25 Home Chefs Reveal Their Unusual Kitchen Shortcuts And Secrets, Even if they are Unconventional

Anyone who has seen at least one episode of Hell’s Kitchen is probably aware that, regardless of your level of home chefs skill, if Gordon Ramsay sees you using a stove or even chopping some vegetables, he will discover a habit of yours that would be considered a disgrace in a Michelin-star restaurant.

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But here’s the catch. The majority of us don’t prepare dishes that the front of the home may sell for tens or even hundreds of dollars. We’re just trying to get some calories on Tuesday night. Because of this, we frequently opt to ignore the rules outright, in addition to the fact that we are uninformed of them.

So when Reddit user Timecoyote posed the question, “What is a cooking sin you won’t even try to explain, yet you do it anyhow?” to the platform’s community r/Cooking There were several replies. Their post has already accumulated more than 4.8K upvotes and 3.9K confession-filled comments in less than a few weeks. Check them out by scrolling down further.

Here are our Home Chefs

I like pineapple on pizza. Not gonna change my mind!

If the recipe calls for a certain type of onion, I will always use whatever onion I already have.

Timecoyote, the person who initiated this conversation, was reachable. “I was making tacos and felt awful for using the minced jar garlic, so I was curious about what other shortcuts people take when cooking,” they told Hiptoro about its roots.

The replies made the Redditor feel less bad about the kitchen shortcuts they use. Many folks don’t rinse their grains or vegetables, never sharpen their knives, and simply eyeball spices and other ingredients, which startled me.

I haven’t replaced several of the spices in my spice rack for years (seriously, who uses that much dill?). I’m sure they’re less pungent now, but it’s far too expensive to replace them regularly.

I never follow a recipe fully. I use recipes for ideas of ingredients. I never measure anything.

I overcook pasta. Yes, al dente lovers, I know this is an Italian sin. But I prefer my pasta when it’s super soft.

I break spaghetti in half before putting it in the pot of boiling water. Then I cut it up even more on my plate before eating it. As for the why? It’s the way my mom did it. So now it’s the way I do it. My sisters break and then cut their spaghetti too. We’re all monsters.

Unless I’m really trying to impress someone, I just use that minced garlic from the jar.

When I cook for just myself my standards are so disgustingly low that the same people impressed by my cooking would be equally horrified.

I never check the date on any dried good/powder/etc. Hello lentils that have been sitting at the back of my shelf for ten years until I uncovered you this morning. In you go. Oh, good to see you garlic pepper that has been open for at least three house moves and probably doesn’t taste of anything. Let’s sprinkle you in.

I never measure seasonings. 1/2 tsp? How about two or three shakes? Maybe more if I feel like it. If your recipe calls for a 1/4 tsp of something, go f**k yourself.

Tasting with the same spoon I use to stir. I’m cooking for my family. I kiss em all and we all share the same germs so… whatevs…

I never make my own stock or broth. I just buy Better than Boullion, dashi or kombu packets, etc.

I melt chocolate in the microwave. It’s just so much easier and faster than pulling out a double boiler.

I buy pre-made pie crusts. I love cooking almost everything with well-sourced ingredients from scratch, but I cannot be forced to make a crust for a quiches or pies.

Some More Home Chef Secrets

I don’t use separate cutting boards for meat and veggies. I just do not see the point – I just cut the meat at the end of the cutting process, and it gets washed after that. I don’t use fresh tomatoes even if a recipe calls for it, just canned. I just cannot be bothered to deal with the mess that chopping up fresh tomatoes makes.