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One for me is using non-glazed, 8" Brick tiles (From Lowes or Home Depot) instead of a pizza stone. 4 of them cost about $5, they give a bigger target for the pizza, and are easily replaceable, just be sure to get the unglazed ones. Much better than a $30 round pizza stone that is smaller, and will eventually crack under the heat.
I've used a (dedicated) wooden laundry drying rack to dry fresh pasta in the past
(Not exactly non-kitchen) but I use my toaster oven racks for cooling cookies and for dry-aging steaks in my fridge.
I had another one I can't recall now, I'll list it later if I remember.
What other things do you use that do the job better and/or cheaper than the dedicated tool?
- 1.5" - 2" dow rod instead of a rolling pin? I've seen this one, but I don't do it
- etc.
I thought it would be both fun and informative to find out what other people use that either works better and/or saves them money over the 'real thing'...
I've used the unglazed Mexican tiles for pizza in the past. There is no food safety issue. Currently, I use them as trivets for hot pans.
Tuna cans for dough cutters, silicone baking sheets sliced into strips and stapled in circles for crumpets. Cut and taped cardboard boxes for storage organizers. Postal scale for food scale. Repurposed dried coffee creamer bottles for corn starch, kudzu starch, baking soda, coffees and the like. A canning funnel makes filling them fairly easy. Stacking office file bins for pan and lid storage. Bamboo skewers for thickness guides rolling out doughs.
Dental floss to cut soft cheese
Binder clips to close food bags
Soft plastic bottle for egg separation
Heating pads to raise dough, bed comforter to hold dishes warm. Great for rice cooking.
Tension rods for all kind of organization
Paint brush to brush pastries or to use anywhere you need only very thin layer of butter or oil
Toothpicks to check on dough, also great to close stuffed meat
Flat smoothing bristle (normally used for wallpapers) to clean surfaces or table cloth of crumbs
Scraper blade to clean ceramic top stove top
And one of my favorite: hardwood pony roller (or wallpaper roller) for small pastry dough, or small pizza, tarts, ravioli, cookies, dumplings etc.
Thanks, that was the one I couldn't think of, and actually the one that gave me the idea for this thread.
I use them for everything: Chip Clips, Half-used Frozen veggies, half-sleeves of Saltines, etc... Best cheap hack ever!
As for the brick tiles^: It's just terra-cotta. There is no food-grade issue at all, it's in a 550*f oven, nothing is living on it. Just be sure to get the unglazed ones, because part of the function is the removal of moisture to put a great seal on pizza dough, bread, etc. I learned the trick from a trained bread-chef.
Many brands of potato chips/snacks can be resealed with a vacuum sealer. Just be sure to use the function that lets you control the amount of vacuum, so you don't crush them.
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