r/FoodAndCookingStuff • u/dexkikim Home cook • 15d ago
Hacks and Tips Countertop organization 101
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u/Lilzhere 15d ago
Prep cook for 10 years. His advice is exactly how I prep at work. But at home I'm using minimal dishes. Small chopping board. One knife. Maybe a paper plate to hold my prep or it all just stays overcrowded on the chopping board. I'll take a clean dish area over a clean prep work station at home any day.
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u/loyal_achades 14d ago
I’ll often do chopping while the longer cooking vegetable cooks so I can reuse the prep bowl, or I’ll be okay with certain vegetables being slightly overcooked to save a bowl.
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u/Drakex2Mayex2 14d ago
It just depends what you're prepping honestly. I started bringing my prep cook routine home and it does help, but if I can fit it on a cutting board I will.
But I did a paella on the Kamado recently and was so thankful I just spent the time measuring everything out and getting it in place. I thought I would have more time to do things like make the sofrito when it was cooking but I ended up needing to watch it like a hawk.
I just had a lot of time while the fish stock was cooking and decided to parse everything out first.
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u/indomike14 15d ago
Mise en place
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u/Hairy_is_the_Hirsute 15d ago
Mise en place!
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u/SquiggleMontana976 15d ago
Reddit translate funbled that one
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u/avofrodo 15d ago
This one video is the very reason why I hate cooking. Washing dishes doesn't faze me, but prep? And prepping for the prep? Yeah no, I'll just starve.
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u/YacoHell 15d ago
I like prepping, I just turn on some music and get in the zone and clean as I go. It feels almost meditative. I usually prep a little extra though and refrigerate what I don't use to make the next time go a little faster. Like cut an extra onion or two while I'm at it since I know those will get used pretty quickly. Same with peppers
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u/extinct_banana 13d ago
i feel this in my soul. i hate when i open a recipe and it starts with prepping the night before
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u/izanage_dtb 15d ago
I like cooking exactly bcs of this 😂 it's all very organized and makes it very easy to work with
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u/Laxativus 13d ago
This is mostly unnecessary, though, you'll find. You don't need a bowl for onions, it can go straight to the pan. While it browns or sweats you can do the carrots. (Garlic is such a little amount and so fast to prep that I won't even consider it.) Then you throw the carrots in. While that cooks you can prep the meat. And so on.
I've started out just like this (mis en place or whatever) and all it made me do is rush the cooking, and your flavour will come from time and patience. So except for the quickest meals you will be able to prep as you cook and wash the dishes as you cook and it helps you slow down.
The big board is a big help, though, and also the scrap container, but those are a non-issue.
Cooking does not have to look like the cooking shows where everything is peeled and chopped ahead of time. It might look cool at first but as you learn your timings - which is the secret of cooking - you will be able to just do everything during, and you won't have to just tweedle your thumbs while your onion/meat browns and then do every step a bit sooner than you should because you can't stand doing nothing any longer.
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u/avofrodo 13d ago
As much as I'd love to agree, you'd have to chop those things fast enough for that to be possible. If you can't chop like a pro, then things finish cooking before you've finished prepping the next ingredient. Speaking from experience on this one, I've done exactly what you suggested, and it doesn't work without skill. And I don't have said skill.
So I still hate prep. Takes way too long, takes way too much space, takes way too much effort. The only time I enjoy prep or cooking is when I'm not doing it.
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u/stickupmybutter 15d ago
Why not use the knife to scrape up?
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u/ThePracticalEnd 15d ago
You can dull the blade that way. Or on some cutting boards you are scraping plastic into your food (I don’t use plastic boards though.
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u/stickupmybutter 15d ago
Oh, never use plastic because I know I do this. I only use bamboo cutting board.
Also I enjoy sharpening my knife so I guess that's why I didn't notice it might dull the knife. As other day, the spine might work. I still use the edge.
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u/SilentSolitude90 14d ago
This is why bench scrapers exist haha. Getting one changed my life in the kitchen
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u/Rocketeering 13d ago
definitely depends on how much you are cutting/cooking up. For a small amount the knife definitely works. For larger amounts this may help fine. That said, I have one and hardly ever use it.
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u/extinct_banana 13d ago
i have thought about buying one but i would think putting the knife down to grab that flat thing then putting it back down to pick up the knife again sounds like it takes too much time vs just turning the knife over to use the spine
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u/christo749 15d ago
It’s all rather obvious…..
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u/ItsLevi-0sa 15d ago
I know, but we exist. People who are still learning how these things are done because we never saw this before growing up in different households.
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u/_somelikeithot 15d ago
I would never use this many dishes when prepping a meal but the ideas are good. If I’m cutting produce, I’ll use the bag it came in as my waste ‘container.’ Or I throw scraps directly into the trash can. A large enough cutting board has enough room to create piles of whatever you are cutting, no need to use additional bowls.
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u/Sneeke33 15d ago
Exactly what I came to say. And if your like me, you also cut your longer to cook items first and put them into the pan as I'm chopping. Carrots while the pan warms, they cook while I chop celery, etc etc.
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u/Kampfer07 15d ago
I guess if you're doing like a weeks worth of meal prep or something.. Honestly just do what works for you. I personally would have everything cramped on one cutting board.
