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As a non cooked egg is fluid inside we can make use of the rotational energy stored there. Put an egg on your desk and rotate it fast (like a gyro). Then apruptly stop it with a finger, then release it again.
Case egg was cooked:
The egg will immediately stop spinning
Case egg was raw:
The fluid inside will continue rotation, hence making the egg start ...
55
What's with all those complicated answers? There's a very easy way to check, one that I always use when I don't know if an egg is boiled or not:
Simply put the egg on a flat surface and spin it fast. If it's boiled, it will continue spinning, otherwise it will stop in 1-2 seconds.
EDIT: As Peteris suggested in his comment, basically a boiled egg will ...
54
Knives are useful tools for cutting bagels and applying delicious spreads such as peanut butter or cream cheese, but luckily if you are missing this implement, you can still enjoy your bagel with 3 easy steps.
Rip your bagel into dunkable pieces.
Swipe them through the peanut butter or cream cheese.
Cram them into your gullet.
43
I place the egg in a glass of water.
If it floats, it is bad. If it stands up, use it for cooking (e.g. a hard boiled egg but not soft), it's getting old. If it sinks, you're safe.
Why?
The outer shell of an egg has two membranes under it. When an egg is laid, it is warm and starts cooling which contracts the inner part of the egg more than the shell ...
36
Ice cream is always a good option. Vanilla ice cream is probably the most straightforward.
33
Another trick: make an evenly roll, lay it down in a S-form and push it together. It works quite well after a bit of practice. Main advantage: you can add more "loops" to make 4, 5, and more parts. The roll needs to be thinner and thinner, so there is some natural limit to it but even I with my all-thumbs hands can manage up to 7.
30
Used plastic bottle which has lid will help to keep the plastic bag sealed and works as a container. This will seal the bags which has liquid also if used properly.
Cut the bottle above the body and below the neck where it start to converge. Size can be changed to the need.
Twist the packet opening and insert it from inward.
Flip the plastic cover outside.
...
29
The cause for the pain from spicy food is often something called capsaicin (which is in chili). Other possibilities include piperine (pepper) or Isothiocyanate (wasabi and related)
Capsaicin is not soluble in water, and drinking water just spreads it through your mouth further. Instead it's soluble in fat and fat-based lotions.
The same applies to the other ...
27
That question has been asked on cooking.stackexchange before, and the answer by Jolenealaska (and originally by blogger E is for Eat) quite qualifies as a life hack:
Basically, you cut off both ends of the orange, make a vertical cut along one side, and then unroll the whole orange.
I have tried this myself and it works, however results may vary depending ...
23
If you need to rapidly cool beverages that are still sealed in cans or bottles, put them in a mixture of water, ice, and salt. Once the beverages are submerged in the mixture you can stir them to have them cool even faster. The salt melts the ice faster cooling the water more quickly. This only takes a few minutes to cool you beverage.
I've heard this from ...
23
It's all about location, location, location!
There are a couple of things that will aid the growth of mold and bacteria and it is best to try and prevent these conditions being met in order to prolong the freshness of the bread. The things that I can think of are:
Heat - Don't allow the bread to be in a warm / hot location, room temperature is fine.
Light ...
23
Milk. Can't even imagine why you'd want to put cream (or "creamer", whatever that is) into coffee. If your coffee needs "flavour", I suggest getting better coffee.
22
By putting the pancake batter into a squeeze bottle, you can create any shape you like.
There are products made for this purpose but you can also use any old empty squeeze bottle you have lying around, like so:
This method lets you draw cool stuff. Though I imagine line-art pancakes like those would be pretty hard to flip.
22
One way is using the bottom of a ceramic plate or cup.
On the bottom of some of these, you'll find unglazed ceramic where it's been cut, using this you can rub the blade of the knife along this unglazed edge, and because it's harder than the material of most knives (not hardened steel maybe) it will cause the edge of the knife to align, the same way a ...
21
I have found that using hot, hot water from the faucet helps to soften the peanut butter and loosen it from the jar's edges and surface. Often times I will fill it with hot water and let it soak for 10-15 minutes or so, and then return to the jar and empty it. Then, using hot water I use the sprayer nozzle from my sink to maneuver within the jar and remove ...
