Kitchen skills

This is a stub post of sorts for a series of lessons I am preparing for my children on kitchen skills.

Welcome to my kitchen: What says “home” better than a well run kitchen?  I suppose there is a bit of irony in the fact that most of what I learned about kitchen management I actually learned in commercial kitchens, but I suppose that is a sign of the times I grew up in.   There is so much that goes into creating a efficient, well run kitchen – but the reality is that if you wish to eat well and save money you have to cook and cooking is much easier, safer and more enjoyable in a well run kitchen.

If you were to step into a commercial kitchen you would see more or less exactly what you see in the home kitchen only on a larger scale.   The commercial kitchen will have stations where particular activities take place, hand washing, dish washing, cooking, prep stations,  storage:  dry,  refrigerated and frozen, trash disposal.  Additionally every activity from selecting the menu to cleaning up at the end of the day is carefully planned, this is the workflow.  The home kitchen also has these elements, though they may be a little more difficult to identify.  There will be work stations, but they often do double or triple duty.    Your kitchen sink is your handwash station and your prep-cleaning station and your dishwashing station.  The same counter that you do prep-cutting on will be used for baking.   Your workflow will be different, but it should be planned.

Now I don’t pretend that this is the only way to run a kitchen.  Kitchens are rather personal things, but there are some universal basics and many more hints, tips and tricks that you can pick up.   So let’s start with the basics.

Safety: Before you start there are some safety basics to know.  Safety really does come first.

Clothing |  Hot Things | Sharp things |  Slips and Spills

Cleanliness and sanitation:

Work flow

Work areas

Equipment

Food Stuffs

Storage

Gear

Techniques

Presentation

Menu planning

Shopping

Pantry

Perserving