[HN Gopher] Kitchen optimizations
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Kitchen optimizations
Author : Theaetetus
Score : 52 points
Date : 2025-12-24 16:04 UTC (7 days ago)
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| comrade1234 wrote:
| Right now I have a large and stylish open kitchen but there are
| times where I miss having a galley kitchen, where I could stand
| in one place and reach everything I needed - pots and pans
| hanging from the ceiling, knives and accessories on magnetic
| racks on the walls, fridge contents reachable while standing at
| the stove... somehow it even had enough prep space.
| lotsofpulp wrote:
| If you cook with a partner, a kitchen with a wide enough aisle
| so that one can open a dishwasher and also open a cabinet on
| the opposite side makes life so much easier, since it means it
| is also wide enough for 2 people to move past each other
| easily.
|
| Big tub sink on one side, range on the opposite side of aisle,
| and at least 3ft/1m of countertop space on both sides of each
| those is my ideal. One side of the sink will have a dish rack,
| leaving 3 sides. That means 3 available spaces for prep,
| eventually turning into 2 as dirty kitchenware piles up next to
| the sink.
| raffraffraff wrote:
| I have a large open plan kitchen with one counter surrounded by
| hanging pots and pans, knives on a magnetic wall mount, all
| chopping boards stored vertically in racks and most of the
| condiments on a wall rack or in the drawers
| pandemic_region wrote:
| Optimize why? So that we can spend the extra seconds on our
| social media apps? People need to learn to slow down and not try
| to save twenty seconds when boiling water.
| adammarples wrote:
| No, boiling water in the kettle literally saves you 10 minutes
| of hanging around every single time you cook, it's a no
| brainier.
| Swizec wrote:
| The time it takes for water to boil is your time to prep all
| the ingredients or clean the kitchen. In cooking there is no
| waiting.
| adammarples wrote:
| Boiling the kettle means I can make pasta and a sauce in
| about 12 minutes, boiling on the stove just adds tons of
| time. Given that the kettle is next to the stove it's
| simply self sabotaging not to use it, one button press.
| quesera wrote:
| This will vary depending on the type of cooktop you have,
| and whether you have a 240V kettle.
|
| Electric coil cooktops, and 120V kettles are the slowest.
|
| Gas/induction cooktops, and 240V kettles are the
| quickest.
| SoftTalker wrote:
| Yeah huge difference if you have 240V mains. A 120V
| electric kettle is not much of a timesaver (though
| perhaps still worth something if it frees up a place on
| the cooktop that you need for something else).
| purrcat259 wrote:
| Anecdotally, with two young children (5, 1), the savings add up
| and mean twenty more seconds with them or not being overwhelmed
| after they're asleep with the state of the house.
| Theaetetus wrote:
| Indeed.
| vlod wrote:
| Why should I optimize my code? To save 420ms for what?
|
| I dunno. I try to optimize everything in life, maybe it's the
| engineer in me (I find it fun and interesting how people do
| things inefficiently). I also try and measure ingredients
| exactly (e.g. 420g of flour, not 419g or 421g), however that
| might be some low form of OCD. /shrug
|
| Whether I use that extra time or not doesn't really matter for
| me.
| farhanhubble wrote:
| I find kitchenwork provides good case studies for computational
| thinking. Thinking about stacking dishes by their sizes leads to
| a tour of sorting algorithms and datastructures. Thinking about
| predicting the prices of different preparations that use the same
| ingredients leads to principal component analysis.
|
| There's also the application of computational methods to cooking.
| Mikhail_Edoshin wrote:
| I think B. F. Skinner liked that sort of things. (In "Walden Two"
| he gives a rather detailed description of a contraption to
| conveniently carry around a glass full of a hot beverage without
| risk of spilling; I'm positive it was one of his inventions.)
| jacknews wrote:
| This is great keep going.
|
| I find mis-en-place is a great optimization, especially if you
| have kids.
|
| For hot water, I have a 2L thermos which I keep filled with
| boiling water to make hot drinks, with a quick reboil if
| necessary, and also to use as cooking water. I think there are
| plumbed in versions of this which would be even better.
|
| Bread-making - I just use a bread machine to make day-to-day
| bread (specials hand baked etc on weekends sometimes.) For the
| daily, I pre-measure ingredients (both wet and dry) for 10+
| loaves, individually packaged (kids are a great production line
| again). The to make the bread, just throw in the packets and
| press the buttons...
|
| No doubt most people already do this, but for some reason my wife
| can't get it .. keep everything in the same place all the time.
| It really wastes time and 'stressergy' to have to hunt for the
| measuring spoons or the molasses or whatever because they were
| put back in a different place.
|
| I'm sure commercial chefs could add a huge list of tricks that
| are still applicable at home to this.
| wiether wrote:
| It's _mise en place_, with an e since it's feminine and without
| dashes.
|
| Signed: A pedantic French guy (pleonasm)
| jacknews wrote:
| Thanks. Should I include the underscores?
