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How to make your cooking time faster?

Preparing your meals at home instead of ordering takeout is good for more than just your wallet. Researchers from the University of Washington School of Public Health have found that cooking at home is associated with a healthier diet, but is not correlated with higher food spending. However, despite the myriad benefits of a home-cooked meal, more than a quarter of adults don’t cook at all, and the average American now spends more than 43 percent of their food dollars on food prepared by someone else.

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So, why are we so afraid of the kitchen? Unfortunately, the average adult’s daily time crunch makes it harder to find time to create healthy meals. We’re spending more time at work, less time sleeping, and an average of just 37 minutes a day cooking—hardly enough time for most of us to whip up three healthy meals. The good news? Using that time in the kitchen more effectively can help you enjoy healthier meals and lose weight almost effortlessly. These tricks that make cooking faster will have you in and out of the kitchen in no time. And don’t worry, even if you’re short on time, these healthy snack ideas will make it easy to grab something healthy in a hurry.

Salt Your Water

Salting the water you’re boiling your pasta in does more than just give it flavor. Adding salt to water raises its boiling point, meaning it boils your food at a higher temperature, too, thus shaving off some time in the kitchen. If your pasta indulgences have left your waist looking wider, get back on track with these healthy carbs that will uncover that six-pack in no time.

Mise En Place

The most important three words in the kitchen, aside from “don’t catch fire,” are “mise en place.” This French phrase, meaning to put things in their place, refers to the chef-approved technique of measuring, cutting, and otherwise prepping ingredients and laying them out before attempting a recipe. Doing adequate prep before you start cooking will make the cooking process a whole lot faster. Better yet, it’s easy to avoid overcooking your food if you’re not frantically trying to find ingredients.

Start With a Hot Pan

If you’re cooking your meals in a cold pan, you’re wasting time in the kitchen. Preheating your pan means your food starts cooking the second it hits the stovetop, and you can use the time while your pan is heating up to prep.

Follow the Recipe

This may seem obvious, but following the recipe to a T will save you time in the long run. When you’re winging it, particularly if you’re a novice, you’re apt to add too much or too little of certain ingredients, meaning you’re adding extra work and time to balance your flavors later on. When you’re first starting out in the kitchen, follow every word of the recipe and your meal will turn out just like it’s supposed to in the recommended amount of time.

Preheat Your Oven

Before you even open your fridge, preheat your oven. Whether you’re roasting vegetables or baking a cake, preheating your oven can shave much-needed minutes off your total cooking time.

Use Room-Temperature Meat

Transferring meat from the fridge to the pan will only waste time in the long run. Bringing your meat to room temperature first will help some of its external moisture evaporate, meaning you’re not wasting time as that condensation steams off. Better yet, room temperature meat will cook more evenly, as opposed to cold meat, which will cook rapidly on the outside but will fail to heat up sufficiently inside before the exterior is overdone.

Add Some Water

As counterintuitive as it may seem, adding some water to your sauce recipe can actually save you time in the long run. Putting water in your sauce will thin it slightly and allow it to cook more evenly. As the water evaporates, the rest of the ingredients will heat up with less risk of burning.

Use a Food Scale

You may think you’re great at eyeballing portion sizes, but you might be overestimating your ability. Research suggests that people tend to miscalculate portion size, which can mean you’re spending too much or too little time cooking your food, wasting precious minutes along the way. Fortunately, a food scale can help alleviate this problem, keeping your portions precise and cooking time to a minimum.

Master Convection Cooking

Those convection settings on your stove are your friend. Ovens with convection functions can cook your food significantly faster than your average stove, so go ahead and use them when you want to save yourself time in the kitchen. This handy convection cooking chart will help you make a faster and more flavorful meal every time. If you want to save yourself even more time in the kitchen, try adding these healthy and easy crock pot recipes to your repertoire.

Get a Kitchen Thermometer

Much like our inability to discern portion size just from eyeballing things, we’re also not so great at judging a food’s temperature with our eyes alone. This can often lead to overcooked or undercooked food, putting us at risk for food poisoning or meals cooked to the point of inedibility. Using a food thermometer will help you gauge precisely when your food is finished, making it easier to save yourself time in the kitchen.

Use a Small Pan

If you’re using an oversized pan to cook your food, you’re likely wasting time. Large pans take longer to heat up than their diminutive counterparts, and often heat less evenly, as well. Use a smaller pan for your food and you’ll have a more delicious meal and spend less time making it, too.

