The dish has many variations around the world: In Germany, Kartoffelsalat is served warm with a vinegar-based dressing, while in Japan, potesara is made with rich Kewpie mayonnaise and mashed potatoes. While a straightforward American potato salad is always welcome at a gathering, sometimes it needs an extra kick to stand out. That’s easily achievable with this ingredient, which you may already have in your refrigerator.

Brine On, You Crazy Diamond

The secret ingredient is pickle brine. Dill pickle brine works best, but sweet pickle brine is a milder alternative. Here’s what to do: First, boil your potatoes. While they’re still hot, gently smash them and sprinkle with 1 to 3 tablespoons of pickle brine per pound of potatoes, depending on its sharpness. From there, proceed as usual with the recipe — though you may want to make a few tweaks, which we’ll outline in the next section.

The pickle brine adds acidity, salt, and spice to your potato salad, seasoning the spuds from the inside out. It also balances the richness of the mayonnaise, brightening the flavor.

Tips and Cautions

Pickle brine is strongly flavored and highly acidic. If you’re using a recipe that calls for other acidic ingredients, such as distilled white vinegar or apple cider vinegar, leave those out until you’ve tasted the potato salad.

Additionally, since pickle brine contains a lot of salt and a variety of spices, you may want to skip these ingredients when following the recipe. Taste the dish as you go — you can always add more seasonings, but you can’t take them out.

Finally, make sure you add the pickle brine while the potatoes are freshly boiled and very hot. Hot potatoes are highly absorbent, and adding the brine at this stage fully infuses them with flavor.

Other Tips for the Best Potato Salad

Aside from a sprinkle of pickle brine, the key to an award-winning potato salad is to not overdress it. To achieve the right consistency — one that’s not too “gluggy” — start with the smallest amount of mayonnaise or other dressing. Coat the potatoes gently, then taste and add more if needed.

Although potato salad is a simple dish, it’s best to measure your ingredients carefully, particularly if you’ve never made it before. It’s tempting to eyeball them, but save that for when you’re familiar with the recipe, and aim for precision, especially with the potatoes and dressing.

The best pizza is always hot and fresh from the oven. But leftover slices can be pretty good too, if you know how to prepare them. Spoiler alert: Nuking pizza in the microwave won’t get you there. To really enjoy your morning-after slice, reheat it on the stovetop.

A Better Reheating Method

No matter how you slice it, microwaved pizza is just plain disappointing.

Microwaves don’t heat evenly, so some bites come out freezing cold while others are scalding hot. Even worse, the crust often goes soggy and the toppings dry to a crisp.

Reheating pizza on the stovetop yields much better results, and it takes only a few minutes. All you need is a skillet with a tight-fitting lid. Cast iron is best because it retains heat well, but any nonstick skillet will do the job. Place the skillet on a burner set to medium heat, then add a pizza slice or two — crust side down — once the cooking surface is warm. Let the pizza reheat, uncovered, for two to four minutes until the crust is crisp. If needed, gently press down with a spatula to flatten the slice so it makes full contact with the skillet.

Cover and Steam

At this point, your slice is mostly warm, but the toppings aren’t fully reheated and the cheese isn’t melted. Half the pleasure of pizza is that gooey, melted cheese, so we’re not quite there yet. This is where the tight-fitting lid comes in.

Add a few drops of water — 1/2 teaspoon or so — to an empty spot in your skillet. Quickly secure the lid to trap the steam, leaving the skillet covered for another two to three minutes. That hot, moist air rapidly melts the cheese and warms the toppings, adding just enough moisture to keep the slice from drying out. As long as you’re careful not to get water directly on the crust, it’ll stay crisp despite the steam. The end result? Perfectly gooey cheese and an ultra-crispy crust, all in just a few minutes.

It may not be the best pizza you’ve ever eaten, but it will definitely be the best pizza you’ve ever reheated.

Farmers will tell you that if you want the very best corn, “bring the pot to a boil, then go out and pick a few ears.” Sadly, we don’t all have enough outdoor space to grow our own. But these three tips will help you choose the freshest corn at any supermarket, roadside stand, or farmers market.

1. Inspect the Corn Husks

The corn husks, the outer wrappers that hide and protect the ear, are the first thing you should inspect. You’ll know in an instant whether the corn you’re looking at is past its prime because the husks will have started to yellow and dry out — a clear sign of aging.

The kernels inside don’t lose moisture as quickly as the outer husks, which act as a natural barrier to slow evaporation. But here’s the catch: The sugars that give corn its sweetness begin converting into tasteless starch the moment it’s picked. In heirloom varieties of sweet corn, an ear that’s been off the stalk for 24 hours has already lost half its sugar — and its sweetness. Fortunately, modern hybrids have been developed to slow this conversion process and retain their flavor for several days, especially when refrigerated.

2. Check Out the Silk

If the husks are still green, moist, supple, and tightly wrapped around the ear, the corn is likely fresh. But is it fully mature and ready to deliver the best possible flavor? To answer that question, examine the tassel and the strands of “silk” that make it up.