| SoftTalker wrote:
| Clean as you go is a big one for me. I hate having a big
| cleanup at the end of a meal prep.
| zcw100 wrote:
| Mise en place is ok sometimes but it also generates a lot
| unnecessary cleaning.
| xnx wrote:
| A foot pedal faucet is the biggest optimization I need to make.
| It's like giving yourself a third arm in many situations.
| esafak wrote:
| I use a touch-sensitive faucet. Either way, this is a big
| upgrade given how often one uses a faucet.
| gazook89 wrote:
| I so desperately want this, I think about it about 5 times a
| week and probably mention it to my wife as often. But in my old
| small house I doubt I could ever get one set up. Much better
| than a touch less one.
| tptacek wrote:
| It's just a standard plumbing fitting, and it engages with
| the plumbing below your actual faucet. Space shouldn't be an
| issue?
| xnx wrote:
| I bought an one that attaches to the source line to the
| faucet, but I'm nervous to install it for risk of leaks.
| frantathefranta wrote:
| Teflon tape is your friend when plumbing things together.
| xnx wrote:
| Definitely. I'm more worried about the valve in the pedal
| being faulty and leaking.
| throwway120385 wrote:
| Not always. It only works with FIP/MIP connections. If
| it's a compression fitting you're just wasting money.
| tptacek wrote:
| Can't recommend a foot pedal faucet enough. They're not
| expensive!
| sokoloff wrote:
| One thing we do is to load a new dishwasher tablet immediately
| upon emptying the dishes.
|
| Result:
|
| If there's a tablet: it's dirty.
|
| If there's no tablet: it's clean.
| ajb wrote:
| That's a good one. One I tend to do is, once I know i will run
| the dishwasher overnight, I will set it to run with a delay.
| That way, even if I forget to put in the last few items, it's
| going to run and I will not run out of clean stuff. (My
| dishwasher is fairly slow, as it's a built-in one and can't pop
| open to dry).
| astura wrote:
| [flagged]
| Extropy_ wrote:
| I understand your confusion. If you clean off and rinse your
| dishes before you put them in the dishwasher, it can
| sometimes get confusing
| dolmen wrote:
| I don't get the logic of cleaning dishes BEFORE putting
| them in the dishwasher.
| bgbntty2 wrote:
| I think people don't want to clog their dishwasher with
| pieces of food. If I have a couple pieces of spaghetti, a
| part of a leaf and half a chickpea stuck on the plate, I
| would remove them with a paper towel. Not sure why anyone
| would rinse it afterwards, though.
|
| That reminds me of people who clean before the maid
| comes. I've never had a maid, but I've read that people
| do the easiest things themselves so the maid, who is paid
| by the hour, has to do the harder things only.
| kj4211cash wrote:
| I do it and recognize that the logic is flawed, but it's
| a habit and just looks and feels correct at this point.
| mhb wrote:
| You will after you have to pull the dishwasher out, turn
| it upside down and partially disassemble it to clean the
| filter which is blocking the flow of water intended to
| rinse your dishes.
| quesera wrote:
| Not actually cleaning, just rinsing.
|
| The logic is to prevent: - Chunks of
| fibrous vegetables (e.g.) from clogging the dishwasher
| filter - Wet sauces (or egg) from drying and
| hardening over the hours/days before the next dishwasher
| cycle, and becoming more difficult to remove
|
| A lot of people don't know that dishwashers have filters
| that need to be cleaned regularly!
|
| And many of us grew up with older dishwashers that didn't
| work as well as newer ones.
|
| All of that said, modern dishwashers actually monitor the
| water (clarity, turbidity?) to determine whether the
| dishes are sufficiently clean. If you rinse your dishes
| too well, the dishwasher will prematurely think it has
| accomplished its goal, and reduce time/temperature to end
| the cycle early. This is why manufacturers recommend
| against rinsing or pre-cleaning.
|
| In my household, we have a pair of zealous canine
| precleaners, who do an excellent first-pass job. The
| dishwasher's only responsibility is to rinse and
| sterilize. :)
| astura wrote:
| I might quickly rinse my dishes to remove large food
| particles.
|
| If you are cleaning your dishes so much before loading that
| you literally can't tell the difference between dishes that
| have been through the dishwasher and dishes that haven't,
| then just skip the dishwasher step. You're already done.
| gramie wrote:
| The issue comes when there are multiple people using the
| kitchen. Sometimes my wife runs the dishwasher when I'm not
| around, or vice versa. We usually rinse our dishes, so there
| is not always a lot of visible evidence.
|
| The problem is when you have a dirty dish and assume that the
| dishwasher contents are dirty too (because usually we unload
| the dishwasher soon after it finishes). Then you put a dirty
| dish in, possibly making other dishes dirty. So you have to
| either hand-wash several dishes or re-wash the entire load.
| dang wrote:
| > _Wtf? I never once in my life have any issues [...] What a
| weird problem to have. I 'll give you a pro tip [...]_
|
| Can you please make your substantive points thoughtfully?