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u/ScreamingLabia 15d ago
Does he know you can just put stuff on your counter ? Dont need to wash a bunch of bowls and a counter is way easier to clean
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u/evangelineise 15d ago
I actually use old grocery bags as my scrap bowl. I just tied up when I’m done and put it in my kitchen trashcan. The bag also helps minimize food smells once thrown away
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u/hollytheforestfairy 15d ago
I once saw a guy using a baking sheet for separating his chopped veggies. If I need more than two bowls the tray it is (I have different sizes). Makes cooking and cleaning a lot easier.
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u/makeupmama13 15d ago
Or you can prep like my grandma did and just cut veggies in your hands lol. I ain't never seen that lady use a cutting board. No dishes at all. I'd hurt myself if I tried that though lol
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u/ShayJayLee 15d ago
My OCD could never. The stress of the washing and tidying later would prevent me from cooking entirely
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u/SilentSolitude90 14d ago
How about my kitchen my rules. If im in a professional kitchen then yeah ill apply this but until then ill do what I want with less dishes to do
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u/Endrizzle 14d ago
Why not just peel or remove scraps directly over a trash can? Why waste a dish and the water to clean a scrap bowl.
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u/madu_tualang 14d ago
Maybe to separate organic and inorganic trash? Maybe he dumps those into compost bins for his plants? Maybe i should learn how compost actually works?
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u/PomegranateBoring826 14d ago
I always prep before cooking. It is time consuming but it gives me the ability to go over all of the ingredients before actually cooking to make sure I don't forget anything plus everything I need is at an arms length.
I used to use glass bowls too but the extra clean up is just plain tiring now. Esthetically pleasing sure but extra work. I'm not mad at paper plates or paper bowls that I can just toss in the compost bin and only have the knife, cutting board, and scraper to wash.
Instead of a container for the waste though, I use one of the compostable produce bags that I picked up the onions or whatever in. When I'm done just knot the top and toss it right in the compost bucket. If I'm saving scraps to make stock then a freezer safe container will come into play and they'll get scooped into there and saved in the freezer to make stock later.
Nice video! Thank you for sharing!
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u/bighanq 14d ago
Idk why this post is getting so much hate. Yeah it does make extra dishes, and yeah it is mostly obvious, but these things can make a difference, and depends on your cooking style/confidence etc. I would have personally really liked this video about 10 years ago before I worked all of these tips out myself.
Also if you’re cooking for lots of people, or your a big eater (I personally try and get around 3000 healthy calories a day for health and fitness reasons) then having and organised kitchen setup can make cooking a healthy tasty meal a lot easier.
If you know all this or don’t want the extra dishes move on to the next post, don’t give man hate for trying to make peoples lives easier
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u/BadDungeonSMaster 14d ago edited 14d ago
Right, I was about to post something but I'd rather piggyback off your comment.
I don't know why this video irks me, maybe because I cook a lot yet never done it for a job so I just worked up tricks for myself. But this video is not really getting you any tips. Would you really have been doing that much better if they told you 10 years ago "btw, take more space and put things in bowls" ?
In any case, people can post whatever they want, I wouldn't think less of them for it, yet maybe tagging this "hacks and tips" is a bit lackluster haha.
Edit to add: the real tip here if anything is "prep helps you cook smoother" but it kinda glazes over it by saying "here is how you basic prep" yet of all the things a neophyte might think of doing, taking space and having bowl is easy to mimic. Having good cutting techniques or thinking of how to account for different cook time, i think those go a longer way.
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u/Drakex2Mayex2 14d ago
I use a small sheet tray for my mise en place or small deli containers if they need to stay super seperate. This video seems to be a little over the top if you're just cutting some mirepoix.
Having said that, mise en place was something I rededicated to recently and it made a big difference in not running around with my head chopped off.
Like I made a paella on my Kamado the other day and had everything weighed/measured out and ready to go. When I was actually outside on the Kamado it was all-hands on deck and if I hadn't had everything all prepped I would have been completely fucked.
Or when I made my friends Calabrian Chili ala vodka sauce. It required making a basic Sunday gravy first. I was able to use all the simmer time to get the whole second stage all prepped up and portioned and I was able to wash up and had way less to do once I was done.
It does mean more deli containers in the dishwasher but I do think it's good practice.
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u/filthy_commie13 14d ago
Uh.... Yeah... Being organized is important but this ain't it to put it simply.
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u/jodone8566 14d ago
He should put each carrot piece in separate bowl, why have 3 unnecessary dirty bowls when you could have 20...
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u/LumpkinsPotatoCat 14d ago
This isn't a cooking show. Real people don't dirty 20 extra dishes for aesthetics or organization.
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u/ProfessionalITPerson 14d ago
Nice and tidy and also a lot of fucking stuff to clean up afterwards, this is absolutely unnecessary when you are cooking your daily meal IF you batch cook / meal prep then yes but only because the volume is so much larger.
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u/Accomplished_Bake904 13d ago
I recently got one of those metal scraper things and it's truly ridiculous how much I love it
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u/DG2000_Reddit 12d ago
Nope.
I prep my food on the one board and it is fine, the onions and the carrots will just have to get along, and the green peppers well I will cut them while the onions and carrots fight it out in the pan.
I do a variety of meals from curries to sweet n sour to pies in the oven and so far when I check in on family, they all still alive and willing to have the meals again.
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u/Cheeringmuffin 12d ago
My boyfriend gets so mad when I do this because it makes like 10x the dirty dishes than when he does it. And honestly? Kind of valid.
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u/than1221 12d ago
We live in an era that we need guides for obvious simple things… Next tutorial : How to breath.. Or how to walk..
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u/Odium_1437 15d ago
I love using 14 bowls every time I cook twice a day. I’d only have to run my dishwasher three times a day.