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Saving Time in the Kitchen

This post has been contributed –  All opinions are mine alone 

Even those of us who love to cook can sometimes feel that it is a bit of a burden when we have to do it. Home cooking is one of the best ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle, but it’s definitely very time-consuming! That doesn’t mean you should resort to convenience foods when you’re particularly busy, though. It just means that you need to work on speeding up your process!

There are several ways you can cut down on the amount of time you spend in the kitchen. We’re going to take a quick look at four of the most important but simple things you need to do in order to save yourself some time!

Practice!

Yes, practice is something that’s going to take time. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it! Ultimately, the reason that so many people spend longer in the kitchen than they’d like is because they keep stumbling at certain steps or getting things wrong. By practicing certain basic recipes and techniques, you’ll be able to speed up everything you do in no time. This website [1] has a useful list of YouTube channels that feature free lessons!

Get the right equipment

Too many people stick to really basic equipment. But investing in better equipment will definitely help you in this department. There are some pans that heat up quicker and thus cook faster. Food processors [2] and electric whisks save mountains of time compared to doing things manually. You should also make sure your equipment is maintained so that they stay as useful as possible for as long as possible. Sharpening your knives, for example, will definitely help you out. Speaking of which…

Improve your chopping

Chopping vegetables also seems like it will take a lot less time than it actually does. There are two problems that come into play here. The first is not having the right knife for the job; certain knives are better for certain vegetables, and they should all be kept sharp. Check out this page [3] to read more about high-quality knives. The second problem is a lack of decent chopping technique. Practicing along to YouTube lessons can help you out in this area, too! You’d be amazed at how much time you could save by improving your chopping technique. Of course, there’s also food processors that come with chopping blades to consider.  I’ve considered taking a live class on knife technique.

Make things in batches

Some people need variety; they can’t eat the same meal several days in a row.   I know I can’t!  But if you’re not that picky, then making a meal in a big batch will save you mountains of time.  Let’s say you’re making soup [4] (though this logic applies to basically any meal you can think of).  Making enough soup to last you the entire week in one cooking session will take less than half the collective time you would have spent cooking up a fresh meal every evening.  It doesn’t take that much longer to make a big batch of a meal when compared to making just one serving!  This doesn’t just save you time; it also saves you a lot of money.  I like to make large batches and then freeze portions for use the rest of the month.  Then I have the time and money saving as well as the variety I like.

So give it a try – see how much time you can save!