| There's no need to snark or get personal.
|
| If you wouldn't mind reviewing
| https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking
| the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be
| grateful.
| Extropy_ wrote:
| That's a nice trick. What we do is use a reversible magnet that
| says "dirty" on one side and "clean" on the other
| mauvehaus wrote:
| Or if you have an already incomplete set of scrabble tiles:
| attach magnets to the backs of the ones that spell "dirty"
| and "clean". Whichever isn't scrambled on the door is the
| state of the dishwasher.
|
| Or simply don't rinse the dishes before you put them in[0].
| I've never had trouble telling.
|
| [0] Exceptions: uncooked eggs, yogurt, and for some reason,
| salsa? None of which ever come off for me if they sit for
| long before you run the dishwasher.
| liotier wrote:
| The stable state of our dishwasher is dirty: clean only lasts
| the fleeting instant a person spots it and immediately empties
| it.
| kurthr wrote:
| One word, teenagers.
| 28304283409234 wrote:
| I'm fully convinced that dishwashers are a hoax. Doing the
| dishes manually is far more efficient, both in water used,
| energy and time spent. Things to consider: time spent
| determining if the item is dishwasher proof, time spent playing
| dishwasher tetris, time spent filling and emptying, time pre-
| cleaning before putting things in the dishwasher, time spent
| re-washing after it turns out that the dishwasher did not clean
| your as well as it advertised on the box.
|
| I can do the dishes after a family meal just as fast, and with
| better and more consistent results en less water, than when
| using the dishwasher.
| bgbntty2 wrote:
| > time spent determining if the item is dishwasher proof
|
| It's done once per item. In my case I have just a few things
| I know are not dishwasher proof.
|
| > time spent playing dishwasher tetris
|
| Get a bigger dishwasher.
|
| > time spent filling and emptying
|
| The same time you'd spend putting things in the sink and
| taking them out after you've washed them.
|
| > time pre-cleaning before putting things in the dishwasher
|
| No need to that, unless you leave actual chunks of uneaten
| food on your plates.
|
| > time spent re-washing after it turns out that the
| dishwasher did not clean your as well as it advertised on the
| box
|
| Try powdered detergent. There are a few Technology
| Connections videos discussing dishwashers, including how
| capsules are inefficient - basically they're used up on the
| "pre-wash" cycle. There are a few other tricks to improve the
| efficiency of the dishwasher, too.
|
| So you have a few things to do once and a few things to do
| always, which you'd do with hand washing anyway. Having a
| dishwasher is a game changer. If you're not happy with the
| results, don't give up just yet. Think of how to improve the
| process, because it's possible. At first I was also skeptical
| and disappointed in my (first) dishwasher.
| sokoloff wrote:
| When our old dishwasher gave up, I got a mid-range Bosch
| dishwasher. I never thought I'd catch feelings for an
| appliance, but this thing is awesome. Dishes come out
| squeaky clean and nearly dry just from the temps. Glasses
| are spotless. Third rack is very convenient as well.
|
| I'm sure other modern dishwashers are also very good, but
| I'd buy the same again in a heartbeat.
| buu709 wrote:
| I was honestly a little disappointed with my Bosch.
|
| I had an old low end dishwasher that I had kept going up
| to a point, but the rack was after rusting to the point
| it broke.
|
| Bought a mid range Bosch after reading so many glowing
| reviews and I find it does a terrible job at drying the
| dishes. They're clean, and the third rack is so much
| better than I had imagined it would be, but there's
| always still water on everything!
|
| The old dishwasher had a vent on the front, when it was
| doing its drying you could see the steam coming out. The
| Bosch doesn't seem to have any vent... it heats up for a
| dry cycle, but if you don't catch it and open the door at
| the end the water vapor just recondenses.
| acheron wrote:
| Just to be clear, this is nonsense. Every dishwasher made for
| the past few decades at least will use less water than
| washing by hand.
| econ wrote:
| Someone should make a small pressure washing contraption like
| those for XXL restaurants.
| kurthr wrote:
| I've often wondered why the dishwasher vendors didn't put a
| label on the little flip open door so that it actually said,
| "dirty" on the outside, and "clean" on the inside.
| cranium wrote:
| I've found that cooking extra food with the intent of freezing it
| in individual portions is a game changer for when I'm alone at
| home - my fiancee can also pack them for lunch. Rice, curries,
| ragouts are really nice to get out of the freezer, put on a plate
| in the microwave and eat a few minutes later.
|
| Look at Souper Cubes (or any silicon knockoff) for the molds.
| motbus3 wrote:
| Batch cooking is the only way to have two working adults. I
| love to cook though, so at home, one cooks the batch part and
| the other does a different meal for the weekend.
|
| We think our cooking is much better than almost all restaurants
| we go (and we heard from others that our guests usually thinks
| the same).
| econ wrote:
| Living with a shared kitchen I had a neighbor (+gf) once who
| hated cooking. His solution was to cook only once per month. It
| was quite hilarious, he made about 40-60 meals in one day.
