Time tricks is the section I’m always working on. In the kitchen, as well as in life, I like to do things as quickly as possible. I mean I run for exercise because I find walking way too slow. I’m always on the lookout for shortcuts that will get me where I want to go quicker without sacrificing the things that are important to me, like flavour.
Just 2 videos this week, but I’ve divided our time tricks tips into 3 sections: planning, preparation, and technique.
1. planning
plan your meals
I know it sounds a bit boring but having a rough idea of what you’re going to need and doing a weekly shop is so much faster than going to the supermarket every night on the way home. There’s nothing worse than having to fight for a park when you really just want to get home. Be kind to yourself.
determine your critical path
OK this isn’t as scary as it sounds. In project management, the critical path is the list of tasks that depend on another critical task being completed before they are. It can be really helpful to take a moment to think through your recipe and figure out which element is going to take the longest to cook and any things that depend on eachother. Then prioritise getting those critical elements cooking asap.
For example if you’re cooking fresh pasta with boccincini, basil & red peppers, the pasta is going to take the longest to cook (the other ingredients just get stirred through) so immediately you should be boiling water to cook the pasta and getting that happening first. Then in the mean time you can cut your peppers and pick the basil leaves.
don’t be afraid to change the technique
If there’s something you normally bake in the oven, think about whether you could pan fry it, or cook it under the grill. For a great example, see the recipe for my [almost] instant apple crumble where I’ve taken a dish that normally needs at least 1/2hour in the oven, and turned it into a 10 minute dessert.
plan to have leftovers
I’m always a big fan of leftovers if I can rework them into a different type of meal. Sometimes I make extra and freeze for future use. Other times I reinvent the leftovers as another meal. So Sunday night’s extra lambshanks that were originally served with good old mash, get shredded and mixed with their rich tomatoey onion sauce for a lamb ragu with pasta on Monday.
think about actual active cooking time
A tray of roast mushrooms may take 1/2 hour in the oven, or a slow roast leg of lamb may take 5 hours. But if it only takes a few minutes to pop them in the oven to begin with, and don’t require much supervision, they can free up a lot more of your time than something like a stir-fry which cooks in minutes but takes a heap of chopping prep time.
question your habits
Just because you normally cook something in a certain way, or just because you cook something full stop, doesn’t mean it always needs to be cooked. Case in point the beef carpaccio recipe below where we’re just finely slicing pristine quality beef (or beets for the vegans) and serving raw with a salad. A bit unexpected but much quicker than firing up the stove to cook a steak.
use simple recipes
OK. We all know where I stand on this one. But before you even choose to cook a particular dish, it’s a great habit to question whether this is as simple as it could be. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried out an idea thinking it wouldn’t work because it would be too simple and would be lacking in some way, and been blown away by the results (in a good way).
2. preparation
cheat (!)
There’s nothing wrong with using modern convenience foods to save some precious minutes. Tinned chickpeas, par cooked rice, fresh pasta, jars of roasted peppers and frozen peas all make a big difference.
choose ingredients wisely
Knowing the cooking times of different ingredients can help guide your decision making and save you time. For example choosing dried soba noodles instead if udon will save you 6 minutes of boiling noodles. And red lentils can be cooked in 10 minutes whereas most other lentils are at least 20 minutes or more.
keep your knives sharp
The most common activity in the kitchen is chopping. Sharp knives make it much easier to get your confidence and your speed up.
roughly chop herbs, don’t pick their leaves
While it is lovely to have whole picked leaves, if I’m in a rush I just roughly chop things like parsley or coriander. Still delicious and less wasteful.
skip the peeling
Keeping the skins on things like carrots and spuds not only saves time but gives you the most nutrients as well.
chop to the optimum size
The smaller pieces of food are, the quicker they’ll cook. BUT the longer it will take to chop. Only go for smaller sizes if it’s going to help you gain valuable cooking minutes.
increase the surface area in contact with the heat.
Think about a whole chicken breast and how long it takes the heat to get from the pan into the middle. Then imagine chopping that chicken breast into 4 pieces and bashing each one out so it’s only 5mm (1/4in) thick. What’s that going to do to your cooking time?
boil water in the kettle first
If I’m short on time I always put water in the kettle to boil for pasta or whatever else I need. So much faster than the stove top.
outsource some of the cooking
Picking up a BBQ chicken with chips (fries) and gravy on the way home from work may feel like a cop out (not to mention, the health side of things) but picking up a BBQ chicken and turning it into a chicken and bread salad means you get the brownie points (and nutrients) of a home cooked meal, without the time required to fire up your own BBQ.
