With a high smoke point and virtually no flavor, vegetable oil is a must-have in any kitchen — especially in kitchens where any kind of frying or baking is happening. While your big jug of Crisco might not be as fancy as, say, those pretty glass bottles of organic EVOO or avocado oil, that’s part of why vegetable oil is a pantry essential: It’s cheap, it’s versatile, and it gets the job done.

One thing about vegetable oil, though, is that you often need very little of it (for example, if you’re seasoning a cast iron skillet ). And when you need very little of something, taking off the cap and dumping it — even if you do it super carefully — isn’t always the best approach, as it can lead to unnecessary waste and cleanup. What you need for dispensing less oil is more control.

Plus, if there are any drips, the outside of your bottle will get sticky and become, well, not fun to touch.

One super-simple, very effective way to control a bottle of vegetable oil when you just need a bit of it? Don’t toss, or even take off, the paper top that’s under the cap of your brand-new bottle. Instead, turn it into a dispenser. All you have to do is grab a fork, poke holes in the paper top, and drizzle to your heart’s content!

The DIY dispenser trick is perfect for seasoning: Just dispense it directly (and so much more precisely!) onto your pan. But you won’t need a totally separate bottle for baking — it’s also easy enough to dispense into a measuring spoon or cup if you need a little more oil for, say, that amazing brownie recipe.

Don’t stop at optimizing your vegetable oil bottle! You can try the same trick with any liquid that comes with one of those little paper tops beneath the lid. It works with canola oil, of course, too. And you can pour the perfect amount of maple syrup on your breakfast! Oh, and it’s also lots of fun to poke said holes!

This post originally ran on Kitchn. See it there: The Surprising Way a Fork Can Make a New Bottle of Vegetable Oil a Million Times Better