I had enough "oh wow" moments that I just felt compelled to post
December 26, 2023 4:44 PM Subscribe
The awkwardly titled Nobody Believes But It REALLY WORKS! 15 Brilliant (+1 FREE) Chef's Secrets Work Like CRAZY Magic! is 11 minutes of things that people might find useful in the kitchen. I hadn't heard of this channel before, but apparently Websppon World has over 1M subscribers, so I'm both late to the game and the YouTube algorithm is a slacker. The different tips are chapter linked in the "more inside" part of the video description.
There are a lot of great things in this video I'm going to try to incorporate into life, but the one that really blew my mind, honestly, was taking the garbage bag, opening it up, putting it open over the top of the garbage can, and then just pushing your hand down the middle to get it into the can with the right amount of overhang. I'm over a half-century old, and I'm mind-blown about this.
There are a lot of great things in this video I'm going to try to incorporate into life, but the one that really blew my mind, honestly, was taking the garbage bag, opening it up, putting it open over the top of the garbage can, and then just pushing your hand down the middle to get it into the can with the right amount of overhang. I'm over a half-century old, and I'm mind-blown about this.
The trash bag thing (both bag storage and how to put one in the basket) seems like a universally known thing, but if someone learns these things, that's a win.
But if your air fryer is getting that disgusting maybe you're just using it wrong.
I do want to see if the mask trick helps my spinach last longer by absorbing moisture.
posted by Ayn Marx at 5:22 PM on December 26, 2023
But if your air fryer is getting that disgusting maybe you're just using it wrong.
I do want to see if the mask trick helps my spinach last longer by absorbing moisture.
posted by Ayn Marx at 5:22 PM on December 26, 2023
I knew the garlic bulb ones. I liked when he cut the cheese.
posted by Czjewel at 6:08 PM on December 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Czjewel at 6:08 PM on December 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
He shows you how to crush a garlic clove between parchment paper with a jar as a blunt object… and then suggests using a garlic press to crush black pepper when you have no grinder. So this is assuming a cook who has parchment paper but no chef’s knife to smash and chop garlic, or has a garlic press but no pepper grinder.
It’s nice to see a cooking video that is neither a twenty minute anecdote about aspirational lifestyle nor a repackaged series of hack clips made by a content farm. I do like that the videography is well paced and the instructions are clear. It’s just sometimes very silly to think of the intended audience.
I also wish that we could all get together and stop using the word “hacks”. These are learned skills. A person who makes enough cheese platters that they are concerned about slice evenness is either going to purchase a tool like a cheese slicer or mandoline attachment, or they are going to develop their knife skills with repetition. If you need to juice a lot of lemons you find that a reamer or citrus juicer or just a fork can do a better job than squeezing with just your hands, no metal bottle cap needed, but I guess comparing any tool that presses on the inside of the cut lemon vs applying external force through the peel is no going to have such a noticeable visual. Learning how to clean your cooking tools like your air fryer basket, or use them to good effect, like microwaving potatoes to dramatically speed up cooking time, are all skills and knowledge. They aren’t tricks or hacks, you are not bamboozling Big Kitchen. You’re watching other cooks and learning, or trying things at home and figuring out if developing precision control works best or if you prefer using additional tools for a task, in which case making or buying one becomes the next choice.
Okay I’ll stop being grumpy. A good kitchen skill I’ve impressed other people with is how to hygienically get raw meat into a baggy for freezing after portioning it. Take your meat and place it onto your cutting board and cut it into portion sizes you want for freezing (or have a couple chicken thighs left over from the package like I typically do). Wash your hands and then open however many bags as you have portions. With your non-dominant hand, push the bottom of the bag up through the open top and keep your hand in there. You want the zipper edge to be below your fingers, usually around your palm or wrist. Then grab the meat with your baggy’d hand. Hold the zipper edge with your dominant hand and pull the bag right side out again. Place it on the clean counter and use your still clean hands to close it up, repeat. Skilled readers will note the resemblance to cleaning up dog messes on walks, but with careful attention paid to keeping the outside of the baggy clean, so you are more confident about food safety both on your counter and in your fridge.
posted by Mizu at 6:13 PM on December 26, 2023 [20 favorites]
It’s nice to see a cooking video that is neither a twenty minute anecdote about aspirational lifestyle nor a repackaged series of hack clips made by a content farm. I do like that the videography is well paced and the instructions are clear. It’s just sometimes very silly to think of the intended audience.