Chinatown has some other awesome options for this. I love a good chinese BBQ duck to turn into sang choi bau (just add fresh lettuce, cucumber and some hoisin sauce).
go for prewashed & pre-chopped
I always pay extra for bags of prewashed lettuce leaves. And if I’m in a hurry I do sometimes buy scrubbed potatoes.
To be honest I rarely choose pre-chopped veggies because I feel that the freshenss and nutrient content isn’t as good as whole. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t if you can afford that convenience.
3. technique
get as close to the heat as possible
The further away the food is from your heat source the longer it’s going to take to cook. Pan frying or BBQing are my go-to cooking methods when I’m short of time. Boiling can also be fast but there’s the time needed to get the water hot in the first place.
use the most direct heat
Apologies for getting a bit physics class on you but the other factor is that solids (especially metals) conduct heat better than liquids and gasses. Which is why a hot pan cooks so much faster than the same food sitting in a hot oven.
cook with gas or induction
I do love the instant heat of gas. Although after being wowed by Australian chef, Tetsuya’s new masterclass kitchen earlier in the year, I do have a hankering for a clean induction cooktop which has instant heat with the added benefit of being super easy to clean.
use a fan forced oven
My country kitchen is blessed with a fan forced oven and cooks things significantly more rapidly than my sad old gas number in Sydney.
make technology your friend
Food processors can grate, slice or puree things in a fraction of the time it would take using an old grater or a mortar and pestle. And I’ve already sung the praises of electric kitchen scales where you can just weigh and go without fiddling around with messy measuring cups.
rinse and reuse equipment as you go
I used to hate the concept of cleaning as you go because I preferred to concentrate on the cooking task at hand. But over the years I’ve realised that it can actually be quicker to rinse that bowl or spoon in front of you rather than reaching to the cupboard for a clean one and it definitely saves on cleaning up time – my least favourite part of playing in the kitchen.
focus
One of my biggest time wasters is when I try and do something else while I’m cooking. Not only do I end up not getting either task done particularly well, I often burn something and have to start again. Much better to be in the moment and get it done right the first time.
practice
Like pretty much all activities practice makes perfect – the more often you cook, the quicker you’ll become.
ask for help
If you have access to one, employ a kitchen slave. Not only do many hands make light work – it’s also an opportunity to relax and catch up with your loved ones.
weekly recipes
I’ve chosen recipes this week which highlight the techniques discussed above.
– hearty red lentil soup – choosing quick cooking ingredients
– udon noodle salad with tofu & lime – choosing quick cooking ingredients
– BBQ chicken & bread salad – outsourcing the cooking
– brown rice salad – using modern convenience foods
– chicken & lime 2 minute noodles – choosing quick cooking ingredients (noodles AND ground (minced) chicken)
– fresh pasta with boccincini, basil & red peppers – choosing quick cooking ingredients
– chickpea & eggplant tortillas – chopping to optimum size
– spanish chicken with chickpeas & almonds – increasing surface area in contact with the pan
– beef carpaccio with parmesan & rocket – not cooking
– lamb cutlets with white bean mash & tomatoes – no additional cooking beans
– [almost] instant apple crumble – change technique / direct heat
If you have special dietary requirements, please still explore all of the recipes, even if the title doesn’t sound like it would be a match for you. Mostly there is a way to adapt the recipe to suit your situation, yes there’s even a vegan option for beef carpaccio(!)
homework
1. Choose 2 – 3 recipes to make this week.
2. If you’re into competition you could set a timer and record whether you can make each dish in 10 minutes or less, but no need if you feel like that’s too stressful.
3. [optional] Take a photo of your creation(s) and upload it onto the flickr group OR share you experience of what you cooked in the comments under the corresponding photograph. How did you go with meeting the 10 minute time challenge? Is there anything you’d do differently next time to save time?
4. Do you have any tricks for saving time in the kitchen that we haven’t covered here? I’d love to hear about them on the flickr group.
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links & further reading
on stonesoup: knife skills – how to chop like a chef
back to Solve Your Dinner Dilemma Overview page
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