| Giant pots everywhere.
|
| He would print a menu card for the month with all the 3-4
| course meals. He would set the table, light candles, poor the
| wine and argued what to microwave.
| wiether wrote:
| I'm not sure I understand the thing about boiling water:
|
| 1. Put a modest amount of water in the pot and turn the stove
| element on.
|
| 2. Put a modest amount of water in the electric kettle and turn
| it on.
|
| 3. If one boils before the other, either combine them (if the
| other is nearly boiling) or add a little more water to the
| already-boiling one.
|
| What happens if they boil at the same time? Don't combine them?
| What happens if pot boils before kettle? Add water to the pot and
| forget about the kettle?
|
| And overall boiling water seems to be the worst example to pick
| to show how to optimize cooking. You can't over-boil water, so
| depending on your appliance, if you don't start using your
| boiling water as soon as it boils, it will either stop heating
| and start loosing temperature, or it will keep boiling, water
| will be lost through evaporation and energy consumed needlessly.
| But if your focus is time, then boiling is not an issue. You can
| do whatever you want during heating. Furthermore, with electric
| kettle and induction stove, you'll hardly have time to chop a few
| onions or clean a few carrots before water is ready.
|
| I've seen people needing half to a full hour to make pasta with a
| store-bought sauce, and thought that was crazy, but that's
| because they weren't doing things in parallel and/or not in the
| right order.
|
| Like, if you plan to make pasta, first you put water to boil,
| then you get your pasta and everything else while its heating.
| And don't wait for your pasta to be ready to get your strainer.
| Same for the sauce. Get it and open it while the pasta are
| cooking.
| Swizec wrote:
| Here's how you optimize the time it takes for things to boil:
|
| You spend that time prepping ingredients, cooking another dish,
| or cleaning the kitchen. In cooking there's no such thing as
| waiting.
| technothrasher wrote:
| > In cooking there's no such thing as waiting.
|
| I tend to go hyper mis en place when I cook. So by the time
| "active" cooking is taking place, it's a pretty chill affair
| and I often end up reading my book in the bits of down time.
| Swizec wrote:
| > So by the time "active" cooking is taking place, it's a
| pretty chill affair
|
| Nice! As my mom used to say: A good cook leaves the kitchen
| cleaner than they found it.
|
| I do a mix of mise-en-place and frantic chopping in between
| things. Depends on what I'm making and how the different
| activities gantt chart together.
| Etheryte wrote:
| Agreed, working in the kitchen is all about figuring out how
| to do things in parallel without messing them up. You can
| chop and dice while the pot or pan is heating up, you can do
| the dishes while the sauce reduces, you can make a salad
| while meat rests, etc.
| crazygringo wrote:
| > _What happens if they boil at the same time?_
|
| Then they're boiled and you don't have to do anything. But the
| point is that they boiled in exactly half the time it would
| have taken using only one of the devices with the full amount
| of water.
|
| > _But if your focus is time, then boiling is not an issue. You
| can do whatever you want during heating._
|
| If you're making a full meal, sure. If all you want to do is
| hard-boil a couple of eggs, then yeah you want to hurry it up.
|
| If you _really_ want speed, use your microwave as a third!
| fudged71 wrote:
| There's also those "always on" hot water dispensers. And your
| home hot water can also be put on a pumped loop for instant
| access.
| motbus3 wrote:
| there are indications that cooking and doing other house related
| chores are actually beneficial for the mind. Cooking is specially
| important.
|
| I don't know the reasons as I only read parts of papers and posts
| about it, but it seems something related to human brain
| evolution, but I am no expert. If someone knows more I would be
| happy to know
| briHass wrote:
| The water boiling one doesn't make any sense. One of those
| devices (stove or kettle) transfers more heat per unit of time
| into the water. Just use that device for the full amount of
| water.
|
| An induction range would remove the need for transferring boiling
| water around. At least in the US, that's the fastest device,
| since countertop kettles are limited to 1.8kW or so. Induction
| 'burners' usually are 2.5-4kW, and assuming the right cookware,
| much better at transferring that energy into the water (and not
| the air like a gas burner)
| swiftcoder wrote:
| Come to Europe, we have the 3+ kw kettles!
| wiether wrote:
| Even 10 second kettle:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDLw1Rx_cAI
|
| (In 2014 they were still in the EU)
| loloquwowndueo wrote:
| No fair because you also have the 240V outlets :(
| alexchamberlain wrote:
| You can have 240V outlets too... at least, a lot of
| woodworkers seem to install them in their garages. Are they
| legal in the kitchen?
| seanmcdirmid wrote:
| The 220-240v alone is already a huge time saver. 110-120v is
| just not kettle friendly.
| raffraffraff wrote:
| > One of those devices (stove or kettle) transfers more heat
| per unit of time into the water. Just use that device for the
| full amount of water.
|
| But.. Applying heat from two sources is better than applying
| heat from only one?
