Even if you can cook like a pro and deal with the most difficult recipes, you still may come across some curious cooking life hacks you’ve never heard of before. That’s why we’ve put together some tricks that can make your cooking time easier and more fun.

“All my years in kitchens and my partner blows me away with this meatball trick.”

“He squishes the meat into a baking tray and cuts it like brownies. Portioned meat balls in seconds!”

“My pancake life hack”

“Put a spoonful of bacon fat in each cup, heat in the oven for a few minutes, then fill halfway with batter and bake until set. Top with blueberries and crumbled bacon.”

“Does anyone else use a protein shaker for mixing pancake batter?”

“My husband does. He makes the batter the night before and keeps it in the shaker in the fridge. That way, it’s ready to go in the morning without any prep.”

Cut celery and place it in water for storage. It lasts longer and stays crispy this way.

Always refrigerate leftover pizza in a Ziploc bag, not the original box. It keeps the crust and cheese from drying out, and your pizza will come out tasting as fresh as it was when you put it in there.

A roux trick — roux is a thickener for sauces, stews, and soups.

“What I have here is a thick, very dark roux added to a pie pan and frozen. The white on the bottom and top is from regular flour to soak up any extra oil or butter. So it’s cut into pie slices, and when some roux is needed, grate it like cheese into the desired dish while cooking.”

“When my legs are tired from standing all day and I have to make dinner, I use a dining chair to kneel on to help with leg fatigue.”

“It turns out you can open and refill one-way spice mills.”

“Just put them in hot water for 2 minutes, twist the cap off, and refill.”

Freeze your soups, stews, and chilis in muffin tins for easy portion options and storage.

“I found the trick to meal prepping summer rolls and not having them all stick together — paint them with a light sesame oil.”

“Tossing your berries in flour before sprinkling them into cake batter keeps them from all sinking to the bottom while they’re baking!”

“When you want a grilled cheese but you’re out of bread… toaster quesadilla.”

Use a microplane grater to remove seeds and dice hot peppers finely.

Quick and simple Halloween party food

“Strawberries kept in a glass Mason jar versus strawberries kept in a plastic container — big difference!”

Do you know any other great cooking life hacks? Share them in the comments below.