If you have always enjoyed being in the kitchen, it is very likely that you are always looking for inspiration. From food blogs like Prepared Cooks to cooking lessons and more, we can be inspired from almost anywhere in this day and age. However, sometimes, cooking may not be the most joyous occasion we thought it was set out to be. You might have gotten a lot of cooking gifts throughout the year, but does it take away your cooking time?
How many times have you looked for recipes and spent ages making dinner? It says 15-minute meals, but why do they always take you an hour?! Being able to cook faster is a huge advantage for any parent. When you are too busy, you could purchase a ramen kit or other instant food items from a japanese food store online or from a nearby grocery store. It frees up more time to take care of the many other parental responsibilities you have. Well, what if you found out there are a few simple ways to cook faster every single evening? It’s true, and here they are:
Invest in better cooking equipment
For me, two main issues always arise:
- Things don’t seem to cook fast enough
- It takes ages to cut ingredients up
Both problems can be addressed with new cooking equipment. Get your hands on some premium cookware that heats up quickly and cooks your food a lot more efficiently than old stuff. Brands like Made In Cookware that sell aluminum pots and pans are always useful as aluminum gets hot quickly and cooks food faster. Also, get a sharp new knife set, or perhaps a machine that cuts things for you. It speeds up your slicing and dicing instantly. You can shave minutes off your total cooking time, and these ideas are also great gifts for mums!
Try Using Different Equipment
If you are tired of it taking an age to cook food you might want to consider using different equipment and appliances in your kitchen. For instance, you could consider using a Ninja Foodi with a grillgrate. Combined, the devices will heat up your steak in no time and ensure that it’s cooked to perfection. This ninja foodi steak device will cook your meat in just seven minutes!
Prep your food
Be sure you prep all your ingredients before you start cooking. A big mistake is to chop onions, add them to a pan, then chop other ingredients, etc. Instead, chop everything up and have it ready on the side. If you’re adding spices, get all the right measurements on a plate. Now, you simply add ingredients as required. It streamlines the whole process and makes cooking a lot easier.
Always pre-heat
Whether it’s your oven or your stove, be sure to always pre-heat before you need to start cooking. This ensures everything is hot and ready to go. Do this while you get all the prep started. It prevents you from preparing ingredients, then waiting 5-10 minutes for everything to heat up.
The same rule applies to water, kind of. Instead of heating water in a pan, boil it in a kettle. This works much faster and means you can cook things like pasta in under 10 minutes, rather than waiting 10 minutes for the water to boil, then cooking the pasta for 8-9 mins.
Clean while you cook
Lastly, clean up after yourself as things cook. Most recipes give you time to let things simmer or bake. Use this time to clean everything you can. It makes time go faster, so the meal feels like it’s ready sooner. But, it benefits you by reducing the washing up after dinner. Now, you just have a couple of things to clean, instead of a bucketload.
See, four simple ways to speed up your daily cooking. If you want a bonus tip: cook in batches! This is perfect as you can sometimes spend two or three days cooking, but have enough meals for the entire week. I’ve put this as a bonus tip as it depends on your fridge/freezer space. If you don’t have much room, you can’t cook in batches.