| jemmyw wrote:
| Fastest way to do it: induction hob and a hot water tap with
| one of those under sink boilers. It takes longer to fill the
| pan than to get the water to a rolling boil.
| watermelon0 wrote:
| Related Technology Connections video, where he uses electric
| kettle at 6 kW, to boil 1L of water in 55 seconds:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INZybkX8tLI
| crazygringo wrote:
| > _One of those devices (stove or kettle) transfers more heat
| per unit of time into the water. Just use that device for the
| full amount of water._
|
| I think you're missing the part where you dump one into the
| other once one boils.
|
| Obviously, heating in parallel is going to be faster.
| doix wrote:
| I had similar thoughts to the author, but I opted to just
| optimize those actions out of my life. If you only eat Huel(or
| any other powdered food thing) at home then pretty much
| everything described in the article is no longer an issue.
|
| No more dealing with dishes, dishwashers, stray items on the
| table, boiling water etc. The only thing you need to worry about
| is cleaning your one huel cup which you can do right before you
| prepare your next shake.
|
| I did it for a few years, eating breakfast + lunch at the office
| and then Huel for dinner or eating out at restaurant.
| bgbntty2 wrote:
| I have a few things that I can add. If you just want an adequate
| meal with the least amount of work, invest in:
|
| * multicooker, one with a pressure cooking setting. You just have
| to press a few buttons and forget about it. If you know how much
| time it takes to cook something (for example - chickpeas, 26
| minutes), you just set it for 26 minutes and go do something
| else. The multicooker will keep it warm for a few hours after
| it's done. No need to turn off the stove or anything like that.
| There's hardly any vapor released. You can make lots of dishes
| under pressure - pasta, lentils, chickpeas, beans... You can
| steam (almost?) any vegetable, as well. For beans and chickpeas
| the total prep time is hours, but the actual human time is
| minutes. Just put them under water for a few hours (takes ~30
| seconds), then drain and put into the multicooker (takes ~1
| minute). It takes a few minutes of actual work, but it also lets
| you forget about it, as it won't over-boil or anything like that.
| I can put something and go out, come back after a few hours and
| have a hot meal ready. I only use my regular stove top to make
| popcorn once in a while. The only downside is not being able to
| add different ingredients after the cooking has begun, as it's
| under pressure. And the "26" minutes above don't include the time
| it takes to reach the required pressure and the time it takes to
| release it. You can speed both steps by boiling water in a kettle
| before putting in the multicooker and by using the release valve
| after the cooking is done.
|
| * bread maker - literally put water, oil, salt, sugar, flour and
| yeast one after the other, press a few buttons, wait a few hours
| and you get a perfect bread. Beats any recipe, including the "no-
| knead" ones, in terms of convenience. I can make better bread
| with lots of kneading and resting and whatnot, but the bread that
| comes out is good enough for me, so I don't see myself ever
| making bread by hand again.
|
| If I lose all my possessions and have to rebuild from scratch, I
| would buy a cheap multicooker first, then a bread maker. Then,
| I'd think about a regular stove, a microwave and so on.
|
| Another "optimization" is keeping everything in jars. Flour,
| coffee, sugar, cocoa, condiments, beans, oats - everything. It's
| much easier to see what and how much you have of everything, it's
| transparent, you can put labels on the jars (cheap price
| tags/stickers), you can pour from the jars easily, you can scoop
| with them with a spoon. No messy paper or plastic wraps. I don't
| get why people keep things in their original packaging - a bulky,
| wrinkled plastic or paper wrap that obscures the view behind it,
| obscures the view inside and makes it harder to scoop with a
| spoon.
|
| For jars you use frequently, keep a spoon inside. I have a spoon
| in my coffee jar. I still have to get another spoon to swirl my
| coffee when it's done, so the sugar dissolves, but it's nice to
| not care about that when you're transferring the coffee from the
| jar to the moka pot or coffee maker.
|
| And finally, keep similar ingredients near each other. The
| condiments, the teas, the legumes, the flours, the sauces. Just
| designate a place for each type of food. You can always adjust it
| later. In my cupboard the sugary condiments (sugar, molasses,
| xylitol, honey, etc.) are on the left, the salty ones are on the
| right (various types of salt, as well as salty mixes) and the
| other ones are in the middle (herbs and whatnot). Above that the
| most protein-y things are on the left, the cereal-y things are in
| the middle (oats, various seeds) and misc. things are on the
| right. The idea is that whenever I buy something, when I come
| home I immediately pour it into a jar and put it where it
| belongs. That way everything is pretty and organized. Queries
| like "how much lentils do I have left" are answered in seconds.
| The overhead of keeping the jars clean is minimal, as you don't
| have to clean the jars all the time - if you had a jar of lentils
| that's now empty, just leave it "dirty". It's not unhygienic,
| especially if you'll put lentils or other food that you'll boil
| in it later, anyway. I clean them once they get visible dirty -
| if I've touched them with greasy fingers, for example.
