Do you often feel drained after making a meal or feel that all your time is being consumed in cooking and cleaning? Then you need to sit back and read on, as we have got back with these easy hacks that will help you reduce efforts in the kitchen, and that too without compromising on anything!
Can you actually save time?
Well, most people spend hours in the kitchen preparing meals, such as chopping vegetables, waiting for water to boil, searching for stuff in cabinets and cleaning countertops. These little things add up. Can be really frustrating. Most people think that to have an efficient kitchen, you need to do a big and expensive renovation. The truth is, saving time is all about making a few small changes to how your kitchen works. By doing this you can easily save ten minutes every day. Here are five kitchen upgrades that can help you do that.
Freeze
Onions, garlic, and ginger form the flavorful foundation of almost every savory meal, but peeling and mincing them every single night is a major time-sink. To bypass this daily chore, dedicate just ten minutes over the weekend to processing a large batch of garlic and ginger in a food processor. Mix the paste with a splash of oil, spread it flat inside a zip-top freezer bag, and freeze it. When you are ready to cook, you can easily break off a perfectly portioned chunk and drop it straight into your hot pan.
Garbage Bowl Strategy
Every time you walk across the kitchen to throw away an onion skin, a vegetable peeling, or a plastic wrapper, you break your cooking momentum. To eliminate these countless micro-trips to the trash can, place a large, empty mixing bowl right next to your cutting board before you start prepping. Toss all of your food scraps, stems, and packaging directly into this "garbage bowl" as you work. You will keep your workspace clear, stay focused, and only have to make a single trip to the trash bin when you are completely finished.
Clean as you wait
The daunting pile of crusty pots and pans waiting in the sink after a meal is enough to make anyone dread cooking. You can eliminate this post-dinner chore by shifting your cleaning timeline to the natural gaps in the cooking process. While you are waiting for water to boil, vegetables to roast, or a sauce to simmer, use those empty pockets of time to wash your cutting board, rinse your knives, and wipe down the counters. By the time you sit down to eat, the kitchen will already be clean.
Electric Kettle
Waiting for a massive pot of cold water to come to a rolling boil on a standard stovetop feels like it takes an eternity, especially on electric or slow-heating burners. You can shave minutes off your pasta, rice, or potato prep by utilizing an electric kettle. Fill the kettle and turn it on while you gather your ingredients; it will boil the water in a fraction of the time. Once it's roaring hot, simply pour it directly into your stovetop pot, turn the burner to high, and you are ready to cook instantly.
Better butter
Many baking recipes call for "cold, cubed butter" to create flaky biscuits, pie crusts, or scones, which usually requires tedious chopping or using a pastry cutter. An incredibly fast alternative is to keep a few sticks of butter in your freezer and use a standard box grater to shred it directly into your flour mixture. The grated shreds of frozen butter are already the perfect size, meaning they distribute evenly into the dry ingredients in seconds without melting from the warmth of your hands.