I also wish that we could all get together and stop using the word “hacks”. These are learned skills. A person who makes enough cheese platters that they are concerned about slice evenness is either going to purchase a tool like a cheese slicer or mandoline attachment, or they are going to develop their knife skills with repetition. If you need to juice a lot of lemons you find that a reamer or citrus juicer or just a fork can do a better job than squeezing with just your hands, no metal bottle cap needed, but I guess comparing any tool that presses on the inside of the cut lemon vs applying external force through the peel is no going to have such a noticeable visual. Learning how to clean your cooking tools like your air fryer basket, or use them to good effect, like microwaving potatoes to dramatically speed up cooking time, are all skills and knowledge. They aren’t tricks or hacks, you are not bamboozling Big Kitchen. You’re watching other cooks and learning, or trying things at home and figuring out if developing precision control works best or if you prefer using additional tools for a task, in which case making or buying one becomes the next choice.
Okay I’ll stop being grumpy. A good kitchen skill I’ve impressed other people with is how to hygienically get raw meat into a baggy for freezing after portioning it. Take your meat and place it onto your cutting board and cut it into portion sizes you want for freezing (or have a couple chicken thighs left over from the package like I typically do). Wash your hands and then open however many bags as you have portions. With your non-dominant hand, push the bottom of the bag up through the open top and keep your hand in there. You want the zipper edge to be below your fingers, usually around your palm or wrist. Then grab the meat with your baggy’d hand. Hold the zipper edge with your dominant hand and pull the bag right side out again. Place it on the clean counter and use your still clean hands to close it up, repeat. Skilled readers will note the resemblance to cleaning up dog messes on walks, but with careful attention paid to keeping the outside of the baggy clean, so you are more confident about food safety both on your counter and in your fridge.
posted by Mizu at 6:13 PM on December 26, 2023 [20 favorites]
Metafilter: I liked when he cut the cheese.
posted by stevil at 6:16 PM on December 26, 2023 [18 favorites]
posted by stevil at 6:16 PM on December 26, 2023 [18 favorites]
Holy moly some of those “hacks” are bad ideas. Don’t microwave-steam potatoes in a random plastic bag that’s probably not designed to be microwave safe and thus will leach out some of its constituent chemicals! Not to mention that washing plastic bags to a food safe level is a real pain. Use a microwave steaming dish that’s actually made for that purpose (such things used to come with microwaves, still do in some cases); and poke a few holes in each potato with a fork as well, to ensure they don’t explode.
Also, having known people who worked in bottling plants, don’t use a bottle cap as a lemon juicer. At least not without cleaning it very very well first. If the cap is on a bottle, it’s probably going to corrode a bit from the acidic lemon juice, too, which will make it harder to unscrew from the bottle. So you’d also need to take the cap off the bottle after using it as a juicer, clean it again, and wipe the threads on the bottle itself before screwing the cap back on and putting your bottle back away. That is not a time-saving hack over just squeezing the lemon, or using a regular old citrus juicer.
A small open box of baking powder is a better fridge odor reducer - and way easier to assemble - than … a surgical mask cut open on one side, with the metal nose piece removed, and stuffed with folded-up paper towel??! Use the baking soda also for cleaning around the kitchen and it will get used up around the time it gets to the end of its usefulness for odor absorption.
And who has a garlic press but not a pepper grinder?? Or a food processor or a coffee grinder, at least?! A makeshift mortar and pestle with a small metal mixing bowl and anything clean that can be used in place of the pestle would be less effort, even than trying to crush peppercorns with a garlic press - the levers on a garlic press are too short to give you enough mechanical advantage for crushing something as hard as a peppercorn, for anyone not built like that YouTube guy. But here’s an actual kitchen hack: a coffee grinder and a spice mill are exactly the same thing, and a pepper grinder is just a manual spice mill, same as a manual coffee grinder.
