Chef reveals hack for chopping up entire punnet of cherry tomatoes in seconds
Everyone loves adding a punnet of fresh cherry tomatoes to their favourite salad – but nobody likes the cumbersome task of chopping them up.
Andy Hearnden, an executive chef from Queensland, shared his time-saving method for cutting an entire punnet of the delicious fruit in a matter of seconds.
Posting a video onto his popular TikTok page @andycooks, Hearnden revealed the tip he has learned from years working in a kitchen.
"If you need to cut a lot of cherry tomatoes, put them between two lids or two plates," he explained.
Watch the video above.
READ MORE: Why we're on the brink of a nationwide hot chip shortage
The Queensland chef shared his top tips from working in a test kitchen. TikTok
READ MORE: Air fryer hack achieves the perfect boiled egg within minutes
"With a sharp knife, just cut through. Perfect."
Hearnden then demonstrated how he cut the handful of tomatoes in half with one swift motion, with the entire process taking a little over three seconds.
The video, which attracted over 285,000 views in 24 hours, received a wave of surprised comments from food fans and amateur chefs.
"The cherry tomato one helps me so much thank you," one person commented. "Love the cherry tomatoes hint," another added.
In the same clip, the viral chef – who has earned over 3 million followers on TikTok – also shared four other tips from the test kitchen.
Andy suggested using two lids or plates to slice all the tomatoes in one go. TikTok
READ MORE: London pub takes aim at Harry with snarky beer name reveal
His second piece of advice is to always set your kitchen scale to grams and kilos, especially when baking.
"It's so much more accurate and you'll get a much better result," he said.
Hearnden then told his followers his simple trick for cracking an egg. It might seem like the most basic task, but it is so easy to get disastrously wrong.
"When cracking eggs, do it on a flat surface instead of the edge," he explained. "[It] reduces the risk of eggshells getting into your egg."
The chef's next tip is for meat-eaters. He encouraged those who enjoy a good steak to buy a meat thermo-pen
"It takes the guesswork out of cooking meat," he said. "If you use one of these, you know it's cooked to the temperature you like or cooked properly."
He also shared his advice for cracking the perfect egg. TikTok
READ MORE: Woman's fail after attempting to cook entire chicken in air fryer
Lastly, Hearnden said it was vital for a good cook to have freshly sharpened kitchen knives.
"Keep your knives sharp," he said. "It's safer, more efficient and all-around makes cooking far easier."
Hearnden works as the executive chef at beef processor Kilcoy Global Foods in Queensland.
The New Zealand-born chef has also worked at some of the trendiest restaurants in London and Melbourne during his career.
