It can be hard to justify buying single-use kitchen gadgets like egg slicers or waffle irons. If they're only functional for one purpose, how often will you really use them?
Surprisingly, more than you might think. Even items that seem like they're only good for one thing can be used a number of different ways.
Here are 10 alternative uses for kitchen gadgets and tools that you may not have thought to try.
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Mixing butter and flour is the first step to making delicious baked goods like pies and biscuits. Instead of waiting for butter to soften and then cutting it into chunks to mash in, grate chilled butter into small pieces that are more easily incorporated into flour.
If you don't have a sandwich maker or panini press, a waffle iron can melt a sandwich into crispy perfection.
Instead of reaching into hot oil multiple times to fish out pieces of frying food, submerge a heat-safe strainer into the oil and lift it out to remove everything at once.
If you don't have a bottle opener handy, place the neck of the bottle between the tong handles, compress, and use the ridge to twist the cap off.
Another tip: Microwaving lemons for 30 seconds helps get more juice out of them.
You can also make noodles out of other vegetables, like carrots, beets, or sweet potatoes.
There's no reason you have to limit your use of egg slicers to just eggs. Small fruits, vegetables, and blocks of cheese can also be precisely sliced.
The apple slicer creates evenly-portioned potato wedges perfect for baking of frying.
Fill your turkey baster with pancake batter and use it to pipe fun shapes into a hot pan.
The edges of an ice cream scoop are perfect for digging out seeds from melons like cantaloupe and honeydew.
