Student Kitchen Hacks: Making the Most of Your UNPACKED Pack
Your kitchen pack did its job on move-in day. Everything arrived, everything worked, and you didn’t have to think about it. Now that term’s properly underway, it’s worth getting more out of the kit you’ve already got. Here are a few ways to do exactly that.
Match the Pan to the Portion
Your pack comes with three pan sizes: a 24cm frying pan, an 18cm saucepan, and a 16cm saucepan. It’s tempting to reach for whatever’s on top. But matching the pan to the amount you’re cooking makes a real difference. A small portion of rice or sauce heats faster in the 16cm pan. It also heats more evenly than it would rattling around in a bigger one. Save the 24cm frying pan for anything that needs room to move. That’s stir-fries, fried rice, or a proper fry-up.
Cook Once, Eat Twice
Your 33cm oven tray is built for more than a single portion. Roast a full tray of vegetables, or a tray of chicken thighs. That gives you the base for two or three meals rather than one. Add rice, pasta, or bread to whatever’s left over the next day. One cooking session, several actual meals.
Get More From Smaller Tools
The grater isn’t just for cheese. It works well on garlic, ginger, and even chocolate if you’re making something sweet. The peeler handles more than potatoes too; try it on carrots, courgettes, or apples for a quick, thin slice. And the masher, usually reserved for mash, works just as well for crushing garlic or mashing beans into a quick dip.
Keep Raw and Ready Separate
Your pack includes both a plastic and a wooden chopping board for a reason. Use the plastic one for raw meat and the wooden one for everything else: bread, vegetables, cheese. It’s a small habit. But it matters more in a shared kitchen than it did at home. You don’t always know what’s just been chopped on a shared surface.
Steam Without a Steamer
If you don’t have a steamer, your colander can stand in for one. Sit it over a pan of simmering water and cover it loosely. Use it to steam vegetables while something else cooks on the hob. It’s not a proper substitute for a dedicated steamer, but it works well enough for broccoli, carrots, or green beans.
Wash as You Go
This isn’t a trick so much as a habit worth building early. Wash a pan while something else simmers, rather than leaving everything until after you’ve eaten. A shared kitchen sink fills up fast. Getting into the habit now saves you from a pile of washing up competing with three other students’ dinners later on.
The Pack For All Occasions
None of this needs specialist skill or extra kit. It’s the same pans, the same tools, just used a little more deliberately than on day one. Your UNPACKED pack was never just there to get you through move-in. It’s there for the whole year, and it’s worth treating it that way.