The Coffee Filter Hack Perfect For When You Run Out Of Paper Towels

Do you love it when you can use a household item for multiple purposes? Then, if you're a coffee drinker, you're going to love this coffee filter hack when you run out of paper towels. Coffee filters are anything but one-dimensional. You can use these babies to brew up your favorite cup of Joe, to easily grease those baking pans, and to pinch hit for paper towels when you've reached the end of your roll — especially when you're working with meat and poultry.

Excess moisture on your meat is the great enemy when you're trying to fry it up for dinner as it inhibits the Maillard Reaction. Enter the humble coffee filter, which is made of tightly woven paper that's designed to absorb. So, it makes perfect sense that when you want to dry your chops and chicken parts before you season and toss them in the pan, a coffee filter is a perfect blotter to soak up the moisture. And there's no need to worry about the filter sticking to your protein the way paper towels tend to do.

But don't put those coffee filters away too quickly. They're also great at absorbing oil from fried foods after they've been cooked — be it that package of bacon or your cast iron crispy fried chicken. Coffee filters will suck up that excess grease without a mess. As well, while paper towels tend to leave a little lint in your cast iron skillet when you're seasoning it with oil, coffee filters don't. They also make an excellent splatter guard over bowls and dishes in the microwave.

These filters can stand-in for paper towels when you thaw frozen vegetables like spinach and kale. If using these watery veggies in omelets, soups, or chicken pot pie filling, having them free of that excess moisture is imperative to avoiding soggy or diluted dishes. Simply wring out your defrosted kale and spinach in a coffee filter to remove that excess water. So, whether you're looking to cut down on paper towel use or just need a MacGyver fix when you run out, consider reaching for those coffee filters.