Create Compound Butter

Instead of using plain butter in your recipes, make your own herb-infused compound butter and save time in the process. Compound butter has already taken on the flavor of the herbs and spices you’ve added to it by the time you’re ready to start cooking, meaning you won’t have to cook your herbs separately first to get the rich flavor you’re looking to achieve.

Put a Lid on It

If you like it, then you should have put a lid on it. Putting a lid on your pot means the external air temperature will have less influence on the cooking temperature of your food. This, in turn, will help you prepare your food faster.

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Invest in Kitchen Shears

Istead of spending tons of time (and risking your fingertips) chopping herbs, meat, or vegetables with a knife, invest in some kitchen shears. Kitchen shears make it easier to cut food quickly, shaving off precious kitchen time in the process.

Use a Finer Cut

Saving yourself time in the kitchen is as easy as using a finer cut to create your meals. Smaller pieces of food cook faster, so when you’re eager to prepare something quickly, make those pieces extra small.

Sharpen Your Knives

Cutting with a dull knife only wastes time in the kitchen. Regularly sharpening your knives means you’ll get more precise cuts, making it easier to cook your food quickly and evenly, and sharp knives are less prone to slipping, saving you a trip to the emergency room, too.

Trim Your Veggies First

Instead of washing your vegetables before you trim them, reverse those steps. Trimming your vegetables and then rinsing or soaking them means you can clean the often-dirty inner parts of veggies like Brussels sprouts and their exterior at once, saving you the time it would take to double wash them.

Season Later

Creating big batches of a single food and seasoning later can be a great way to shave off time in the kitchen. For instance, if you’re browning ground beef, create a large batch and spice it after it’s been divided up into single-use portions. This way, you can save add some rosemary to one batch for sauce, toss cumin into another batch for stuffed peppers, and freeze the remainder with some salsa for burritos later down the line.

Use a Grater For Butter

Instead of wasting time leaving butter out overnight or melting it in the microwave, use a grater to help it soften faster. Grating frozen butter makes it easier to spread and incorporate into recipes, saving you time along the way.

Use a Meat Mallet

Want to speed things up in the kitchen? Don’t be afraid of using a meat tenderizer or mallet. In addition to combining a little workout with your kitchen prep, pounding a chicken breast or other cut of meat can help you remove some of its excess moisture and thin it slightly, making it easier to cook it quickly.

Use Baking Soda For Cooking Beans

Add a little baking soda to the water you soak your beans in can cut down on your time in the kitchen. In fact, researchers at the Federal University of Pelotas found that putting baking soda in water before soaking beans improved their texture and allowed them to cook more quickly.

Make One-Pan Meals

Don’t wash another unnecessary dish; instead, create one-pan meals. Roasting your meat and vegetables together on a single pan can make it easier to cook a meal expeditiously and save time on clean-up, too.

Pass on Bone-In Cuts

While a juicy bone-in ribeye may sound delicious, if you’re short on time, skip it. Cuts with the bone inside take longer to cook than their boneless counterparts, so opt for bone-free ones for a quicker meal.

Don’t Be Afraid of Higher Roasting Temps

Although common culinary wisdom dictates that you should roast things slow and low, embracing higher temperatures can help speed things up. Higher roasting temperatures will help you get a nice crispy exterior on your food while avoiding the mushiness that comes along with longer roasting times at lower temperatures. In fact, cooking meat at a low temperature over a long period of time is more likely to rob it of its moisture, leaving it tough and chewy, while a fast, high-temperature roast will leave it juicy.

Best Cooking Guide for beginners

Skills that every beginner cook should know in order to gain confidence in the kitchen…

  1. How to chop an onion

The cornerstone of so many dishes, learning to chop an onion efficiently can speed up dinner preparations no end. Take a few moments out and learn how to slice like a pro with our how to chop an onion video below. We’ve also been discussing ways to keep the tears at bay; apparently, sucking on a teaspoon while chopping will keep your eyes dry.

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  1. How to master basic knife skills

Once you’ve mastered chopping onions, it’s time to broaden your knife skills and get to grips with scoring, shearing, fine slicing and more. Our knife skills video demonstrates how to sharpen and handle a knife with confidence, while our guide to the anatomy of a knife will help you get the most from your blade.

  1. How to boil an egg

Sounds simple but a perfect, runny yolk can be lost in a moment, so timing is key. The duration of a boil depends on how firm you want the eggs to be, but it’s always best to start with them at room temperature to avoid undercooking. For a soft-boiled egg, bring a pan of water to the boil, gently lower the egg into it with a spoon and cook for three to five minutes. For hard-boiled eggs, start in a pan of cold water and bring up to the boil, then cook for seven-10 minutes – the longer you cook, the firmer the egg will be. Plunge the egg into cold water as soon as it’s done to stop it from overcooking. For more help perfecting your egg timing, read our guide on how to boil an egg.