| gus_massa wrote:
| I agree with all. We use Tupperware clones instead of jars, and
| a microwave+gril+convection oven for 75% cooking. Reposting an
| old comment:
|
| We are very happy with our Samsung Hotblast
| https://www.samsung.com/in/microwave-ovens/convection/28-lit...
| (or a similar version). You setup the temperature to 200degC
| (392degF), the time to 20 or 30 minutes and you can go to
| another room while it cooks. It takes some time to find the
| perfect time, and sometime you must use the microwave or grill
| instead, but it's perfect for cooking in a short time.
| quesera wrote:
| Agreed on jars. We use Weck and Ball for different purposes,
| and truly love them. It's odd to be so attached to trivial
| chunks of silicon, and we're not attached to them _as
| individuals_ but I appreciate them every single day.
|
| I struggle with discarding the original packaging. Sometimes I
| want to know what the nutritional content of product X is. I
| have a guilt drawer of collapsed packaging. This has the added
| benefits of confirming formulation changes, shrinkflation
| evidence, and remembering brands of certain commodities that
| were better or worse than others. It also satisfies my
| "preserve all available data" instincts, which I imagine many
| other geeks share -- although it is only tolerated with
| amusement by other members of my household.
| bgbntty2 wrote:
| I take a photo of almost any package. I have a folder with
| labels from years ago. I admit that if the manufacturers of X
| change the ingredients without changing the design/layout, I
| wouldn't notice. So I might have to set up a system where I
| remind myself to check everything once every few months to
| compare it to the photos I have. But at least the photos
| don't take up any space. I used to have a drawer with
| packaging and receipts, too, but it was unmanagable.
|
| For jars I use regular jars for most things. Regular jars of
| food you'd buy in the supermarket. They're basically free. I
| just have to soak them and remove the original label. For
| some things I like tall jars, the kind tomato sauce comes in.
| Doesn't really matter, except they fill certain shelves of a
| specific height better.
| quesera wrote:
| Photos are an interesting idea. I'm one of the freaks who
| does not carry their phone on their person at all times, so
| it would be less convenient for me (until I join the 20th C
| at least), although more convenient for the rest of the
| household... So we'll see. :)
|
| One of the things that I really appreciate about the Weck
| and Ball jars are their uniformity. You can get different
| lids for different purposes (air-tight, water-tight, with
| straw-hole, flexible, etc). The lids are cross-compatible
| for most jar shapes/sizes within the brand, but not cross-
| brand of course. This is OK because we use them for very
| different purposes, usually. They also stack well, the lids
| can be reused indefinitely and put through the dishwasher
| without worrying about rust or deformation, can be easily
| replaced if lost or damaged, etc etc. They're also more
| durable than the single-use-intended retail packaging jars.
| I'm sure this sounds a bit silly, but it does honestly make
| a difference, for my brain at least!
|
| Of course they are not free, and I never would have made
| the change if it wasn't required for canning foods from the
| garden. But after making the switch, I've always been
| happier for it. YMMV!
| orev wrote:
| A few things:
|
| * Garbage bowl: allocate a mixing bowl on the counter to collect
| garbage and drop cuttings and other refuse in there. Saves you
| from having to go to the trash bin every time.
|
| * Preheat watery vegetables in the microwave. Things like onions,
| mushrooms, etc. are mostly water, and you can avoid having to
| wait for them to reduce in a pan by nuking them for 2 minutes in
| the microwave first.
|
| * When boiling water or cooking almost anything in a pot, cover
| it with the lid! It will trap the heat inside the pot and
| boil/cook faster. So many people don't use the lid just to save
| themselves from having to wash it. The only time not to use the
| lid is if you need to reduce the liquid or allow volatiles to
| escape.
|
| * Cooking bigger batches of food takes essentially the same
| amount of time as smaller batches. Make portions big enough that
| you can get at least two or three more meals from it.
|
| * Learn to use your oven! Too many people get enamored with
| single use gadgets when the oven already does so many things.
| People complain that it takes too long to heat up but it really
| doesn't.
|
| * Keep your knives sharp: Do NOT use an electric sharpener, just
| a simple drag over a stone every few months is probably all you
| need. A sharp knife is SAFER than a dull one.
|
| * Throw away all cutting boards not made of wood or plastic (dump
| the plastic too if you're concerned about it). Any cutting board
| made of glass, marble, metal, or any other hard material is
| destroying your knives.
| hexbin010 wrote:
| > Any cutting board made of glass, marble, metal
|
| I've never understood this. Those things are/were just used to
| prevent counter-top damage here in the UK (hot pans, things
| that would stain etc).
|
| We never considered them chopping boards.
|
| Did the USA not get the memo?
| reaperducer wrote:
| _We never considered them chopping boards._
|
| Demonstrably false:
|
| https://www.ebay.com/itm/114968917182
|
| Perhaps do a basic internet search before speaking for an
| entire nation.
| operatingthetan wrote:
| When I read the above comment I couldn't figure out what
| material they were using other than wood or plastic. I don't
| think using glass is common, at least I've never seen it in
| the US.
