News and Updates about Food Hacks

A Le Creuset Dutch oven can cost several hundred dollars at full retail, while budget enameled cast iron Dutch ovens often handle many of the same basic cooking jobs for much less. That gap deserves an honest explanation, not a brand defense.

Pick up two packages of chicken at the grocery store. One says "organic." The other says "free-range." One earned its label through a federally codified certification program with specific production rules; the other passed a case-by-case documentation review with no uniform standard behind it. Both probably cost more than the plain package next to them. Understanding that difference is the whole point when it comes to understanding what chicken labels mean.

Pabst Brewing Company has stopped producing Schlitz beer, according to local brewers, bar owners, and distributors who say they learned about the decision from sales representatives roughly two months ago. No formal Pabst statement has accompanied the news. Wisconsin Brewing Company will brew the Schlitz beer final batch this Saturday, May 23, after receiving permission from Pabst to do so, WISN and 29News both reported this week. Once existing inventory clears shelves, the brand will be gone...

Five professional pastry chefs were asked which fat makes a better cake. Three said butter. But the more revealing part of their answers wasn't the preference count it was the conditions attached. Every chef qualified their choice by cake type, mixing method, or intended outcome, according to The Kitchn, which surveyed the chefs earlier this month.

Aluminum foil covers leftovers in most kitchens by default. Grab a sheet, fold it over the bowl, done. For bread, roasted vegetables, or a plain piece of grilled chicken, that works fine. For a specific set of foods acidic dishes, heavily salted ingredients, marinated proteins, and warm moist leftovers foil is the wrong call, and knowing why makes the fix obvious.

McDonald's is removing every self-serve soda fountain from its U.S. dining rooms by 2032. That much is settled. What happens to McDonald's free refills once the machines are gone is an entirely different question, and one corporate has deliberately chosen not to answer. The machines are a corporate decision. The refills are a franchise one.

Two California enforcement notices named Trader Joe's dried fruit products in 2024, alleging lead exposure through normal consumption. One has since advanced to active litigation in San Francisco Superior Court. Those filings are the reason Trader Joe's dried fruit products have drawn scrutiny over Prop 65 warning labels and understanding what the notices actually require, and how they differ from a recall, matters more than the yellow triangle itself.

The short list of grocery stores cheaper than Walmart is genuinely short: Costco, BJ's Wholesale Club, Lidl, Aldi, WinCo, and H-E-B. That's it. Every other major chain shoppers encounter regularly costs more, some by a little, some by a lot. A Consumer Reports basket comparison published two weeks ago put precise numbers to those gaps, using Walmart as the price baseline across six metro areas, and the findings hold consequences for how much any household actually spends on food each year.

Reviewed by: Y. Garcia

Kitchen Emergency Hacks: Turn Food Chaos Into Confidence

Reviewed by: Ysa Garcia

Stop Tossing Those Tops: How to Eat Strawberries, Apples & Broccoli for Maximum Nutrition

Got 30 minutes? Here’s how to pick the perfect air fryer without getting overwhelmed by endless options. These compact powerhouses circulate extremely hot air around food, so you get that crispy texture we all crave with minimal oil (Consumer Reports). Market research shows they remain among the most popular countertop appliances, with growth continuing despite post-pandemic expectations (Consumer Reports). What started as a simple gadget for reheating frozen fries has turned into a versatile...

Difficulty: Novice Time: 15 minutes Cost: ~$0 (understanding the process)

Difficulty: Novice Time: 20 minutes Cost: ~$3

Ready to turn your kitchen into a personal coffeehouse? The path to café-quality espresso at home just became clearer, thanks to extensive professional testing that has separated the standouts from the also-rans. After over 80 hours of rigorous testing by CNET's experts and over 3600 espresso shots pulled by coffee professionals across 75+ machines, the takeaway lands cleanly. 2025's espresso machines deliver real upgrades for home baristas at every price point.