  1. How to cook pasta

If you’ve been put off pasta by stodgy, stuck-together school dinners, it’s time to learn how to cook it properly. In Italy, pasta is always served ‘al-dente’, which literally means ‘to the teeth’ – boiled until softened, but still firm to the bite. To achieve this, fill a pan with double the water to cover the pasta, add salt to taste and bring it to the boil. Carefully drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook for 10-12 minutes, making sure to stir within the first two minutes of cooking to prevent sticking. Bear in mind that different pasta shapes will have different cooking times and fresh egg pasta will cook much quicker than dried. To help you decide, why not read our guide to which pasta to buy.

If you want to completely start from scratch with your own homemade dough and a pasta machine, our video on how to make pasta has some helpful advice.

  1. How to poach an egg

There’s no need to buy special pans to get perfectly poached eggs – they’re much easier than you think. Follow our video guide to poaching an egg with just a pan of boiling water, a splash of white wine vinegar and a slotted spoon.

  1. How to melt chocolate

Using a ‘bain marie’ to melt chocolate might sound fancy, but it’s actually really simple, and will ensure you don’t ruin your favourite sweet treat by burning or splitting it. Our video walks you through how to melt chocolate properly.

  1. How to make an omelette

For a tasty lunch or light dinner, you can’t beat an omelette. Beat your eggs until thoroughly combined, pour into a frying pan, and scatter over your fillings. Simple! To make it fluffy, drag the egg into the middle of the pan as it sets, as shown in our video on how to make the perfect omelette:

  1. How to bake a potato

The humble jacket potato needs very little to turn it into a substantial meal, but a few tweaks to your method can transform it from just average to outstanding. Try rubbing the outside with a little oil and salt for spuds that have crisp skin and fluffy white flesh. Follow our guide on how to make the ultimate baked potato for success every time and delve further into our baked potato collection.

  1. How to stuff and roast a chicken

Roast chicken is a Sunday favourite, but you can add even more flavour by stuffing it. Check out our video on how to stuff a chicken for roasting and use our roast timer to ensure perfect, juicy meat. Use a temperature thermometer or check that the juices run clear, as shown in our how to test & joint a chicken video. To achieve a flavourful and healthy roast, rub the chicken with thyme, lemon juice and rapeseed oil then serve with chopped vegetables, as shown in our healthy one pan roast chicken video.

  1. How to make gravy

Real gravy made in the roasting pan tastes so much better than powdered gravy. Follow the foolproof steps in our how to make gravy video to create silky sauce every time. For more in-depth instructions, read this guide on how to make the ultimate gravy.

  1. How to make stock

A good stock can lift your soups, stews and risottos to the next level. Master this technique with our video on how to make stock – perfect for using up leftover bones after a roast.

  1. How to cook rice

An everyday staple that deserves to be prepared properly. You don’t need to buy a rice cooker to get fluffy grains; the absorption method, shown in our how to cook rice video, simply uses a lidded pan of boiling water:

  1. How to separate an egg

Lots of recipes call for only egg whites or yolks, so how do you separate them out? One of the easiest methods is to crack the egg with the blunt side of a knife, open the shell into two halves, and pass the yolk several times between the halves, letting the white drop down into the bowl underneath before popping the yolk into a separate vessel. Watch our video on how to make meringues to see this technique in action.

  1. How to knead dough

Kneading bread dough with hand
Bread is a staple, but if you’ve never tasted a fresh loaf when it’s hot from the oven, you’re missing out. Mixing flour with water and a gentle pummelling activates gluten, which needs to be developed through kneading to make the dough stretchy and elastic. Prepare a flat, clean surface by sprinkling over a little flour, and take your bowl of risen dough. Using your fists, ‘knock back’ the dough until it forms a smaller ball, then tip this out onto your kneading surface. Using the heel of one hand, push the dough down and forwards, stretching and squashing it. Give the dough a quarter turn and fold it in half, then repeat, kneading and turning in a rhythmic manner for as long as the recipe states. See this technique in action in our how to make bread video and improve your bread skills.

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  1. How to crush garlic

Garlic is essential to many recipes, and our video guide for how to crush garlic with a knife will not only save you the hassle of buying and cleaning a garlic crusher, but will give you a smooth paste that will simply disappear into your dish with no lumps.

