If there’s one problem that beginner cooks face, it’s that their time spent in the kitchen is much longer than an experienced chef. New cooks take longer to prepare ingredients, they’re less confident with high heats, and they’re more likely to make mistakes if they try to go fast. No matter how many cooking tips they follow, they’re still going to be a little slow and a 15-minute recipe might turn into a 30-minute adventure in the kitchen.
So in this post, we’re going to cover a few different tips to help you become a faster cook. All of these tips will be focused on speed to help you reduce cooking times so that you spend less time in the kitchen and more time eating your hard work!
Prepare your ingredients before you start cooking
This is one of the best tips to help you save time when cooking. If you prepare all of your ingredients beforehand, you’ll not only improve your knife skills but you’ll also reduce cooking times since you’re not fumbling around the kitchen looking for an ingredient or desperately trying to peel something while the pot boils over.
Invest in convenient kitchen appliances that can do the work for you
One of the most common items you’ll find in an Asian kitchen is a rice cooker. It’s one of those appliances that serve a single purpose and people often don’t want to invest the space and money into an appliance that only does one thing. However, you could drastically cut down on cooking time and effort by simply letting your rice cooker cook your rice. You don’t need to add an extra pot to the stove, there’s no risk of it overcooking, and you can even leave the rice there overnight so you can fry it the next day.
Alternatively, there are other similar appliances such as an instant pot. These appliances are fantastic because they can cook a variety of different foods and you can even start making instant pot fried rice with it. They can also cook meats, vegetables, and are generally useful for so many different things that they can really help shorten cooking times. If you’re looking to invest in a useful appliance that actually saves time, then things like an instant pot and a rice cooker are really helpful.
Do a bit of research on recipes and techniques before trying them
Take a look at cooking videos and technique explanations before you attempt them. You’re going to save a lot of time by looking at these videos beforehand so that you’re less likely to make a mistake and waste ingredients. There are loads of cooking channels on YouTube that will explain different cooking techniques in detail and you can try to replicate what you see on the screen.
Recipe research can also be important for understanding how much of an ingredient you need and how long you should be cooking something for. It can give you a rough estimate of how long you should really be spending on a recipe.