The Scientific Secret To Getting The Last Bit Of Sauce Out Of Its Bottle

You've probably heard before that cooking is science. It's true that chemistry and biology can explain a lot — like why some people are calling oat milk a scam and why your teeth feel strange after eating spinach. But to understand other aspects of why things work the way they do in the kitchen, we need to turn to physics instead.

If you've ever struggled to squeeze the very last drop out of a bottle of ketchup or barbecue sauce, you may want to learn a little about centrifugal force. This movement can help propel your condiment toward the tip of the container in a much more effective way than bashing your bottle against your hand can. If you hold your container and swing your arm around in a circle, the little bits clinging to the walls of your bottle will gather at its opening — leaving you free to easily squirt out what you need. Not only does this avoid food waste, but it allows you to put off buying another bottle for at least a grocery trip or two.

While this hack works astonishingly well, there are a few things to keep in mind here. Perhaps most importantly, check and double-check that the cap of your bottle is screwed on and closed tightly. With all that force you're applying to it, the last thing you want to end up with is a kitchen with ketchup-stained walls. Along those same lines, while this trick can come in clutch at home, you may want to avoid it at a restaurant just in case (plus, you may get some funny looks). As one TikToker commented on a video demonstrating this hack, "I did this at Waffle House once and the ketchup bottle went flying."

For this hack to live up to its maximum potential, you'll also want to hold your bottle from the bottom, which allows the sauce inside to push toward the opening. You only need to swing for about 10 seconds, but do so as aggressively as possible (without pulling any muscles or dislocating your shoulder, of course). And it's worth noting that thanks to the science behind this, you can try it on other types of products too — like shampoo bottles, for instance. But if you only have a teeny bit of ketchup left for your burger and don't want to run to the store, try this trick to get it all out.