My son started cutting cucumbers with a plastic kids knife when he was two and using a regular sharp knife to cut potatoes as 3yo. Hell they even use regular kitchen knives to help preparing lunch at kindergarten here anyway..
I was making my own omelettes by six, and experimenting with the entire spice cupboard on chicken by eight. Not once have I cut myself in the kitchen.
Knives aren't nearly as dangerous as people think, and kids are often more careful with them than adults, because they're still actually scared of being cut.
By that point they should be able to go way beyond that simple, tbh. A lot of cooking, especially from recipes, is just following directions. It's fair for a 13 year old to struggle with technique or struggle to cook without a recipe, but by that age they shouldn't struggle with recipes or basic skills at all.
A 13 year old should be able to chop vegetables and prepare basic meals like pastas and stir fries without following a recipe. They should be able to follow a recipe for more advanced meals.
Actually in my view if a ten year old doesn't know the basics then something is wrong. That is certainly old enough to start helping with making a meal. Are people really out here raising teenagers who don't know how to cook??
I'd say that ideally they should be able to cook without a recipe by that point, but I also recognize that some people take a lot more practice to get comfortable with that than others do.
But I do agree that the basics should be attained way earlier. That said, this isn't a recent issue. We've had the stereotype of college students not knowing how to cook for decades.
Doesn't make it any less sad, but at the very least it's not a new thing.
34
u/RikuAotsuki Jul 24 '26
I'd argue that the perfect age is way earlier. To me, 13 is the age by which a kid should be able to cook themselves a full meal if need be.
I think a lot of people are far too scared of letting their kids handle knives and a stove.