Surface, Not the Bowl Edge
When you crack an egg on the side of a bowl, you cause jagged breaks in the egg shell, making small pieces of shells fall in. If you crack the egg on a flat surface, the shell pieces are less likely to get into the egg. Old school home cooks know this, as do professional cooks. It takes about a week to retrain yourself to do this, but it's worth it.
I changed a few years ago and have only gotten maybe three shell pieces out of eggs since then, compared to the previous roughly one hundred per year. My teenagers still crack on the bowl edge. This is their only real flaw. I am choosing my battles.
9. Sharpen Your Knife With the Bottom of a Ceramic Mug
Most ceramic mugs have an unglazed ring at the bottom which is a little abrasive. It is rough enough to serve as an improvised knife sharpener when the need arises. Simply hold the mug steady, and draw the knife across the ceramic ring at a shallow angle a few times on each side, and your knife will have a better edge. Of course, it doesn’t replace a real knife sharpener, but it most definitely works for a quick touch up.
I remember my mom showing me this and I thought she was joking until I actually tried it. Now, I do this about every single time I make dinner and get annoyed by the knife. Which is often. We have a lot of knives, but not a lot of good ones.
10. Keep Butter on the Counter in a Butter Crock
A butter crock keeps butter fresh at room temperature for up to 30 days. A small amount of water creates an airtight seal inside the crock. The water needs to be changed every few days to maintain the air seal. Clean spreadable butter can be enjoyed without waiting for the butter to soften or microwaving it. This method of butter storage is how people preserved butter for generations before the invention of the refrigerator.
My butter crock is one of my favorite kitchen items, and I've had it for three years. Cold butter on toast is a crime. Toast deserves butter that is spreadable and hasn't been in the microwave. I dare you to change my mind.
11. Freeze Leftover Tomato Paste in Tablespoon Portions
If you're like most people, you waste half a can of tomato paste because most recipes only call for one or two tablespoons of it. Here's a way to keep that from happening. Grab a sheet pan, lay down a piece of parchment paper, and drop tablespoon-sized portions of tomato paste onto it. Once they are all frozen solid, you can transfer them into a freezer bag. Whenever you need a tablespoon of tomato paste for a recipe, just pull one out.
It seems this is something an organized individual would do. I am not an organized person by nature, but I do this one because I have wasted about forty cans of tomato paste before I finally came to terms with the situation and created a system. Now I feel very smug about it.
12. Put Onions in the Freezer for 15 Minutes Before Cutting
When you cut an onion, the cells break, and they release gasses that cause you to tear up. It is true that a cold onion will release gasses more slowly. If you place the onion in the freezer for about 15 minutes, you will cry much less because the gasses released will have little effect on you. The flavor and texture of the onion will not be affected by this freezing method. Still an old-school tip.
I learned this in my late 30s, and I was honestly really annoyed that I was learning it so late. It was decades of crying into my soup for no reason! If you wear contact lenses and you cut onions, this is truly life changing (and not an exaggeration).
13. Add a Bread Heel to Your Brown Sugar to Keep It Soft
Brown sugar hardens because it loses moisture. Putting a slice of bread in the container — even just the heel you were going to throw away — adds back the moisture and keeps the sugar scoopable indefinitely. Just replace the bread every few days when it gets stale. The sugar will stay soft the whole time.
This is a tiny win in the kitchen that I love to do. I no longer have to chisel out sugar out of a block while trying to make cookies at 7 in the morning. My husband says this is pointless and thinks we can just put it in the microwave. I mean, he's not wrong. But this is better and I win!
14. Use a Rubber Band for Slippery Jar Lids
If the lid on a jar is stuck, try adding a thick rubber band around the lid. This will add some extra friction to the lid, which will help with grip and traction as you turn the lid. This method out performs many other methods such as jar openers, hot water, and towels. Plus, all the materials are in a junk drawer somewhere already and require no additional effort.
My husband likes to think he is the household jar opener. However, he’s not always around when a jar needs to be opened. The rubber band has silently solved this jar-opening problem without a ceremony. He doesn't need to know.
15. Deglaze the Pan — Those Brown Bits Are the Best Part
The dark bits that collect at the bottom of the pan after you sear meat or sauté veggies are the fond, and they are packed with flavor. Get some wine, broth or even water, add it to the hot pan, and scrape the bottom. This mixture becomes the base for your sauce or can be drizzled over the finished dish.
It only takes me ninety seconds to complete, and every time I do it, I feel like I have my life together! I feel great skipping it though, because I absolutely hate having to do it. Now, this might sound like a negative thing, but it really is not. I do love myself after all, don't I?
16. Store Fresh Herbs Like Flowers
Take some stems, place them in a glass with an inch of water, and put a plastic bag over the top. Place it in the fridge. This method keeps parsley and cilantro fresh for two to three weeks. On the other hand, basil likes to be kept at room temperature and does best on the counter. This is how old-school cooks used to keep their herbs before the plastic clam-shell era.