| throwway120385 wrote:
| I was given one by a landlord once because a lot of renters
| here don't have the money to buy cutting boards so they
| will just cut directly on the kitchen counters.
| crazygringo wrote:
| > _Preheat watery vegetables in the microwave_
|
| There's actually a _lot_ of stuff you can halfway-heat in the
| microwave.
|
| Air frying frozen <anything>? Nuke it for 2 min and air-fry for
| 3 min, instead of air-frying for 12 min.
|
| Ice cream rock solid? Nuke a pint for 15 seconds. It won't
| melt, just soften.
|
| Cold ketchup in a dipping bowl? Nuke for 5 seconds to bring it
| to room temperature, so you're not putting cold ketchup on warm
| food.
|
| But the best? You know how tomatoes get a mealy texture when
| kept in the fridge, which is why everybody says not to keep in
| them in the fridge, even though they last so much longer that
| way? That's _only as long as they 're chilled_. Nuke for 10
| seconds to bring back to room temperature. The texture returns
| 100% to normal.
| throw0101c wrote:
| > _Ice cream rock solid? Nuke a pint for 15 seconds. It won
| 't melt, just soften._
|
| Use 50% power and check in 10 second increments:
|
| * ATK: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FZCgQp8D2Xw
|
| If you think ahead, put it in the refrigerator 30 minutes
| before you need it.
| arcanemachiner wrote:
| When I was a kid, I had some ice cream that was too goddamn
| cold, and I asked my mom to put it in the microwave for a few
| seconds.
|
| Everyone laughed at me.
|
| I'm still pissed off about it.
| mmcclimon wrote:
| Cold ketchup on hot french fries is one of life's great joys,
| though.
| bob1029 wrote:
| > Cooking bigger batches
|
| This is also one of the central ideas around making computers
| go really fast.
|
| > Throw away all cutting boards not made of wood or plastic
|
| https://www.johnboos.com/collections/cutting-boards
|
| > Garbage bowl
|
| I have one of those rubbermaid tall/thin trash cans where my
| kitchen island used to be. Sometimes I will pull my fridge into
| the middle a little bit so it's easier to get at. That's the
| kitchen optimization advice that I would offer - The kitchen
| island is often a productivity & convenience scam. It took me a
| long time to learn this. From a simple geometric & topological
| perspective, being able to walk directly between everything
| without having to always pick a direction around some
| obstruction _will_ reduce your cortisol levels by a
| scientifically-quantifiable amount.
| throwway120385 wrote:
| Same thing with giant peninsulas and breakfast bars. They're
| there to look nice for real estate photos, not to be a useful
| thing that gets used often. If you want a table in the middle
| of your kitchen rip out the island and put a kitchen table
| there. It's more comfortable and you can actually look at the
| people you're eating with.
| jpdb wrote:
| > A sharp knife is SAFER than a dull one.
|
| I do a lot of cooking and own quite a few kitchen knives, most
| of which have bitten me at some point. I understand the idea
| around sharp knives being safer...but I don't agree.
|
| If a razor sharp 210mm Japanese carbon steel knife touches your
| finger, it's split open and might need stitches or glue. A
| less-sharp knife would need more weight behind it to cut
| effectively which can lead to you completely severing a finger,
| but simple slices are a much more likely scenario than your
| finger being completely under the knife to the point where it's
| effectively a digit-guillotine.
| evilduck wrote:
| There's no reason your fingers should be under the blade
| while it's in motion. That's just poor technique.
| esafak wrote:
| I cook every day and I did not relate to this.
|
| Make frequently-used items accessible close to where they will be
| needed. Install drawers throughout the kitchen -- especially
| below the counter. Prep before you cook
| (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mise_en_place).
|
| And just keep practicing; you will naturally get better and
| faster.
| bobbiechen wrote:
| I'm a mise en place hater personally, since I make a lot of
| things that are essentially stir fries or stews where some
| ingredients need significantly more time. Sure, go for it on
| more complicated recipes, but it's really overkill for lots of
| daily cooking.
| zcw100 wrote:
| I've found the blue tape and a sharpie to be a game changer. It
| helps me keep my fridge tidy without having to go through
| everything and guess if it's still ok. I find I actually waste
| less food when I throw things out regularly because I know that
| if it's in there it's good to eat and it doesn't get lost among
| old leftovers that aren't any good anymore anyway.
| abainbridge wrote:
| That wouldn't make me happy. If the sharpie on the tape said it
| was bad, I'd still look at it, sniff it and probably eat it.
| Certain foods scare me though. eg there's a common claim that
| boiled rice shouldn't be kept for more than a day and then re-
| heated. I follow this received wisdom even though it never
| seems bad and I don't know anyone who got ill from eating re-
| heated boiled rice. On the other hand, raw chicken does not
| scare me because I have an uncontrollable revulsion to it when
| it has actually gone bad. And of course, Camembert isn't worth
| eating until at least a fortnight after the expiry date.
