After digging them out of a kitchen drawer to help with holiday cooking, many of our turkey basters spend the majority of the year unused and collecting dust. But my hope is that after today’s post, you’ll find yourself reaching for your turkey baster much more frequently!
And that’s because today, I’ll be sharing 7 creative and clever ways to use a turkey baster. From making cooking & baking easier to helping out around the house, your turkey baster is capable of so much more than just basting turkeys!
(Don’t own one? I recommend this OXO brand turkey baster! It’s easy to take apart, safe to wash in the top rack of your dishwasher, and even comes with its own cleaning brush!)
Related: 9 Unexpected (But Useful) Things You Can Do With Windex
7 Brilliant & Practical Ways To Use A Turkey Baster
1. Drain Ground Meat
Draining off the excess fat after cooking ground beef can be tricky, and even potentially dangerous! So instead of struggling with the pan, just grab your turkey baster instead!
Push the meat to one side of the pan, then tilt it slightly so the grease collects on the opposite side. Then use your turkey baster to quickly and easily suck the grease out of the pan!
2. Separate Eggs
You can even use the bulb of your turkey baster to separate egg yolks from the whites! Unscrew the bulb from the baster, then crack an egg into a bowl.
Squeeze the bulb over the yolk, then release to suck the yolk into the bulb. Carefully squeeze the bulb again to drop the yolk into a separate bowl.
3. Make Pancake Art
Looking to step up your Saturday morning pancake game? Use a turkey baster to turn your average pancakes into artful creations!
You can create designs in your pancakes by using a turkey baster to dispense pancake batter in your desired shape (like a smiley face, for instance) onto your hot griddle. Let it cook for a minute or so, then pour more batter around the design to form the rest of the pancake and cook until done.
4. Mess-Free Cupcakes & Muffins
Getting the same amount of muffin or cupcake batter into the cavities of a muffin tin is no small feat, and it’s all too easy to make a huge mess in the process. Using a turkey baster makes it so much easier, and much less messy!
Just pour your batter into the turkey baster, then use it to squeeze the batter into your muffin tin. After trying this, I’ll never go back to doing it with a spoon or scoop!
5. Coffee Pot Helper
When making coffee in an automatic coffee maker, it’s important to use the right amount of ground coffee and the right amount of water. If you accidentally add too much water to the machine, you might add more ground coffee to avoid brewing a weak pot.
However, if you happen to have a turkey baster on hand, you can easily remove that excess water from the machine! No other adjustments necessary.
6. Low-Tech Entertainment
Looking for some good old fashioned fun for the kids? Grab a few turkey basters and some craft pom poms, then get ready for a Pom Pom Race!
Designate a starting line and a finish line, then have the kids use the turkey basters to blow the pom poms across the floor. First one across the finish line wins!
7. Water Houseplants
Want a simpler way to water your high-hanging houseplants? Use a turkey baster! You’ll have a much easier time reaching up into those pots thanks to the added length of the tube.
A turkey baster also makes it easy to change out the water in a vase of flowers without disturbing them. Just suck out the old water, discard it, then squeeze new water into the vase.
What’s your favorite way to use a turkey baster?