As an ear ripens, the exposed portion of the silk turns from yellow-green to yellow to brown. If you pull back the very tip of the husk, the silk inside should remain a pale yellow-green. If the ends are brown and the inside portions are pale, the corn is both mature and fresh.

3. Heft the Ear

One of the most useful rules for selecting produce is that it should feel heavy for its size. That applies to corn, too, because heavy ears are filled to the brim with plump, moist kernels. Pick up a few ears, and you’ll quickly find that some feel heavier and fuller than others. Those are the ones you want.

While holding an ear, run a finger along the husk to feel the rows of kernels underneath. Imperfectly pollinated ears will sometimes have sparse rows or gaps where kernels are missing. A quick finger-check will catch those, so you get full value for your dollar.

Much Ado About Muffins

This hack changes how heat circulates inside the oven and the amount of room the muffins have to expand.

Instead of filling every cup in the muffin pan with batter, fill every other cup, leaving half of them empty. For bakery-style domes, fill the muffin cups 3/4 of the way, or nearly to the top, with batter. This method allows heat to circulate more evenly around each muffin and the batter to spread naturally without coming into contact with neighbors. The end result is a batch of muffins that rise much higher than they would otherwise. They’ll also bake faster and more uniformly, giving you a crispier top and a perfectly done center.

The only downside is that this process takes more time because it requires baking multiple batches. But the wait is worth it: This resting time actually benefits the muffin batter. Letting it sit for 15 to 30 minutes at room temperature — or overnight in the refrigerator — further improves the texture and rise of the finished product because it gives the flour more time to thicken and hydrate. (For this reason, you should make sure your first batch has at least 15 minutes to sit, too.)

Other Tips for Bakery-Level Muffins

One often-overlooked method is to set the oven temperature high for the first few minutes of baking, then lower it for the remainder. A good rule of thumb is to start the muffins at 425 degrees Fahrenheit, then lower to 350 degrees Fahrenheit after five to seven minutes. Continue baking at this lower temperature for the rest of the recommended time, or approximately 15 to 18 minutes. The initial burst of heat helps solidify the tops, while the lower temperature ensures the centers cook evenly.

Sprinkling extra-coarse sugar on top of your muffins is another pro move. The sugar crystallizes under the heat, giving the tops a nice crunch and an extra hint of sweetness.

Knife Sharpening in a Pinch

Don’t have a knife sharpener in your kitchen? Don’t be so sure. You likely have a small sharpening stone, or several, hiding beneath drinkware you use every day.

Many ceramic dishes — including coffee mugs — are crafted with a raised, unglazed ring around the bottom to prevent them from sticking to the shelves of the kiln during firing. These “foot rings” also eliminate wobbling and provide thermal insulation, keeping the food or drink warm for longer and creating a buffer between the heat and the countertop.

This often-overlooked detail can function as a makeshift knife sharpener in a pinch because nearly all unglazed ceramics have a higher hardness rating than hardened steel. (We’ll explain how to confirm that your ceramic is indeed harder than steel in the next section.)

To identify a foot ring, flip over a ceramic coffee mug, plate, or bowl and look for the thin, unglazed circle. It’s not glossy, but rather grainy and abrasive. Use your thumb to feel for the grittier texture compared to the shiny surface of the rest of your dish. A coffee mug works best for this hack, although you can also use a dinner plate.

How To Get Clean Cuts With a Coffee Mug

To sharpen your knife this way, turn your ceramic coffee mug upside down and rest it on a flat, sturdy surface. You may want to place a damp cloth underneath it for added stability. Holding the knife by the handle, position the cutting edge of the blade at a 15- to 20-degree angle against the unglazed ring. Applying light pressure, smoothly sweep the blade across the ring, working from the heel to the tip while maintaining the angle. If you notice a dark gray or black smudge mark, this proves that the ceramic is harder than your knife and will successfully sharpen it.

Run the knife blade along the foot ring 10 to 15 times on one side, then do the same number of strokes on the other to keep the edge centered. (This method sharpens and hones your blade simultaneously.) Finally, clean and dry your knife to get rid of any metal shavings.

Tips and Cautions

Don’t rely on this trick for all of your knife-sharpening needs. If you’re staying at an Airbnb with dull, cheap IKEA knives, go right ahead, but avoid using it to sharpen your nice, expensive cutlery. It’s best to use a chef’s knife (or something smaller) and stick to standard steel materials, such as carbon steel or stainless steel. Don’t attempt this hack with ceramic, super steel, Damascus steel, or titanium knives.

Whetstones, such as this one from Sharp Premium, are constructed with varying grit sizes to ensure the sharpest blade and the safest process, for both you and your knife. These can be used with premium knives but require some skill and practice. For extra-safe sharpening, tools like the KITCHELLENCE Three-Stage Knife Sharpener come with a cut-resistant glove. Pull-through manual sharpeners such as this one are generally not recommended for high-quality knives, but if you have an inexpensive set, they can promote cleaner cuts and safer usage.