The jar shaking method for peeling garlic will also only work for certain types of garlic (some have harder skins), and likely also requires arms like that dude’s to shake vigorously enough. At least crushing the garlic is a well-known tip to help peel garlic, but you can just use the flat of your knife to just gently crush them enough to break the skin up a bit. (With harder-skinned garlics like many of the local garlic available to me, if I cut the end off but keep the knife pressed down while pulling the garlic away, then the bottom section of the skin comes off. Flip garlic clove over and repeat on the other side and end. Garlic cloves usually have three sides, so that just leaves the one little side to peel, but it will already be started once the other two sides are gone.)
Keeping your unused roll of garbage or recycling bags in the bottom of the garbage bin works if you have generally clean garbage or recycling. If you’re the sort of person who throws wet/damp items or food in your garbage, or if you find you need to clean your garbage or recycling container out periodically despite using bags, that will get pretty gross and annoying. Though with his method of putting the bag in, you end up turning the garbage bag inside-out so at least any grossness would end up on the inside of each in-use bag, I suppose. You still have to handle it as you’re unwrapping the next bag off of the roll, though.
posted by eviemath at 6:27 PM on December 26, 2023 [13 favorites]
Also, having known people who worked in bottling plants, don’t use a bottle cap as a lemon juicer. At least not without cleaning it very very well first. If the cap is on a bottle, it’s probably going to corrode a bit from the acidic lemon juice, too, which will make it harder to unscrew from the bottle. So you’d also need to take the cap off the bottle after using it as a juicer, clean it again, and wipe the threads on the bottle itself before screwing the cap back on and putting your bottle back away. That is not a time-saving hack over just squeezing the lemon, or using a regular old citrus juicer.
A small open box of baking powder is a better fridge odor reducer - and way easier to assemble - than … a surgical mask cut open on one side, with the metal nose piece removed, and stuffed with folded-up paper towel??! Use the baking soda also for cleaning around the kitchen and it will get used up around the time it gets to the end of its usefulness for odor absorption.
And who has a garlic press but not a pepper grinder?? Or a food processor or a coffee grinder, at least?! A makeshift mortar and pestle with a small metal mixing bowl and anything clean that can be used in place of the pestle would be less effort, even than trying to crush peppercorns with a garlic press - the levers on a garlic press are too short to give you enough mechanical advantage for crushing something as hard as a peppercorn, for anyone not built like that YouTube guy. But here’s an actual kitchen hack: a coffee grinder and a spice mill are exactly the same thing, and a pepper grinder is just a manual spice mill, same as a manual coffee grinder.
The jar shaking method for peeling garlic will also only work for certain types of garlic (some have harder skins), and likely also requires arms like that dude’s to shake vigorously enough. At least crushing the garlic is a well-known tip to help peel garlic, but you can just use the flat of your knife to just gently crush them enough to break the skin up a bit. (With harder-skinned garlics like many of the local garlic available to me, if I cut the end off but keep the knife pressed down while pulling the garlic away, then the bottom section of the skin comes off. Flip garlic clove over and repeat on the other side and end. Garlic cloves usually have three sides, so that just leaves the one little side to peel, but it will already be started once the other two sides are gone.)
Keeping your unused roll of garbage or recycling bags in the bottom of the garbage bin works if you have generally clean garbage or recycling. If you’re the sort of person who throws wet/damp items or food in your garbage, or if you find you need to clean your garbage or recycling container out periodically despite using bags, that will get pretty gross and annoying. Though with his method of putting the bag in, you end up turning the garbage bag inside-out so at least any grossness would end up on the inside of each in-use bag, I suppose. You still have to handle it as you’re unwrapping the next bag off of the roll, though.
posted by eviemath at 6:27 PM on December 26, 2023 [13 favorites]
So I guess the thumbnail of a block of cheese sitting on toilet paper was just for rage bait. Cos yuck.
posted by jabah at 6:49 PM on December 26, 2023
posted by jabah at 6:49 PM on December 26, 2023
Don’t microwave-steam potatoes in a random plastic bag that’s probably not designed to be microwave safe and thus will leach out some of its constituent chemicals!
