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Questions tagged [food]

Hacks involving the general use and consumption of food, as well as the storage, preservation and transportation of food.

Hacks involving the general use and consumption of food. Questions with this tag may be also related to storage, preservation and transportation of food.

This tag is only for food intended for humans. Please tag food for , etc. accordingly.

See also: , , and

Cooking related questions are not on-topic here. See Seasoned Advice -- another Q&A site in the Stack Exchange network.

258 questions
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3 answers

How can I tell if an egg has gone bad without cracking it open?

Like anyone on the planet, I hate the smell of rotten eggs. How can I tell if an egg is bad without cracking it open? So far all I have tried is simply cracking it open and then throwing away the egg if it is bad, but that creates a bad smell and is…
Phlume
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21
votes
10 answers

Quick and dirty substitute for cream in coffee?

Has anyone found a palatable substitute for cream/creamer in coffee? I can't count how many times I've made up a cup of coffee, only to realize in horror that I don't have any cream/creamer. This morning I almost reached for margarine in…
Carcigenicate
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15
votes
9 answers

How do I easily divide dough into thirds?

I occasionally find myself with a lump of dough which I want to divide into three equally sized pieces (like for making 3 pizza bases). I could weigh it but it typically means getting the scales out and dirty and having to cut pieces off and…
ChrisWue
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12
votes
18 answers

How to decarbonate ("make flat") beverages more quickly?

For medical reasons, I am hoping to determine a method I can easily use to decarbonate beverages that I enjoy to help to significantly reduce the carbon dioxide bubbles of the beverage / pop / soda. The problem being I know only know a few solutions…
CRSouser
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11
votes
3 answers

How can I keep from squirting myself with ketchup whenever I use ketchup packets?

When eating lunch at my desk in the office I'll be squeezing some ketchup packets out onto my sandwich wrapper so that I can dip my fries in the ketchup, and eventually, without fail, one of them will shoot out at an angle or velocity I'm not…
Sterno
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11
votes
6 answers

How can I drain the water from a saucepan of pasta without a colander?

I sometimes find myself having to cook pasta without a colander. When it is cooked and I want to get rid of the water, I generally just hold the lid over the pan with a slight opening for the water to drain out and then tip it over the sink, but…
Flounderer
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10
votes
5 answers

How do I avoid the crumbs at the bottom of the cereal box?

Whenever a cereal box is close to empty, you come up with all the crumbs that have settled to the bottom. When pouring that last bowl of cereal, I really prefer to get the cornflakes, not the cornstarch (OK, it's not really starch, but you know, the…
Scimonster
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9
votes
2 answers

How to spread or melt hard butter

After taking the butter out of the fridge, it's cold and is very hard. How can I spread the butter while it's cold and hard, or melt it in order to spread it?
Unihedron
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8
votes
3 answers

How can I accelerate the ripening of bananas?

The supermarket only had very green bananas, and I would like to use them in a banana bread recipe ASAP. For this recipe, I typically use bananas that are very ripe (usually spotted) like this: How can I accelerate the time it takes for the bananas…
JSW189
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8
votes
1 answer

How do I decelerate the ripening of bananas?

I buy a bunch of bananas, but they usually go too ripe before I can finish all of them. Is there a way to make them ripen less quickly?
fredley
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7
votes
4 answers

How do I avoid veggies going soft after freezing?

We do eat a lot of capsicums and courgettes, but during the winter, the prices for those tend to shoot through the roof. So we typically buy them in summer while they're cheap and then chop them up and freeze them. However, after thawing, they end…
ChrisWue
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7
votes
4 answers

When dining alone at a restaurant, how can you indicate you're coming back when temporarily leaving the table?

I often dine alone at restaurants because I personally find it to be more convenient and tasty than preparing my own food. On occasion, though, I find that I have to temporarily leave the table in order to visit the restroom. Even though I might…
Cody Gray - on strike
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7
votes
4 answers

How to keep chewing gum's flavor?

After a while, the flavor from chewing gum goes away. Sometimes I will add another stick and keep chewing and other times I will swallow and then get another piece (maybe later), but both of these require more chewing gum. Is there a way to keep a…
Tim
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7
votes
2 answers

How can I untie this knot?

Common packages of potatoes in Sweden are sown shut with the knot shown in the picture below. As a child my father once showed me how to untie it by grabbing one or two ends of it and it would untie itself by just pulling. Now every time I have…
trmdttr
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6
votes
6 answers

How to easily start a fire in a charcoal for grilling without using gas?

Are there any life hacks for starting a fire in a pack of charcoal for grilling without using gas? I do have access to matches, lighters, etc.
Jaeger Jay
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