But in the era of the Internet, such life hacks become more and more popular, which makes it increasingly difficult to figure out which hacks are good and bad. Are all these kitchen myths really as good and effective as they\u2019re said to be?\n

Myth \u2116\u00a01: To\u00a0make dough thicker, you need to\u00a0mix soda with vinegar.\n\n
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To debunk this myth, we didn\u2019t actually bake any buns, but rather, we remembered our lessons from chemistry class. So, in order for soda to be used as a baking powder, it needs an acidic environment. But it was common practice in the \u201960s for housewives to mix the soda with vinegar (apparently, it was at hand most often). As a result of the reaction, carbon dioxide would be released, adding a little puff to the dough. However, the problem with this is that carbon dioxide would escape before getting to the dough.\n
Ideally, you need to mix soda with dry ingredients and acid, then with liquid, and quickly mix both parts and bake. However, in this method, it\u2019s better not to use vinegar, but instead, use sour cream, buttermilk, or lemon juice as an acid instead \u2014 or simply buy a bag of baking powder. We think this method is better left in the past.\n
Conclusion: It does not work.\n
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Myth \u2116\u00a02: To\u00a0make eggs easy to\u00a0shell, you need to\u00a0put them into cold water after cooking.\n\n
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Hard-boiling eggs perfectly so\u00a0that the shell can be\u00a0easily removed is\u00a0a\u00a0form of\u00a0art.\u00a0Just immersing eggs in\u00a0cold water is\u00a0clearly not enough.\n
Chef\u00a0Kenji Lopez-Alt\u00a0has cooked thousands of\u00a0eggs over the past few years to\u00a0find the perfect cooking technology.\u00a0He\u00a0advises dropping eggs into boiling water\u00a0\u2014 and not cold, despite what everyone is\u00a0used\u00a0to.\u00a0We\u00a0did this ourselves! The eggs were really cleaned better when they were brewed in\u00a0boiling water. However, you must be\u00a0attentive because at\u00a0different temperatures, eggs can simply crack.\n
Here are a\u00a0few more secrets:\n
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The fresher the egg, the harder it\u00a0is\u00a0to\u00a0peel off the shell.\n
Ready eggs should be\u00a0placed in\u00a0ice cold water for at\u00a0least 15\u00a0minutes, and then cleaned under cold running water.\n
To\u00a0make sure eggs are 100% not going to\u00a0crack, try cooking them in\u00a0couples. Kenji claims that this is\u00a0the perfect way of\u00a0cooking them.\n\n
Conclusion:\u00a0It\u00a0works, but only if\u00a0all the other rules are followed.\n
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Myth \u2116\u00a03: To\u00a0make a\u00a0dirty pan easy to\u00a0clean, you need to\u00a0boil saline solution in\u00a0it.\n\n
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Old cookbooks advise housewives to clean a burnt pan in the following way: add some water, a lot of salt and boil it all together. Alas, this advice did not ease the unfortunate fate of our poor saucepan: the dirt remained exactly as it was. In addition, such a caustic slurry of salt can be harmful to stainless steel.\n
There turned out to be a much more effective and easy way to clean a dirty pan: soak it in warm water, leave it that way overnight, and in the morning it will be much easier to clean, no matter how messy it was.\n
Conclusion: does not work.\n
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Myth \u2116\u00a04: To\u00a0keep your hands and dishes from smelling like fish, you need to\u00a0rinse them with cold water, and then wipe them with vinegar or\u00a0lemon.\n\n
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It\u00a0is\u00a0difficult to\u00a0get rid of\u00a0the smell of\u00a0fish, and even detergents do\u00a0not always help. The good old advice works best here: rinse the surface with running water and then wipe them with lemon juice. A\u00a0weak solution of\u00a0vinegar also helps to\u00a0solve this problem.\n
Conclusion: it\u00a0works.\n\n
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Myth \u2116\u00a05: To\u00a0prevent cheese from getting stale, you need to\u00a0store it\u00a0in\u00a0parchment paper instead of\u00a0plastic wrap.\n $\"\"$ \n\n
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When sold,\u00a0cheese\u00a0is\u00a0usually wrapped in\u00a0plastic, and many store it\u00a0in\u00a0it\u00a0as\u00a0well. But they say that parchment paper is\u00a0much better suited for storing food items, including cheese.\n
One piece of\u00a0cheese we\u00a0packed with plastic wrap and the other, with parchment paper; and then left them in\u00a0the refrigerator for three days. The result surprised\u00a0us:\u00a0The cheese that we\u00a0wrapped in\u00a0the paper was very dry and became stale while the one in\u00a0plastic wrap, on\u00a0the other hand, remained unharmed.\n
Perhaps the best advice would be\u00a0to\u00a0eat cheese as\u00a0soon as\u00a0possible before it\u00a0starts to\u00a0deteriorate.\n
Conclusion: does not work.\n
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Myth \u2116\u00a06: To\u00a0cut onions without crying, you need to\u00a0dip the knife in\u00a0cold water.\n\n
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We\u00a0tend to\u00a0have a\u00a0lot of\u00a0trouble cooking with onions: either they fall apart when we\u00a0try to\u00a0cut them, or\u00a0they make\u00a0us cry our eyes out. It\u00a0is\u00a0advised to\u00a0cut onions with a\u00a0wet knife, wetting it\u00a0from time to\u00a0time while chopping them.\n