| jancsika wrote:
| I'd really like to vectorize-- prep once for, say, 8 or 16
| contiguous shots at pan searing the salmon the correct way.
|
| There should be an app that matches home vectorization needs with
| busy restaurant schedules. So I would _pay_ , say, $50 bucks to
| jump in the kitchen and get yelled at to properly produce either
| 16 acceptable salmon entrees or ruin 2, whichever comes first.
| Theaetetus wrote:
| I'm grateful for all the notes here. I seem to have been
| insufficiently clear on the subject of boiling water, so I've
| written a follow-up post:
|
| https://www.natemeyvis.com/on-boiling-water/
| tptacek wrote:
| * Deli cups.
|
| * Quarter hotel pans (the stackable kind).
|
| * Painter's tape and Sharpies.
|
| * Zojirushi water boiler.
|
| * Foot pedal sink.
| vlod wrote:
| Whether you think that using plastic (deli) cups are a cause of
| all humanities health problems or not, you might want to use
| glass containers. They're reusable, microwavable (I believe
| that's a no-no for plastic, but who knows nowadays) and
| dishwasher safe.
| tptacek wrote:
| There's a reason you're more likely to see a line cook
| drinking out of a deli than a glass container.
| vlod wrote:
| Well I don't think residential kitchens are as chaotic as a
| commercial kitchen, so sure drinking out of a non breaking
| container is probably a good idea (glass breakage is a pita
| there).
|
| However most people (I assume on HN) are not line cooks and
| do not work in commercial kitchens. I drink out of glass
| (don't want plasticy taste) and use glass to store leftover
| food.
|
| Here's one: "There's a reason most line cooks drink out a
| deli rather than read NIH" [0] :)
|
| As previously mentioned, whether one thinks using glass is
| worth it is a personal preference.
|
| [0]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11193405/
|
| [0] TLDR: Guidance
|
| Avoid plastic containers as much as possible. My ranking
| (and only if food-grade) of probability of leaching
| chemicals into the foods they contain...
| mauvehaus wrote:
| Breakability, among others, I suspect. I've never cooked
| commercially, but I did work at Cinnabon long enough ago
| that we made the rolls out of things that were identifiably
| ingredients. All the staff cups were plastic because things
| get moving pretty quick on a busy day.
|
| The one Christmas Eve I worked in college was bananas. We
| had both ovens running (doesn't happen outside the holiday
| season) and were putting pans in and taking them out about
| as fast as we could make rolls and proof them.
| throwway120385 wrote:
| I actually use wet erase markers instead of tape and sharpies.
| You can write whatever you want on whatever container and then
| just put it in the dishwasher when you're done. It's like
| writing on studs when you're framing.
| fph wrote:
| From the article: boil water in two different containers then
| combine it.
|
| Also from the article: "please prioritize safety considerations,
| such as minimizing the chances of spilling boiling water [...]
| That stuff matters a lot more than small time savings."
|
| uhm...
| jeffbee wrote:
| Since the phrase "home ec" does not seem to appear in the
| comments yet I will just point out that at least for my
| generation, doing the dishes efficiently was taught in high
| schools. Minimizing movements in the kitchen was a subject of
| instruction.
| jmspring wrote:
| This sort of reminds me of those single powder or whatever meals
| they were awhile back - for those that need to eat but take no
| pleasure or dedicate no time.
|
| For me, cooking (prep and cleanup included) is about enjoying the
| process, understanding what I am making and taking time doing it.
|
| If I want quick, sure there are options around.
|
| Cooking for me is relaxation and time away not thinking about
| tech and the like.
| seanmcdirmid wrote:
| Chinese cooking is really optimized, the recipes (well, for home
| cooked food) are fairly direct and involve simple prep steps that
| can be performed quickly. Even if I wasn't married to a Chinese,
| I wouldn't think of cooking anything else just due to the time
| savings alone.
| jebarker wrote:
| The issue I find with Chinese cooking is that it often requires
| very high heat and so (probably due to bad technique on my
| part) I get a house full of smoke or at least very high VOCs.
| Any tips to avoid that?
| PunchyHamster wrote:
| Load stuff directly into dishwasher and as soon as you decide you
| don't need it.
|
| In general small cleaning tasks are great filler for any wait in
| dish-making
|
| I got a bunch of time-saving (or at least time-sync-effort-
| having) from just air-fryer option to run 2 programs at time
| (basically set different times and it will take care of starting
| them in such way they both finish at once).
|
| Put carbs like potatoes in one chamber, meat in other, set and
| start it, make some salad/tea/whatever else in mean time, 15
| minutes and done.
|
| > Especially because getting the water boiling is so often a
| limiting factor, it's worth considering this sort of
| optimization. I probably spent extra hours per year cooking
| before I changed how I boil water. There are many common tasks
| like this in the kitchen; it's worth thinking carefully about
| them.
|
| Prepare stuff while it boils, like, you either boil stuff into
| stew in the water or boil some kind of pasta or other carb there,
| surely there is plenty of other parts of the dish to make in
| meantime?
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