Cooking Tips and Kitchen How-Tos

Everything we learned the hard way, so you can skip that bit.

Nobody hands you a manual when you get a kitchen.

So we wrote one. Then spilled coffee on it.

These are the cooking tips and how-tos we wish someone had told us, tested in a family kitchen with more opinions than plates.

Start the day with a cafetiere that doesn't taste of sludge.

Stop guessing at dinner with the right temperature for every roast. Aaron has it laminated.

Give your board the clean and oil it actually deserves. It's been through a lot. Mostly onions.

And when it all goes sideways, a full kitchen reset before anyone notices.

Eesha teaches the class. Isaac quietly corrects the teacher. We've stopped asking how.

18 how-tos and counting. Newest: How Long Does Cooked Chicken Last in the Fridge? (Less Time Than Aaron Thinks)

Cooking tips sketch: garlic Eesha teaches kitchen how-tos at a blackboard while pizza Isaac puts his hand up — Isaac's had his hand up for ten minutes. He's right, which is worse.

Kitchen hacks, newest first

Cooked chicken in the fridge, jacket potato Aaron sniffing a tub of leftovers, chilli Oliver holding up a calendar

Updated 3 November 2026 13 min read

How Long Does Cooked Chicken Last in the Fridge? (Less Time Than Aaron Thinks)

Two days in the UK - the Food Standards Agency says eat leftovers within 48 hours or freeze them. Cool it fast, reheat it once until steaming hot, and use...

Cracked pepper sketch: potato Aaron holds a pricey tub while chilli Oliver holds up a glass pepper mill

Updated 3 November 2026 12 min read

Cracked Black Pepper - Which Grind for Which Dish

Cracked pepper is just whole peppercorns broken into rough, chunky pieces . Loosen your pepper mill to its coarsest setting, or crush them under a heavy pan. Grind fine for...

Jacket potato Aaron checking an oven with an infrared thermometer gun, chilli Oliver leaning on the cooker grinning

Updated 3 November 2026 11 min read

Oven Temperature Conversion - Fan, Gas Mark and Fahrenheit on One Chart (and Why Your Oven Is Lying)

One chart for conventional, fan, gas mark and Fahrenheit. Knock 20C off for a fan oven, and check what your oven is really doing before you blame the recipe.

The Cheeky Bites family in a cupboard-under-the-stairs bunker: Olly in a deckchair, Aaron with a laminated checklist, Erin on a throne of tins, Isaac in his cape, Tyson stealing teabags

Updated 2 November 2026 11 min read

The Blackout Menu: Three Days, No Power, and How to Still Get a Cuppa

The government's Be Ready campaign asks every home to keep three days of water and no-cook food. Here's the actual menu, the water maths, and how to get a cuppa...

Garlic storage: garlic Eesha guards bulbs in a cupboard basket while chilli Oliver points hopefully at the fridge

Updated 1 November 2026 10 min read

How to Store Garlic So It Doesn't Sprout, Go Soft or Haunt the Fridge

Keep whole bulbs in a cool, dark, airy cupboard, not the fridge, and they'll last months. Pull out any green shoots, freeze spare paste in lidded cubes, and never leave...

Cheese board ideas: four cheeses, grapes and apple on a bamboo board, toast Erin, chilli Oliver and jacket potato Aaron

Updated 1 November 2026 12 min read

Cheese Board Ideas - How to Build One People Actually Fight Over

Three or four cheeses - a hard, a soft, a blue and a wildcard - about 100g a head, out of the fridge an hour early. Cut so everyone gets...

Chilli Oliver in a bobble hat sips coffee over big ice cubes by a rainy window, with the OK 2X ice cube tray set and glass press

Updated 1 November 2026 9 min read

How to Make Iced Coffee at Home That Isn't Brown Puddle Water

Brew your coffee double strength, pour it straight over big ice cubes so it chills fast, then add milk or cold water. Bigger cubes melt slower, so it stays strong...

Latte at home: chilli Oliver froths milk with the OK frother while toast Erin raises a finished latte

Updated 1 November 2026 11 min read

How to Make a Latte at Home - No Machine, No Barista, No Attitude

Brew your coffee extra strong, heat the milk to about 65C, froth it for 30 seconds and pour it in. A latte is mostly milk, so the milk does the...

Silicone tube peeling garlic: garlic Eesha tips out naked cloves while toast Erin and pizza Isaac cheer

Updated 1 November 2026 7 min read

Garlic Peeler - Naked Cloves in Ten Seconds (No Fingernails Harmed)

Pop one to three cloves in the silicone tube, press down and roll it on the worktop for a few seconds, then tip out naked cloves. Keep peeled ones in...

Mincing garlic with a press: chilli Oliver squeezes it over a pan as garlic Eesha smiles and toast Erin holds her nose

Updated 2 November 2026 9 min read

How to Mince Garlic Without Smelling of It Until Thursday

Peel it by squashing or shaking, then knife it fine, grate it or squeeze it through a press with the skin still on. Add it late to the pan, and...

Toast in a tiara pours peppercorns into a glass mill while the pizza slice squints at a suspicious pink one

Updated 3 November 2026 6 min read

What to Put in Your Grinder (and What Will Jam It Solid)

Black, white and green pepper all come from the same vine - pink ones aren't pepper at all. Grind hard, dry things : whole pepper and chunky sea or rock...

Glass grinder set twisted by bearded chilli, toast in a tiara holds up a 10, jacket potato inspects the USB-C electric pair

Updated 3 November 2026 6 min read

Ceramic vs Steel Grinders - How to Pick a Pair

Grind pepper fresh - it loses its flavour fast once it's cracked. Pick a pair with ceramic grinders , a fine-to-coarse setting, a wide neck for filling and glass so...

French press coffee: green chilli plunges slowly while toast in a tiara waits with a mug and jacket potato inspects

Updated 1 November 2026 7 min read

How to Use a French Press Without Drinking the Sludge

Coarse grind, about 60g of coffee per litre, water just off the boil, four minutes, stir the crust, then plunge slowly and pour it all out. That's the whole secret.