This advice generally works, but it\u00a0all depends on\u00a0the \u201cstinging\u201d of\u00a0the onion and the sensitivity of\u00a0your eyes.\u00a0We\u00a0still had a\u00a0hard time trying not to\u00a0cry, despite all the measures being taken. Additionally, dunking your knife in\u00a0water every minute is\u00a0not particularly convenient.\n
Conclusion:\u00a0it\u00a0generally works.\n\n
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Myth \u2116\u00a07: To\u00a0make potatoes easy to\u00a0peel after cooking, they should be\u00a0left for a\u00a0couple of\u00a0minutes in\u00a0ice cold water.\n\n
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When potatoes are boiled and drained of\u00a0excess water, we\u00a0usually give them some time to\u00a0cool down and only then, proceed to\u00a0peel them. But this is\u00a0no\u00a0fun: the peel doesn\u2019t want to\u00a0come off and is\u00a0always sticking to\u00a0your fingers!\n
In\u00a0order to\u00a0facilitate the procedure, you can follow this technique: Boil potatoes and then dip them in\u00a0ice cold water for a\u00a0couple of\u00a0minutes before cleaning them.\u00a0And it\u00a0works fine\u00a0\u2014 the potatoes cool down properly, and thanks to\u00a0the moisture, the peel is\u00a0cleaned without any problems.\u00a0However, there are a\u00a0few \u201cbuts\u201d here: the vegetables become a\u00a0bit watery and don\u2019t cook as\u00a0well this way. Although, we\u00a0did not notice a\u00a0big difference either in\u00a0appearance or\u00a0in\u00a0taste. Perhaps we\u00a0just don\u2019t know how to\u00a0cook?\n
Conclusion:\u00a0it\u00a0works.\n\n
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Myth \u2116\u00a08: To\u00a0quickly cool a\u00a0hot drink, you need to\u00a0place it\u00a0in\u00a0a\u00a0basin containing ice sprinkled with salt.\n\n
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Simple physics work here: when salt is\u00a0added, the ice melts, but its temperature decreases. This mixture is\u00a0capable of\u00a0cooling a\u00a0hot drink in\u00a0a\u00a0matter of\u00a0minutes\u00a0\u2014 our compote almost turned into ice in\u00a0about five minutes.\n
Conclusion:\u00a0it\u00a0works.\n\n
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Myth \u2116\u00a09: To\u00a0keep onions from tasting bitter, pour hot water over them.\n\n
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Very few people can enjoy the bitter taste of\u00a0onions in\u00a0dishes. However, they can be\u00a0\u201cdefused\u201d by\u00a0following a\u00a0simple process. After you have chopped the onions, place them in\u00a0a\u00a0small bowl and pour boiling water in\u00a0it. Leave for one to\u00a0two minutes, then drain.\u00a0Onions don\u2019t actually taste bitter at\u00a0all after this\u00a0\u2014 we\u00a0checked.\n
Conclusion: it\u00a0works.\n\n
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Some tips for cutting onions:\n\n
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Sometimes the peel holds on\u00a0tightly to\u00a0the onion. In\u00a0order not to\u00a0mess around and not have to\u00a0remove it\u00a0with a\u00a0knife, just\u00a0remove the top layer together with the peel. We\u00a0tried\u00a0it, and it\u00a0really works.\n
Do\u00a0not cut the \u201ctail\u201d\u00a0of\u00a0the onion: it\u00a0is\u00a0very convenient for holding it\u00a0while cutting. You can just throw it\u00a0away afterward.\n\n
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If\u00a0you don\u2019t want to\u00a0cut off your fingers,\u00a0you should never hold the bulb as\u00a0shown in\u00a0the picture on\u00a0the left\u00a0\u2014 the risk of\u00a0cutting yourself is\u00a0too high. Bend your fingers and hold the bulb firmly so\u00a0you will save your hands and learn how to\u00a0shred like a\u00a0real boss.\n\n\n
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Myth \u2116\u00a010: To\u00a0prevent avocados from getting darkened, you need to\u00a0store it\u00a0together with a\u00a0slice of\u00a0onion.\n\n
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We\u00a0could not ignore this advice, our love for avocados here at\u00a0Bright Side\u00a0is\u00a0too strong! Many people know that if\u00a0you leave avocado halves in\u00a0the refrigerator for at\u00a0least a\u00a0day, they quickly begin to\u00a0darken. To\u00a0avoid this, some housewives advise storing the avocado alongside a\u00a0slice of\u00a0onion.\n
We\u00a0tested this simple method and here\u2019s what we\u00a0discovered after three days: the onion did not help the fruit retain its appearance. In\u00a0addition, the avocado adopted a\u00a0light onion smell, which probably won\u2019t make anyone happy. Most likely, the avocado did not darken due to\u00a0the tightly sealed package, and this is\u00a0the method of\u00a0storage we\u00a0strongly recommend.\n
Conclusion: does not work.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
But in the era of the Internet, such life hacks become more and more popular, which makes it increasingly difficult to figure out which hacks are good and bad. Are all these kitchen myths really as good and effective as they\u2019re said to be? Myth \u2116\u00a01: To\u00a0make dough thicker, you need to\u00a0mix soda with vinegar. …\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":76493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[410],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-hacks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76492"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76494,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76492\/revisions\/76494"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}