You know how sometimes you stumble across someone who just seems to have everything figured out? That's exactly what happened when I started noticing how Australian McDonald's customers approach their dessert orders. These folks have cracked a code that goes way beyond just knowing what's on the menu—they've figured out how to work the system to get exactly what they want, when they want it.

Difficulty: Novice Time: 15-30 minutes per shopping trip Cost: Free (app download required) Annual Savings: Up to £679

When I was 12, for some mysterious reason, my dad put my little brothers and me in charge of cooking the Thanksgiving turkey. Naturally, my brothers and I spent the rest of the day playing hide-in-seek in the backyard and forgot all about the humble bird defrosting in the sink.

Indoor electric grills are nothing new; George Foreman grills have been around for over 20 years now, providing healthy, smokeless grilling options for indoor use. Yet as nifty and fun as George Foreman grills are, indoor grills have never been considered a hot item for passionate and avid home cooks.

Independence Day is right around the corner, and that means three things: fireworks, cold beer, and great food. I always love to cook festive foods for the Fourth of July, and I don't just mean the classics, like grilled chicken and brats. I mean foods that celebrate the Stars and Stripes: foods that are red, white, and blue.

I bet you've never put much thought into the water and ice dispensers that comes preinstalled in a lot of modern refrigerators and freezers. For chilled water or perfectly formed ice cubes, all you need to do is push the button and wait, right?

We've seen many things get gummy-ized over the years—worms, insects, Coke bottles, glass cleaner, Legos, brains, Nutella, and even tiny LEDs—but nothing compares to YouTuber and WonderHowTo favorite Grant Thompson, aka The King of Random, who made one helluva creepy gummy chicken that's just as big as the real deal.

If we learned anything from Mulan, it's that "the flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of them all." Well, these have been a trying couple of weeks in the US, hence the need for a blooming marshmallow flower.

I truly don't understand why anyone would pay $10.99 for a case of carbonated water just to feel like a Midwest mom on a diet. Every time I talk about LaCroix, pronounced La-CROY (rhymes with enjoy), it's like I take all the money I spent on my French major and light it on fire.

The winter holidays are right around the corner and that can only mean one thing—dessert. Leave it to the French pastry chefs to come up with something totally unique, like this glittery, chocolate Slinky by Amaury Guichon of Jean Philippe Patisserie inside the ARIA Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

You're all kale-d out, you've had it up to here with golden milk, and you're on the prowl for the next superfood. Well, get ready for some unicellular goodness: the next superfood is an algae named Spirulina, also known as Blue Majik. (Kudos to the marketing exec that came up with that, am I right?)

Hear me out. No, really. Before you sharpen your pitchforks and give me anecdotal evidence of your Chinese restaurant syndrome, I think you need to know a few things about monosodium glutamate.

Each year we inevitably fall into the pumpkin spice game. From the usual (like lattes and muffins) to the slightly more absurd (like Pringles and beef jerky)—if the leaves are turning colors and food ain't pumpkin spiced, it ain't worthy of consumption.

Seriously, what's with all of the candy corn hate? I don't care what anyone says, candy corn is and always has been the perfect Halloween snack for me.

If you're grossed out by anything creepy, crawly, and with more than 4 legs... then stop being so close-minded and eat some bugs already, dammit.

In the Western world, the only time you'd associate food with cockroaches is health code violations. And while other cultures and countries are more open to cooking with and eating these and other little buggers, insects are probably not a food trend that will be adopted by the West anytime soon.

If you want to become a food Instagram star, you may want to consider having babies.

Where you lead, Gilmore Girls, I will follow.

Okay, check your Food Safety guidelines at the door, because things are about to get real subjective in here.

Meat tenderizers are absolutely necessary when dealing with leaner, tougher cuts like flank or skirt steaks. And while fruit like papaya, kiwi, and pineapple contain enzymes that can tenderize meat, the results can be hit-or-miss, and impart a fruity flavor that you may not always want.