I buy herbs at the farmers market, and I have shed actual tears over wilted cilantro that I paid $3 for, used a single tablespoon of, and threw away. The jar method changed the game. I still lose basil at an embarrassing rate because I forget about it, but I have complete control over the cilantro situation.
17. Use the Wooden Skewer Test for Cakes
When checking if a cake has fully cooked, stick a wooden skewer or toothpick into the center. If the pick comes out clean or has only a couple of moist crumbs, it is done. If the pick has wet batter on it, it needs more time. Conversely, if the pick comes out completely dry, it may already be overdone. This is a simple, yet effective, alternative to a probe thermometer.
I always keep a small box of wooden skewers in the baking drawer because my daughter uses them for craft projects, my son uses them for cheese at parties, and I use them to test cakes. They are probably the most useful thing I have bought for $2.
18. Season in Layers, Not Just at the End
Salt added at different points in the cooking process, such as the onions, the proteins, and the sauce, creates layers of flavor. Salt added at the very end tastes harsh and sits on top of food rather than integrating. Traditional chefs were taught to season their food at every step of the cooking process without even thinking about it.
This is what makes the difference between “it tastes like something’s missing” and “I don’t know why this tastes so good.” In most cases, the answer is that you seasoned at every step and let the flavors develop. Or you added butter at the end. Usually, it’s both.
19. Put a Damp Paper Towel Over Leftover Dishes Before Reheating
Using a slightly damp paper towel when microwaving food helps trap steam and keep food from drying out during the reheating. It helps a lot with pasta, rice, and saucy meals since those foods tend to get gluey when reheated. This is an old grandma trick that is older than microwave safe covers.
Whenever my kids reheat food, they never cover the bowl, and every time we end up with a big dried-out ring around the bowl. I’ve taught them the trick. They’ve made their choice. I cover my food. My reheated pasta is better. The circle of life goes on.
20. Squeeze Lemon Over Cut Fruit to Prevent Browning
The lemon juice's acid slows the enzymatic browning on cut apples, avocados, and bananas. Even a slight squeeze of lemon juice buys you a few more hours of good-looking fruit. Old school cooks used this trick on fruit salads, party platters, and any other dishes that they made ahead. It doesn’t take much lemon juice to mask the flavor.
I feel super prepared when I do this every time I make a fruit tray. My teens think it’s funny when I do it in my own kitchen for a Tuesday snack. I do it anyway. I enjoy how the apple slices look. I don’t regret it.
21. Use a Potato to Fix Over-Salted Soup
If you take a peeled, raw potato and drop it into a pot of over-salted soup and let it simmer for about fifteen minutes, it will absorb some of the excess salt. Just remove the potato before you serve the soup. It won't be a miracle, but it will take some of the salt out and make it more palatable.
I’ve lost count how many times this trick has saved me. I tend to oversalt things when I’m cooking quickly and not paying attention (which is often). The potato trick has saved at least three pots of chicken soup from disaster. It has a permanent spot in my rotation.
22. Let Garlic Rest After Mincing
When garlic cloves are crushed or chopped, a chemical reaction occurs. This is due to an enzyme known as alliinase, which creates a compound called allicin. This compound, allicin, gives garlic its strong flavor and odor. This chemical reaction happens over a course of 10 minutes. Therefore, allowing chopped garlic to sit for a period of time, will result in a more intense garlic flavor.
I often start cooking by mincing the garlic so it has a chance to sit while I prep the rest of the meal. My husband eats garlic bread like a normal person and can't tell the difference, but to me it really does make an impact.
23. Keep a Parmesan Rind in the Freezer
While a wedge of parmesan won't melt, its rind can provide plenty of cheesy and delicious flavor to soups, stews and even tomato sauces. Those old-school Italian chefs would never throw them out! Simply store them in a bag in the freezer and toss one in any dish that could use an extra level of flavor!
I feel like I've really taken my cooking skills to the next level. I feel like I'm starting to grasp a deeper understanding of cooking. This soup is different; I can taste the change. It's almost impossible to put into words the chemistry, but I can undeniably taste the product, and for me, that's sufficient.
24. Add Butter at the Very End
If you want to create a silky, glossy texture for your dish, you can finish a pan sauce, risotto, or even a could of vegetables by stirring in a small knob of cold butter off the heat. It will round out the flavor of your dish as well. Some American home cooks call this technique “adding a little butter at the end” while French cooking calls it “monter au beurre.”
Around here, dinner is always okay, but when it's really good, chances are we added some extra butter at some point. My teenagers think this is how restaurants get food to taste better. And they aren't wrong. I'm not running a restaurant, but I have no problem stealing the trick.
Not every trick your grandma used is worth reviving. Some of the things she did were just what people did before better options came along. But this list? These are the ones that actually work. These are the ones that professional chefs still use, and these are the ones that do not require anything you do not already have in your kitchen. Outdated doesn't mean old school. Sometimes it just means it was right the first time.
Just adding two or three of these tips to your weeknight dinner routine will make your cooking better. And when people ask what’s different, just say you’ve been cooking more, no further explanation required! You can keep the secrets of pasta water, rubber bands, and surprise parmesan rinds to yourself.