I Tried 10 Reddit Food Hacks And The Results Were Truly Unexpected

When it comes to food hacks, the internet can be a font of information. From meal prep hacks that'll save you tons of time to ways to jazz up your next batch of mashed potatoes, there's no shortage of creativity out there. One place that many of us turn to pick people's brains on their latest culinary ventures is Reddit. This discussion board can be the source of amusement, like the time we tested fast food hacks that had us laughing our heads off, or a source of frustration. Other times, the platform offers some pretty interesting food for thought — pun intended.

As a professional chef, I'm always curious to see what people are doing from the comfort of their own homes to either make their daily lives easier or develop new ways of upgrading popular dishes. As such, I have a tendency to get sucked into the rabbit hole of Reddit food hack feeds. Some of the tips and tricks I discovered recently had my interest piqued, so I decided to try them for myself. Though a few left me underwhelmed, several others were actually great ideas that I'd never considered or hadn't taken the time to try myself. Read on to discover some of the best and worst food hacks and tricks I discovered on Reddit and see which ones you may want to add to your culinary repertoire.

While there are countless ways to use leftover bacon grease, one may top the proverbial cake. This hack I saw on Reddit involves cooking steak in a product called Bacon Up to obtain a crisp, delectable crust. I'd never seen this product on store shelves before, so I was intrigued to try it out. Reserving leftover bacon grease and straining it for cooking can be a labor-intensive proposition, so buying it in a tub seems like a great way of getting the flavor without the hassle. Also, it would seem this product could serve multiple functions in the kitchen.

When it comes to steak, I generally grill or butter-baste my meat. Both produce a great crust, though the latter requires a little skill and copious quantities of butter. Because bacon grease has a slightly higher smoke point than butter, it can be a good alternative for steak, allowing for the meat to be cooked at a slightly higher temperature, as long as you keep a close eye on it, and flip it regularly to prevent burning.

I used about one tablespoon of the grease to cook a New York Strip steak that I patted dry and seasoned liberally with salt and pepper. The results were nothing short of spectacular. Not only was the center of the steak moist and juicy, but the crust was blackened, without being burnt, with a savory flavor that was to die for. 

One Reddit hack that I was already aware of and regularly use is adding coffee to chocolate desserts. The theory behind this is that coffee can boost the chocolate taste. Its inherent bitterness balances out the sweetness, giving the dish a more nuanced flavor without any overt coffee flavor. Though you can use leftover brewed coffee for this purpose, espresso powder is even better.

Espresso powder has advantages over instant coffee, because the granules are much more finely ground, making it easy to incorporate into the dry ingredients. It's superior to brewed coffee, too, because you will not need to adjust the amount of liquid added to the recipe to offset the coffee. Just a couple of teaspoons can make a world of difference when added to brownies, cakes, and soufflés.

In this case, I added a couple of teaspoons of espresso powder to a store-bought brownie mix. The results were fantastic, as per usual. Not only were the brownies gooey and delicious, but they seemed far more chocolatey than usual, and the coffee was not discernible in any way. To really amplify flavor, try adding espresso powder into your chocolate frosting, ganache, or glaze.

Store-bought boxes of mac and cheese are a quick, easy, and cost-effective way of feeding a family, but let's be honest, they can be somewhat uninspiring. There are a number of ways to make boxed mac and cheese better. Among these is a hack that's been circulating on Reddit, to mix some cream cheese into boxed mac and cheese after it's been prepared.

While exact amounts aren't provided, I decided to try this hack out for myself. I enjoy the tang cream cheese confers to other recipes, from lasagna to a classic carrot cake frosting, so I figured it could only improve the taste and texture of a box of mac and cheese. I was correct. I used one ounce of full-fat cream cheese, along with the remaining ingredients specified in the instructions on the box.