I had exactly the same reaction to that. Now, will it kill you on the spot? No, but still, that can't be good in the long term.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:57 PM on December 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
I had exactly the same reaction to that. Now, will it kill you on the spot? No, but still, that can't be good in the long term.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:57 PM on December 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
Parchment paper, what can't it do? I'm sick of doing dishes. I am going to start using it on my dinner plates when I serve dinner. Maybe line my coffee mug with it too.
posted by Czjewel at 7:22 PM on December 26, 2023 [14 favorites]
posted by Czjewel at 7:22 PM on December 26, 2023 [14 favorites]
You jest, but line your fridge with it.
posted by trig at 7:24 PM on December 26, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by trig at 7:24 PM on December 26, 2023 [4 favorites]
How to Cook That is a YT channel that has wound up specializing in debunking viral 'food hacks.'
Here's another one from Pro Chef Reacts.
Though he's a little enamored with himself these days, Josh Weissman has 50 Food Mistakes to Avoid and 100 Food Hacks I Learned in Restaurants.
From Gluten Morgen, 40 Hacks Bakers Don't Want You To Know (no One Weird Trick).
That Dude Can Cook has 7 Easy Ramen Noodle Hacks.
Tim Is Cooking has 3 Easy Flatbreads
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:35 PM on December 26, 2023 [10 favorites]
Here's another one from Pro Chef Reacts.
Though he's a little enamored with himself these days, Josh Weissman has 50 Food Mistakes to Avoid and 100 Food Hacks I Learned in Restaurants.
From Gluten Morgen, 40 Hacks Bakers Don't Want You To Know (no One Weird Trick).
That Dude Can Cook has 7 Easy Ramen Noodle Hacks.
Tim Is Cooking has 3 Easy Flatbreads
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:35 PM on December 26, 2023 [10 favorites]
at one point years ago, our fridge developed a pretty bad odor situation and I wound up (accidentally) buying a bunch of activated charcoal fishtank filters that actually worked real well for fixing the stink. I recommend it more than baking soda, I think
posted by DoctorFedora at 7:43 PM on December 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by DoctorFedora at 7:43 PM on December 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
And who has a garlic press but not a pepper grinder??
Random holiday cabins. I could see using some of these in a situation like that or "oops, my regular tool just broke and I can't go replace it because I have to finish cooking." But I would call many of them "in a pinch" solutions more than things I'd do regularly. The fork as cheese slicing guide one is maybe the strongest candidate for something I'll try to remember, for the rare occasion when I care about having uniform cheese slices.
posted by EvaDestruction at 8:36 PM on December 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
Random holiday cabins. I could see using some of these in a situation like that or "oops, my regular tool just broke and I can't go replace it because I have to finish cooking." But I would call many of them "in a pinch" solutions more than things I'd do regularly. The fork as cheese slicing guide one is maybe the strongest candidate for something I'll try to remember, for the rare occasion when I care about having uniform cheese slices.
posted by EvaDestruction at 8:36 PM on December 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
Peeling garlic:
I've tried all the hacks, but the only thing I have patience for is to pinch the clove between thumb and first finger (root end sitting on your thumb, back (convex side) of the pointy end against your finger. A seam will open on the concave side -- which you can use to remove most of the peel. Remove any remaining peel by cutting off the root end off, taking the rest of peel with it. I think this maybe sounds like more work, but I find it's the fastest way. Pinching the clove deforms it so the peel comes off easily. Similar to the smack-it-with-a-knife technique, but then you don't have to pick out little bits of peel because you hit it too hard or because the clove had a delicate peel.
posted by antinomia at 1:31 AM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
I've tried all the hacks, but the only thing I have patience for is to pinch the clove between thumb and first finger (root end sitting on your thumb, back (convex side) of the pointy end against your finger. A seam will open on the concave side -- which you can use to remove most of the peel. Remove any remaining peel by cutting off the root end off, taking the rest of peel with it. I think this maybe sounds like more work, but I find it's the fastest way. Pinching the clove deforms it so the peel comes off easily. Similar to the smack-it-with-a-knife technique, but then you don't have to pick out little bits of peel because you hit it too hard or because the clove had a delicate peel.
