1. The Claim: MORE: 7 Foods That Aren’t Exactly Food
  2. The Claim: You can easily slice many small tomatoes at the same time by using two plates.Media Platforms Design TeamThe Trial: If you’re anything like me, you hate the drudgery of slicing tiny tomatoes for a salad. (If you’re a lot like me, you have also sliced off several fingertips while doing so.) Let’s just say I desperately wanted this hack to work. I took a handful of grape tomatoes and arranged them on the flat underside of a dinner plate. Then I laid an identical plate on top and pressed down gently to hold the little fruits in place. Finally, using my sharpest serrated knife, I slowly sawed back and forth through the pinned-down tomatoes until the blade emerged on the other side. And when I pulled the upper plate away, I shed a tear of joy: Each and every one of them was perfectly halved.The Verdict: You’ll need a sharp (preferably serrated) knife, but this trick should work. You’re left with two plates to wash instead of one cutting board, but it’s totally worth the time you save.
  3. The Claim: You can pop off the stem of a strawberry using a drinking straw.Media Platforms Design TeamThe Trial: I followed the photos I’d seen on Pinterest, pushing a plastic straw from the pointy end of the berry all the way through the stem. But the leafy top did not come off in one piece. Instead, I got a sad-looking mangled mess. It took three tries to remove the entirety of the stem.The Verdict: A certified Pinterest fail. This hack might work better with smaller berries (mine were rather large), but this isn’t easier or faster than removing strawberry stems with a knife. MORE: 10 Stuffed Avocado Recipes You’re About To Start Craving
  4. The Claim: Media Platforms Design TeamThe Trial: Mangoes are so difficult to peel and cut that it’s almost worth it to buy those hideously overpriced, presliced spears at the grocery store. Could there be a better way? I sliced a mango in half, tossed the pit, and wedged the edge of a 16-ounce beer glass between the flesh and the skin. With some gentle downward pressure, the two came right apart.The Verdict: Juicy and messy, but highly effective.
  5. The Claim: You can separate egg yolks from whites using a water bottle—and it’s totally mess-free.Media Platforms Design TeamThe Trial: I cracked an egg into a bowl and rinsed out a sturdy plastic water bottle from the recycling bin. The next part was almost like magic: As soon as I touched the lip of the bottle to the yolk, the soft golden orb slipped right up and away from the white, as if the bottle had become a vacuum cleaner. Even more amazing: I repeated the process roughly a dozen more times, out of sheer delight, and the yolk never broke.The Verdict: This is a hack for the ages. It’s easy and mess-free. Bonus: You can probably convince a kid that it’s magic and/or that you are a wizard.
  6. The Claim: Wrap a beer bottle in a wet paper towel and put it in the freezer. It will be ice cold in 15 minutes.Media Platforms Design TeamThe Trial: I took a room-temp bottle of beer, wrapped it up, and put in the back corner of the freezer, where it’s coldest. I checked the bottle after 15, 20, 25, and 30 minutes—still not “ice cold,” as I’d been promised. It took a full 35 minutes to do the trick.The Verdict: I’ll call this a half-fail. It’s slightly faster than chilling an unwrapped beer bottle, but you won’t have a cold one ready in 15. MORE: Fight Colon Cancer, Diabetes, And High Cholesterol With…Leftover Pasta?
  7. The Claim: Use an empty ketchup bottle as a batter dispenser for pancake art.Media Platforms Design TeamThe Trial: I assembled my favorite pancake recipe and loaded the batter into an empty squeezable mayo bottle. Then came the hard part: the art. You’ve probably seen videos online of extremely talented people using this method to create pancake Beatles and pancake Darth Vader. I am (quite obviously) not one of those people. So I kept it simple with a smiley. I laid down the facial features first, cooked them until golden brown, then squeezed more batter into the pan to form a complete circle around those features. A few minutes and a quick flip later, the ‘cake was done. It was cute, I suppose—in that so-ugly-it’s-cute kind of way.The Verdict: This hack works, but I’d recommend a bottle with a small opening to allow for more detail. Also essential: artistic talent. Or, at the very least, an audience who won’t make fun of your misshapen pancake faces.
  8. The Claim: Media Platforms Design TeamThe Trial: For this hack, I followed instructions provided by a Youtube video: Put an egg into the sleeve of a long-sleeved shirt, tie off the sleeve on either side of the egg, and twist and pull the sleeve several times so that the egg spins violently, apparently scrambling inside the shell. I boiled the egg for 10 minutes, let it cool, and peeled off the shell, eagerly awaiting that smooth, yellowy interior, but alas: It looked like every other hard-boiled egg I’ve ever made.The Verdict: A miserable Pinterest fail. Still, try it out it if you’re curious. The worst case is that you’re left with a tasty breakfast or salad topper. (Get recipes for delicious salads with the power to detox your liver and help you lose weight in Heal Your Whole Body.)
  9. The Claim: If you chill an onion in the fridge or freezer before chopping, you won’t tear up.Media Platforms Design TeamThe Trial: Onions don’t just make me cry—they make me sob. Like, makeup-running-down-my-face, contacts-falling-out, why-the-hell-am-I-chopping-onions-again kind of sobs. That’s why this hack excited me: minimal effort for maximum, no-tear results. I put half an onion in a plastic container in the fridge overnight and diced it in the morning. I’m thrilled to say I didn’t shed a single tear. (Apparently, chilling keeps propanethiol S-oxide, the eye-irritating chemical in onions, from evaporating into the air.)The Verdict: I give this hack two thumbs up. (I’m going to save so much money on makeup!) MORE: This Is Why You’re Still Hungry After You Eat
  10. The Claim: Media Platforms Design TeamThe Trial: I placed some cheddar on a slice of whole wheat, tipped my toaster on its side, and gently pushed the lever down. A few minutes later, the cheesy bread popped right out onto the counter, like something being spit out of a mouth. Was the cheese melted? Yes. Was the bread toasted? Mostly—though it was overdone at the bottom and underdone at the top. But was this as good as a real grilled cheese made in a buttered skillet? Not by a long shot.The Verdict: Neither fail nor win. A word of caution: Be sure to empty your toaster of all crumbs before you start. Otherwise, when you tip it on its side, the crumbs will fall onto the heating element and slowly burn. Take it from someone who set off every smoke alarm in her apartment.