Not only did the cream cheese eliminate some of the grittiness that usually comes from the cheese powder in a box of mac and cheese, it also thickened the finished sauce, which really coated the macaroni and gave the whole thing a luxurious mouthfeel. As I anticipated, the tanginess of the cream cheese helped amplify the flavor of the powdered cheese, giving it a hint of complexity and a more grown-up feel. I'd definitely use this trick again.

Chefs are always searching for ways to create complexity in recipes. One method is to incorporate an umami-rich ingredient into a dish, which lends savory notes that can enhance the sweetness of other ingredients in the recipe. This is especially useful when baking. While I've used soy sauce in quick bread and cake recipes, I'd never done so with cookies before, which is precisely the hack I discovered on Reddit.

For this, I prepared a simple chewy cookie recipe. I swapped the sea salt in the recipe with equal parts of soy sauce. The result was nothing short of transformative. While you couldn't taste the soy sauce, there was a savory undertone that really gave the cookies a unique flavor profile. The umami notes of the soy not only made the granulated and brown sugar more prominent, but they also helped to enhance the richness of the butter.

This trick would work equally well with any cookie recipe, particularly those using dark chocolate, peanut butter, or gingersnaps. Other ways of incorporating umami flavors into cookies include miso paste, fish sauce, gochujang, nutritional yeast, and browned butter. Always use moderation when adding these ingredients, though. The key is adding just enough to accentuate the other flavors, without masking them.

This hack is another one I was familiar with before I saw it pop up on Reddit. It involves adding a pinch of salt to coffee grounds before you brew a pot of joe. The theory is that salt can improve the taste of coffee, minimizing any lingering bitterness. This technique is not without precedent — many cultures from Europe to Asia regularly add salt to coffee. I just hadn't had the opportunity to test it myself.

The key is to use moderation when adding salt to the coffee grounds. I used approximately ⅛ teaspoon of kosher salt with eight tablespoons of high-quality, light roast coffee beans that I ground fresh, before brewing eight cups of coffee. I compared this side-by-side with the identical ratio of the same beans brewed without the addition of salt to get a good sense of what the coffee would taste like without the salt. I was completely blown away by the results.

There was no discernible salty taste to the coffee, and any inherent bitterness to the beans, which was abundantly evident in the pot brewed without salt, was gone. All that was left behind was a smooth, nutty-flavored coffee that had a really pleasant finish. While I may not use this hack every time I brew coffee, I can certainly see using it when brewing a pot of coffee using beans that have been dark roasted, which tend to be more bitter.

This hack isn't especially novel, but it did make an appearance on a Reddit thread. It entails using mayonnaise as a substitute for butter when making a grilled cheese sandwich. Mayonnaise has a few benefits when used for a grilled cheese sandwich — it's easy to spread evenly, can produce a crispy exterior, and also has a slightly tangy flavor that can lend some brightness to the gooey melted cheese.

The reason why mayo makes for a better grilled cheese sandwich is in its superior browning capacity. The combination of oil and egg yolks gives it a higher smoke point than butter, meaning that you can get a nice brown crust without burning the bread before the cheese is melted. That said, it does still require some babysitting. I typically flip the sandwich a few times, to guarantee the crust remains golden while the cheese reaches the right consistency.

When it comes to selecting the right type of mayo for the job, you never want to use low-fat or fat-free varieties. These contain various additives that may alter the browning capacity of the mayo or produce an off-color or taste, that isn't especially appetizing. I happen to be a Hellman's purist, but use whatever mayo you prefer.

While there are a number of different chef-approved tips for making the perfect pancakes, this particular Reddit hack was one that intrigued me. It involved repurposing leftover vegetables to make a savory pancake. The theory is sound, and certainly a great way to eliminate food waste, so I was eager to test it.

For the sake of expediency, I used store-bought pancake mix and added in some broccoli and cauliflower that I'd roasted the day before. Because the vegetables were quite large, I cut them into slightly smaller pieces before adding them to the pancake batter. I cooked these on a griddle using some grapeseed oil. Perhaps the biggest issue I had with making these pancakes is that the vegetables made the batter heavy and lumpy, which caused them to cook unevenly. A good hack I've used with thicker pancake batter is to finish the pancakes in an oven heated to 350 F, which is what I did with these.