posted by antinomia at 1:31 AM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
5 seconds in a microwave and your hot little garlic clove will practically peel itself.
posted by vitabellosi at 4:08 AM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by vitabellosi at 4:08 AM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
10 kitchen tricks OSHA doesn't want you know about
5 professional kitchen secrets the Department of Health hasn't banned yet
7 (plus one!) utensils essential to proper spycraft
12 easy and delicious soup recipes and their surprisingly racist histories
Zazz up every recipe with this one simple trick (it's adding crushed glass!)
posted by logicpunk at 5:30 AM on December 27, 2023 [6 favorites]
5 professional kitchen secrets the Department of Health hasn't banned yet
7 (plus one!) utensils essential to proper spycraft
12 easy and delicious soup recipes and their surprisingly racist histories
Zazz up every recipe with this one simple trick (it's adding crushed glass!)
posted by logicpunk at 5:30 AM on December 27, 2023 [6 favorites]
Not so sure if I want to put potatoes in a PLASTIC bag in the microwave . . .
But the others were neat
posted by nostrada at 6:49 AM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
But the others were neat
posted by nostrada at 6:49 AM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
And who has a garlic press but not a pepper grinder??
Quite a few people, I would imagine. Grinding your own pepper was seen as a snooty restaurant thing until relatively recently, not something most home cooks would be inclined to do. I have both now, but I have definitely had the garlic press longer.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:15 AM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
Quite a few people, I would imagine. Grinding your own pepper was seen as a snooty restaurant thing until relatively recently, not something most home cooks would be inclined to do. I have both now, but I have definitely had the garlic press longer.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:15 AM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
And who has a garlic press but not a pepper grinder??
Me, until I was like, 50.
posted by JanetLand at 7:57 AM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
Me, until I was like, 50.
posted by JanetLand at 7:57 AM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
I've had a pepper grinder for years, but not a garlic press - I've never liked them.
In conclusion, kitchens are a land of contrasts
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:22 AM on December 27, 2023 [6 favorites]
In conclusion, kitchens are a land of contrasts
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:22 AM on December 27, 2023 [6 favorites]
5 seconds in a microwave and your hot little garlic clove will practically peel itself.
I saw the "30 seconds in a microwave" method in the video, but wondered whether it really needed to be that long. 5-10 seconds I'm willing to experiment with.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:23 AM on December 27, 2023
I saw the "30 seconds in a microwave" method in the video, but wondered whether it really needed to be that long. 5-10 seconds I'm willing to experiment with.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:23 AM on December 27, 2023
Garlic tip: Have silicone oven mitts? Put them on, roll garlic clove vigorously between your hands, peeled.
Those rubber grippy jar opening aids works too, but are harder to keep the garlic from popping out past the grippy and stabbing you in the palms with the sharp edges
posted by caution live frogs at 3:18 PM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
Those rubber grippy jar opening aids works too, but are harder to keep the garlic from popping out past the grippy and stabbing you in the palms with the sharp edges
posted by caution live frogs at 3:18 PM on December 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
jar opening aids
If metal (like a pickle jar), mildly tap the jar lid on the lip of your counter to slightly deform it and break the seal. It will then open without effort.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:02 PM on December 27, 2023
If metal (like a pickle jar), mildly tap the jar lid on the lip of your counter to slightly deform it and break the seal. It will then open without effort.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:02 PM on December 27, 2023
If metal (like a pickle jar), mildly tap the jar lid on the lip of your counter to slightly deform it and break the seal.
