Testing Chefs’ Tricks – Do Famous Cooking Tips Actually Work at Home?
Testing chefs’ tricks sounds simple until you actually try them. Some tips get repeated so often they feel like facts. Others sound like they only belong in professional kitchens.
For this video and blog post, I wanted to take a curious approach. I tested a handful of well-known chefs’ tips at home to see what difference they really make. This wasn’t about chaos or ruining recipes. It was about finding out what works, what helps a little, and what probably isn’t worth the effort. If you enjoy this kind of experimenting, there are plenty more tests like this in my kitchen hacks section here.
Alton Brown – Adding mayonnaise to scrambled eggs
Adding mayonnaise to scrambled eggs felt wrong at first. I wasn’t expecting much from this one.
The result surprised me. The eggs were creamier and softer, without tasting like mayonnaise at all. It’s not something I’d do every time, but as a shortcut it worked well.
I’ve tested Alton Brown’s recipes before, including paprika chicken, which you can see here [add external Alton Brown link]. His ideas often make more sense once you try them.
Thomas Keller – Washing onions to reduce bitterness
This was one of the biggest successes in the video. Washing sliced onions really worked.
It removed that sharp, peppery edge and left a cleaner flavour behind. The difference was obvious straight away. It’s quick, simple, and easy to repeat. This is one tip I’d happily use again.
Marco Pierre White – Cooking pasta with a stock cube
This one sat firmly in the middle. Cooking pasta in stock did add flavour, but it was subtle.
If you eat pasta on its own, you might notice it more. Once a sauce goes on, most of that flavour disappears. With stock cubes costing what they do now, I’m not convinced this is worth doing every time.
Alton Brown – Freezing fruit for cleaner slices
The idea here is that freezing fruit briefly helps you get neater slices. It’s also meant to stop juice from going everywhere.
The slices did look more precise, which I can see being useful in a restaurant. At home, the difference was small. The juice behaved much the same as fruit at room temperature.
Marco Pierre White – Adding carrot juice to butternut squash soup
This tip definitely changed the look of the soup. Adding carrot juice made it much more vibrant. The colour was brighter and more intense.
The flavour improved slightly too. The problem is the cost. Carrot juice isn’t cheap, which makes this feel more like an occasional tweak than a regular habit. I’m still on the fence with this one.
Prue Leith – Making a banana smoothie with the whole banana
This was the one I doubted the most. I made a normal banana smoothie first, which was great. Then I added the whole banana, peel and all.
It looked like a chocolate milkshake. The texture was more fibrous. Despite that, it tasted really good and was probably very healthy. I never expected to enjoy it, but it worked far better than I thought.
Final thoughts on testing chefs’ tricks
Testing chefs’ tricks like this is a good reminder that not every professional tip suits home cooking. Some genuinely improve food. Others only help in very specific situations.
The trick is knowing which ones are worth your time. That’s what makes testing them properly worthwhile.