Sometimes two bowls can get stuck together and it can be hard separating them. - filepic
We hardly pay attention to most of the tips that we come across because the situation never happens to us, or so we think.
Then suddenly when you do need it, you cannot remember where you read it and you have to look it up on the Internet or call up friends.
Pin this up on your kitchen wall, or go digital and save a file on your phone or computer for easy reference. You never know when they might come in handy. — Compiled by PATSY KAM
1. Sometimes, two glasses or two pots can get stuck together when you stack them and it can be a Herculean task trying to pry them apart.
Try putting some ice water in the inner glass, and if there’s ice, even better as that lowers the temperature of the inside layer and helps to contract it.
Besides for dentures, dental cleaning solution have other uses. — Filepic
Dunk the outer glass or pot in hot water so that it expands. You should be able to separate them easily after that.
2. It seems impossible to clean your flask or bottle, short of having a small bottle brush for the job. T
ry filling it up halfway with warm water and then add a half teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate.
Shake well and rinse. Voila! Your flask should be nice and clean.
Clean the inside of a flask with sodium bicarboinate. — Filepic
3. You’re probably aware that you shouldn’t use metal scrubbers on your expensive stainless steel pots.
Not only will it leave horrible scratch marks, but you may damage the protective coating which means food will stick to the pot when you use it to cook next time.
If you don’t want to spend money on a purpose-built plastic scraper, you could always use an old credit card or old electronic access card to do the job.
You should be able to remove the leftover food without scratching the metal as the card is firm but gentle on the metal surface. Here’s a tip – boil some water with a spoonful of vinegar in the dirty pot, and leave it to cool in the pot for a while. It should help to loosen the food debris and make it easier to clean.
4. You know how your elderly dad or mum soak their dentures in cleaning tablets?
Those tablets are good for your blackened pots too! Soak your blackened pots and pans that have become black over time in the same dental cleaning solution overnight – two tablets should do the trick.
Old plastic containers can be rescued for further use even if they have become sticky. — Filepic
The next day, you’ll find it’s much easier to make the pots shine again.
5. Forgot to turn off the stove and now your favourite pot is black with soot and encrusted with thick black stuff?
It has happened to the best of us.
Try sprinkling a layer of bicarbonate soda over the burnt areas, and then pour some cheap vinegar over it and leave this overnight.
Rinse out the black marks the next day with soap and water.
6. We all have plastic containers of all shapes and sizes in the kitchen.
Sometimes, we have too many and short of giving them away, the ones we want to use may have become sticky and disgusting.
Don’t throw them out just yet.
Swab a piece of cotton wool with some cleaning alcohol (isopropyl alcohol 99.8%) and wipe the sticky and dirty grimey parts to give the containers a second life.