I have never successfully applied this method. Is this another thing I’d need a granite countertop for?
posted by eviemath at 8:29 PM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
I have never successfully applied this method. Is this another thing I’d need a granite countertop for?
posted by eviemath at 8:29 PM on December 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
my go-to jar-opening hack is to slide a spoon under the edge of the lid and pry slightly, just enough to let air in, after which point it becomes trivial to open the jar
posted by DoctorFedora at 12:52 AM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by DoctorFedora at 12:52 AM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
To open jars I take an old knife and stab through the top. If I don't use all the contents and need to store the jar, I put some tape over the slit in the lid.
posted by JanetLand at 7:19 AM on December 28, 2023
posted by JanetLand at 7:19 AM on December 28, 2023
To open a stuck jar I wrap an elastic band around the edge of the lid to make a better grip. Easy to open like that.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 8:36 AM on December 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 8:36 AM on December 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
In re-purposing common household tools for kitchen use hacks, clearly the best hack is to use your large plumber’s wrench that you have lying around from when you redid your toilet or other major plumbing to open your jar lid.
(Or am I doing the “hack” thing wrong because unscrewing tightly sealed things is basically what a wrench is for in the first place, so the “hack” in this case is too close to the tool’s intended use?)
posted by eviemath at 8:51 AM on December 28, 2023
(Or am I doing the “hack” thing wrong because unscrewing tightly sealed things is basically what a wrench is for in the first place, so the “hack” in this case is too close to the tool’s intended use?)
posted by eviemath at 8:51 AM on December 28, 2023
Is this another thing I’d need a granite countertop for?
Definitely not. With stone or concrete counters, I'd prefer to use the edge of a chopping block. Or to thwack it with the meat tenderizer, or the handle of some other implement. It's about slightly denting the lid in the right spot just above or just under the rim. Hit it from the side. As it were.
And the wrench isn't a likely hack for most people, as it's not an object commonly found in a kitchen in a pinch. In the same way as a counter edge or some other cooking implement.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:42 AM on December 28, 2023
Definitely not. With stone or concrete counters, I'd prefer to use the edge of a chopping block. Or to thwack it with the meat tenderizer, or the handle of some other implement. It's about slightly denting the lid in the right spot just above or just under the rim. Hit it from the side. As it were.
And the wrench isn't a likely hack for most people, as it's not an object commonly found in a kitchen in a pinch. In the same way as a counter edge or some other cooking implement.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:42 AM on December 28, 2023
Meanwhile jar keys work better and with less physical effort for me than any other method I've tried (which includes all of the ones above, except the wrench one. And, uh, the stabbing one.)
posted by trig at 1:40 PM on December 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by trig at 1:40 PM on December 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
MetaFilter: And, uh, the stabbing one.
posted by hippybear at 2:55 PM on December 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 2:55 PM on December 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
(The granite countertop quip was a callback to the discussion based on a slightly hyperbolic comment in another recent thread.)
posted by eviemath at 4:35 PM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by eviemath at 4:35 PM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
I kinda figured, but then I got worried about potential mishaps.
posted by snuffleupagus at 5:16 PM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by snuffleupagus at 5:16 PM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
The danger about doing callbacks to other threads even here on MetaFilter is that not everyone is as terminally online as you are.
posted by hippybear at 6:15 PM on December 28, 2023
posted by hippybear at 6:15 PM on December 28, 2023
I'm here to call out the garlic-in-the-microwave hacks. I can state this empirically, as I just finished microwaving a bunch of garlic all the way up to 30 seconds, after which peeling them was exactly no easier than if they'd never been in the microwave at all, and they were starting to steam themselves so I quit.
Same goes true with all other hacks, and I do mean all others - apart from smashing the cloves first (and even then it's still laborious).
Yes, I've tried that one.
And that one.
And that one.
And all the others. All. Of. Them.
Trust me, I HATE peeling garlic so I'm eager to find one - just one - "easy" hack that isn't either a useless falsehood or more hassle than just smash-and-peel. Apparently I don't live in the magical Land of Easy Peeling Garlic, and never have despite having lived in 3 different states in my adult garlic-peeling lifetime.
Anyway, I spent half a freakin' hour peeling six heads of garlic The Hard Way, and I hereby vow I'm going back to buying the pre-peeled vacuum packed whole garlic cloves. They're 3 or 4 times the cost of just buying garlic heads, but they really are just as good and I don't have enough time remaining on this earth to waste it peeling garlic like a chump.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:12 PM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
Same goes true with all other hacks, and I do mean all others - apart from smashing the cloves first (and even then it's still laborious).
