When you have something to do: simple tricks to spend a minimum of time in the kitchen

There are people who are crazy about the process of cooking. They are ready to devote all their free time to this, inventing culinary masterpieces, experimenting with products, and delighting their loved ones and friends with a “belly celebration.” And there are those who do not like to tinker in the kitchen and do this only because a person is not able to feed on the holy spirit. He needs physical food that needs to be prepared (ingredients washed, peeled, cut, put together).

Change your approach to your kitchen routine

Has cooking become a real chore? Spend more time in the kitchen than with your family? What if the problem is not in the kitchen or food, but in the attitude to this process itself? Below are tips recommended by experienced chefs and culinary professionals - they know where to start liberating yourself from the slavery of kitchen captivity.

The secret of quick cooking lies not only in the specific characteristics of the products, their special processing or the addition of ingredients that speed up their readiness. Ordinary everyday moments save a lot of time.

• Stop being a one-man farmer in the kitchen

This is especially true for women. They are used to doing their own shopping, preparing food, washing dishes after eating, and clearing the table. And this process is endless - there is no end or edge.

Try, if possible, to distribute responsibilities among all family members.For example, everyone (husband, wife, children) returning from work or school can go to a store on the way and buy something. Then all members of the household can help prepare the dish: one washes the food, another cleans it and cuts it (most men, by the way, are excellent at cutting meat or fish), the third collects everything according to the recipe and monitors the cooking process, the fourth sets the table.

After the meal, roles should also be distributed: someone clears the table, someone washes the dishes, someone wraps the food and puts it in the refrigerator, and someone wipes the dishes dry and puts them away.

• Store food and ingredients for the future

In order not to spend a lot of time preparing food during the week, you can set aside just 1-2 hours on the weekend and during this time prepare the basis for several dishes at once. For example, chefs always have frozen chopped vegetables that are very convenient to take out of the freezer and throw into a frying pan or pan.

Why not try peeling onions, carrots, peppers, garlic and other vegetables in advance, then cutting them up, distributing them in bags or special food containers and putting them in the freezer? You can also freeze ready-made dishes (salads, soups, side dishes).

You can also prepare the dough in advance in reserve. When preparing dough for cookies, buns, dumplings, dumplings, it is not so difficult to knead a double portion and put the rest in the freezer. This will serve as a preparation for future dishes.

• Read the recipe to the end

This advice may seem strange, but it really saves time. If you are too lazy to look at a recipe that you are not entirely sure of, you risk preparing the dish incorrectly and then spending even more time correcting mistakes.

• Appreciate every minute

Don't waste your time. While the pan is heating, put the kettle on or wash the vegetables. After placing the pie or meat in the oven, remove the dirty dishes and wash them.

Keep up with the times

The best friends of modern women are not diamonds at all. A household appliance is a welcome friend of any housewife. I wish I had more friends like:

• Dishwasher;
• multicooker;
• pressure cooker;
• microwave;
• oven;
• toaster;
• food processor;
• juicer;
• bread machine;
• meat grinder;
• blender;
• mixer.

For any housewife, what is more important is not how long it takes to prepare food, but how much time you have to personally participate in this process. Kitchen appliances can easily perform a large amount of work for a person. For example, cooking porridge in a slow cooker eliminates the need to monitor it or stir regularly. The dishwasher will remove leftover food and grease. A microwave allows you to quickly heat up food without using extra utensils.

Little quick cooking tricks

If you bake foods in foil, they will be more juicy, tasty, and the cooking process will speed up by 15–20 minutes. The dishes in which the dish is baked do not burn, so there is no need to waste time washing them.

It is better to cook dishes in the oven, if the recipe allows, at higher temperatures. Then they will reach readiness faster. For example, if you bake vegetables not at 170°C, but at 200°C, they will be ready not in 50–60 minutes, but in 35–40. Shrimp are generally cooked in 5 minutes at 200°C.

Housewives can take on board a few more tips regarding the properties of certain products:

• Before adding chopped vegetables to the soup, you can lightly fry them.This will enhance the taste of vegetables and reduce the time they cook in water by 5-10 minutes.
• Grating Parmesan is better and faster if you take it out of the refrigerator in advance and let it warm to room temperature. This will make the cheese softer.
• If you boil or fry beets directly in their peels, then it is easier and faster to peel them than raw ones. You just need to rinse it thoroughly first.
• If you soak pasta in water in an airtight container for several hours (even overnight) before cooking, it will cook in about 1 minute. Another option is to remove them from the container and place them in a pan with the hot sauce.
• If you take the meat out of the freezer immediately before cooking, you can easily cut it into thin slices, which will fry faster.
• It is recommended to boil beans in mineral or sparkling water. The elements in such a liquid will destroy the vegetable cellulose, so the vegetables will cook faster, while maintaining their juiciness and rich color.



• To caramelize the onion, you need to add 0.5 or 1 tsp at the time of sauteing. baking soda. The onions will caramelize but not burn.
• To make the butter soften faster, you need to cut it into cubes.
• To quickly peel potatoes, professional chefs advise placing the washed tubers in a pan of boiling water for literally 30 seconds, and then in cold water for the same time. After 30 seconds, the peel is easily removed due to the sudden temperature change.

Thus, quickly preparing food does not mean that you need to eat only semi-finished products or be a regular at public catering. This will not give you health and will not save money in your wallet.Fast cooking means knowing some of the characteristics of foods, the ability to use this to your advantage, and the ability to adjust circumstances to suit you. It's time to move from theory to practice. Try these tips and enjoy more meaningful and rewarding moments than standing in front of the stove in the kitchen.