Awesome Hacks for Common Kitchen Tools and Appliances

These 15 simple hacks for everyday kitchen gadgets—including the toaster, the coffee machine, and the dish washer—will get the job done on the cheap.

Nidhi Chaudhry

Let’s face it: We would all love to drop $450 on a sous-vide machine and have endless counter space for bulky ice-cream makers. But until we win the lottery—or that rich aunt decides to hand over our inheritance early—all we’ve got are cramped kitchens, stuffed shelves, and sheer ingenuity.

As it turns out, you don’t really need special equipment to fulfill your sous-vide dreams and homemade ice cream fantasies, though. The web is teeming with simple hacks for everyday kitchen gadgets—including the toaster, the coffee machine, and the dish washer—that will get the job done on the cheap. You need these tricks in your life because nothing will blow your friends’ minds more than cooking lobster in a dishwasher. We admit, the results won’t always be top-notch—for example, cream whipped in a french press won’t be super stiff—but where’s your spirit of adventure?

Get your geek on and go MacGyver on your kitchen gadgets with these 15 amazing hacks.

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Make Grilled Cheese in a Toaster on its Side

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 5 How it works: Turn your toaster on its side, load in two slices of bread topped with cheese, and push the lever. (But don't wait for it to pop, unless you want two molten-cheese covered bread slices flying across your kitchen.) When you think your grilled cheese is almost done, unplug the toaster and nudge out the slices carefully. Read more.
Make Ice Cream with Ice Cube Trays and a Cuisinart

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 7 How it works: Pour ice cream base into ice cube trays and pop into the freezer. When it's set, throw the cubes into a food processor and have yourself a nice cup of homemade ice cream (all without the clunky and expensive ice-cream machine). Read more.
Cook Salmon or Lobster in your Dishwasher

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 4 How it works: Wrap salmon tightly in aluminum foil with a lemon wedge, oil, and some spices (or bottle lobster with butter in a mason jar). Put it on the top rack and start a normal washing cycle, without adding soap, and let your seafood cook to perfection. Read more.
Use a Pepper Grinder to Make Powder Toppings

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 1 How it works: Add Oreo cookies (without the cream) into a pepper grinder—et voilà!—you have easy sprinkles for cupcakes, ice creams, and all things sweet. Same goes for Doritos or any other snack you feel like making into a topping. Read more.
Use a Coffee Grinder to Dry-Grind Whole Spices (or Wet-Grind Chutneys)

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 2 How it works: Roast whole spices (like cardamom or anise or cumin), then pulse grind them to a fine powder in a coffee grinder. Read more.
Crisp Hash Browns in a Waffle Maker

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 2 How it works: Roughly grate potatoes, spread them out on a preheated waffle iron, and cook until they're golden and crispy. Read more.
Use Your Stand Mixer to Shred Meat

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 3 How it works: Put your cooked boneless chicken, turkey, or roast beef in your mixer bowl, turn the machine on low, and watch the paddle work its magic. Read more.
Hack a Sodastream

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 3 How it works: You can concoct everything from sparkling wines to non-alcoholic fruit sodas by mixing syrup, fruit juice, wine, liquor—and any other ingredients you desire—into water and adding it to your home soda maker. Of course, you'll be flouting manufacturer rules and voiding your warranty, but think of the delicious (homemade) rhubarb-grapefruit fizzy sangria you could be sipping. Read more.
Toast Pine Nuts and Dry Herbs in an Air-Blown Pop Corn Machine

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 1 How it works: If you've had little success (and lots of burning) with toasting pine nuts on the stove, get out that popcorn machine and toast some nuts in it. It's amazingly handy for drying herbs, too. Read more.
Use a Coffee Grinder to Make Rice Flour For Tempura

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 2 How it works: Dump uncooked dry rice grains into a coffee grinder and get fine rice flour to satisfy your tempura cravings. Sure beats having to buy large bags of it, when you only need a little. Read more.
Make Whipped Cream in a French Press

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 5 How it works: Fill the French press less than half full with heavy whipping cream, put on the lid, and push and pull the filter up and down very quickly. Read more.
Make a Grilled Cheese Sandwich on an Iron

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 7 How it works: Make a grilled cheese sandwich using a hot iron as a griddle (you know, for all those times you find yourself in a hotel room with a hankering for homemade grilled cheese and nothing but an iron in the closet). Warning: Watch out for dripping hot butter. Read more.
Poach an Egg in the Microwave

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 3 How it works: Crack the egg into a microwave-safe bowl, pour in about 1/3 cup water with a bit of vinegar, cover the bowl or mug with a microwave-safe plate, and cook for a minute. Read more.
Cook Sous-vide in a Slow Cooker

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 10 How it works: You'll need a serious commitment to cooking sous-vide for this one—the hack requires science experiment-like tools (we're talking a vaccum sealer and PID temperature controller). Yes, this will take loads of time and concentration, but it doesn't require shelling out $450 on a sous-vide machine. Read more.
Toast a Bagel on a Mr. Coffee

Degree of difficulty (0-10): 2 How it works: Heat and crisp up half a bagel on the hot plate under the coffee pot. Breakfast couldn't be easier. Read more.

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