  1. How to prepare chillies

Fresh chillies can add a kick to your cooking. You can vary the heat depending on the type of chilli that you use, and whether you prepare it with the seeds or not. Find out how to prepare chillies – just make sure you wash your hands after!

  1. How to brown meat

Beef and swede casserole in a cooking pot
For meat to stay succulent and juicy when it’s cooked in a stew, it needs to be sealed first. Browning meat is a simple technique of briefly pan-frying until the outside is seared to give a richer flavour and keep meat tender before cooking further. Try it out in this beef & swede casserole.

  1. How to cook the perfect steak

Pan-frying is one of the easiest ways to make sure that your steak is cooked to perfection. The cooking time will depend on how well-done you like your meat, how thick the cut is, and what type of steak it is. Follow our perfect steak guide to serve up a steak that’s cooked to your liking

health and shopping tips in terms of kitchen and cooking

Top 10 Health Tips:

Do not wash the vegetables after peeling or chopping. This will wash out all the water soluble vitamins.
Try your best to steam or stir fry the vegetables to cook them and retain all its nutrients. However, if you need to boil the vegetables, do not throw the water. Many nutrients are left back in the water, so use it when making some gravies or soups.

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Potatoes, drumstick etc. have their nutrients in their skin. So try using them without peeling it. Also, eat fruits like apples along with its skin.
Tamarind can be substituted with raw mango powder, lime juice, kokum etc. These are healthy alternatives.
Add a pinch of baking soda for any preparations using gram flour (besan) like dhokla, pakoras, chilas etc. This not makes the batter lighter but also is easier for digestion.
Use lot of garlic and asafoetida in recipes to avoid gastric problems.
Add salt at the very end of the cooking process to reduce the overall salt intake. Also, adding salt in the beginning dehydrates the vegetables and reduces its nutritional value.

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Use half wheat flour for any recipes that call for refined flour (maida). This will improve the nutritious value of the dish.
Cut the fat in your recipes wherever possible. Prevention is better than cure. e.g : use less oil, use less coconut in gravies and substitute with poppy seeds or tomatoes, substitute cream with milk.
Eat freah home cooked meals and snacks as much as possible. It is always mush healthier as you have a control over the ingredients used.

Top 10 Shopping Tips:

Always prepare a shopping list to avoid over buying based on instinct or under buying and missing out the necessary things. Clean your refrigerator and pantry once in a month before preparing a shopping list.

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Always be sure to check the expiry dates of products. Purchase large quantities only if you are sure to finish it within the date.
While buying mutton, get a smaller animal. The meat will be pinkish and not dark red. This will ensure tender meat when cooked.
When buying produce, look for its freshness. Do not purchase if it doesn’t look bright and firm.
Choose brinjals (eggplant) that are lighter. Heavier ones are more mature with many seeds and the brinjals will also taste bitter.
If you are not able to find fresh herbs, you can buy dried ones. However, you have to use very sparingly as dried herbs have a stronger aroma.
Always read the nutritional labels while buying canned or processed food. Compare similar products to check for salt content, fat etc. Also purchase low sodium options whenever possible.
Always be brave and try out new fruits and vegetables that you see in the market. Who knows? It might become your next favorite.

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Plan and buy some frozen food. It is always useful to have some frozen vegetables like green peas, corn etc. to make quick fried rice or noodles. You might not have the fresh ones all the time.
Purchase fish in bulk. This way you do not have to rush to the market often. If you clean and refrigerate in small portions, you will have fish ready for cooking any time. That way you will eat healthy often.

Top chopping and frying tips for you

Top 10 Frying Tips:

When frying, the oil should be in the correct temperature. If its too hot, the outside will get browned up too quickly before the inside gets cooked. If its not hot enough, the fried food will absorb too much oil before getting cooked.

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Choose any oil with neutral flavor like vegetable oil, refined sunflower oil, canola oil etc. for frying. Oils with strong flavor like olive oil or coconut oil will change the taste of the fried food.
To reduce the amount of oil absorbed by the food when fried, add a pinch of salt to the oil before frying.
Before deep frying vegetables or fish or meat, pat it dry completely on a kitchen towel or using a paper napkin. This will ensure that it gets fried properly and tastes better. Also there will be less oil splatter since water is oils worst enemy.
To make crispier puris that stay puffed up longer, add a little rava to the wheat flour while kneading.