Yes, I've tried that one.
And that one.
And that one.
And all the others. All. Of. Them.
Trust me, I HATE peeling garlic so I'm eager to find one - just one - "easy" hack that isn't either a useless falsehood or more hassle than just smash-and-peel. Apparently I don't live in the magical Land of Easy Peeling Garlic, and never have despite having lived in 3 different states in my adult garlic-peeling lifetime.
Anyway, I spent half a freakin' hour peeling six heads of garlic The Hard Way, and I hereby vow I'm going back to buying the pre-peeled vacuum packed whole garlic cloves. They're 3 or 4 times the cost of just buying garlic heads, but they really are just as good and I don't have enough time remaining on this earth to waste it peeling garlic like a chump.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:12 PM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm entirely curious what recipe Greg_Ace is pursuing if he's just spent 30 minutes peeling garlic.
I'm sure it will be delicious, but I have no recipe in any of my recipe books [and I have many] that ask me to peel garlic for a half hour.
posted by hippybear at 7:43 PM on December 28, 2023
I'm sure it will be delicious, but I have no recipe in any of my recipe books [and I have many] that ask me to peel garlic for a half hour.
posted by hippybear at 7:43 PM on December 28, 2023
You can be clueless about umpteen hundred various online trends and only read no more than one in four Metafilter posts, but you do one callback once in 14 years and suddenly it’s “Metafilter: not everyone is as terminally online as you are”.
/hamburger
As far as I can determine, there’s only a danger in doing callbacks if one needs the joke to actually land with other commenters, or is upset about providing explanatory context for anyone who didn’t read the previous thread or read it but didn’t happen think of it in the current context? If you’re not seeking validation or trying to be snooty or gatekeeping, it seems pretty low stakes to me. I also appreciate your worry about potential mishaps, and giving an entirely serious and well thought-out critique of the hack presented, snuffleupagus.
posted by eviemath at 8:36 PM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
/hamburger
As far as I can determine, there’s only a danger in doing callbacks if one needs the joke to actually land with other commenters, or is upset about providing explanatory context for anyone who didn’t read the previous thread or read it but didn’t happen think of it in the current context? If you’re not seeking validation or trying to be snooty or gatekeeping, it seems pretty low stakes to me. I also appreciate your worry about potential mishaps, and giving an entirely serious and well thought-out critique of the hack presented, snuffleupagus.
posted by eviemath at 8:36 PM on December 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm entirely curious what recipe Greg_Ace is pursuing if he's just spent 30 minutes peeling garlic.
Traditional pernil (Puerto Rican roast pork shoulder), but with LOTS of garlic goodness - 6 small heads for 16 lb of pork, and that's probably not really enough garlic if I'm honest. Don't @ me. Also I'll be smoking it, with cherry wood chunks, for added decadence. Try and stop me.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:50 PM on December 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
Traditional pernil (Puerto Rican roast pork shoulder), but with LOTS of garlic goodness - 6 small heads for 16 lb of pork, and that's probably not really enough garlic if I'm honest. Don't @ me. Also I'll be smoking it, with cherry wood chunks, for added decadence. Try and stop me.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:50 PM on December 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
I'm entirely curious what recipe Greg_Ace is pursuing if he's just spent 30 minutes peeling garlic.
I'm sure it will be delicious, but I have no recipe in any of my recipe books [and I have many] that ask me to peel garlic for a half hour.
Here is another recipe which calls for a little bit of garlic. I go closer to 60 roasted/40 unroasted.
Oh, and Greg_Ace? I am team vacuum sealed pre-peeled. Well worth the added expense.
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 7:23 AM on December 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm sure it will be delicious, but I have no recipe in any of my recipe books [and I have many] that ask me to peel garlic for a half hour.
Here is another recipe which calls for a little bit of garlic. I go closer to 60 roasted/40 unroasted.
Oh, and Greg_Ace? I am team vacuum sealed pre-peeled. Well worth the added expense.
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 7:23 AM on December 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by njohnson23 at 5:18 PM on December 26, 2023