The results were quite pleasant, especially if you aren't a sweet breakfast person, which I am not. I have a tendency to prefer savory, hearty breakfast dishes that don't leave me hungry in a couple of hours. This certainly fit the bill, though next time I'd cut the vegetables into even smaller pieces before adding them. This hack is also endlessly customizable, allowing you to use any kind of vegetable combination you enjoy.

Among the less impressive hacks I came across on Reddit was making "ice cream" using frozen fruit and milk. The Redditor specifies any kind of fruit can be used, and it should be quickly blended together with milk. The amounts are unspecified, so I had to use my chef skills to figure out what would work. To that end, I purchased a pound of frozen mango chunks, which I proceeded to purée together with ½ cup of milk. The result was okay, but nothing revolutionary.

The key here is not adding too much milk, which can quickly turn this into something more akin to a smoothie, rather than a scoopable ice cream. With just enough milk to maintain a relatively thick consistency, the finished product will resemble granita, which differs from sorbet or ice cream with its more crystallized texture. This mock ice cream can be eaten immediately or returned to the freezer to set up and enjoy later.

While the texture of this frozen treat was pleasant enough, it lacked much by way of flavor. The fruit is unsweetened, which is fine for those seeking a low-sugar dessert alternative, but likely won't satisfy a serious sweet tooth. This could easily be remedied by adding agave, honey, or maple syrup to the mix. The combination could also be augmented with vanilla or other flavorings, such as lemon or lime juice and spices, for a more complex taste.

Among the more unusual hacks I discovered on Reddit was making pancakes using mashed bananas and slices of bread. I was somewhat skeptical about this, but I wanted to give it the old college try, and I'm glad I did. I was very pleased with the results and could actually see making these again, especially if I'm trying to get a quick breakfast together on a busy morning and either don't want to make my own pancake batter or am out of store-bought pancake mix.

The recipe involves mashing together a banana, two slices of bread torn into small pieces, one egg, three tablespoons of milk, and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. I used a basic white bread for this, and mashed the ingredients together using a fork. It took just seconds to throw together, and I cooked the pancakes in a nonstick skillet. Perhaps the only challenge to making these is that the batter is fairly loose, which makes it difficult to flip the pancakes without them falling apart. Otherwise, these turned out great.

Perhaps the best way to describe these is like banana bread in pancake format. The finished pancakes are moist and tender, if not perhaps a little bland. This could easily be remedied by adding a pinch of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice to the mix. You could also toss in some add-ins, like blueberries or chocolate chips, to give them an upgrade.

Among the greatest Italian pasta dishes is a classic cacio e pepe, which combines spaghetti noodles with a simple sauce made from butter, freshly ground pepper, grated pecorino romano cheese, and leftover pasta water. While the recipe seems relatively straightforward, it can be rather challenging, as the sauce can sometimes fail to thicken enough to coat the pasta. That's why I was intrigued by this hack I found on Reddit, which involves adding a small amount of a cornstarch slurry to the recipe to help bind the sauce and thicken it.

While perhaps not quite authentic, this unorthodox hack is not unfounded. Many sauce recipes are thickened with cornstarch instead of flour, to obtain a rich, velvety texture with a glossy finish. I used a basic recipe for cacio e pepe, adding in just a single teaspoon of the cornstarch slurry toward the end of cooking, and heating it through until it began to thicken. The result was fantastic.

Not only was there no residual starchiness to the sauce in terms of flavor, but each spaghetti noodle was evenly coated with the sauce, giving the dish a luxurious mouthfeel. Your Italian nonna may not approve of this hack, but if you're a home cook trying to cook something on the fly for a family on a busy weeknight, you can't go wrong with this trick.