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To make crispier bajjis (pakoras), add a little corn flour or rice flour to the gram flour while making the bajji batter. Also add some hot oil to the batter.
Use a deep vessel to fry chicken to avoid the splashing of oil and juices all around the place. Use long tongs to put the foos to be fried carefully in the hot oil.
When frying mushrooms, add salt only after it has browned. Similarly adding salt to the chicken also slows up the browning.
When doing any seasoning, fry mustard seeds, peppercorns etc. until they finish popping. The dals should change color to a light golden brown. Only then the seasoned oil will be very flavorful.
While it is not at all advisable to reuse fried oil, some people still prefer to do it. In that case, strain the oil before using it again to remove all fried bits and pieces.

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Top 10 Storage (Refrigerating, Freezing)Tips:

Store nuts and dry fruits in the refrigerator to increase their shelf life. I also store coffee powder and health drinks in the refrigerator. In room temperature, it gets hard due to the humidity in the air.
Keep coriander leaves in a air tight plastic box with a paper napkin inside to keep them fresh in the refrigerator for a long time (almost a month).
Remove the stem of the chilly while storing them whole. Another method is to make chilly paste and store it.
To store fish longer and fresher, clean it, apply some turmeric powder, lemon juice and salt and put it in the freezer.
Soak beans in bulk and freeze it. That way you can make quick curries and side dishes quickly. Also, you can sprout the beans and freeze it.
Wrap the fruits and vegetables in newspaper before refrigerating to keep them fresh longer.
For storing ginger garlic paste longer, add some oil and salt while grinding.
Store onions, garlic, potatoes and tubers in open space with good air circulation to prevent it from rotting. Also, do not store onions and potatoes together in the same container.
Always keep the bananas separated from the other fruits to avoid quick ripening of fruits.
Store spices away from sunlight in a closed dark place to retain their freshness and aroma longer.

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5 Kitchen Tips You’ll Never Forget

1. Cover the pot when bringing water to a boil.
There’s a reason we set the heat to high when bringing water to a boil — the faster water is able to heat up, the faster it will come to a boil. Common sense, right? Take things one step further by covering the pot, trapping in heat and cutting down on the time needed to bring the water to a boil. Try it when cooking pasta, steaming vegetables or heating up a soup. (However, forgo this tip when a recipe calls for leaving a pot uncovered, so as to not affect recipe cooking times.)

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2. After chopping food, use the dull end of a knife to scrape the contents from the work surface.
Ingredients like onions are often chopped, then scraped into a bowl or cooking vessel. Always flip the blade over to use the end opposite of the sharpened blade for scraping. Otherwise, the blade will dull considerably, making it less efficient and more likely to slip when chopping or slicing.

3. Heat stainless steel cookware correctly to keep food from sticking.
Place the cooking vessel over medium to high heat for one to three minutes; the pot or pan will be ready when you add a drop of water to the pan and it immediately forms a bead of water that rolls around the pan. (If the water drop sizzles, wait another 20 to 30 seconds; if it begins to spit, let the pan cool off for a bit before trying again.) Add oil at this time, tilting the pan to coat the surface and allowing the oil to heat up for about a minute. At this point, the stainless steel surface will be ideal for browning ingredients without sticking — even delicate foods like eggs and fish. The success of this process relies on a scientific reaction called the Leidenfrost effect, which results in heating the surface to a point where items added to the pan are “suspended” or separated from the surface by gases released upon contact between the ingredients and a properly heated pan.

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4. Use the correct measuring tool for the ingredient.
The tool needed to measure an ingredient depends on whether the ingredient is liquid or dry. Liquid ingredients, such as water, oil or honey, are measured in what is known as a liquid measuring cup, which tends to be a single cup with the measurements marked on its interior or exterior wall; be at eye level when measuring an ingredient and fill the cup to the correct line. Dry ingredients, such as flour, any spices or condiments, like ketchup or mayonnaise, should be measured into dry measuring cups. Dry measuring cups typically come as a set of cups with each cup individually marked with its corresponding measurement; fill the correct measuring cup with the ingredient, then level the surface using a knife, spatula or any other flat edge. Measuring spoons are fine to use for both liquid and dry ingredients, as the difference is so minimal in these small amounts that it won’t affect the end result.

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5. Season food to taste.
The flavor of a dish depends on a multitude of variables, including freshness of ingredients, how it was prepared and how it is seasoned. Once salt and/or pepper has been added to a savory dish, taste it — if it tastes bland or lacks flavor, season it more and taste again. It takes a seasoned hand to know how much salt is needed without tasting, and the difference between a properly seasoned dish and one that is underseasoned is obvious once you find the right balance. The pros sprinkle on the salt from high above a dish, about 12 inches away, to allow for an even coating and to keep the salt from being too concentrated in any one area. To prevent oversalting, use a little bit at a time to start.

