You Don't Need A Kitchen Brush If You Have Parchment Paper By Your Side
There are plenty of kitchen essentials that have multiple uses. A wire cooling rack can be used for resting meat or chopping fresh avocado and eliminating prep time, aluminum foil can be used to keep food fresh or help you soften brown sugar (among the many other genius hacks you can pull off with aluminum foil), and parchment paper can be used as a kitchen brush. Yes, you read that right. If you'
Most pastry brushes these days are made from silicone, making them durable enough to pop right in the dishwasher. A brush made from parchment paper is great for one-time use, but it won't be a permanent substitute because it can't be easily washed. Still, it's so easy to make if you're in a jam — all you need in addition to the parchment is a pair of scissors.
How to make a parchment paper kitchen brush
The trick to building the kitchen brush is to get the parchment paper sturdy enough to hold the liquid and distribute it properly. To do this, fold it four times to layer it well. Then, take a pair of scissors, and cut one side of the parchment paper with tiny slits to make it fringed; keep the slits close together to mimic the bristles of a brush. From there, you can use the fringed side of the parchment paper to grab some liquid and brush it over whatever you're cooking or baking.
It's good to always have parchment paper on hand to line your sheet pan and turn it into an easy, nonstick baking surface, but the pastry brush is a bonus hack. This trick works best with parchment versus something like aluminum foil because the paper is thick enough to withstand a heavier liquid. Then, when you're done using the brush, just toss it in the trash.