21
The Empty-Water-Bottle Method
Squeeze a washed empty water bottle.
Place the opening of the bottle over an egg yolk, still squeezing,
and slowly let go of your squeeze.
The yolk should get sucked right up.
In case you don't use water bottles or don't have any laying around, there are commercial suction separators like Pluck and Yolkr.
The Hand-...
21
Pour solid ingredients into a cup
Pour about a third of a cup full of liquid into the cup
Swirl cup gently until mixed
Fill cup with remainder of liquid
21
The Super Peeler
Warning: only do this outside
This method takes some time to prepare, but you only have to prepare it once and every other time you do it, it will be ready.
You need a bucket, a hose, a drill, and a new toilet bowl brush. Drill a hole in the bottom of the brush's handle and keep the drill there. Spin the brush a few times to make sure it ...
20
Have a dog?1 Give it to him/her. The dog will love the treat, since it provides a bit of a puzzle. Most of the larger breeds have very long tongues, capable of reaching inside of the jar.
And.. of course, in the end, you'll be left with a licked-clean jar!
1. Don't have a dog? Give it to a friend that does, and ask them to recycle it when done
EDIT
As ...
20
Thread a Straw Through the Tab on a Soda Can to Keep It from Rising
It's as simple as turning the tab to the side and sliding the straw
through it. This keeps the straw from rising up and falling out of the
can.
Take some tape, wrap it around the straw and tape it to the jar. This will stop rising and the straw is in a fixed place.
Also, try ...
20
The best way to avoid sticky fingers while dining is to use this ubiquitous and easy to use tool:
20
For quick pain alleviation, put a cold, wet rag on the eye. This won't last, but what will is washing your eye out with milk. Get about a fluid ounce of milk (if you have a shot glass, fill that up). Whole milk works best, but 1% and 2% should also work. You can flush out your eyes with this milk. Rest the cup of milk on the bone at the base of you eye. Pour ...
20
Make sure your mouth is closed completely. You can bite slowly, which might sound quieter, though it is really just enlongating the sound.
19
You could measure it out using your hand. Roll out the dough to be close to the width of three hands, and then cut each piece at the width of your hand. It is fairly easy to make an even roll, and the width of your hand is fairly constant, so that should make for three closely sized lumps of dough.
Added: Another variant using a measuring trick, is to first ...
18
The best trick I've come across is to put the egg(s) in some water in a closed container and shake it around. The water prevents the eggs from getting completely destroyed but the banging around knocks the shell right off.
This works with plastic containers as well as a pot or bowl with a plate as a lid.
18
After watching me struggle with this a for a couple of weeks, the day-cook showed me a really simple trick for cleaning out the microwave:
Find a microwave safe bowl
Fill it half way with water
Microwave the bowl of water uncovered in the microwave for 5-10 minutes
Let the microwave rest for another few minutes to cool slightly
Wipe out the microwave with ...
17
There are many, many options for bottle cap removal.
As mentioned but not really explained there's the lighter trick:
The key to this method is having a tight grip on the neck of the bottle so that your hand/fulcrum doesn't move when you apply force with the lighter/lever. You can apply this method with most anything you have lying around: keys, spoons, ...
17
Not sure if this is a life-hack answer but...
Just cook it at a lower power setting for a little longer. For instance rather than 3 minutes on high, try 4 minutes on medium.
Or you could consider thawing the burritos first:
The easiest way would be to store them in the refrigerator rather than the freezer if you expect to use the whole package within a ...
17
The Finger Test to Check the Doneness of Meat, by Elise on Simply Recipes
Raw:
Open the palm of your hand. Relax the hand. Take the index finger of
your other hand and push on the fleshy area between the thumb and the
base of the palm. Make sure your hand is relaxed. This is what raw
meat feels like. (Check this out the next time you have a raw ...
17
This trick only really works with chips, and might also be a bit unappetizing. Put the chip in your mouth, and don't bite it right away. Let it soften a little from your saliva. It won't taste quite as crunchy, but it also won't sound so crunchy.
After that, bite more slowly with your mouth fully closed, as Doug said.
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