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Innovative ideas on kitchen organization

Who doesn’t like to save time cooking instead of spending hours over the stove? You don’t have to be a professional chef to make a healthy and tasty dish quickly. You just need to know several helpful tricks.

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Bright Side gathered for you 11 of the most useful kitchen tips that will make any cooking process shorter and easier.
1. Soak pasta before cooking so that it’s done in 60 seconds.

It may sound weird but it really works! Soak pasta in water in a leakproof container and leave it for several hours or overnight. After that, you can cook the pasta really quickly in boiling water or just add hot sauce to it.
2. Cut a mango into even cubes in less than a minute.

It’s the quickest and easiest way to peel a mango and cut it for a salad.

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3. Add baking soda to caramelize onions 2 times faster.

Add 1/2 or 1 tbsp of baking soda to 2 lb of onions right after they turn slightly brown in a frying pan. Right before your eyes the onions will caramelize and won’t burn.

4. Grate parmesan or any other kind of cheese at room temperature.

At room temperature, cheese becomes softer and is easier to grate.
5. Remove an avocado pit in 1 second.

To remove a pit, you should use a sharp knife and be very careful. The easiest way to do it is to put the avocado on a cutting board.
6. Freeze meat to cut it quickly for frying or making stew.

Thanks to this tip you’ll get perfectly even, thin slices of meat that won’t take much time to cook.

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7. Cook once and use leftovers to make other dishes.

Turkey or pork are not-easy-to-cook foods and take a lot of time to make, but they’re perfect for family meals. The leftovers can be used to make different dishes during the weekdays. Keep leftovers in sealed containers and use them to make sandwiches, salads, and snacks.
8. Cut a stick of butter into pieces to make it soften much faster.

You can also place butter near a stove to warm it while you’re cooking something else.

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Tips on Buying Stainless Cookware Sets

Stainless steel is one of the most popular materials for cookware because it is durable, non-reactive, and relatively inexpensive. However, not all stainless steel is the same quality, so you’ll want to keep these tips in mind as you shop. When you know what to look for, you’ll be able to choose the best stainless cookware set for your kitchen.

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1. Look for stainless cookware with an aluminum core.

While pure stainless steel cookware is durable and doesn’t corrode, it doesn’t retain heat well and can cook food unevenly. To solve this problem, stainless steel cookware often features aluminum or copper cores in both the base and side walls of each pan. You can even find a stainless steel cookware set that includes both aluminum and copper in the base. This helps your food cook more evenly and helps the pan retain heat when you add more food.

2. Buy 18/10 stainless cookware for quality.

To ensure that the cookware set you’re looking at will last, look at the types of metal used to make it. For example, an 18/10 stainless steel cookware set contains 18 percent chromium and 10 percent nickel and is considered very durable. Chromium protects stainless steel from stains and rust, while nickel makes chromium more effective and gives your pots and pans a glossy shine. The higher the numbers are, the more corrosion-resistant the cookware set is.

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3. Find sets that include the right pots and pans for your favorite recipes.

Though you may be tempted to buy a cookware set that includes the most pieces for your money, you’ll want to look for sets that provide you with the pieces you’ll really use. A basic cookware set will include a sauté pan or skillet for cooking meat and vegetables, a sauce pan for soups and sauces, and a stock pot for soup and pasta. To determine which additional pieces you’ll use, read our guide on the best pots and pans.

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4. Purchase sets with durable handles and lids.

While the quality of metal in your stainless cookware is important, you’ll also want to buy pots and pans that have sturdy handles and lids. You can often find stainless steel cookware with cool-touch, easy-to-grip handles, but you’ll also want to consider whether you need handles that can go from stovetop to oven for the recipes you like to make. Make sure the set includes lids, as many recipes will require them for food to cook properly.

5. Remember that accessories are counted as part of the set.

A 19-piece stainless cookware set for a low price may sound enticing, but remember that some of those pieces may be spatulas, spoons, ladles, and even recipe books. The price is only worth it if you really need all those pieces. Again, be sure to consider what you’ll really use before you buy a set with lots of accessories.

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Guide on selecting knife for kitchen

With so many knives to choose from, it can be difficult to know where to start with creating your personal knife collection. Do you really need a carving knife if you have a chef’s knife? What’s so great about a santoku knife? In a bid to make these important life choices easier, we have a little infographic and knife breakdown for you. Don’t know how to choose a knife? We’ve got you covered.

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Choosing the right knife

Try chopping a tomato with a carving knife. Now try chopping it with a Victorinox paring knife and you’ll soon see that each knife was created with a specific purpose in mind. This doesn’t mean that you need to buy every single knife under the sun, but that you should consider what you enjoy cooking most often and tailor your knife collection to suit your needs. Some knives are great multitaskers, some are best used to fulfil their fish-boning destiny.

Each knife’s purpose

Is it important to use the correct knife for the correct purpose? It may sound obvious but, within reason, it is. A carving knife won’t work to cleave and, if it does, you’re probably using too much force and damaging the blade. A chef’s knife is a great multitasker, but for delicate work like de-seeding peppers and coring tomatoes, a small and nimble paring knife is better.

So how do I choose which knives I need?

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You can cut out some of the thinking by choosing a knife set but, in case you already have the basics of a knife collection, here’s how our knife wish list would go.

1. Chef’s knife

A proper chef’s knife is where most epic knife collections begin. These handy, classically shaped knives will make light of all your basic food preparation tasks, like chopping and slicing fresh ingredients. A good chef’s knife can change how you feel about cooking altogether.

2. Paring knife

Paring, peeling and slicing are made easy with these nimble guys and they are great if you have to take just one knife on a picnic or camping. After all, your granny never ate an apple without taking it apart and slicing it in two. Just decide whether you need a serrated blade – great for cutting through soft skinned tomatoes – or straight blade. Or, just go with one of each.

3. Utility knife

For a multitasking, versatile knife, choose a utility knife for all those small slicing tasks like mincing shallots, slicing herbs and cleaning and cutting your veggies. The slightly longer blade is convenient, when you don’t need the heft of a chef’s knife, but a paring knife is just too small to be comfortable.

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4. Bread knife

Squashing a fluffy loaf with a non-serrated knife is not okay. For gently slicing through bread without tearing it, a bread knife is what you need. The large serrations bite through the crispiest crusts and leaves the soft crumb inside intact. Respect the freshly-baked baguette, people.

5. Steak knives

There is nothing like a good steak but enjoyment of your robust meaty dish can be diluted if not given the right utensils. Invest in a set of steak knives to make light work of sumptuous slabs.

6. Fillet knife

A fillet knife should have a flexible blade for delicate fish and meat preparation. Equip yourself with the right tools and a little technique and you’ll be a master meat surgeon before you know it.

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7. Boning knife

Now we’re getting a little technical. The boning knife has a narrow, flexible blade with a fine tapered tip. This shape makes it much easier to work around bones – whilst causing minimal damage to the surrounding meat. Nice to have, but not essential unless you are planning on doing a lot of your own meat prep.

Decorate your small kitchen with these space-saving ideas

Living in a city and loving to cook can be a challenge, especially since most kitchens are tiny and have limited storage space. How are you supposed to use your oven when it’s doubling as a shoe rack?! But seriously, city folks (or anyone who’s living with a tight kitchen) must get creative with their space, and these small kitchen ideas will help ease the pain of spending top dollar for a kitchen that is smaller than a suburban bathroom

small-kitchen-design

1. Don’t hang artwork; you need the wall space.

Small kitchens means limited cabinet space, but they all have walls. Instead of covering them with art, use that prime kitchen real estate for something more functional. Install a magnetic knife holder on the wall to free up valuable cabinet space, suggests Lindsey Pine, M.S., R.D.N. “They’re relatively inexpensive, save a ton of space, and are a great way to display your chef blades.”

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Another fun trick, courtesy of culinary nutritionist Julie Harrington, R.D., is to hang a mason jar display on the wall to stash cooking utensils. “To create one yourself, stain a piece of wood, drill a few hose clamps into the wood, and attach the mason jars,” she says. Or if you’re like us and left your tool belt and enthusiasm for crafting in the suburbs.

2. Do an inventory count of pantry staples so you don’t overbuy.

The thought of buying in bulk is laughable for those with minimal kitchen space. Even purchasing an item you already have can cause major space anxiety (buying a third rice wine vinegar is the worst). To avoid overbuying, keep track of the items in your kitchen. “Transfer everything into clear plastic containers so you can clearly see what you have and make the most of the limited space,” says Chelsey Amer, M.S., R.D.N., C.D.N. Anytime you run out of something, make a note on your phone. Next time you’re at the store, you will know exactly what you need.

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3. Clear the clutter on the counter.

Ask any city dweller who likes to cook if they would rather have counter space or a doorman, and the answer will almost always be counter space. Cluttering that precious counter space with bulky appliances is a tiny kitchen no-no. Rather than buying humongous blenders and fancy coffee makers, choose smaller and storable options, like an immersion blender or a French press. Both still do the trick and are light enough to be stored on a homemade shelf, or shoved into a drawer.

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4. The stove isn’t just for cooking.

In a small kitchen, everything should serve a dual purpose, and the oven is no exception. Pine suggests storing cast-iron pans in the oven. “Take them out when you need to use the oven, but since they can take the heat, you don’t need to wait for the oven to completely cool down before returning them to their resting spot.” Also, that weird little drawer under the oven is a great place to store pots, pans, and baking sheets.

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5. Get to those the hard-to-reach cabinets with some help.

Contrary to popular belief, a step stool is not just for kids. You know those cabinets over the fridge or the small space between the cabinets and the ceiling? Those are both valuable real estate in the kitchen, but completely out of sight and reach for most people. A step stool helps you utilize that space, and some can easily be folded up and stored under your bed.

These kitchen gadgets cut your cooking time half

We’ve all been there: It’s 8 p.m., you’re finally on your way home from work, and you’re flat-out starving. You’ve got two options, right? Either call up your good friend Seamless and break your “no spending money on takeout” resolution or start in on a recipe guaranteed to destroy your new “no eating after 9 p.m.” rule. Talk about a rock and a hard place.

But thankfully, there’s a solution. We’ve dug up seven budget-conscious kitchen shelf standouts committed to making sure you can have your reasonably timed, home-cooked meal and eat it too, no matter how long that last meeting runs over.

KitchenGadgets

1. Jenaluca Stainless Steel Herb-Cutting Scissors
What has five blades, a cleaning comb, is dishwasher-safe, and is about to make your dinner a whole lot tastier (not to mention easier)? This guy! Pick up one of these easy-to-handle snippers and you’ll never again spend five minutes “mincing” a fresh bunch of parsley into a dewy pulp with a knife and cutting board. You can even finely slice those bad boys right onto your plate for a restaurant-worthy finish. Confession: We thought you could just use regular scissors, but the five blades do wonders for cutting down on time.

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2. Dash Rapid Egg Cooker
This genius contraption laughs in the face of the single, high-maintenance 12-minute egg by cooking up no less than six of these protein-packed puppies in the same amount of time with just one touch. It’s also great for poaching, soft-boiling, and even making omelets. We see deviled eggs by the dozens heading your way…

3. Chef’n VeggiChop Hand-Powered Food Chopper
This adorable little contraption not only expertly chops up just any old vegetable you can imagine, it also functions as a manual one-stop-shop for making spreads and salsas. Toss in some avocados, onions, garlic, tomatoes, and seasoning; give it a whirl; and you’ve got a conveniently resealable container full of homemade guacamole ready for dipping.

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4. Spiralizer 5-Blade Vegetable Slicer
This handy crank-and-slice machine can churn out delicate squash ribbons, perfectly portioned onion rounds, crunchy radish wheels, and hearty strings of beet spaghetti faster than you can say “zoodle.” Taking the Whole30 plunge has never been easier, faster, or, honestly, more fun.

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5. Williams Sonoma Hammered Flat-Bottom Wok
Take our word for it: When it comes to Western kitchens, the wok is undoubtedly the most slept-on stovetop cooker out there. Durable, versatile, and damn fine to look at, this flat-bottomed, carbon steel game-changer goes from cool to molten lava quickly and efficiently no matter what kind of burner you’re operating, bringing you that much closer to the steamed soup dumplings of your dreams. One-pot meals are the answer for anyone who’s tight on time.

6. Instant Pot Lux Mini
Instant Pots are designed expressly for ultra-speedy cooking and this baby bear-size version gives you all the oomph of the big boys minus the hefty price tag. It’s equipped with all the fancy settings that catapulted its six- and seven-quart sisters into stardom—soup/broth, meat/stew, steam, egg, sauté, rice, porridge, keep warm, pressure cook, and slow cook—and is sure to ~instantly~ revolutionize your meal-prep game.

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7. Oster 2-Pound Expressbake Bread Machine
We know what you’re thinking: I can just buy bread?! But what if we told you that the only things standing between you and a piping hot loaf of homemade bread were a few ingredients, a couple buttons, and an hour? Armed with nine different baking modes and three custom crust settings, this streamlined gadget promises to turn your wildest carbo-loading dreams into a delicious reality.